Page 73 of The Unraveling of Julia

“He was reassigned, and I caught the case. I’m fully up to speed. How can I help you?”

“Have there been any developments?”

“No, I’m sorry, not yet. We have a new video from a traffic cam. We have no suspects as yet. We’ll keep at it.”

Julia’s heartbeat quickened. It was the first she’d heard of the traffic cam. “What does the video show?”

“It shows the assault, but we have yet to identify the perpetrator. I will keep you posted.”

The thought that Mike’s murder was recorded sickened her, at thesame time it gave her hope. She led Bianco toward the hill, heading back to the villa. “Well, I think I have a lead for you.”

“Go for it. I’m all ears.”

Julia told him about the blue hoodies on the bridge and how they matched the one that Mike’s killer wore, then that it was the uniform for the Italian soccer team. By the time she was finished, she’d reached the villa with Bianco and they went inside the kitchen. “I think that’s interesting, don’t you? It suggests that Mike’s killer was Italian. It’s an unusual sweatshirt for Philly.”

“I see what you mean. So you’re in Florence now?”

“Yes.” Julia told him she was being followed by two different men, then about her inheritance and the underground cell, editing out Caterina again. “So, Detective Malloy, you see my point? Something’s going on. I’m starting to think Mike’s murder is related to my inheritance or any crimes my biological grandmother may have committed. She imprisoned a child in the villa, whether it was my birth mother or not.”

Detective Malloy fell silent. “I’m trying to understand what the villa has to do with your husband’s murder.”

“Mike was killed protecting me, and now I’m thinking it wasn’t a random purse snatching. They could’ve made it look that way, but they were trying to kill me because they didn’t want me to inherit the villa and find the underground cell.”

“You’re making assumptions, Ms. Pritzker.”

“I know, but it’s a lead, isn’t it? Don’t you have a way to figure out whether there were Italian citizens in Philly last October, when Mike was murdered? What about Italian citizens with criminal records? Isn’t there a database you can search?”

“This complicates the investigation.”

“How?” Julia asked, puzzled. “I think it makes it easier. It narrows the search.”

“Here’s the hitch. The Homicide Division has jurisdiction over your husband’s murder because it occurred within city limits. We have access to local and state databases. We don’t have access to federal or international databases.”

“Can’t you get access to them? There has to be someone you can talk to.”

“Yes, but we’ll have to liaise with several agencies.”

“Which agencies?”

“Immigration, for starters. Organized crime, if we’re talking trafficking. Counterterrorism, too. I can get it done but it’s red tape all the way down. That’s how the feds are, bureaucracy on top of bureaucracy.”

Arg.“In the meantime, can you start with your local database and see if there were any Italian citizens in it, last October?”

“That, I can do.”

“Also, as far as the Italian authorities go, I filed a report with a Marshal Torti in Savernella. He knows everything about the case. He saw the underground cell, too. I can give you his number, and you can share information.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

Julia scrolled her phone and read him Marshal Torti’s phone number.

“That’s a long number, huh? Looks like a bank account.” Detective Malloy chuckled. “Look, I have to go. Call anytime. I’ll keep you posted. Goodbye now.”

“Bye, thanks,” Julia ended the call, her heart sinking. She worried that the disconnect between Philly and Italy would be a problem.

She needed a friend, and one was only a call away.

Julia called Courtney. “Hey Court, I just got off the phone with the detective on Mike’s case. Got a second?”

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