Sicilian Murder

by Alec Peche

  “That's good. Okay, I'll send the phone's contents to Cavallaro and Rosso. Did Randy speak a Chinese dialect?”

  “Not that I ever heard,” Brenda said. “His parents were born in the United States, so I don't know that he grew up in a house that spoke Chinese. He's traveled to China, but I don't recall him saying he could speak Mandarin or Cantonese. Certainly, I've seen no evidence of communication in the Chinese alphabet.”

  “Okay, that's good. That complication we didn't need on having to translate some messages,” Jill said.

  “There are a few with some Italian in them, but I think it might be company tag-lines or otherwise marketing stuff, but Angela can take a look at it.”

  “Show me,” Angela said with relish, eager to use her Italian language skills.

  They were all quiet as Angela checked a few messages and nodded.

  “Yeah, Brenda is correct. The Italian is a part of the signature line and it gives us the title of the person and or the company which may be relevant later if they're communicating on our mystery product, but not in the communications that Brenda showed me.”

  Jill nodded, “Okay Brenda you keep searching for mention of the mystery product as Angela called it, and that has a nice ring to it. Marie, Angela, and I will continue working on the timeline. Tomorrow, I'd like to begin looking at the cities on our list, so also keep an eye for a mention of a city with the name of Sicily in its title. It could even be in the signature line of one those Italian signature emails.”

  Dusk was approaching when Nathan returned to the apartment from his winery tour bringing with him a case of wine. The women took a break from the tedious work they had been at, standing up and stretching, then going over to Nathan's case to see what he'd bought.

  Angela went for wine glasses and a corkscrew ready to dive into Nathan's selections.

  “Is this wine from the wineries you visited?” Marie asked.

  “Yes and no. Some bottles are from wineries that I might be interested in doing business with. I also asked for wine recommendations for Jill's new grape, if the winery didn't offer it as a varietal. I even have one bottle specifically for Jill. It was too sweet for my palate, but it should be right up her alley.”

  She leaned in to kiss him saying, “I do like a man that understands my taste buds. Which bottle is it?”

  “If you start with that bottle, it will dull your palate for sampling the Nero d'Avola grape as it's less sweet. Let's start with the bottles of your grape and then you can have your sweet wine after dinner. Deal?”

  “Deal. What are you cooking for dinner?” Jill asked.

  “Maybe you want to cook tonight?” Nathan suggested.

  “No!” Marie and Angela exclaimed at the same time.

  “I'd be insulted, my friends, but I happen to agree with you. Why would I ever attempt to cook when we have a maestro in the kitchen!”

  “In that case, we'll have the cuttlefish that I picked up in the market earlier. I thought I would do a spicy crust with pistachio nuts, a salad, couscous, and apples and cheese for dessert. Why don't we sample the wines and you can tell me what you've been up to today.”

  “Actually, we could use a brain break. Why don't you describe the wineries you visited and what you liked about them,” Angela suggested and the others nodded. “Also tell how on an island of so many wineries, that you picked the ones that you did.”

  “Ladies, those are good questions. Give me a moment to organize our wine tasting.”

  He pulled out four bottles that Jill assumed were made from her grape of interest. He turned the labels away from them and then reached in the cabinet for plastic cups. He poured five glasses for each bottle and lined them up in front of them.

  “Let's let the wine breathe for about forty-five minutes and I'll tell you about my day.”

  “Can I come work for you, Jill? You get to visit exotic locations, eat great food, do expert wine tastings and make money,” Brenda said.

  “Moments like this when Nathan is cooking and we're wine tasting make up for the times when we nearly die when the bad guys are chasing us,” Angela said with a smile.

  “There is that downside,” Marie agreed with a grin.

  Jill all of a sudden got teary-eyed and had to hug each of her friends and Nathan.

  “Sorry about that, but you guys mean the world to me. Love you.”

  “We love you back,” Angela and Marie rejoined.

  “Okay ladies, move beyond the mush or I won't know what to do. So in answer to Angela's earlier question, I chose the wineries based on a variety of attributes. They needed to be producing for five years at a minimum, I read their reviews, they have someone who speaks English, I checked their wine labels, and I wanted to see that they were growing as a vineyard. From there, I knocked my list down further by trying to organize them by a geographic area. This island is big and I knew I didn't have time to reach the wineries near Palermo in a half day.”

  “Were you disappointed with any of the wineries?” Angela asked.

  “Yes, one had a dirty tasting room. The wine was excellent, but I worried about the bottle quality when no one was paying attention to the cleanliness of what the public sees. I spared a thought as to whether the wine might be dirty as well, but then I figured the alcohol content would kill off most of the dangerous bugs.”

  “Did you buy a bottle from them or say anything about the cleanliness?” Marie asked. It was so refreshing to talk about Nathan's day rather than the deep dive they had been doing into Randy Chen's life.

  “I debated whether to say something. The last thing most Sicilians want is American arrogance in telling them how to run their business. I was all by myself there and so I took a chance. I really liked their wine, but I could see that they were struggling. So I offered to help them with marketing and in return they had to fix their tasting room. At first they were suspicious, but then I drew them a wine label and showed them my website. They in turn showed me a sticker they have on the tasting room door. It signifies that they don't pay protection money to the local mafia. It was really quite sad. This island needs financial help, but the mafia really has their hands in everyone's pockets.”

  “Wow, I'd love to see you boost the small guy and make them a success and thumb your nose at the mafia. Do you think you can do it?” Jill asked.

  “I do. I need to take Angela there soon so we can get some photos, but I bet I can get them on the right track quickly. In return, I'll get some good wine and I'll even create a route for them to export to the United States which will further gain them sales away from the mafia.”

  “We planned to visit the cities tomorrow with Sicily in their name and I wanted to take Angela in case I needed Italian translation. The cities are mostly around the base of Mount Etna, but I don't have a sense of distance to know if I could visit them all in a day. Besides I need a little more pinpointing then just randomly showing up and asking residents if they ever met Randy Chen.”

  “I might be able to help you narrow that down Jill, I've found two of the cities on your list in Randy's emails, but I'm not through looking,” Brenda said.

  “Yeah, I might have found one as well. Hopefully it's the same one that Brenda saw,” Marie said.

  “So tomorrow we'll mix business and pleasure. We travel out to your winery. I just checked the weather and the perfect time for me to shoot outdoors is about noon. So I'd like to understand what you and the client want and I need some time to set-up, so we need to be there no later than 11:15. I like the thought of helping a small business stand up to the big guns of the mafia, and so if you were wondering if I would charge for my services the answer is 'no'.”

  “Okay, let's plan on leaving here at nine tomorrow to visit my cities first. Depending on how the day's going we'll either drop the two of you off to conduct your business, so we'll grab a picnic lunch along the way and take a break while you guys work,” Jill suggested.

  “Sounds like a plan! The wine should have breathed enough to begin our tas
ting,” Nathan said picking up his plastic cup and inviting the ladies to do likewise. “Cheers!”

  Forty minutes later, they were all pleasantly mellowed from the wine and they had ranked the wines.

  “Nathan thanks for arranging these wine tastings. The fact that my favorite each time we taste a group of the Nero d'Avola varietal is the favorite of the four of you suggests to me that I can create this varietal at home. You've boosted my confidence with the grape. As you know I was concerned that this is a less sweet wine as compared to what I've been producing, and I wasn't sure I had the palate to make the varietal. Now, I think I can, and so when I get home I'm going to plant this new grape.”

  They all toasted to that news.

  Chapter 11

  Jill and Marie were up early the next morning as was their habit. The previous night they'd come across additional information on the potential cities that Randy Chen had visited. They were able to confidently reduce their list of seven down to three cities. They printed multiple copies of Randy Chen's picture so if they had the opportunity, they could ask townspeople if they'd seen him. Jill had also asked Melissa to check her father's credit and debit cards to see where he spent money on the island. She said she would, but she knew her father to try and pay for things with cash as the nation was poor. Meanwhile, Brenda was on to something that she thought might be the product.

  It started with a reference in an email conversation to a tree that Randy was looking for. He asked several plant experts at the University and in the Department of Agriculture for the location of a specific plant. Jill didn't immediately recognize the Latin name of the plant and so had to look it up. It was a derivative of oldenlandia adscensions. Why would Randy choose oldenlandia adscensions? It was widely distributed across the world for a variety of purposes and Jill could see no revolutionary discovery in regards to that plant. Brenda had also seen references to olives and bee products. She touched base with her marketing department back home to see what they were aware of and all they had done was some theoretical product projections on market size. They had no name for the product or even how it was to be used – with the mention of oldenlandia adscensions. Jill thought there would be a reference to a lotion in some conversation as that was typically how the plant was used. Brenda had to call it quits for the night as she been looking at Randy's communication for hours and was bug-eyed with fatigue. Jill was interested in seeing what more Brenda would find today working in the apartment while they were exploring the countryside.

  Angela arrived from her bedroom looking rested and refreshed and joined them in working after she rechecked her photographer's bag that she had everything she needed for a photo shoot that day.

  The timeline was complete for all of the communications they had that occurred during the last twenty-four hours of his life. He had an appointment for the morning of his death at an unknown address, but there was no indication whom he was meeting with. Randy Chen was superstitious about new products according to Brenda. Besides the meditating he liked to do next to a product, he avoided mentioning the product or his contacts until he made a decision on a product. So his calendar on his phone had shown blocks of time for apparent meetings with no further information. Little did the man know that his system would be such a total failure for investigators trying to figure out who murdered him.

  Nathan stumbled out of his and Jill's bedroom to the kitchen like a homing pigeon on a mission for a cup of coffee. Jill looked up and smiled at Marie as they were all aware that Nathan's one downside was he wasn't a morning person and therefore he could have no conversation until he consumed his first cup of coffee.

  Brenda would contact the people that Randy spoke with on behalf of the company to see if she could ferret out the content of his conversation. If she didn't get anywhere then Jill might try making the connection later herself. Marie, who was a master gardener at home, was also in line to talk with the plant experts if necessary, but like Jill she was puzzled over Randy Chen's excitement for the plant.

  Jill saw an incoming email from Melissa Chen and checked her watch. Poor woman, she must not be getting any sleep as it was the middle of the night in Wisconsin. The message was filled with the information she was looking for – Randy Chen had multiple purchases over the past seven months at a town named Fiumefreddo di Sicilia. Jill was hopeful that this was a town where Randy might have met with his killer.

  “Hey, there's a chance we have found out the city where Randy's product was located. It's called Fiumefreddo di Sicilia. I'm glad I don't have to type that name in on all my internet purchases for the delivery address. Marie maybe you can search the town as we travel there. I would do so, but I'll get carsick.”

  “Okay, but what are we going to do once we reach the town? I don't recall us ever having so vague a reason to visit a town and search for information,” Marie replied.

  “You're right, we haven't had so vague a reason before. I asked Melissa for the names of the establishments where Randy made purchases. We'll approach each establishment with Randy's picture and ask if the person remembers an American who looks like the picture. If they do, let's ask if he was with someone or by himself and then let's ask if they know of anyone in town that spoke with him.”

  “And if they ask us why we're asking those questions?” Marie asked.

  “Then I think we have two choices,” Angela said. “We could tell them he was murdered and we've been hired to find his murderer. Or we could say he passed away and we are from his company and trying to follow his trail to a new product he was excited about.”

  They had taken seats in their car and Nathan was at the wheel and said, “Ladies, don't forget this is Sicily. The government is often corrupt and the mafia rules. I think Angela's second suggestion will get you more cooperation from the Fiumefreddo residents than the stark truth of the first explanation. I had a sense of the fear of both from my winery owners. They are so frustrated that the island doesn't run better because of corruption.”

  “That's a good point, sweetie,” Jill said impressed with his logic. “I forget how deep the distrust is here on this island. I hope the mafia isn't involved in our case, but in the brief reading I did last night it seems like they have eyes, ears, and hands spread everywhere on this island. If they didn't know about us before, they soon will after we spend time asking questions.”

  “They may even resent us more once Angela and I help this winery out with their marketing, so the two of us may become separate targets from your team,” Nathan cautioned.

  “Okay, now you're scaring us, Nathan,” Angela said from the back seat.

  “All I'm saying is this is a wonderfully bucolic island, but don't be fooled and drop your guard. This is a more dangerous place than Edinburgh or Brussels, or Breckenridge was and some of us nearly died in those cities!”

  “Okay, those are words of wisdom. Maybe it's time to think of weapons. Let's stop by a drugstore or grocery store and see if we can find any cans of something toxic to spray in someone's eyes. If we can't then let's find a toy store and get some water pistols and I'll make a pepper juice spray that we can carry in self-defense,” Jill suggested.

  There was silence in the car for a while as they all digested the potential danger that could befall them in the land owned by the mafia.

  “Here's another piece of unhappy news, this town that we're going to had some scenes from the movie, 'The Godfather' filmed there,” Marie said studying her phone.

  “I've never watched that film as I always considered it too violent, but I do remember seeing clips from the dinner scene where the music so matched the violence,” Jill said.

  “Okay, I'll move the conversation to happier subjects. The town means cold river in Italian and it's named for a cold river that comes from the snow melt of Mount Etna,” Angela said looking at her phone, “Which I should have figured out.”

  “I wondered where such a weird name came from so Freddo means river and Fiume means cold?” Jill asked.

  “Actuall
y you have the words reversed – Freddo means cold.”

  “Yes, that reaffirms that I have little talent for languages,” Jill said with a laugh.

  “There are about 10,000 residents that live in this town, so we won't be able to question them all,” Marie said.

  “No, we won't and let's not forget we're limited by language. These smaller towns are more likely to have residents that speak Italian only. Let's fan out around the locations Randy made purchases at. We can only hope that this town was his final destination. We'll have about ninety minutes there before we need to move on to the winery? Is that correct Nathan?” Jill asked.

  “Yes, that's about right. The two locations are about twenty minutes apart. Perhaps the winery owner knows something of Randy Chen. Do you know if he drank wine?”

  “He was a health nut, but Marie or Angela, do you remember seeing him drink around town?” Jill asked.

  “Let me text Brenda and see if she knows,” Marie said.

  “Great idea!”

  A short time later, Marie announced, “Randy drank wine and has a large wine cellar in his home.”

  “I may have to ask Melissa to look and see if Randy has any bottles from Sicily. That might give us more information. But rather than have her look through a potentially large collection, we'll see if we can find information in other ways.”

  “Perhaps some of his receipts were for wine purchases or maybe he kept a digital catalog of his wine. I know many connoisseurs do that as there's no other way to keep track of say two or three-thousand wine bottles,” Nathan suggested.