Page 43 of Murder in Verona

To my further surprise, it was Tosca who spoke up. ‘I’d like to see her as well. I’ve got my car outside. I’ll give you a lift if you like, Mamma.’

Violetta transferred her attention to her daughter and there was a pause before a little smile appeared on her face. ‘Thank you, my dear. That’s very kind.’

Anna and I exchanged glances. ‘Mamma’ and ‘my dear’ wereunexpectedly affectionate. Might this represent a thawing in relations between mother and daughter after so long?

Violetta transferred her attention to me once more. ‘Thank you, Signor Armstrong, for all your help and for saving the life of my daughter-in-law. I’ll be forever in your debt.’

‘I only helped the police. Inspector Ventura is a good detective.’

We shook hands and then Tosca came across and, to my surprise, gave me a hug. ‘Thank you, Mr Armstrong. Thank you for everything.’

The two of them headed for the door and that just left Rosina. She gave me a beaming smile and held out her hand towards me. ‘And sincere thanks from me as well. My brother asked me to say the same, but he and Ingrid had to get away.’ She gave me a little wink. ‘An event at the golf club, I believe.’

‘You aren’t staying for dinner?’

She shook her head. ‘After everything that’s happened, I’ve lost my appetite completely. No, I just need to go home, sit down and relax. Thank you again.’ She shook hands with Anna, ruffled Oscar’s ears and turned for the door.

A waiter came past with a tray and I had no hesitation in helping myself to two glasses of Champagne. I handed one to Anna and had just taken a big mouthful when Paolo Ruggieri approached.

‘Good evening, Signor Armstrong. So it’s true that Rodolfo was murdered and his poor wife nearly met the same fate tonight. Will she survive?’

I assured the two of them that the prognosis from the medics was positive and they went off, still looking shocked. He would have been even more shocked if I had told him that until very recently, his name had been near the top of our list of suspects.

A few seconds later, the gong sounded and Oscar set offtowards the dining room door at pace. The events of this evening certainly hadn’t harmed his appetite.

There were a lot of free seats tonight and I wasn’t surprised. Proximity of violent death can have a very sobering effect on people. Anna and I sat down at a table and a few minutes later, I had an unexpected visitor.

‘Signor Armstrong…?’

I looked up to see Romeo, an expression of awe on his face. ‘Is it true that Clarissa murdered Rodolfo?’ I nodded and he continued, his tone still one of disbelief. ‘And tonight, she almost killed Alessia?’

I nodded. ‘I’m afraid so. We only just stopped her in time, but we weren’t quick enough to stop her jumping from the roof.’

He looked far from the self-confident – or should that be over-confident? – young man I had first met. ‘But… why? What would make her do something as crazy and barbaric as that?’

I looked back up at him and gave a little smile. ‘Love, Romeo, that’s what. The word clearly meant a different thing to Rodolfo than it did to Clarissa, and this tragic ending is every bit as much his fault as hers.’ I held out my hand towards him. ‘Go and enjoy your dinner, and good luck with your career. I was most impressed with your singing. Keep charming the ladies, but never let yourself follow Rodolfo’s example.’

No sooner had Romeo disappeared off to a table containing three women than the inspector returned, clapping me on the shoulder before sitting down. ‘I’m sorry, I haven’t thanked you yet. Without your help and insight, I have a feeling Rodolfo Argento’s murder might have ended up being dismissed as an accident.’ He pulled up a chair and sat down. ‘My people have been searching Clarissa Delbosco’s apartment. They’ve been checking her laptop and they tell me her browsing history is very interesting: brake failure, brake lines and a Jaguar E-type owners’ club chat page.’

Anna shook her head sadly. ‘Poor woman. Rodolfo really did treat her awfully.’

I let the inspector answer. ‘You’re quite right, but there’s still no excuse for what she did, even though he ruined her life.’ Keen to raise the mood, he called across to a passing waitress. ‘Could I have a look at the wine list? I owe my friends here a bottle of the best wine in the house.’ There was a movement at his feet and Oscar’s head appeared alongside him. ‘And ask the chef if he has a nice bit of steak for our four-legged friend. He deserves it.’

EPILOGUE

SATURDAY NIGHT

‘Well, what did you think ofLa Traviataat the Arena?’

Dolores appeared carrying a massive silver platter. On it were two huge lobsters, a mountain of prawns and crayfish, and these were surrounded by a luxurious mixed salad containing everything from slices of avocado to pieces of Gorgonzola, orange and walnuts. Earlier today, Violetta, when she had heard that Anna and I were going to the opera, had insisted on asking the chef at the villa to provide us with an after-show dinner, but neither of us had been expecting anything on this scale, particularly at almost ten o’clock at night.

Alongside Dolores was Elektra and I saw Oscar jump to his feet as they approached. Anna glanced down at him as he stood there wagging his tail.

‘He’s going to miss his girlfriend when we leave tomorrow, isn’t he? I had the feeling there might be romance blooming.’

I didn’t comment. As Dolores reached the table, I could clearly see that Oscar’s attention was on the food, rather than Elektra. The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach after all…

Anna was the first to reply to Dolores. ‘This food looks amazing,Do, please, thank the kitchen staff so very much. I hope they didn’t have to stay later specially for us. As for the opera, we both loved it, and there was a very touching tribute to Rodolfo Argento at the start. His mother would have been very proud.’

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