Page 50 of The Unraveling of Julia

“Yes, thanks.” Julia watched the white Fiat disappear up the shoulder, out of sight. “What the hell is going on?”

“I don’t know but we have his license plate.”

“We should go to the police.”

“Great minds,” Gianluca said, grimly.

29

It was late afternoon by the time they pulled into Savernella, which was bigger than Croce, with bustling shops, restaurants, and modern stucco apartment buildings. Businesspeople hurried along the sidewalks with messenger bags and backpacks, talking on phones.

Gianluca drove uphill until they came to a wrought iron gate and a lighted sign that readCARABINIERI. Julia took in the police station, a well-maintained brick edifice with a stone foundation and iron bars on the windows. The front door was unvarnished, with an ornate knob in the middle, and embedded in the wall next to a call box was a marble sign engravedCOMANDO STAZIONE.

They slowed to a stop, and Gianluca cut the ignition and held the bike for Julia to get off. “Why did we come here instead of Croce?” she asked, wedging off her helmet.

“Croce’s too small to have its own police force or administration. Savernella is the sister town, and this is where you file a police report. Lots of people who live in Croce work here, since there are more jobs.”

“I see.” Julia straightened, smoothing her hair into place. “Thanks for taking me.”

“You’re welcome. I’m sorry you’re going through this.” Gianluca smiled, sympathetic. “I can’t redeem everybody. Misconduct abounds.”

Julia smiled back. “Thanks. Let’s go.”

They sat across the desk from a Marshal Alberto Torti, a fifty-something police captain with black-brown eyes and salt-and-pepper beard. He wore a dark tie and a starchy white shirt with a black sweater that readCARABINIERIabove a red stripe. His black pants matched a Beretta in his waist holster. His office was spare and clean, with cream walls, an institutional desk, and official framed documents above gray file cabinets.

Gianluca started them off in Italian, then they segued into English, which Marshal Torti spoke in a formal way. Julia told him everything, beginning with the man in the black ballcap at the Uffizi, complete with her photos, and ending with the mustachioed driver of the white Fiat. Marshal Torti typed her statement on an old Dell desktop while she spoke, and it reminded her of the statements about Mike’s murder she’d given in Philly. She felt as if they were filling out a form, not starting an investigation.

Julia signed the statement and passed it back to him. “Marshal Torti, now that you have the Fiat’s license plate, can you contact the driver and find out why he’s following me?”

“We cannot.” Marshal Torti frowned. “What he’s done is not a crime.”

“It isn’t? Do you have anti-stalking laws here?”

“Yes, but his conduct does not rise to that level.”

“Why not? He followed me to Forlì, then to Imola. That’s stalking, isn’t it?”

“We cannot be certain his intent was criminal.” Marshal Torti cocked his head. “Did he threaten you?”

“Following meisthreatening.” Julia tried not to think back to Mike’s murder. “I mean, it’s obvious, people follow you, then theyattack you. It’s an ambush.”

“I mean, did he say words to you that could be considered a threat?”

“Well, no.”

“Did he speak with you?”

“No.” Julia had to convince him. “If he didn’t have criminal intent, why did he drive away from us when we caught him?”

Marshal Torti spread his palms. “Ms. Pritzker, if a motorcycle drove up alongside my car on a highway, I myself would feel threatened. I might drive away too. It was a reasonable response, not necessarily indicative of criminal intent.”

Shit.“But what if these two men know each other or are connected somehow?”

“That is conjecture.”

“I know, but what are the odds of two men following me? That’s why you have to investigate.” Julia realized he didn’t know about her inheritance. “I’m here because I inherited a lot of money. What if this is connected to that somehow?”

Gianluca interjected, “She’s right, Marshal Torti. An American inheriting a fortune? You know how word spreads out here. They could be plotting to kidnap her for ransom.”

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