Pamela shrugged. “It's quite conservative, and if it wasn't for the tourists, I would probably die from sheer boredom. I definitely prefer to live in a larger town.”
“Well, sometimes things happen here, too. Have you heard about the murder?”
“Of course I've heard about the murder!” Pamela pulled the towel from Carlina's head and started to apply the stinking concoction to the tips of her hair. “We've hardly talked about anything else these last days.” She lowered her voice. “And you know what? I was actually in the neighborhood when it happened.”
“No, really?” Carlina's heartbeat accelerated.
“Yes. Sometimes, after work, if I'm not too tired, I go for a walk by the sea. I like the summer night air.”
No wonder, after breathing in the chemicals all day long. “Yes, I can understand that.” Keep on talking, Pamela.
“I was on the sidewalk next to the garden of the Albergo Giardino when I heard some people shouting, and then, the shot.”
“People shouting? Women?”
“No. Men's voices.”
That's what Emma had said. “Did you recognize the shot for a shot or did you think it came from the fireworks?”
“I thought it was a very loud explosion from some fireworks or other, but my husband immediately said it was a gun.”
Carlina jerked.
“Oops. Sorry about that,” Pamela said. “I spilled a bit of the stuff, but don't worry. I'll wipe it away before it can have any effect.”
Carlina stared at her. She didn't care if she came out of here looking like a zebra. She had found an alibi for Pucci. Damn. That was not what she'd hoped to achieve. If only there was more light. If only she could better see Pamela's face. Hadn't she just said that she'd last seen her husband weeks ago before he became ill? “Thank God your husband was with you! That . . . that must have been reassuring.”
Pamela laughed. “You don't know my husband.”
“What did you do then?”
“We went home. My husband said that he would hear about it soon enough if it was of any importance. He's a policeman, you know. If it wasn't important, he said, then he would be damned if he'd wake up sleeping dogs. He wanted to have a calm holiday.”
What a great attitude. Carlina felt faint, but she forced out a smile. “Well, no doubt he soon got involved.”
“Yes. He complained no end about it.”
Carlina had to ask it, even if it sounded odd. “But didn't you just say that you hadn't seen him in weeks?”
Pamela shrugged. “I meant in any sense that counts. Running into him for a short walk at night doesn't count, does it?”
In this case, it does.
“Anyway, and now he's become ill.” Pamela sighed. “I hope they'll soon clear up the murder. That'll help him to get better, so he'll be out of my hair.”
“Really? Why will it make him better?”
Pamela rolled her eyes. “You're a real innocent, aren't you? He always calls in ill if there's too much work. It's bad for his health.”
An hour later Carlina left the hair salon, studiously avoiding the mirrors. She'd find out soon enough what she looked like. No matter how she looked now, it had been worth it, even if she had mixed feelings about her success. She couldn't wait to tell Stefano the news, but when she pulled out her phone, she realized that the battery had died.
With a sigh, she returned to the hotel. The hot, dry air and bright sunshine felt good after the oppressive atmosphere at the salon. Carlina realized that it was lunch time already – the hair job really had taken ages. She was going for a swim later on, just as soon as she'd seen Stefano.
But the first person she met when she came into the lobby was Ernesto. He had Nora by the hand. Apparently, he wasn't letting her out of his sight again. Probably they were heading to the beach before eating. She gave them a smile and a wave, but when both stopped and stared at her, she froze. “Is everything all right?”
“Yup.” Ernesto grinned. “Cool look.”
Nora didn't say a word, but her large eyes got even larger as she contemplated Carlina's hair-do.
Carlina winced. She really had to find a mirror.
“We're going to the beach,” Ernesto said. “In case you need us. Is there any news?”
“Not really,” Carlina lied. She didn't have the heart to tell him that a very promising suspect had just gotten the perfect alibi. “Have you seen Stefano?”
Ernesto shook his head. “Nope. If I see him, I'll tell him you were looking for him.”
“Great. Thanks. I'll go up to our room for a moment.” Carlina turned to the staircase but was stopped by her mother and Aunt Violetta who came from the side wing.
“Carlina!” Fabbiola lifted both hands as if to ward off a blow and stared at her daughter. “What on earth have you done to your hair?”
Carlina braced herself. “It's the dernier cri in hair-dos.” She smiled and tried to get past them, but Aunt Violetta's wheelchair was in the way.
“It's no good talking French with me.” Aunt Violetta's voice boomed through the lobby, “but whatever it is you said, it must be something strange. Is that how the French do their hair now?”
“Dernier cri means it's the latest in fashion, Aunt Violetta.”
Aunt Violetta cocked her head to the side. “Doesn't look like fashion to me.”
Fabbiola put both hands on her chest and stared at her daughter without blinking. “Have you broken up with Stefano?”
Carlina wondered if she'd understood her correctly. “What? No. Of course not! Why on earth would you think so?”
“Because women often have a radical change in hair-dos if they go through big changes in their life.”
Aunt Violetta frowned. “Must be more than breaking up with Stefano, then. Looks more like suicide to me.”
“Aunt Violetta!” The outcry came from both Carlina and Fabbiola.
Aunt Violetta lifted her wrinkled hands. “Don't eat me. I was just trying to be a little funny.”
“Ha.” Carlina squeezed past the wheelchair. “Just wait until I try out a joke on you. We'll see who'll laugh then.”
“You'd better hurry up with your revenge, dear,” Aunt Violetta winked at her. “At ninety-nine, every day counts. You might not have much time left.”
“Oh, I'll have time enough,” Carlina called over her shoulder as she ran upstairs to the sanctuary of her room. “I doubt they're anxious to welcome you in heaven.”
“Now that was a mean parting shot.” Aunt Violetta's voice boomed up with an appreciative note.
Carlina ran to her room and banged the door shut behind her. Suicidal, indeed! She stalled by connecting her phone to the charger and moving some bits around the room, but finally, she clenched her hands and went to the bathroom with trembling knees. I don't want to see this. When she finally forced herself to look at the mirror, she gasped. The spider-lady had done a good job. The tips of her brown curls were bleached to such a startling shade of white that they almost glowed. Just one area, right in the middle of her forehead, was all white, way down to the roots. That's where the blob had spilled.
Carlina closed her eyes and took a calming breath. “It'll grow again.” She rooted through her stuff until she found the old straw hat she'd brought to protect her face from the sun while at the beach. To spruce it up, she decorated it with a jaunty little scarf in a nice leopard print, put on the largest sunglasses she had, and went out again. Maybe Stefano was at the police station.
He was indeed, and when she came into the dusty office which he shared with a tall man, his eyes widened. “Carlina. How did it go?”
“Pucci has an alibi.” Her voice was flat.
The tall man jumped up and pushed back his thick, white hair. “Oh, dear.” He came forward and shook her hand. “I'm Bernardo Lampone. You must be Caroline Ashley.”
“Yes, I am. Nice to meet you.” Carlina took off her sunglasses but kept on the hat. “I'm here to report what I learned at the hair salon.”
&nbs
p; “Of course.” Lampone made a nervous move with his hand toward a recording device that was perched against a dusty cactus. “May we record this?”
“Certainly.”
Stefano moved a mountain of files away from a rickety chair and put it forward for Carlina. She gave him a small smile and sat down, then proceeded to tell every little detail of her conversation with Pamela.
When she was done, Garini turned to Lampone. “Does Pucci's behavior upon hearing the shot sound likely to you?”
Lampone sighed. “Way too likely. I know that in the South, he once helped a drunken man to get into his car, so he wouldn't have to retain him and do all the paperwork. That was one of the reasons they were so glad to get rid of him. I only learned about that a few weeks ago, though.” He seemed to recollect himself and stopped short. “I'm sorry, Signorina Ashley. I shouldn't have mentioned it before a member of the public, but this whole story just makes me so angry.” He jumped up and took a nervous turn around the desk. “Can you please keep this information to yourself?”
Carlina nodded. “Of course.” She shrugged. “Though to be honest, Commissario Pucci's attitude is not exactly a secret. One of the locals described him as a slacker.”
“Oh, Madonna.” Lampone sighed again. “What a reputation. It would have been such a clean case because I can very well imagine Rosari hearing about a dark secret in Pucci's past – there must be one – and bribing him. A shame, really.”
“Now we're back to square one,” Garini said. “And our most likely suspect is Rosari's wife.”
“Unless . . .” Lampone looked at Carlina. “You trust Pamela Pucci's words?”
Carlina shrugged. “Unless she knew who I was and it was all created for my ears only, then I'd say it was very convincing. There's not much love lost between them, and if she gives him an alibi, I'm inclined to believe it.”
Lampone's shoulders sagged. “I'll have to talk to Pucci again, but I already know what he'll say: 'I was afraid you would misinterpret my actions, so I kept quiet about the shot. It wouldn't have made any difference anyway.' I wonder if I can ask him to relocate.” He turned to the door and continued to talk under his breath. “Maybe somewhere close to Rome. They've got many policemen there, so it'll be easier to keep him in line. I'll have to check into it.” He opened the door. “Excuse me.”
The door had barely closed behind him when Stefano looked at Carlina. “You can take that hat off now.”
“I'm not sure you want to see my new hair-do.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “That bad?”
“That bad.” Carlina sighed. “I'm afraid you'll have to pay me for a second visit to the hairdresser.”
“No problem.”
“Promise you won't laugh?”
“Promise.”
Carlina took the hat and threw it to the side with one quick move.
“Wow.” A smile played around Stefano's mouth. “I am beginning to appreciate your sacrifice.”
“You should.” Carlina gave him an eloquent look. “Aunt Violetta asked if I was preparing for suicide.”
“You should ignore your family. I've told you often enough.”
Carlina nodded. “Yeah, I know. But honestly now, Stefano, what do you think?”
He cupped her chin in his hand. “I say it's a good thing that your kiss hasn't changed. At least . . . I hope so. Let's test it to make sure.”
“I like that idea.” Carlina smiled and put her arms around his neck, but they only had a few seconds until the door flew open and banged against the wall with so much force that a cloud of dust flew up.
Benedetta ran in, her red mouth wide open. “Annalisa has vanished!”
Chapter 17
Stefano and Carlina jumped apart and stared at her.
Carlina cleared her throat. “What did you say?” I must have misunderstood her.
“Annalisa has vanished!” Benedetta's voice rose to breaking point. “And you're standing around in the police station, kissing each other! Don't you have anything better to do? First my youngest child, my baby, is accused of being a murderer, and now my beautiful daughter has gone missing, and all you can do is stand around and kiss?”
Garini looked past her at the Frenchman Leopold who had followed Benedetta into the room. He now stood behind her and patted her shoulder with an awkward movement, even though she didn't take any notice of him. “What happened, Leo?”
“We were wondering where Annalisa had gone to when she didn't appear for lunch. At first, we weren't worried because she's often late. But when she didn't show up at all, we started to ask each other who'd seen her last, and we realized that nobody had seen her since last night.”
“Last night?” Carlina's breath quickened. “Are you sure she didn't come down for breakfast?”
“Of course we are sure!” Benedetta shouted. “We asked everybody in the hotel! Nora was serving breakfast the whole morning, and she says that Annalisa didn't come down at all!”
Something cold crawled down Carlina's back. What possible connection could Annalisa have with the murder? “Did you check her room?”
“Her room looks normal.” Benedetta said. “Nora asked the maid. By normal I mean that the room was in utter chaos. The bed had been slept in, but we don't know when she got up or where she went.” She wrung her hands. “Maybe she didn't go voluntarily. Maybe she was kidnapped!”
Stefano frowned. “Do you know if any clothes are missing?”
Benedetta narrowed her eyes. “You really should know better than to ask such a question. Nobody, not even Annalisa herself, would be able to answer this question. She packs a suitcase like some people pack a punch – it only takes a second, and later, nobody knows what happened.”
“Have you checked the bars down at the beach?” Carlina asked. She knew her beautiful cousin well. Sitting at a bar and dangling her long legs was a perfect way to enjoy a nice flirt and get a free drink or two.
“Ernesto did that,” Leopold answered in his quiet voice. “But nobody saw her at all.”
Carlina frowned. “Was Annalisa any different these last days? Do you remember?”
Benedetta shook her head. “I don't think so, but I was really too distracted to pay much attention to her. First, there was this terrible fear that Ernesto would be arrested, and then, the good news about Emma being pregnant . . .”
Carlina nodded. Annalisa had definitely kept herself in the background these last days. Hadn't Stefano even mentioned that this fact in itself was already highly suspicious? She turned her head to him.
Their gaze met.
So he thinks the same. Something strange was going on here. “Let's comb the city,” she said. “If we split up the areas between us, and if everyone joins in, we'll have a much better chance of finding her.”
“Unless the murderer has already killed her and thrown her body into the sea.” Benedetta covered her face with her hands and started to sob.
Leopold gave her a hug.
“Nonsense,” Carlina spoke sharply to cover her own fear. “I doubt that anyone would find it that easy to kill Annalisa.”
Benedetta lifted her tear-stained face. “But if he--”
“No buts,” Carlina cut in. She didn't want to know. “Let's start. We'll all stay in touch via our cell phones.”
“All right.” Benedetta turned to Garini. “Will you call in the police, Stefano? Make sure they know about her everywhere? Maybe we can give out the information on the radio and call in the neighboring police.” She looked around the dusty office. “This seems to be a very small police station.”
Garini swallowed. “I'll help with the search,” he said. “I'll also inform Signor Lampone, who's the head of the police station, so he'll be alerted. However, I can't yet give out the call.”
Benedetta's eyes widened. “You can't . . . ? But why not?”
“Because Annalisa is an adult. She's twenty years old.”
“But she's been missing since last night!”
“And she might very
well have decided to go somewhere of her own free will.”
Benedetta drew herself up. “Without telling me?”
Garini spread his hands. “I don't know. Let's just say that I'll do everything possible.”
Benedetta's face turned red.
Garini went up to her and put his hand on her shoulder. “Benedetta, please listen. I want to clear up this case just as much as you do. I don't believe that Ernesto killed Rosari. I also don't want to see Annalisa in danger. Please trust me. I promise to do all I can.”
She caught her breath and stared at him. Then she took his hand and clung to it. “All right, Stefano. I'll trust you.”
Carlina let out the breath she'd been holding.
Stefano smiled at Benedetta. “I don't think that anything has happened to Annalisa.” His voice was deep and soothing. “Carlina is right. Your daughter is a resourceful young woman.”
Half an hour later, the Mantoni family was organized. Carlina had bought a big map and had installed Uncle Teo as head of operations in the lobby of the hotel. He had all cell phone numbers at his fingertips and knew exactly where everyone was going.
Aunt Violetta was seated at a strategic corner in the trattoria across from the little fort, in the center of town. Here, she had a good view of all the people going past.
Benedetta and Leopold were on patrol at the beach. Carlina had decided to give them the exhausting job of walking in the sand and searching the packed beaches because she wanted Benedetta to be tired at night. It would help her sleep. They had the stretch from Forte dei Marmi toward the North. The other direction was covered by Fabbiola and Lucio. Lucio had vetoed Emma's participation in the search action, so they had instead installed her at the Caffè Stretto, another strategic place where many people flowed past. He knew that she was in good hands with Agatha close by, so he left her with only twelve admonishments to take it easy and not to endanger either herself or the baby.
temptation in florence 05 - seaside in death Page 20
