Page 22 of Murder in Verona

She smiled gratefully. ‘That would be terrific, thanks.’

I was just turning to leave with the two Labradors when a thought occurred to me. ‘I’m trying to work out exactly who had access to the keys to the garage. Am I right in thinking there was only Rodolfo, Alessia, Beppe and maybe Violetta? Anybody else you can think of?’

She shook her head. ‘No, just the four of them – and my master key in the safe to which Clarissa and I both have access, not that we ever use it. Of course, Rodolfo’s key was lost in the accident along with all his possessions, but if you want to get into the garage, I can give you the master key if you want it. Would you like it?’

‘Thank you, that could be very useful.’

She quickly retrieved the remote control from the safe and I slipped it into my pocket before going out into the night accompanied by the two happy Labradors. It was just after nine and, although the sun had disappeared behind the mountains, there was still light in the sky and it was easy to see where we were going. I headed back along the drive towards the main gate, stopping off in the big field to let the dogs have a run around. Oscar wasted no time in finding a huge pine cone, which I kicked around for him to retrieve while Elektra looked on in bewilderment. Clearly, she hadn’t inherited the Labrador retriever gene the same way as Oscar.

It was a delightful evening and as I wandered around, I realised that I was humming to myself and I was impressed to note that it was none other than ‘La donna è mobile’. As I hummed ‘dum-dum-dum-diddly-dum’, I reflected that there was maybe something to this opera business after all – either that or I was being brainwashed.

After a half-hour walk in the pleasantly cooler evening air, we returned to the villa and I remembered the remote control in my pocket. Heading around to the side of the villa, I opened thegarage door and switched on the lights to reveal the lovely old cars.

While Elektra wandered around sniffing, I kept a careful eye on Oscar in case he decided to start peeing on the tyres, but he seemed more interested in his female companion. I also did a bit of sniffing around. I started with the spot where the Jaguar had lived before the accident. I wasn’t really sure what I was looking for, although a pool of brake fluid on the floor would have been handy, but I saw little of interest. In fact, if anything, it looked as though somebody had even run a mop over the space, as it was remarkably clean. Needless to say, to my suspicious mind, this raised a number of questions. Who had cleaned the floor and why? Had this been simply a matter of tidying up or had it been designed to remove potentially incriminating evidence?

I followed the dogs down between the cars until I reached the workbench. On top of this were a number of tools with a whole rack of others hanging on the wall behind it. At the foot of the bench was a fire extinguisher and a rubbish bin, mostly containing empty motor-oil containers. Out of idle curiosity, I flicked through them with my fingers until I came to one that was clearly still full. This was unexpected so I removed a tissue from my pocket, used it as I pulled the container out and unscrewed the top. I may not be the world’s best mechanic but I am familiar with the smell of brake fluid and my nose immediately identified the contents of the container, in spite of it being marked20W50 Motor Oil. I set the can down on the workbench and stared at it. Did this contain the brake fluid from the Jaguar that somebody had removed? Was this the proof that his crash had been no accident?

I opened a cupboard door and managed to make a space at the back of a shelf where I could put this container before hiding it behind a barrier of other bits and pieces. I felt sure it would be safe here and there would be no question of Beppe throwing it outwith the rubbish. I closed the cupboard door and looked down at Oscar.

‘Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a nice set of fingerprints on that container?’

Glad to be included in the conversation, he looked for a moment as though he nodded, before returning his attention to his new girlfriend.

12

THURSDAY MORNING

Next morning dawned bright and clear once again. Anna was still asleep and as it was early, I didn’t disturb Dolores to see whether Elektra wanted to join us, so Oscar and I went for a walk by ourselves. The temperature was delightful and we had an excellent walk down through the vineyards and back up again, passing by the copse of trees where, needless to say, Oscar found a suitable selection of sticks to retrieve.

While I watched him having a good time, I considered what my course of action for today should be. I felt confident that the brake fluid I had located the previous night was likely to prove significant in the investigation and I knew that I would have to speak to the police sooner rather than later. At nine o’clock, I was scheduled to meet up with Clarissa, the principal, and then at ten o’clock, I would have the first of my appointments with Rodolfo’s cousins. I decided to go through with these before going to the police. I was tempted for a moment to call Virgilio, my newly promotedcommissariofriend in Florence, to ask whether he knew anybody in the Verona force, but on reflection, I decided to leavehim in peace. Hopefully, the officers here would accept my input as cooperation rather than interference.

It came as no surprise to find the dining room only half full at breakfast time. Italians don’t normally get excited about breakfast the way we Brits do. A quick coffee and a croissant are all that most opt for. I was therefore delighted to find not only fresh fruit salad and a choice of breads, jams and cakes but also slices of cheese and ham and even the offer of fried eggs or an omelette, which I declined. While Anna sipped her café latte and nibbled a croissant, I made myself a ham and cheese sandwich and followed it with a couple of buns. I had a feeling that my visit to the police later this morning might well develop into something time-consuming so I had no idea when my next meal would be coming. At least, that was the way I justified it to myself.

At nine o’clock, I made my way to the office of the principal and tapped on the door. A voice told me to enter and I found Clarissa sitting, not behind her desk, but on one of a pair of armchairs by a coffee table. She was no longer wearing her tennis kit but was elegantly dressed, her hair perfect. I kept Oscar at my side just in case he might decide to get too friendly and try to climb onto her lap – it has happened before.

She gave him a warm smile. ‘What a lovely dog. I thought it was Elektra for a moment but this one has much more expressive eyes. What’s his name?’

‘He’s Oscar.’ I sat down opposite Clarissa and pulled out my notebook. ‘I just wanted to ask you a few quick questions, if you don’t mind. The first one I’m obliged to ask everybody: where were you on the day of the accident?’

‘Here in my office, working.’ She consulted her phone. ‘Apart from eleven until twelve when I was sitting in on a rehearsal for our Midsummer Concert – that’s coming up tomorrow night. Wedo it every year but this year, as you can imagine, it’s going to be specially for Rodolfo. I do hope you’ll be able to attend.’

‘That sounds wonderful. I’ll tell Anna. I’m sure she’ll be very excited.’ I avoided rolling my eyes. This meant I was going to have a double helping of opera. Somehow, I had a feeling I would emerge from this week in Verona either as a convinced opera fan or the opposite. Time would tell. Returning to my questions, I did a bit of double-checking. ‘Can anybody confirm that you were in your office the rest of the time, particularly in the morning?’ I gave her my usual apologetic look. ‘Like I say, I’m asking everybody the same thing.’

‘I quite understand. No, I was on my own – apart from lunchtime, when I was in the dining room with everybody. I made a few phone calls to people so I expect if you want to check the phone records, that might provide something.’ She sounded quite genuine so I didn’t pursue it further for the moment.

‘How long have you worked here?’

‘Two and a half years. I used to be at La Scala in Milan.’

‘Another question I’m asking everybody: can you think of anybody who would have wanted to harm or kill Rodolfo Argento?’

‘No, I can’t.’ Her answer came back immediately. ‘Particularly here, he was almost revered. You can ask any of the students or staff. They loved him, as did I.’

There was something almost wistful in her final words and my suspicion that there might have been something going on between her and the victim increased.

‘When you say that everybody loved him, I’ve been hearing stories that maybe some of the women took that to extremes.’

‘People say such terrible things about him, but they’re wrong.’ There was a note of real regret in her voice. ‘He was a beautiful man, such a talented man and, oh so generous. I do wish thesepeople who spread malicious rumours would stop. Yes, I know he had a poor reputation in the past, but I can tell you most clearly that in all the time I knew him, he always behaved like a perfect gentleman.’

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