Broken Chord

by Margaret Moore

  He set to, eating his pizza with an effort so palpable, that his daughter was moved to ask, “Do your teeth hurt, Papa?”

  “Something like that.”

  Isabella reached across the table and pressed his hand.

  He smiled at her and said, “Sorry, I’m just a bit overwhelmed.”

  “Hardly surprising.”

  The girls finished their pizza in record time and Isabella took them off for a quick shower and bed. “Don’t go away, I’ll be back,” she said softly.

  Left alone, Teo abandoned all pretense of eating and sat staring into the empty air. He was shaken from his reverie by the sound of a car. To his dismay it was Dragonetti, who got out of the car and walked towards him slowly. He was alone.

  “Good evening. I hope I’m not disturbing you.” He took his sunglasses off as he spoke and hooked them into his shirt.

  Teo hadn’t the energy to be angry. He said, “You wouldn’t care if you were. When are you going to leave us in peace?”

  “When I have solved the case and sent the guilty person to trial, not before.”

  “Are you any nearer to that?

  “I think so. Has your sister come back?”

  “No.”

  “I need to know where she is. I want your reassurance that she’s well.”

  “No she isn’t. She’s ill. She won’t be coming back tonight.”

  “I hope it isn’t serious.”

  “I’m afraid it is.”

  “What’s wrong with her?”

  Teo sighed. “It’s pretty awful…” He stopped as Isabella appeared.

  “I thought I heard a car. What’s happened? Have you got him?” she asked anxiously.

  “Your husband was just telling me about his sister.”

  “Oh, yes. He hasn’t filled me in about that yet. The children were here.”

  Tebaldo began to explain. “Well, it seems that Roberto, that’s the boy she was going out with, you know the one who…”

  “I know about Roberto,” said Dragonetti impatiently.

  “Well, it seems that all her plans for marriage were just a fantasy. The doctor told me Roberto never recovered consciousness.” Tebaldo shook his head as though he was still unable to quite take it all in.

  “Yes, I know. I just found out. I wish I’d checked on him earlier.”

  “Oh… did you know? Well then, I suppose you also know he died today.”

  “Yes, I’ve just been informed. I want to know what’s happened to your sister.”

  “Marianna went crazy. She attacked a doctor and had to be sedated. She’s there, at the hospital for now. I expect we’ll transfer her somewhere more suitable tomorrow.”

  “I’m very sorry.”

  “Yes, well, she’s very fragile. I should have foreseen this. Isabella did, didn’t you?”

  “Did you? Why was that?” asked Dragonetti.

  “Well, it was unreal. She was so calm, pretending that nothing touched her. I told Teo I thought she’d have a breakdown and she has.”

  “But she’s been in therapy for the last three years, so surely that would have led you to expect trouble.”

  “Yes, I suppose so, but we’ve all been so affected by these terrible murders ourselves, that I can only say we didn’t truly understand what was wrong with her. You do realize that she’s been going to see Roberto, talking to him for hours every day and living in this make-believe world where he agrees to marry her. It’s pathetic.”

  “Did she go and see him while your mother was alive?” he asked Teo.

  “Only on the last day. Before that she was locked in her bedroom sulking.”

  “Sulking?”

  “Well, Mamma was going to send her on holiday with Aunt Felicity to get her away, in the hope that she would forget all about him.”

  “And I take it she didn’t like the idea.”

  “Not at all, but I agreed with Mamma. The boy was getting her drugs. It wasn’t a healthy relationship. It wasn’t at all suitable. She’s not eighteen yet and well, we felt he was just taking advantage of her.”

  “Despite that, she went to the hospital to see Roberto that day, the day your mother died.”

  Teo looked at him and sighed. “It was a strange day really. Mamma and Guido had that appalling row and Guido was thrown out on his ear so we were all being very careful around her when she came down, and then Marianna called a taxi, cool as you like and went to the hospital. It was as though she’d made a decision.”

  “More an act of rebellion.”

  “She didn’t actually say she’d been there, but Mamma knew alright, you could tell. She didn’t follow it up immediately, because after the row with Guido she had a migraine and she wasn’t up to it. Perhaps that’s why Marianna made a move. She saw how weakened she was and took advantage of it.”

  “And now you were going to send her away.”

  “Yes. It seemed for the best, but as things have turned out it won’t be necessary.”

  “Your sister had quite a deep cut on her arm. They’ve stitched it.”

  “It was an accident.”

  “Was it?”

  Isabella started up angrily. “What are you suggesting, that Teo knifed his sister? You’re mad. He cares about her, that’s why he was going to send her away.”

  “To safety.”

  Teo looked him, “Yes, I wanted her out of all this.”

  “What’s wrong, Tebaldo, don’t you trust yourself to keep your sister safe here?” Dragonetti asked quite gently.

  “No… I, well, everything’s so frightening.”

  “I’m sure it is. No one is what they seem. You don’t know who you can trust. Is that it?”

  “Yes… I just feel that anything could happen. My mother is dead and in that horrible way and then Lapo. They weren’t wonderful people, you know, but they were my family. Now there’s only Marianna left. I don’t want anything else to happen.”

  Dragonetti got up slowly. “And it nearly did, didn’t it, today?”

  Tebaldo looked at the floor and remained silent.

  “I’ll need to see you tomorrow morning in the Procura, Signor von Bachmann, after I’ve spoken to your sister. You’ll have to make another statement. Shall we say at about eleven? I’ll send a car. Don’t try to leave the house tonight and enjoy your pizza.”

  Teo nodded, resigned. “I’ll be there.”

  Isabella looked puzzled. As he left Drago could hear her ask, “Teo, what does he mean?” but he didn’t stay to hear the answer.

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  Early next morning Bruno received a phone call after which he went to meet Dragonetti at the hospital. He parked the car in the visitor’s car park and walked over to the exit where his boss was waiting for him impatiently.

  “What’s going on? Why are we here?” asked Bruno.

  “You’ll see.” They got into the lift and rode it to the top floor.

  “Who are we going to see?”

  “Marianna.”

  “She’s here? Has she had an accident?”

  “No, her fiancé died and she’s had some kind of breakdown.”

  “Then why do you want to see her?”

  “Because she can give me vital information.”

  “They’ll never let you near her.”

  “They will. I’ve spoken to her therapist.”

  They got out of the lift.

  The doctor saw them and moved forward anxiously. “She’s awake. Her therapist says you can see her, but not for long and you mustn’t upset her. He wants to be present.”

  “That’s fine by me.”

  “She’s quite confused, you know. She doesn’t understand anything. Her therapist told me she’s gone back to thinking Roberto’s alive. She asked when he was coming to see her. It must be too painful for her to accept the truth.”

  “Why does she think she’s here?”

  “As far as I know, she didn’t ask.”

  They went into the room. Marianna greeted them with a sleepy smile.


  “Have you come to see me?” she spoke very slowly and softly.

  A man, who had been sitting beside the bed holding Marianna’s hand, rose and introduced himself as her therapist. Jacopo Dragonetti took his chair, sat down by the bed and took her hand in his. “Yes. I’ve come to talk to you.”

  “I’ve only got a small cut.”

  “How did that happen?”

  “It was Teo. I had the knife and he grabbed me, but it doesn’t hurt. I don’t feel very ill, you know.”

  “No, I don’t expect you do, but you’re tired, right?”

  “Yes, I am, very. How did you know?” she sounded surprised.

  “Marianna, I know it’s been hard for you, holding on, trying to come to terms with your mother’s murder and then Lapo’s.”

  “Yes,” she whispered and closed her eyes. There was a lengthy silence. Jacopo looked at the psychiatrist who mouthed, “She’s sedated.”

  “Marianna. Why don’t you let it go now? Tell me about it and you’ll feel much better.” She opened her eyes and looked at him, her eyes heavy with the drugs.

  Jacopo was aware of the doctor again, who had now taken a step towards them.

  “Will it really feel better?” she asked quietly.

  “Yes, some things are too heavy to carry around. You’ve had an awful lot to bear and you’ve done very well, but it’s time to let everything go.”

  “You know, don’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, if you already know…”

  “You have to tell me yourself.”

  “Is that part of the therapy?” she looked over at the doctor who nodded.

  “Tell me.”

  She closed her eyes while she said, “I saw Lapo, he had a knife.

  He was covered in blood.”

  There was a complete silence broken only by Bruno’s sharp intake of breath.

  “Do you know why?”

  She opened her eyes again and said in a puzzled tone, “I think he killed Mamma but you see, he can’t have done because I did, or perhaps that was the dream.”

  “What was the dream, Marianna?”

  “That’s the funny thing, you see, I dreamt I went down to the kitchen and got a knife and I plunged it into her chest, right into her black heart. Then I had to get clean. I had to. I had a shower and I kept thinking they’ll all see the blood. But then I thought it had all been a dream. I couldn’t have really killed Mamma, so I went back to see and the strangest thing happened… I saw Lapo coming out of Mamma’s room and he was covered in blood. You see, he had the knife in his hand. So then I thought that maybe I had wanted to kill Mamma, very much, but he’d done it for me. So I went back to see what he’d done.” She was gabbling now.

  “You went into her room?”

  “I had to know. It was terrible. He was so cruel. You see he really hated her.” She looked at Jacopo to make sure he’d understood.

  “I know he did.”

  “We all did.”

  “You stabbed her in your dream?”

  “That’s what’s so weird. She was asleep and I just put the knife into her chest, it was so easy. She deserved it. I had to do it, I had to punish her. You do understand?”

  She looked directly at him.

  He nodded, not wanting to speak and break into her flow of words.

  “But it must have been Lapo. I thought that I couldn’t have done it, if he’d done it, but there was the blood… on my clothes, so then I wasn’t really sure anymore.”

  “What did you do then?”

  “I had to get everything clean, you see the blood was… all over my clothes, everywhere. I had to throw them away but I couldn’t go out because they’d see me.”

  “Who?”

  “The others. I had to wait.”

  “You took the car. Do you remember?”

  “When I woke up in the morning, I thought it was all a bad dream. You know how sometimes dreams seem so real, but they’re not? I still don’t know. Was it a dream?

  “No.”

  “No, that’s right. You came and told us about Mamma, and I knew that it had really happened but I still couldn’t believe it. You see I still didn’t know whether it was a dream, you know, that I’d seen Lapo, or if he’d really done it and then perhaps I’d dreamt that I’d killed Mamma. Was that what happened, or did I do it and dream about Lapo? It was all so confusing. It’s so confusing. There was so much blood and I had blood on my clothes and so did Lapo and I couldn’t understand…” She was talking fast, and her breathing was rapid. The doctor moved forwards and whispered, “I think that’s enough for now. Surely you’ve got what you wanted.”

  “I need just a few more minutes.” He turned towards Marianna, “What happened with Teo, yesterday? Do you remember you were cutting the lemons?”

  “Yes, I was making him some juice, but he grabbed me and he frightened me. He cut me.”

  “I know. Why were you frightened?”

  “He frightens me. Everybody does. People hurt you. Lapo hurt me.”

  “Tell me about Lapo.”

  “He’s always been cruel. He hurt me, so badly. It was iniquity. You know what iniquity is, don’t you? It’s a sin, a terrible sin, a violation. He violated me and he killed Mamma. I hated him.”

  “So you killed him.”

  He was aware of the therapist moving towards him. Drago stopped him with a glance. Marianna carried on talking in a dreamy voice. “Iniquity. That’s a very old sin. I thought that was a dream too, but then you came and you told me it was true about Lapo. He was my brother you know, but he didn’t love me.”

  “Didn’t he?”

  “No, and Mamma didn’t love me. She tried to kill Roberto, did you know that? But everything’s fine now. Roberto loves me and I love him. We’re going to be married.”

  “And Teo?”

  “He wants to send me away. He hurt me.”

  “It was an accident, wasn’t it? He was hurt too.”

  “I told him to leave me alone and he wouldn’t so I cut him… Mamma was covered in blood but I didn’t do all that. It was Lapo. When he came out of her room he saw me, he looked right at me, and he had the knife in his hand, so it had to be him, didn’t it?”

  “Marianna, I’m going now. Thank you for talking to me.”

  “I’m so tired. I must rest now. Roberto will be here soon.” She lay down and closed her eyes. Jacopo looked down at her, a beautiful statue, totally damaged and flawed, who had found murder the only solution.

  In the corridor, Bruno asked, “How did you know?”

  “I could see she was having a really hard time coming to terms with reality. When I found out that Roberto had never regained consciousness and had never spoken to her and that all her plans were in her head, I realized how ill she was. I knew that if she’d killed her mother she would have had to take her clothes and dispose of them. I knew that both Isabella and Marta were lying awake, listening for the return of Tebaldo and Lapo respectively. I asked them if they’d heard anything else that night and both had heard a car. Marta was so puzzled she got up and looked up the stairwell to see who it was. She saw Marianna coming in, but because the girl is under age and doesn’t have a driving license but drives anyway, Marta decided not to tell on her, so as not to get her into trouble. The murder put all that out of her mind. She really thought Marianna had nothing to do with the murder.”

  “You told me some time ago that you thought you knew who did it but you had no proof. Were you talking about Marianna?”

  “Yes. She had opportunity and means, and was quite emotionless about her mother’s death, but I didn’t know what her motive could be. When Piero told me that he thought Ursula had tried to kill Roberto, I wondered whether Marianna had thought so too. That was her motive.”

  “What will happen to her?”

  “She’s not fit to stand trial. I very much doubt she’ll ever be fit for normal life again.”

  “Poor little rich girl.”

  “Yes, s
he is.”

  “So Lapo came back by chance?” asked Bruno.

  “Yes. I think so. When he came in, he saw his sister coming out of their mother’s room with blood on her clothes. He went in to see what she’d done. I’m not sure, but I think he mutilated the body to put us off her track. I really think he did it to protect her. He got rid of the knife and opened the shutters to deflect suspicion from the family.”

  “He was trying to make it look as though a madman had got in from outside.”

  “I think so.”

  “Then Marianna killed him.”

  “She was very sick by then and he did violate her in some way.”

  “What a terrible story.”

  “Let’s get back and sort out Claudio Rossi.”

  “Another victim of circumstances?”

  “No, not Ozzie. He knew what he was doing. He made choices. We all make choices all the time and his were flawed. He’s a responsible adult and he’ll pay the price, not that it will be a very heavy one. It’s officially a first offence. He’ll probably get a suspended sentence and be sent off to rehab.”

  “Let’s hope he’s learned something from all this.”

  They drove back to the Villa for the last time. Drago needed to see Isabella, Marta and Piero. He wanted them to hear it from him.

  Marta opened the door. He was surprised to see her up. He saw from her face that she knew. Piero put his arm round her.

  “That poor girl,” she murmured.

  “She won’t stand trial.”

  “So it’s over?” said Piero.

  “Yes. Where’s Isabella?”

  “I’ll go and get her.” Piero left, leaving Marta standing there alone. Dragonetti said, “Shall we go and sit down, Signora?”

  Like a robot she moved ahead of him into the sitting room and sank onto a chair. Suddenly she said, “She killed my lovely boy.”

  “Yes. Marta, Marianna is ill. She’s not responsible for her actions.”

  Marta rocked herself gently. “No one understood that boy. I loved him so much.”

  Dragonetti was moved. He put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure he knew.”

  Isabella came in. “You wanted to talk to me?”

  “Yes. I wanted to tell you. We now know who killed Ursula and Lapo.”