A Few Drops of Blood Read Online Free PDF Page A

deluded,” Garducci said with a dismissive wave.
    “Perhaps. But what if it was you whom Vincente misled? What if he made promises he couldn’t bring himself to keep? You had sacrificed your marriage, risked your career. Meanwhile, Vincente was doing well by you. Twopromotions this past year, promoted to senior curator, sent to New York to bid in a major auction on behalf of the museum. The poor boy had made good.”
    “All totally deserved. He was extraordinarily able. No one would deny that.”
    “The museum faced serious budget problems, hours curtailed, people being laid off, and you assigned Vincente a new private office almost as nice as yours.”
    “Your point?”
    “What if, after all that, he informed you he wasn’t going to live with you?”
    “That’s simply not true.”
    “Really?”
    “See here. Officer Monte, is it?”
    “Captain.”
    “I suggest, Captain, you save your tactics for those more deserving—the professional criminals, for instance. Isn’t that your job? You are wasting your time here. And certainly wasting mine.”
    Carabiniere Angelina Cavatelli went over her interview notes with Natalia in the station’s canteen.
    “They were a golden couple—Stefano Grappi and the victim, Vincente Lattaruzzo—until Director Garducci entered the scene. Everyone knew Garducci and Vincente were conducting an affair. Stefano took it hard. Missed important meetings, grew distracted and distant and wouldn’t take off his dark glasses at work.”
    “So theirs wasn’t a brief fling,” Natalia said.
    “Not according to the gift store manager, for one. She worked late a couple of weeks ago, went outside for a cigarette and practically stumbled over Director Garducci and his protégé in the sculpture garden.”
    “Oops.”
    “Yeah, kinky.” Angelina closed her notebook. “Do we have a preliminary alibi for Stefano Grappi?”
    “Claims he was presenting a paper of his at the university.”
    “And Director Garducci?” Angelina inclined her head.
    “Doesn’t have one. Says he was home the night Vincente Lattaruzzo died. There’s no way to corroborate. According to him, he called Lattaruzzo a couple of times, left messages. We’re awaiting the victim’s phone records and checking his message machine.”
    “If Vincente had jilted Stefano, and if Vincente
was
moving in with Director Garducci after all—” Natalia paused. “—why might Garducci kill him?”
    “Because his lover was also having it off with the other naked horseman sharing his midnight ride?”
    “Point taken. But Grappi goes to the top of the list.”
    “We have the time of death?” asked Natalia.
    “Dr. Agari says between ten and eleven P.M .”
    “Good job. You finding your way around okay? Anyone giving you a hard time?”
    “Yeah, a couple of cracks about my hair, but mostly I’m being treated like a human being. If it gets out I’m gay, that could change, though.”
    “Angelina. It’s nobody’s business if you’re gay.”
    “Right. It didn’t quite work that way where I came from. Bad enough I was a female and didn’t put out.”
    “If there’s the barest hint of sexual harassment—even so much as a comment—you come to me, and we take it to Colonel Donati. Fabio Donati won’t stand for it.”
    Angelina looked relieved.
    Natalia decided to change the subject. “You think your Giuletta will adjust okay to Naples?”
    “I do. She won’t start work for a couple of weeks, so she’ll have time to scout an apartment for us. Meantime, the Vomero is great but I don’t have much privacy at my aunt’s, and her teenager is on the cusp of puberty. She’s a darling girl but presents a bit of a challenge.”
    “I can imagine.”
    “What’s next?”
    “Nothing for today. Go home and take off your bulletproof vest. Put your feet up. Tomorrow will be here soon enough. Good work, by the way.”
    Angelina left to sign out, and Natalia made ready to go. The phone rang. Dr. Francesca Agari was announced on