by Alec Peche
“I'll ask Brenda about that as she was over to his house many times,” Marie said.
“Have you given thought to who might be behind Randy's murder?” asked Angela.
“I have. The first set of suspects should be his family, but everyone has an alibi there.”
“Besides they don't seem like a family that would kill their father,” Angela added.
“As good detectives we can assume anything, but their alibis were checked and so I don't need to do any more work with them. I also don't believe this was a random act of violence as his valuables weren't removed and the method of killing him took some preplanning. So the top of my list is this substance he was chasing - someone else must have had their eye on it too. Since this is Sicily, my number one suspect is organized crime.”
“Oh,” muttered Jill's other three passengers.
“Perhaps we shouldn't pursue this case from the island of Sicily. Could we do it long distance from the United States?” Marie asked.
“No, we need boots on the ground here. We can't visit these towns or run into people and interview them over the phone. We'll be safe.”
Angela and Marie looked at each other and Marie said, “We don’t believe you!”
“Ditto,” added Nathan from the driver’s seat. “In fact I’m suspicious of a car that’s been following us since we left the apartment. What are the odds of that?”
All three woman whipped their heads around to look at who was following them.
Chapter 12
A sedan car was indeed behind them. Jill studied the driver and said, “I think that's a woman at the wheel. I don't believe the mafia uses women in Sicily.”
“You would be wrong, Jill. I just visited a site that said that there are over 150 women in Italian jails for Mafioso activities,” Marie said with an edge to her voice.
“Uh oh,” Jill said and then added to Nathan, “If I knew where we were, I'd steer you towards help in case she's from the Mafioso.”
“We're coming into our first town. I'll pull into the first place I see to park,” Nathan said.
The sedan passed them by, even though there's was space to pull in behind Nathan's car.
“Originally, I thought we should split up and question people, but in light of the sedan, let's pair up. As Nathan and Angela are the better Italian speakers, why don't you go with Nathan?” Jill said looking at Marie in the back seat.
“Sure! It's nice to be guarded by a Master Black Belt, but how about you ladies?”
Jill opened her purse and pulled out an aerosol can with Italian words on it.
“It seemed wise to have some weapon here in Sicily, so I had Nathan get a couple of cans of bug spray so we would have some weapon here, yet not violate the law. Here's a can for you Marie, I've got a second inside my purse.”
“No can for me?” Angela asked.
“You never carry a purse big enough to conceal such an item,” Jill said pointedly looking at Angela's purse.
“Maybe I'll start to carry around my photographer's bag as it's big enough to contain that can.”
“Okay, we have a third one at the apartment. I didn't bring it with me as I didn't think we would run into trouble so soon. I didn't get a clear look at the woman in the sedan. We could pass her in the street and I wouldn't recognize her. Do either of you have a better description?”
“I'll recognize her by the sunglasses. I saw them in a Ferragamo store in the Rome airport on the way here and tried them on,” Marie said.
“Did you buy them?” asked Angela.
“No, they were too expensive, but they sure looked good on my face.”
“How about her shirt or hair color, could you see that?”
“Not for sure. She had dark hair, but whether black or brown I couldn't tell. As for clothing, it was also dark,” Angela said.
“I watched her frequently in the rearview mirror and she has a nervous tick of moving her hair behind her right ear frequently if that helps,” Nathan said.
“We don't have much of a description. Marie can you send me a picture from the Ferragamo store of the sunglasses you saw so Angela and I can recognize them?”
They set off in pairs towards an area ahead that had lots of pedestrian traffic hoping it was the main street. They split off to opposite sides of the street planning to walk the length of the first block and see what businesses it contained.
Three blocks later they had visited a pharmacy, a real estate office, a cake shop, a florist and a pizzeria. Their time was up and all they had to show for their efforts was a cupcake from the cake store. No one recognized the picture of Randy Chen.
It was time to return to the car and head for the winery. Jill debated splitting up as they hadn't finished with the town, but she was thinking they were wasting their time without having the information of the receipts for Randy's purchases in Sicily. The town though small by her standards, still contained too many businesses for this to be a valuable use of their time. In fact, they weren't sure he'd made any purchases in the town, just that Brenda saw mention of the city in an email. Melissa Chen hadn't known her father's banking password and had to jump through some legal hurdles before getting Jill the information hopefully later that day.
After walking back to the car, Angela asked, “Not to be pessimistic, but don't the mafia plant car bombs in Sicily?”
They all halted in their tracts wondering what to do next. Each did a quick Google search to understand common tactics for killing people in Sicily by the mob.
“I don't see any use of car bombs since the 1990s,” Marie said. They relaxed a little with that news.
“Let's back up and I'll start by hitting the door unlock on the key fob,” Nathan said.
“If the car survives that, then how about if we all look under the carriage and the hood, to see if anything was planted there,” Jill added. “We'll look like idiots to the traffic going by, but I'd rather appear dumb than dead.”
They backed so far away that the key fob didn't register so Nathan moved closer to hit the button. He did and nothing happened. He repeated several more times with car honking to acknowledge it was locked, followed by the doors unlocking. Then they were all flat on the pavement looking under the car and they didn't see anything. Finally Nathan opened the door and unlocked the hood where they found nothing unusual.
“If anyone was watching us from any windows around here I'm sure we've been labeled with the title 'Crazy Americans',” Marie said with a grin.
“Like Jill said, better to be dumb than dead,” Angela added smiling.
Twenty minutes later they turned into a driveway to a winery. Jill's first thought was 'this is better than California'. A couple came out of a building as Nathan parked the car. He performed introductions and Jill found herself kissing the cheeks of Giacomo and Carmela Milo, the owners of the winery.
The winery was beautiful. There was a field of grapevines with leaves turning into fall colors leading up to the base of Mount Etna. A Mediterranean building housed their wine barrel room and grape processing area. They had a small tasting room with bottles on the shelf for tasting. Angela stood looking at the scenery in front of her, thinking about what Nathan said he wanted to capture in the wine label and marketing materials. She could work with this landscape. She took her photographer's bag from the trunk. After a conversation in English with Giacomo and Carmella searching for English words and Angela helping, they determined that Jill and Marie would settle at an outdoor picnic table where they would have internet access from the winery as well as wine and cheese at their leisure. Nathan and Angela would meet with the owners and then Angela would roam finding the photography angles she needed. The Milos had planned to serve them lunch after Nathan and Angela finished their work. Angela informed the Milos she also wanted pictures of them in their vineyard, barrel room and next to the vines. Later that afternoon Carmelo made a Sicilian lunch consisting of fish, pasta, salad, and more wine. They were all ready for a nap after the relaxing hours at the vin
eyard.
They were getting ready to open their car doors when Jill asked offhandedly, “Giacomo, Carmella, you didn't by chance meet this man?” while holding out a picture.
They looked at the picture and then at each other before Carmela said, “Yes, he stopped by our winery one day and purchased a few bottles. I remember because it was a slow day and he seemed so kind and interested in our wines. It's rare that we get Americans here by themselves. They usually travel in groups.”
“Did he say why he was in the area or where else he visited in Sicily?” Jill asked urgently. Then Angela took over and had a detailed conversation with the couple while she took notes. Jill was dying to know what was said, but she knew Angela would get more detail out of them in their native language rather than Jill questioning them in English. A person's language was always richer when it was their first language.
Angela ended the conversation and they piled into the car to head off. Melissa sent an email with businesses related to charges on her father's credit card while Jill and Marie had worked at the picnic table, and now they had a new itinerary of cities to visit based on those receipts. While Nathan set his GPS to head to the first location, Jill leaned over the front seat anxious to hear what Angela had discussed with the Milos.
“He spent about two hours tasting their wines and purchased a case to be shipped back home. He doesn't speak Italian, so their conversation was slow and comical as each of them searched for the right words or gestures to indicate what they meant. They asked him if he was on vacation in Sicily, and he said no it was a business trip, but he'd built in leisure time. He said he manufactured natural vitamins, lotions and potions and he was looking for raw materials.
“They asked him if he was looking for olive oil and Randy said yes. A little later in their conversation they spoke of honey and again Randy was interested.”
“I wonder if he was interested in olive oil or bee products to meditate with or just with curiosity as to what other businesses were doing on this island?” Marie questioned.
Jill nodded, “Good question. Was he passionate about their substances or just professionally curious.”
“Yes I wondered at the Milos replies as olive oil and honey are found everywhere and I had oldenlandia adscensions in the back of my mind. I asked a few more questions but couldn't get any more clarity on the topic, but their guess was professional curiosity. Of course, they said it was an intense conversation as they had to work so hard to understand each other and they can't always translate the behavior of non-Sicilians.”
“So their conversation is helpful to our case, but not helpful,” Jill surmised.
“Except they added one more thing, he asked about that notice on the tasting room's door – the one that says they don't pay protection money to the mafia. Giacomo said maybe a third of their conversation was devoted to that subject which they thought unusual. Most people are like Nathan, they ask about the notice, and then the conversation moved on beyond the mafia once they explain their situation on the island. That was also why Randy was so memorable as it was an unusual conversation.”
“Hmmm,” Jill said.
“That's not good news,” added Marie. “I don't want to face that group. They'll follow us back to Wisconsin. We'll never get rid of them if we hit their radar screen.”
“Ladies, we're coming upon the first business on your list. I've not noticed anyone following us this time. I'm going to find parking.”
All three women turned their attention to the rear window of the car as though to verify the absence of a car following them, as Nathan came to a stop.
Chapter 13
“We haven't seen the woman in the sedan since that last small town. Either it was random bad luck that she was following us from Catania and heading to roughly the same destination or she's placed a tracker on our car and knows where we've been,” Jill said. “Nathan or Angela can you call the Milos later to see if anyone stops by this afternoon to question them about us? A little paranoia on my part will help keep us safe.”
Marie, Angela, and Nathan all gave her a silent facial gesture suggesting she was perhaps too late to look out for their safety.
“Okay guys, you're right that we seem to be dragged into dangerous situations before I ever give you a chance to say you don't want to be there. This time it's Marie's fault as she brought the case to us!”
“True,” Marie agreed. “We could call Melissa up and say we think the mafia might be involved and we're going to leave the case to the authorities.”
“No!” came three replies from her colleagues.
“I need to go back to the winery in two days to go over my plans with them,” Nathan said.
“I know Randy on behalf of our community and I think we need to solve his murder,” Angela said.
They were standing on the sidewalk next to car during this last conversation, Jill spread her arms for a group hug, “I want to solve this case as we're eons ahead of the Italian police. We're needed here. Marie, you could fly to Rome and be close-by, but safe and still help us.”
“I'm good, I was just doing a gut-check with you guys and I got my answers,” she said with a smile as they all leaned out of the hug. “Let's go question this store where Randy made a purchase.”
Walking down the street, they found a pharmacy that sold products for colds and other ailments that also contained a fairly large section devoted to honey and bee pollen products. Angela was the lead in all of their interviews as she was the best at gleaming information from people and she had the added advantage of speaking Italian.
Nathan stayed outside watching for their mysterious sedan. Marie was hunting for a new lip balm among the bee products and Jill was looking for an anti-nausea product that wouldn't make her sleepy as she'd forgotten to pack her carsickness medication before leaving for Italy. Jill and Marie approached the cashier as Angela was winding down her conversation with her. They paid for their products and left, choosing not to say anything until they were once again in the car.
“She remembered him as he'd asked so many questions about the bee pollen products that the pharmacist had to come from behind the counter to answer. He wasn't there today, but will be tomorrow morning, so I think we'll have to come back. The clerk either couldn't hear their conversation or was too polite to share information with strangers – I couldn't tell.”
“So maybe he was after a bee pollen product?” Jill suggested. “Marie, can you check with Brenda to see if she remembers any product conversations around bee pollen?”
“Sure.”
“Are bees different in Sicily?” Nathan asked.
Angela had been doing bee research during the discussion and said, “The most common honey bee for global beekeepers are Italian bees. A website lists their pluses and minuses and that they're popular in the United States. However, if we already have Italian bees, why would Randy Chen need to go to Sicily for bee pollen?”
“And are Sicilian bees different from mainland Italy bees?” Jill asked.
“I don't see the answer to your question here, but I'm guessing there's no difference.”
“Brenda said the company has bee pollen products already and perhaps Randy was just exploring growing techniques or a variety of products made from pollen.”
“That's sort of my feeling about bee pollen – the market seems saturated so why would Randy Chen be so excited over such an ordinary product,” Jill said.
“Remember though we thought he might be looking at oldenlandia adscensions and that's another overdone product,” Angela said.
“Okay let's move on to the next location. If I recall from our internet search, it's an olive oil retailer,” Jill said giving Nathan the address for his GPS.
“Currently Randy's company sells olive oil in their retail stores, but it is someone else's brand. His company does not manufacture olive oil for retail sales,” Marie said.
“So maybe he's thinking of expanding into olive oil, but since he already has it in his retail stor
es, you wonder about his excitement and passion for a new product,” Angela said. “It doesn't feel like a product worth meditating on. Olive oil is used for cooking as it's a better fat than many other things, but I've never heard of taking an olive oil capsule for a body ailment. Have you?”
“No, but I'll do a search later just to verify. I recall reading about studies on lowering cholesterol with extra virgin olive oil, but again there's lots of olive oil in the world and Italian trees aren't special, and Mr. Chen can't grow olive trees in Wisconsin to make his own olive oil from scratch. I could see him purchasing generic olive oil and bottling it as his own, but that's not a revolutionary product,” Jill said. “I guess all we can do at this location is to ask about his conversation with the store owner.”
“Okay while Angela asks questions, I'm shopping for olive oil,” Marie said.
“I'll stay outside with Nathan and watch our surroundings.”
Twenty minutes later they were all back in the car, Jill and Nathan having observed the sedan pass by once.
It was time to head back to their apartment as the next receipt to chase after was in a town on the other side of Mount Etna and by the time they got there, the business might no longer be open.
“I just remembered I included a scanner in my autopsy case now, and so when we get home I want to scan this car. I'm worried that we saw the woman driving the sedan car. This was our third stop in a different town, how would she know where we are? I don't believe in coincidence in this case,” Jill said.
“I agree with you,” Nathan said glancing at the rear view mirror. “We'll start checking the car every time we start it.”
There was silence in the car as everyone digested the worry about the woman driver. None of them believed it was an accident.
Jill broke the silence with, “Did you learn anything from the olive oil proprietor?”
“The owner remembers Randy, but said he seemed interested in learning about the olive oil they sold and nothing more despite my approaching the question from multiple directions. So this visit was a dead end,” Angela said.
