Icily calm he said to him, "Your daughter has been examined by a gynaecologist, and as you can imagine, it is evident that she has given birth to a child fairly recently."
The man said nothing, so he continued, "Where is that child now?"
"You know."
"Yes, I do, and it is a miracle that a baby was able to survive what you did to it."
"I didn't lay a finger on it, I just put it with the rubbish because that's what it was, and my daughter is a whore. I kept her in the house for her own good, so she wouldn't go out whoring again."
"So you did nothing wrong."
"Not by my reckoning."
"You will be charged both for imprisoning and causing grievous bodily harm to your daughter, and for abandoning your grandchild on a freezing cold morning. It could well have died. Don’t you care?”
“No, I don’t. I didn’t kill it, did I?”
“If your wife can be persuaded, I will also have you charged with causing her grievous bodily harm."
"That cow. She's a stupid bitch that can't keep her mouth shut. All she had to do was do what I told her to. It's her fault all this happened, allowing my daughter to go out whoring. She knows what can happen these days. I said we should keep Grazia home, but no, she wanted her to go to school and get herself an education, and go to parties like the rest of them, and look what happened! She's got a lot to blame herself for."
"But you have nothing with which to blame yourself."
"No, I tried to make it come right. I got rid of the baby, and kept my daughter in the house, out of mischief."
"I see." He turned to the man who was sitting beside him in horrified silence. "Maresciallo, would you take this man and formally charge him, and get him out of here as soon as possible. Send him down to Lucca this afternoon."
"I'd be delighted. They'll love to have him down there. I expect his reputation will precede him, and they'll be ready to give him a warm welcome."
"You both think you're better than me, but let me tell you that it's not easy trying to bring up a girl these days. No one's got any morals anymore. I did my best to bring her up to be a decent God-fearing woman, and she behaved like a whore. In some countries she would be stoned to death, did you know that?"
"Take him away, for God's sake, before I lose control."
The Maresciallo grabbed Matteo Rossi by one arm and jerked him out of the room. di Girolamo sat down shaking with anger, and wondering how someone could possibly have perverted the dogma of Christianity to such an extent that attempted murder was better than the shame of a whoring daughter.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Mrs. Rossi sat head bowed in an interview room. When Di Girolamo came in, she looked at him hopelessly.
"Signora Rossi, your husband has been arrested, and will be taken down to Lucca."
"Oh."
"I want you have a medical examination, because if you can prove that you acted as you did, under the threat of violence, then things will go better for you."
"You don't know what it was like. I’ve been married to him for eighteen years, and I hardly ever leave the house. Alone never. He does all the shopping, and I stay home and look after my family. Matteo says that a woman's place is in the home. It wasn't so bad when Grazia was little, but then she grew up, and I took her side against him. He gets very angry if I ever try to go against him, and he hits me. I wanted something different for Grazia. I wanted for her to have an education, and I fought for her to have friends, to be like all the other girls and I paid for it, and look what has happened. It was all for nothing." She bent her head and wept quietly.
"It takes courage to go against your husband."
"Yes, and I didn't have enough. I tried to stop him from taking the baby, but he hurt me so bad, I couldn't even walk. He stayed with her all through the labour shouting, ‘whore’, at her, and he wouldn't let her have a doctor. She bled so much, and he kicked her in the belly while she was in labour. Do you understand now what sort of man he is? I couldn't do anything."
"And afterwards?"
"We had some sleeping pills, and he used those in her drinking water, so she didn't have the strength to do anything."
"Why didn't you call for help when he went to work?"
"He locked me up too. He came home at lunch time, let me out to cook some pasta and then locked me up again till five when he came back."
"What about your relatives, it was Christmas, what did they think? Someone must have noticed."
"He made me phone and say that we all had flu, and that it was best we didn't see each other because his brother's got a little grandson, and he's only a baby." She started crying again. "Will they let me see Grazia, I love her so much; she's all I've got."
"I don't know Signora Rossi, but I'll find out."
When Marco Rossi came in at lunch-time, the news had already broken, and spread like a bush fire; his brother had been arrested. His niece Grazia had given birth to an illegitimate child and his brother had thrown the baby away. His niece was in hospital, at death's door. His wife told him all this in one breath, and then added, "I knew something wasn't right, and so would you have done if you hadn't been so busy sniffing around that English sow like a rutting pig."
"Renata, for God's sake, don't start now. My brother is in prison and all you can think about is some silly idea you've got in to your head. "
His wife, a strong, square lady of his own age, with grey hair tied back into a neat bun, had a pugnacious look and attacked him verbally, "Listen to me, you animal. I know you've had the hots for her ever since you started working there, so don't give me any of your lies. Right? I shouldn't think someone like her would be interested in a man of your sort anyway. You're just making a fool of yourself, at your age too! Do you know, I can't believe that Matteo is your brother. The one is all church and morality, and the other likes to think he's a stud."
"Shut up, you bitch."
"How are we going to hold our heads up after this? Your brother in prison, and that poor little baby thrown away with the trash. I always said Matteo wasn't quite right in the head, and as for Pia, well she must be mad too. Why didn't she stop him?"
"Renata, don't you realise that she does what he says. She's not like you, you know. She's frightened of him, never goes out, she's probably frightened of her own shadow."
"Poor old Pia; what'll happen to her?"
"How should I know? You're the one with all the information."
"I don't know anything. Who would have ever thought that little Miss Prim and Proper would have got herself knocked up. I wonder who it was got into her knickers? I didn't know she had a boyfriend."
"She was probably too frightened to tell her parents. That's not important. You know as well as I do that nowadays it's common enough; look at our own daughter."
"True, but we faced it and saw that the kids got a good start in life. It wasn't so very different was it? I mean she got pregnant too, though she was a bit older, nearly eighteen but the court let them marry, and we saw that she finished school. If she could sit through lessons with a great big belly, so could his daughter. What's wrong with Matteo that he behaved like that?"
"I don't know."
Grazia Rossi opened her eyes and said, "Where's my baby?" A nurse moved forwards and stroked her forehead. "Shush dear, don't fret. Your baby is fine." She pressed the buzzer to summon the doctor.
The girl looked around her, took in her surroundings and asked, "What happened?"
"The doctor will be along shortly, and he'll talk to you."
"Will they give me my baby? I want my baby." She began to cry, and the nurse stood aside as the doctor entered the room accompanied by the resident psychiatrist. The nurse left the room and closed the door carefully behind her.
Miranda got a phone call from Hilary in the afternoon, and was at once relieved and horrified.
"You mean it was true?"
"I'm afraid so."
"Well, that's wonderful, sorry, I don't mean that at all. Of
course it's terrible about the poor girl, but I 'm so relieved about mother. You see it means that Belle is fine; she did remember."
"I understand. That's why I wanted to let you know. I expect she'll be relieved too. "
"Yes. I can't wait to tell her. Thank you so much, Hilary, for letting me know. You can't imagine what a difference this makes. Tell me all about it. I mean who was the girl?"
Hilary explained, and Miranda said, "My goodness, what a terrible story."
"Yes, isn't it. Well, please give my love to your mother, and say we hope to see her soon."
Krishna heard the news at the bar that evening. He had been at Pisa all day, and got back late. After supper, he had gone out for a coffee and found that the whole town was abuzz with the news of Matteo Rossi's arrest. His daughter, Grazia Rossi, had had an illegitimate baby, and her father had thrown it away, and locked her up in the house. She was in the hospital dying. The rumours grew more dramatic with each repetition. The evening news at eight had given it headline status, without naming the girl, who was a minor and therefore only mentioned by her initials, G.R. Everyone in town knew who she was, but no one was telling the journalists, and even if they had, the journalists would have been unable to print the name. The baby, little Lucia who now had a mother, was said to be doing well. He sipped his coffee and listened to everything, and then made his decision; tomorrow he would go to the police. He had something important to say, and whereas before he had been guessing, now he was certain that he was right.
Marco Rossi didn't go out that evening, and he and his family tried to decide what to do about his brother, Matteo. After much discussion, they decided they would cut him off, but try to help his daughter as much as they could.
"Do you think they'll let us see her?" asked his daughter Pamela, clasping her six month old baby tightly to her.
"I hope so. She's done nothing wrong, and I want the police to know that she can come to us as soon as she's well enough," replied her mother, Renata.
"When I think about that poor little baby, I feel quite ill," said Pamela with tears in her eyes. "Do you think they'll let her keep Lucia."
"I should hope so. It wasn't her fault all this happened , and if we can prove that she has a good home to come to then surely they’ll let them be together." said her mother.
Pamela's husband, Davide, said, "I wonder who the father is? I should think he will want to have some say in what happens to Lucia. I know I would if it were my daughter."
"Yes, well, you're a different kettle of fish. You were mature enough to stand by your woman. Whoever he is he's being very backward about coming forward. What kind of a man is he, leaving that poor girl to face things alone?" Marco was angry.
"Maybe she didn't tell him, Dad. She's one of those quiet secretive types. Maybe she doesn't love him."
"Maybe so, but when I get my hands on him, he'll know about it."
"Oh come on, Dad, I bet you she didn't tell him."
"Yeah, maybe it was a brief affair, and she didn't find out till it was over, and then it was too late to say anything," said Marco's nephew, Alessandro.
"That would be just typical of Grazia. She's really the 'still waters run deep' type," replied Pamela
"Maybe she wanted her Dad to get rid of it, maybe she asked him to. There's been lot's of cases of girls doing that, throwing their babies in the trash bin, and pretending they didn't ever have a baby," suggested her husband.
"Don't Davide, she would never do that. I can't believe she would want that. Not Grazia."
"Don't get all upset dear or your milk will dry up. You must keep calm," said her mother.
"That's not easy. I can hardly bear to think about it, and then to hear you, Davide, talking like that, well, I don't understand you sometimes."
"Sorry. You're right, I'm sure she wanted her baby, but he took it away. Anyway the important thing is that she can have a home here if she wants it."
His mother in law chimed in," I don't know about if she wants it, she's a minor, so she'll be doing what the courts want. That's where the decisions are made."
"True, but we'll offer, and then maybe they'll decide she can."
"What about her mother?" asked Pamela
"What about her?" replied her mother, "She's a poor fish, is Pia. She didn't protect her daughter so that doesn't make her much of a mother in my eyes."
"Oh, come on Renata, you know perfectly well that she was frightened to death of him. She's not strong like you," said Marco.
"Even so, it's only human nature for a mother to protect her children, even animals do it. Our cat nearly died fighting off a dog that walked too near her kittens. It's nature."
"I would kill to protect my child," said Pamela hugging the sleepy baby. I will never let anything happen to him." She planted a kiss on the top of his head.
"So would anyone normal," pronounced Renata, glaring at her husband.
"Don't look at me like that." He shouted. "It's not my fault my brother isn't normal. I want nothing more to do with him. It's as though he was dead. Any man who could do that to his daughter, lock her up and leave her to nearly die of infection is an unnatural father. I always thought he loved her too much, the way he wouldn't let her out of his sight, but it seems I was wrong. He's always been peculiar, but this is criminal. To kill your family, or almost, when you should be ready to die to protect them! And him so religious too! I hope they put him away for the rest of his life. I don't ever want to see him again." He got up and left the room, and they heard him clumping upstairs to bed.
With unusual perspicacity his daughter said, "Uncle Matteo is so peculiar he probably thought he was protecting his family."
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Krishna Hope sat waiting in the corridor. It was early, and neither Dr. Di Girolamo nor the Maresciallo had arrived. He had insisted on being allowed to wait for them. He wasn't giving his precious information to anyone else. He had slept badly, and got up before the rest of his family, sneaking out of the house like a criminal.
Suddenly a door opened, and Antonio Valdese came in flanked by two policemen in uniform. He stared at Krishna, his pale eyes bulging, and his flabby lower lip trembling, then he was taken into a room, and a faint murmur of voices was audible. Di Girolamo and Maresciallo Bagioni came in, and walked past Krishna without giving any sign of recognition. At the same moment, phones began ringing, as though they had only been waiting for the arrival of the men in charge to burst into noisy life. Doors opened and closed, policeman came and went, and shortly afterwards Antonio was brought out, hustled along the corridor and into di Girolamo's room. Half an hour later Antonio came out again looking tearful, and disgusting, like a fat overgrown baby. Then Alessio Pinucci was brought along and disappeared into the same room. He didn't look at Krishna when he passed by, but kept his eyes firmly on the floor, pretending not to see him. After Alessio had been taken away again, a middle-aged woman was accompanied to the room, and stayed for over half an hour.
In all Krishna waited for over an hour and a half, before the door opened and. Di Girolamo's voice barked out, "Krishna Hope, come in please," He rose from his seat and went in.
Amanda, James and Alexander sat with Hilary at the breakfast table. It was nine thirty, and they all had fresh bread rolls that had just been delivered by the bread van.
"Anyone want more coffee?" asked Alex brandishing the coffee pot.
"No," they all said in chorus. "Good, I was only being polite, now I can drink what's left myself."
He poured his third cup from the giant Neapolitan coffee pot, and liberally buttered a second roll. "Pass the marmalade, Amanda, I know there's two of you, but you seem to be hogging all the food, I've only got two rolls, and I'm sure you've had at least three if not more."
"Liar, take the marmalade, and shut up. I have only had two rolls like everyone else."
James looked at them sternly, "Don't bicker." he said.
"Where's the great detective," asked Alex.
"At work. He
left at seven thirty."
"How many hours does he put in then?" asked Amanda.
"It varies. At the moment he's away a lot, because of these murders," replied Hilary
"So you're alone quite a lot."
"I suppose so."
"So you'll be bringing up the baby on your own, basically."
"I suppose so."
"Sorry to ask you this again, but are you really sure you want to do this Ma? I mean you're not getting any younger, and you know it won't be easy."
"Amanda, I have already told you all, that I know it won't be easy, and I know I'll be alone a lot, but I do want to do it."
"Do you know that you'll be a old age pensioner when the child is my age," said Alex.
"Would you care much if I were an old age pensioner now? What difference would it make to you?"
"I don't know."
Amanda looked serious and asked, "Will you be able to come to my wedding?"
"January the fifteenth, you said? Then all I can say is, I expect so. I hope that Ruggero and I can fly over for the weekend."
"What about if Ruggero hasn't solved this case."
"I'm sure he will have done by then, but if not then I'll come alone."
"When will you get married, Ma?" asked Alex.
"Very soon I think, but it will be a simple town hall do, no reception or honeymoon, so no one has to bother about it."
"You don't want us to come?" said Amanda.
"No, not really. You won't have time, and anyway, I want to get married in Ruggero's home town, for his parents. He says they're too old to make the journey, so I thought we could marry there and stay a couple of days with them so that they can see their grandson."
"Do they know about Cosimo?"
"No, not yet. As soon as he can get a day off, Ruggero is going to go there and explain everything. They live north of Florence on a small-holding. He says it's quite isolated, just outside a small village."
The Tuscan Mystery Trilogy Page 68
