by Alec Peche
“Go ahead detective,” Melissa said promising herself she would pay attention to the phone conversation despite the muddle she could feel in her brain.
“As you know, we have opened an inquiry into your father's death. In Italy, that inquiry is managed by a prosecutor.”
Melissa couldn't resist, “Does he or she have any experience investigating murders?”
Melissa heard a sigh on the other end of the line and then Sara said, "Yes, as you may have read in the news, we have been engaged in a battle to prosecute the mafioso on the island of Sicily. They are the source of much of the crime that riddles this island, including many of the murders.”
“Are you saying that the Mafia is involved in my father's death?"
"No. No this is not to say that they might be involved in your father's death, rather prosecutor Lombardo has experience with murder investigations.”
“Are you working with Dr. Quint and her team?”
“That is in part why I am calling you. It came to our attention today that she was likely following up with businesses where your father shopped. She had information that we don't have, and we thought that perhaps you provided her with that information.”
“Yes, she asked me for a copy of his purchases made in Italy over the past year. I provided her with a list this morning.”
This phone conversation wasn't going well, Sara thought. They were so used to operating in a certain way in Italy, that when faced with a crime against a tourist they did expand their horizons to try new levels of inquiry. Why hadn't her team thought of asking the family for records of Italian purchases? How could she get the investigation back on track with this grieving family member of the victim?
“Dr. Quint and her team seem very qualified and on the ball. We should have thought of asking you for that same information. Instead we filed police requests with your father's telephone and credit card companies. As you can imagine, that's a much slower process to gain information. I would propose that at your convenience via telephone or email that we set up regular communication with you in the near future both to keep you abreast of what's going on and for us to explore the information you may readily have rather than the slower process of our legal channels. Is that acceptable to you, Ms. Chen?”
Melissa Chen was rolling her eyes on the other end of the phone. The Italian police officer's language was so formal. She supposed it was because English was not her first language.
"All I want is my father's murder solved, and his killer put in an Italian jail for the remainder of his life. If supplying you with information gets you to my goal faster, then I'd be happy to cooperate. I'm in the midst of funeral arrangements and estate planning. There's also the six-hour time difference. It would be more convenient for me to communicate by email. I check my email at least once an hour, so you'll get a fairly swift response from me unless it's the middle of the night.”
“Thank you, Ms. Chen. Let me tell you what we're working on,” Sara said and she proceeded to speak to investigating the transportation method of getting her father's body to the Mount Etna crater.
By the end of the phone call, Sara received an email from Melissa with the same purchase list that she had already provided to Jill.
Once they ended the call, Sara emailed Rosso and Lombardo with the details of the phone conversation and a copy of the purchases list. She went to work studying the list. Unlike Jill and her team, because Sara knew the island intimately, the names of the businesses and the cities that those businesses were located, it formed a pattern in her mind. She printed a map of Sicily and began making notations of the purchases in the various cities. She thought she noticed a pattern and it wasn't what she expected.
It appeared that while Randy Chen often stayed around the Catania area, he had a pattern of expenditures in the west area of the island. She drew an oblong circle with the city of Corleone on the east, Sambuca to the south, Santa Margherita to the west, and San Giuseppe Jato to the north. It was curious that he had so many purchases in this area of the island. Some of the inland towns were dying as the population moved away to the bigger cities of Sicily or for the mainland of Italy. Yes the towns were quaint, but there wasn't enough tourism to keep the residents employed. Why would he concentrate on this part of the island? Why didn't he stay in Palermo, which was so much closer to his area of interest than Catania? And just what was his area of interest?
She knew that he was an inventor of natural products to solve mankind's ills. She didn't know much about the fauna and flora of her island. Biology had not been a strong subject for her in school. Still she reasoned that likely different plants grew in these inland areas compared to the coast. She looked at the map again and decided that the whole area that he traced the route of several times was about 1,600 kilometers. That was a lot of acreage to be looking for a unique plant growing therein.
She felt a tingling in the back of her memory about something in this area. She closed her eyes and tried to recall what she had heard concerning this region. Nothing was coming to her, so next she tried the names of each of the four cities, concentrating. Again, nothing. Besides the four cities she traced on a map, there were perhaps another fifty to seventy communes in the area. Where could she start on trying to limit their area of focus?
Chapter 17
Jill opened the door to Jo and a hug. Jo ran the gauntlet of friends for hugs to find Nathan waiting with a glass of wine and a hug at the end. Jill pulled her luggage in from the hallway and wheeled it to the empty bedroom waiting for Jo. Marie introduced her sister to Jo. They had crossed paths some time at home in Wisconsin, but neither could remember when.
After a quick tour of the apartment, she flopped on the sofa, took a sip of the wine and said, “Whew! That was a long day of travel to have me here in person. I hope I give our client her money's worth.”
“I explained that most of your work was on the internet, but this island feels like a step back in time, so maybe we'll find an actual hand-written ledger for you to peruse,” Jill said.
“If you do, I would suggest that it's likely a scam by itself to keep a hand-written ledger in today's computer age. Hey Angela, how was the wedding? Was Mackenzie a beautiful bride? Was the wedding wonderful?”
“She was a beautiful bride. In fact after we're done discussing the case, I'll show you all the pictures. I got a new gadget for my camera that allows me to project the pictures onto a screen, so we'll just sit back with wine and Nathan's good food and watch the show.”
“That sounds great. I'm amazed that a technophobe like yourself would make such a purchase. Could you also show me the pictures you took at the winery today? It would inspire me to see those pictures,” Nathan said.
“There's a camera shop at home with people to help me make purchases like this and show me how to use it. It's come in real handy with the wedding. I showed the pictures the next morning to Mackenzie and her family and they were all in tears with the beauty of the wedding captured by the photographs.”
“So what’s the latest on the case? I distantly knew Randy Chen as I keep an eye out for local business leaders. I crossed paths with him over the years. I don’t actually recall chatting with him, but what a terrible way to die and so far from home,” Jo said relaxing on the sofa. “Have you guys eaten dinner yet?”
“Nathan’s cooking for us and we were waiting for you to arrive before he started preparing,” Jill said. “As for what’s new on the case, step on over to the wall and we’ll all give you an update. We’re meeting with the police tomorrow at 9:30 in the morning to discuss our findings and they’ll discuss their findings.”
“You just missed Lieutenant Rosso’s visit to the apartment and so we’ve been invited to the police station tomorrow to discuss findings with the State Police, the Carabinieri, and their prosecutor,” Marie added with a grin.
“Somehow there’s more to that story than you’re telling me, Marie. What’s on the menu, Nathan?”
“I have fresh fish and vegetabl
es from the local market here as well as some pasta,” Nathan added. “You’re in for a treat, the fish is fabulous here.”
“Actually I’ve never had a bad meal from you, so I’m sure it will be splendid. What can I help with?”
Jo spent a few minutes listening to what they had found so far on the case asking questions along the way.
“So we don’t have a motive for Randy’s death yet?” Jo asked looking for nods of agreement which she received. “So maybe I can help with the motive. Randy’s death from what you have said doesn’t sound like a crime of passion. We have no evidence that any family member or ex-wife had anything less than a cordial relationship with him, right?”
Again she got nods from her friends.
“In my mind that leaves two other motives - money or professional jealousy. I’m not sure how to run down the professional jealousy angle. That would have to be someone with insider knowledge of what Randy Chen was trying to develop or just someone jealous of the professional success of Randy’s company.”
Again everyone gave Jo a nod that they were following along with her reasoning.
“Let’s go back to how the murder was carried out. Chloroform was used to knock him out and his body was moved by someone that had in-depth knowledge of Sicily. You would have to know the weather of Sicily, the location of the crater, and the means to find a way to transport his body to the crater.”
Jo paused in her line of thinking to assure herself that everyone was following along with her.
“So I would conclude from all of those ‘clues’ that Randy’s murderer is from this island and he was murdered to stop him from bringing this new product to market. It’s the only motive that makes sense to my sleep deprived brain.”
Jill agreed with Jo’s reasoning, but her mind was going to the next logical step. How did they figure out what the product was that Randy Chen had his eye on? Clearly someone on the island had been alerted to Randy’s interest, but how?
“I agree with everything you’ve said Jo and thanks for putting it so succinctly. Any suggestions on figuring out what the product was or who on this island didn’t want Randy to develop it?”
“Yes, that’s the ten-million dollar question,” Marie agreed. “We’ve been interviewing merchants where Randy made purchases but so far have come up with only a bottle of olive oil.”
“How about if we ask the question of why would someone not want Randy to commercialize a product here? Did someone want to protect the environment - was Randy planning on cutting down a forest for his product? Or did someone fear being overrun with people from Randy’s company that would harvest this product? Or did they want to harvest the product themselves and use it as Randy planned or did it have another use?”
“This island has little industry and is the poorest region of Italy so I can’t see that people would not want a future revenue stream. Randy’s company is known for making environmentally sustainable products, so I don’t think that would be a reason. Jill, don’t many plants have multiple uses depending on their strength? Perhaps at one strength, a plant helps prevent blood clots, but at another strength you bleed to death? Wasn’t Viagra developed for some heart ailment, but then company investigators discovered its use for men?” Angela said.
“Yes that happens with many drugs, but not so much with a natural substance although there are instances where that happens,” Jill said.
Nathan had been listening to their conversation as he chopped herbs for the fish marinade he was making, so he called out, “How about Customs? Would Randy have had to take a plant back to his laboratory in Wisconsin to do some testing of a plant and wouldn’t U.S. Customs have records of him declaring such a plant? I’ve known clients that have to get special paperwork to import grape vines for their wineries, so I would think it would be the same for Randy Chen’s company’s purposes.”
Jill was struck by what a brilliant man Nathan could be at the exact right moment.
“Sweetie, you are so brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that? Let’s look up how you get an export certificate from Italy that the United States will accept. I know that you have to prove your live plant is free from bugs and diseases to import. Brenda, can you have someone look through the company records for such documentation? I wish I knew someone in the Customs department to get that information from them, but maybe our police resources can run that down for us.”
“I might be able to help with the customs contact as our company imports its fair share of plant substances,” Brenda said, excitement in her voice that she could make a difference in the investigation of the death of her boss. She had felt so far that she contributed little, but maybe this latest detail might be the missing information they were looking for. She took out her cell phone with the intent of making a call to the company back in the states.
Angela had been looking up how someone gained an agriculture export certificate in Italy.
Jo was satisfied with her contribution to the investigation though it hadn’t been in the financial realm which was her usual area of expertise.
Marie was taking to social media to see what people were saying online about exporting plants from Italy.
Jill wrote down Jo’s comment about chloroform. Specifically she wanted to question the police about how a citizen went about obtaining that substance in Italy. Sicily might still use a chemical sister of chloroform for refrigeration and that might be the local supply, but she would check during their meeting tomorrow.
Nathan could be heard chopping additional substances for dinner and he called out, “Dinner will be ready in about thirty minutes and I have another range of wines for tasting tonight once we’ve eaten. Jo, we’re trying to help Jill discern if she can grow and bottle the Nero d’Avola grape.”
“I think I’ll enjoy helping Jill with wine tasting as much as I enjoy finding a criminal on one of her cases!”
“So to bring a plant into the United States, the plant or plants have to come with a certificate from the country of origin that certifies the plant is free of pests,” Angela said looking up at the group. “I’ll find who issues such a certificate in Sicily. Brenda, on your end, maybe someone in your warehouse received a package from Sicily. Randy Chen was keeping this new product so low key, that perhaps only his warehouse and a chemist that tested the plant knew about it. I also wonder if a private company tested it and Randy paid for on his own account rather than the company’s?”
“We can check the credit card statements from Melissa. She sent us everything and not just what was purchased in Italy, right?” Marie said.
“Yes she did,” Jill said. “Thanks Jo, your line of reasoning on this case gives us a jump start on new stuff to research tonight. Let’s split up the receipts among the five of us and each take three months to search for a potential receipt from a plant analysis firm. Of course he could have paid for the service with the company’s account and Brenda, someone is researching that back home in Wisconsin right?” She saw Brenda nod in an affirmative. “Let’s try the personal account on our end.”
Once they divided the months of receipts up, there was silence in the room except for the occasional clacking of computer keys. They were all deep in research when Nathan called out, “Dinner’s ready and I’ve already plated everything. Step up to the table, ladies.”
There was a quick scramble as they noted where they were in their research followed by finding a seat at the table to ‘ooh’ and ‘ah’ over Nathan’s feast.
“Not that I’m not grateful, but is there dessert? Just trying to pace myself,” Jo said with a grin.
“Not really in the traditional American sense. There’s gelato in the freezer, fresh fruit and cheese, or biscotti, but there’s also the after dinner wine. So I’ve chosen to serve you ladies lemon water with your dinner.”
“Thank you, Nathan, this is wonderful. It’s like we hired our own personal chef in Sicily,” Angela said as she said a quick silent prayer over her meal.
Everyone else chipped in
with compliments, and Jill leaned over to Nathan for a kiss in thanks of the beautiful meal and thanks for being allowed to work on the case while he took meals off her hands.
Once everyone was sated and caught up on each other lives, Jill proposed a break for an after dinner walk and they soon set off on a walk around Catania. It was great to enjoy the fresh air and see the evening activity of the Duomo area.
Back at the apartment, Jill took a look at Jo and decided she was handling her jet-lag well and so they started on the flights of wine while viewing first Angela’s pictures of the wedding and then the ones she shot earlier that day of the winery. After they finished with both the wine and pictures, Jo called it a night. Jill and the remainder of the team were anxious to see if they could find a receipt that would lead them somewhere in this case.
Brenda looked up from her phone and said, “There’s no record of any plant arriving at our warehouse from Sicily in the past two years. Maybe Randy sent the plant directly to the chemist?”
“That makes me even more eager to find a payment among his personal account,” Jill said.
“Wouldn’t this kind of analysis be a purchase of several thousand dollars?” Marie asked. “I don’t know what a chemist does, but it doesn’t sound cheap. Perhaps we should concentrate on expenditures that were over a thousand?”
“I do my own plant testing, so I don’t know the cost either, but I had to buy expensive equipment to carry out that testing so I would agree with your suggestion that we’re looking for a bill of several thousand, or maybe multiple bills of five-hundred or greater. With that narrowing, that eliminates three-quarters of my receipts. Let’s try Marie’s suggestion.
“Bingo!” called out Angela. “I have two receipts for Central Wisconsin Analysis Lab.”
