temptation in florence 05 - seaside in death

by boeker, beate

  A bee came and hummed around Carlina, but when it realized that the pink flowers on her shirt had no scent, it left again. Carlina didn't even blink. She stared at Nora without moving.

  Nora took a deep breath. “That's it. So now you know that someone took the gun and put it underneath Ernesto's bed on the first floor. I'd bet anything that it was that slimy Commissario Pucci. He only wanted to clear up this case at top speed, so he could enjoy the holiday.” She stared at Garini with wide eyes. “Will that clear Ernesto?”

  “I have some more questions,” Garini didn't take his gaze off her for one second.

  “Yes?” Her hands were knotted into each other.

  “Why didn't you just drop the gun?”

  She blinked. “I . . . I don't know. It . . . it seemed too incriminating, somehow, to leave it right there, where I was standing.”

  “Incriminating for whom?” His voice was sharp.

  She swallowed. “For me, of course. I wanted to put that gun at a big distance from me . . . from my way home, so nobody could connect it to me.”

  “So you placed it underneath the bed of an innocent old lady?”

  Carlina had trouble recognizing Aunt Violetta by that description, but she knew where Stefano was heading. And she wondered when he would drop the bomb.

  Nora pulled back her shoulders. “Nobody would take her for a murderer,” she said. “Besides, I wasn't thinking clearly. I only wanted to get rid of that gun, and then I saw that her door was standing open, so it seemed the logical choice at the time.”

  Garini frowned. “I still don't understand why you risked waking her instead of just placing the gun at the top of a tree or something.”

  She looked at him and shrugged. “I don't know. I think I was in shock. I looked around and saw the door to her room standing wide open. Then I remembered that she was absolutely deaf. I didn't think that her room might be searched. I didn't think at all. I saw the open door, and the next minute, I had slid the gun into the room.”

  Garini got up. “I'd like you to show me exactly what you did. I can't picture it.”

  “Of course.” She got up, and without another word, they trooped around the hotel building.

  Garini had kept the voice recorder on and now held it in his hand. He nodded at Nora. “Start at the pool. Do everything exactly as you did that night.”

  Nora went to a spot at the side of the pool where the garden path touched upon it before meandering to the back of the garden. She bent down, pretended to pick up something, then looked around.

  It was easy to see the French door to Ernesto's room from where they stood. “The door is open wide now,” Nora said. “That night, it was only half open, but I could still see it well in the moonlight. It opens to the left, and the bed is to the right, not far away.”

  “All right.” Garini nodded. “Proceed.”

  Nora hung back. “I don't want to scare the old lady. It's time for the pisolino now. Maybe she's asleep.”

  “Don't worry about her. Just go on. We'll position ourselves right next to the window to see everything.” Stefano and Carlina went to Ernesto's room, then turned to look back at Nora.

  She flitted to the French door with a few quick steps. She didn't leave any footprints because she never left the marble stone slabs that were paving the way at irregular intervals. When she got to the room, she nudged open the French door with her elbow, bent forward and threw the imaginary gun in her hand across the floor like a bowling ball. She straightened, pivoted on her heels and rushed away. The whole move hadn't taken more than two seconds.

  Behind her, Ernesto appeared in the door. His face was bright red. “Nora! What are you doing here?”

  She turned around, her mouth wide open. “Ernesto! What are you doing in there?”

  He blinked. “This is my room.”

  She blanched. “No. It's the old lady's room.”

  Ernesto frowned. “No. I exchanged it with Aunt Violetta on the second night.”

  They stared at each other.

  “But . . . that's your usual room.” Her voice wasn't more than a whisper. “And you didn't get it this time because Signor Rosari messed up the bookings. That's why the old lady had to take it.”

  Ernesto shook his head. “No. Don't you remember? Aunt Violetta watched TV the whole first night, so the couple next to her couldn't sleep, and she arranged a change of rooms our first morning here, during breakfast. Didn't you know?”

  “Your first morning here at breakfast . . .?” Her voice faltered.

  Carlina caught her breath as she tried to recall that memorable breakfast. Aunt Violetta rolling into the room, sending Nora for a cup of coffee into the kitchen. Her masterful plan of re-capturing her room; the way she'd overwhelmed the tired couple. The exchange of rooms. It was true: Nora had missed all the excitement. She'd only shown up later, out of breath, with the coffee in her hand and an excuse for having taken so long.

  Nora's thoughts seemed to have followed the same road. Her hand crept up to her cheek. “I didn't know that. I had no clue at all.” Her voice was faint. “I . . . oh, God, Ernesto, it was me! I put the gun in your room. I'm so sorry!” She put her hands in front of her face and burst into tears.

  He recoiled. “What? You did what?”

  Carlina gave Stefano a quick look. He seemed to be content to watch the drama unfolding in front of him, so she held back as well.

  Ernesto had come out of his room and now stood in front of the sobbing Nora. “Why did you do that?” His face was flaming red, and Carlina realized that he had a sunburn to end all sunburns. His lips were tightly pressed together, though, and it was clear from the way he held himself that every muscle was strained.

  “I wanted to protect you!” Nora's slim shoulders shook. “I thought it would help you, so you wouldn't be arrested.”

  Garini's eyebrows climbed.

  Ernesto took Nora's hands and pulled them away from her face. “Nora. Look at me.”

  She shook her head and kept looking at his feet.

  “Please.”

  She sobbed once more, but managed to raise her head and meet his gaze.

  “Are you telling me that you thought I'd killed the hotel manager?” Ernesto asked.

  “Yes, of course.” Tears streamed down her face. “What else was I supposed to think?”

  Carlina made a startled move, but before she could distract the two, Stefano's hand was on her arm, holding her back. She looked at him, and he gave her an infinitesimal shake of the head.

  “But . . . but . . .” Ernesto's jaw went slack. “If you . . . if you suspected me of murdering him, then . . . why . . . that means you didn't do it!”

  Her sobs stopped abruptly. “Of course not! Where on earth did you get that idea?”

  His eyes widened. “You said you would take care of him.”

  She glared at him. “And I did! But I didn't have to kill him to do that.”

  He took a shuddering breath. “Then . . . then you're innocent.”

  “And you . . .” she repeated. “You're innocent, too.”

  Stefano bent to Carlina's ear and said so low that only she could hear him. “This is where the happy ending begins.”

  She gave him a reproving look.

  Ernesto and Nora stared at each other. They were still holding hands.

  “Where were you?” Nora finally asked. “That night?”

  “I was waiting at the beach for you, just like we'd arranged.”

  “But you only returned to the hotel at half past twelve!”

  “Yes.” His words were simple. “I kept on hoping that you were only delayed.”

  “I was,” she said. “After I'd talked to Signor Rosari that afternoon, he gave me so much to do that I simply couldn't finish it all on time. I was twenty minutes late, and when I hurried out, I . . . I fell over his dead body.” She gulped. “I thought you'd done it,” she repeated.

  “I promised you I would keep still and let you fight for yourself.”

  S
he nodded with a dazed expression. “Yes. And I trusted you, but when I saw his body, I thought you'd cracked under the pressure. Of course, I thought that it was an accident, and that you didn't plan to kill him, and that's why I hid the gun, to help you, but I simply couldn't talk to you anymore. I . . . I felt lost and confused and . . . and betrayed. Because you promised to let me deal with him.” She gulped. “I'm so, so sorry. I jumped to conclusions.”

  He gave her a wry smile. “So did I.”

  But Nora still felt the need to defend herself. “My brothers . . . you see, they would never have let me deal with him by myself if they'd known about it.”

  “I know.”

  “You were the only one who knew. I haven't told anybody else. So I thought . . .” her voice petered out.

  “I understand.” His voice was gentle.

  Carlina wanted to stamp her foot. What was the dreadful secret that Nora hadn't shared with anybody but Ernesto? She couldn't very well cut in, after all, this was still more or less a police interview – even if it had gone seriously off the rails – so she gave Stefano a prod with her elbow and pointed with her head toward the love birds.

  Stefano sighed, then he cleared his throat. “Sorry to interrupt,” he said, “but would you mind sharing what exactly you had to clear up with the victim?”

  They both jumped about a foot and turned to him, their hands locked, their shoulders touching.

  Nora's eyes widened, then she pulled her shoulders back. “I'd rather not say.”

  Ernesto looked down at her, then at Garini. “Would you excuse us a minute?”

  “You can go out of earshot, but not out of sight,” Garini said.

  Ernesto nodded. “All right. Thanks.”

  He put his arm around Nora's shoulders, then led her to the other side of the pool, where talked to her in a low voice. However, Nora kept shaking her head. Then she stamped her foot and burst into talk, her hands lifted with balled fists.

  Carlina didn't take her gaze off them. She didn't have to understand a word to understand that a heated discussion was taking pace.

  Now Nora shook her head with vehemence, clutched his shoulders, and started to shake him with all her might.

  But Ernesto kept his temper. He continued to talk until gradually, Nora calmed down. Then he took her hand and led her back to where Garini and Carlina were waiting.

  Ernesto lifted his chin and looked at Garini. He said with a strained voice, “We'll tell you now, though it'll look black.” He swallowed. “Because this will give us a motive. However, I trust you, Stefano. You'll find the real killer. I told Nora that we can rely on that.”

  A muscle twitched at the side of Stefano's mouth. That was all the emotion he showed, but Carlina knew him well enough to see that he was moved.

  “Go ahead,” he said.

  Nora gulped as if she was going to jump into deep water. “Do you remember your first morning here, when you all came down for breakfast? I went to the kitchen to get some coffee for your Aunt Violetta, and while I was there . . . I . . .” she swallowed. “I ran into Signor Rosari. He had placed himself just behind the door, so I couldn't get past him without brushing against him, real close. He . . .” she broke off and gulped again, then gripped Ernesto's hand. “He tried to kiss me and his hands--” she broke off. “I don't want to remember it.”

  “You can skip that part,” Garini's jaw had tensed.

  “Well, I . . . I managed to push him off, and then I ran to the bathroom, locked myself in, and stayed there until I'd regained some sort of control. I felt terrible. So . . . dirty, somehow.” She swallowed. “Finally, I dared to go back. He had gone. I got the coffee and pretended that all was well. Later, during lunch break, I met Ernesto.” She looked up at Ernesto with so much love in her eyes that Carlina's throat tightened. “I'd been looking forward to being with him for weeks, and now, it was ruined. I told him what had happened, and he was really angry. He wanted to go to Signor Rosari and punch him in the face.” Her voice shook. “But I wouldn't let him.”

  Nora took another deep breath, fighting for calm. “You . . . you have to know a bit more about me to understand why . . . why I didn't want Ernesto to fight for me. You see, my mother died when I was four.” She swallowed. “I have four elder brothers, plus my father, and they all decided that they had to protect me and care for me in her place. They all felt responsible, no matter what happened to me. Why, I still remember that once, when I fell and scraped my knee, they all blamed themselves. It wasn't my mistake that I fell, no, it was theirs! And so, they started to wrap me in cotton wool and tried to keep me safe from the big, bad world out there.”

  A curious mix of tenderness and exasperation crossed Nora's face. “Of course, it's really quite sweet, but when I grew up, I started to long for freedom and independence.” She squared her shoulders. “But I'm not a good scholar, so I knew I couldn't go to university. When I finished school, they all wanted me to stay at home. They said they would take care of me. Forever.” She looked at Carlina with a haunted expression. “But I didn't want that. I would have been bound to that house until the end of my life. The only option that I had left would be to get married to a guy who was no doubt just like my brothers, and to continue being protected forever. Do you understand why I balked?”

  Carlina tried to swallow, but her mouth was too dry. She nodded.

  “So I told them that I wanted to be trained for the hotel business. Forte dei Marmi is the perfect place for that, with its good reputation as a holiday resort. I knew I could always find a job here. But my brothers threw a fit. Several fits, in fact. Individually and as group, and the discussions lasted for weeks. It was dreadful. They didn't accept my decision until I told them that I would realize my plan no matter what they said. I said they would have to let me go, and with good grace, or I would apply for a post in Catania. The day I got a letter of confirmation from a hotel in Catania, they finally allowed me to apply for a post here in Forte dei Marmi.”

  Catania! Nora could hardly have chosen a better place to strike terror into the heart of her family. The city on the island of Sicily was a twelve hour drive to the South – about as far away as she could get without leaving the country. Poorer than Tuscany and with the Mafia much more in evidence, Catania was certainly no place for an inexperienced young girl from the North. No wonder the males in Nora's life had given in. Carlina looked at the slim girl in front of her with new eyes. To resist five overprotective Italian males and get your own way was quite an accomplishment. So little Nora was a force that was not to be underestimated after all.

  A smile trembled on Nora's lips. “I was so happy when I got this job. I could walk here from home. My brothers finally stopped haranguing me. And I met Ernesto.”

  “You met him here at the hotel?”

  “Yes.” Nora nodded. “Last year, during your summer vacation.” She gave him a smile from beneath her lashes. “I . . . I liked him right away. He was so . . . so sweet and easy going. Not demanding and difficult and always getting excited about nothing . . .” She stared ahead, lost in her thoughts, “. . . not like my brothers at all.”

  Carlina smothered a smile. Yes, that description hit the nail on the head. “So you've been a couple for a year?” She'd not have thought it possible. How could that have happened underneath her very eyes, and she'd not noticed anything at all?

  “No.” Ernesto said. “After that summer, we stayed in touch with text messages. Then we started to write e-mails. And somehow, we got real close. Then Nora came for a visit to Florence with her brother Flavio. Do you remember Flavio, Carlina? He stayed with us some years ago.”

  Carlina nodded.

  “Flavio and Nora stayed at a friend's house for two weeks, just after Easter,” Ernesto looked at Nora. “And that's when . . . when it happened.”

  “But why did you keep it a secret?”

  If it had been possible for Ernesto to flush, he would have done so, but his sunburn didn't allow any deeper shade of red to show. “I . .
. we . . . we wanted to wait a bit.”

  “It was my idea,” Nora said. “Because I didn't want to start another bout of discussions with my brothers right away. I first wanted to enjoy our relationship a bit, let it deepen and grow stronger. You have to know that my brothers and my Dad would never think that anybody was good enough for me.” She squared her shoulders. “But I know my own mind, and I know what's good for me and what isn't.”

  “Right.” Carlina could understand that. She'd kept her attraction to Stefano quiet at first, too. “But when did you want to make your relationship public?”

  They looked at each other, and Nora said, “Sometime now, during the summer vacation. But then, the murder happened.” She turned to Ernesto, “You have to understand that I didn't withdraw from you and refuse to talk to you because I thought you'd killed him! I was sure, absolutely positive that you had not planned on killing him, so I could accept that it had been an accident. But the thing I couldn't forgive was that you hadn't let me fight my own fight. I thought you were like all the others after all and that I had completely misunderstood your character. That's why I didn't want to be with you anymore. But I still cared for you! I guess that's why I instinctively tried to muddy the waters by taking the gun away. And during the night that followed, I realized that the less we talked, the safer you would be. If nobody made a connection between us, then nobody could discover your motive. I was so glad we'd never told anybody about us.”

  Ernesto swallowed. “So you froze me out.”

  She took his hand and held it between both of hers. “To keep you safe.”

  “And to keep your distance.”

  She nodded. “Yes. I didn't want to be with you anymore if you didn't respect my need for independence.”

  Ernesto flushed. “I do respect you. You have to believe me.”

  “I believe you now.”

  Carlina caught her breath. Nora's smile was so sweet it made her feel that she was intruding on a private scene. Those two would be happy; she was sure of it. She could understand Nora's reaction and reasoning, every step of the way. You lay the foundation for a relationship in the first months, and if something unacceptable happens, then you have to act on it, no matter how much in love you are.