Page 26 of Murder in Verona

‘It could be that I’ve found proof that Rodolfo was murdered. It seems increasingly likely that somebody tampered with the brakes of his car. I’ve spoken to the police inspector in charge of the case and he agrees with me. This of course brings us back to the question of who might have done it. Do you have any thoughts?’

She stared at me in disbelief. ‘Rodolfo, really murdered? Are you sure?’ As a reaction, it struck me as genuine.

‘I’m afraid that’s the way it looks.’ At that moment, my phonebleeped and I saw that it was a text message from Inspector Ventura. It was brief and to the point.

One clear set of prints on the oil can apart from yours and the victim’s. Going to Agri Argento offices and then coming to the villa to take prints from everyone this afternoon. Please inform them.

I looked up at Dolores. ‘Are you sure you can’t think of anybody with a grudge against Rodolfo, anybody who previously threatened him? Maybe a woman or a jealous man?’ I was clutching at straws but I knew I had to try.

‘I honestly can’t.’ She looked around the room and lowered her voice. ‘Before he got married, it’s true that he did have a few romantic involvements with women here. At the time, I know there was quite a lot of bad blood between him and one or two of the people here but ever since his marriage, I’m pretty sure all that had stopped. If it was somebody with a grudge, I can’t see why they would have waited so long to take action.’

‘Can you give me any names? I promise I won’t mention you when I interview the people.’

‘I’d really rather not but if you insist, the most obvious is Romeo – he’s been coming every summer for three years now. He had a thing for a girl called Rosanna two years ago but it was quite clear to most of us that Rodolfo was carrying on with her. We could all see that Romeo was very unhappy with the way things worked out but, like I say, that was ages ago.’

I sat back and considered what I’d just been told. Could it be that Romeo had waited until now to exact his revenge – and if so, why? There remained the question of whether he would have had the expertise to drain the brake fluid from the Jaguar, but I made a mental note to look into that.

‘I believe that on the day of the accident, Romeo and Rodolfohad an argument after Romeo made a sexist comment about Alessia’s blouse. Does that ring a bell?’

‘Not that particular incident, but it doesn’t surprise me. Romeo loves being outrageous. I heard him tell Clarissa the other day that her bottom looked like a Roman statue. He really doesn’t care what he says.’

‘And how did Clarissa respond to that?’

‘She did her best to laugh it off and told him to keep his comments to himself. She knows him well by now. This is his third summer here but, to be honest, he seems to be getting more outrageous every year, so this might be the last time he gets a place on the course.’

I glanced around and, seeing as we weren’t being overheard, I asked a more delicate question.

‘I promise I won’t quote you on this and I apologise if the question makes you feel awkward, but when I interviewed Clarissa this morning, I very much got the impression that she liked Rodolfo… a lot.’

Dolores blushed red and, just as I had done, took a careful look around before answering. ‘I don’t know who initiated it or how far it went, but I’m sure there was something going on between them the winter before last. They were very circumspect, but I could tell.’

‘Thank you and I promise I won’t mention your name in connection with this. The winter before last, you say? Have you any idea what brought the relationship to an end?’

‘That’s easy – the appearance of Alessia on the scene. Rodolfo first met Alessia around Easter of last year and from the moment he first saw her, it was clear to everybody that he was completely hooked.’

‘How did Clarissa take that? I presume she wasn’t very happy about it.’

Dolores took another quick look around. ‘Like I say, they had been very careful to hide the relationship, but obviously it broke her heart. She was in a terrible state for months.’

‘Do you think she might have borne a grudge until now?’

‘And then decided to kill him?’ Dolores looked at me wide-eyed. ‘Absolutely not. Clarissa hasn’t got a violent bone in her body. No, I think she just nursed her broken heart and gradually got over it, though she never stopped loving him. Certainly since hearing the news of his death, she’s been distraught. She does her best to hide it, but I can tell she’s bleeding inside. I’m sure it came as a terrible blow to her, just as it did to the rest of us.’

I filed this information away for further consideration, making a mental note that Dolores’s comments had pointed a finger of suspicion at the principal. Was she telling the truth or was this maybe an attempt at disinformation to deviate attention from herself? I left it at that for now and informed Dolores that everybody was going to have their fingerprints taken this afternoon. She looked shocked and immediately stood up.

‘I think I’d better make an announcement now so that everybody’s prepared. Some people might be quite frightened when they see the police descending on the villa. I suppose I’d better break the news at the same time that the police are treating Rodolfo’s death as suspicious. That will come as a major shock, I’m sure. Is it all right for me to do that?’

I told her to go ahead and a few seconds later, she was tapping a spoon against a glass to get the attention of everybody. While she explained what would be happening, I did my best to study the faces around me, particularly that of Romeo. I read shock, apprehension and disbelief on many faces but I couldn’t see any immediate signs of guilt on his or any of the others’. While I still intended to keep Romeo on my list of suspects, the lack of guiltyfaces made it more likely that Rodolfo Argento’s killer was one of our far smaller pool of suspects.

When Dolores returned to the table, I changed the subject to keys. ‘I know I’ve asked you this before, but can you think of any way anybody else could have got hold of the key to the garage? You’ve already told me that your master key was firmly locked in the safe. Are you sure you didn’t leave that open at any time?’

She shook her head. ‘Absolutely not. I always keep it locked and the combination is only known to me and Clarissa.’

‘What about the other keys? Might Beppe have left his key in his jacket unattended, do you think?’

‘I doubt it; I know he’s very careful about that sort of thing. I suppose, to be honest, the most likely person to have left the key hanging around was Rodolfo himself. When he worked in the garage, I often saw him take off his jacket and hang it up while he pulled on his overalls. I suppose somebody could have got hold of the key then.’

This thought had already occurred to me but there was a potential problem. ‘But a remote control isn’t like an ordinary key. It isn’t so easy to make a copy… or is it?’

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