A Few Drops of Blood Read Online Free PDF

the line. Natalia punched the lit-up line button.
    “Captain, I found Vincente Lattaruzzo’s missing parts.”
    “Where?”
    “In the other man.”

Chapter 4
    Natalia took her coffee out to the balcony. Swallows, hundreds of them, patterned the morning sky. Natalia’s grandmother, her
nonna
, had always insisted they portended the future. While her floors were drying, Nonna would study their formations from the balcony, often with her granddaughter at her side. Depending on which direction they swooped, she’d make her predictions. If they veered north or west, it meant someone would come to harm. Maybe the neighbor who cheated her on a carton of eggs or the woman who stole away her first love. But if the birds winged south or east, Natalia would marry young and produce a brood of healthy children.
    After Nonna’s oracles flew off, Natalia got a large slice of homemade
torte di cestagno
and a warm glass of milk. The chestnuts were delivered from a childhood friend of her grandmother’s once or twice a year. Those not used for the baking were roasted and taken on picnics.
    Finishing her coffee, Natalia wondered whether she might have taken up divining signs, too, if she hadn’t won the university scholarship. Truth be told, she’d unraveled more than one difficult case with Dame Intuition firmly by her side.
    Her cell phone alarm sounded. It was nearly time for her first appointment.
    “What a beautiful space,” Natalia said, as the countess greeted her before leading the way to the living room, a vast space with soaring lavender walls trimmed in gold. Not much furniture: a simple wooden desk and a sleek chair and one plum-colored velvet lounge. Several crystal chandeliers caught the sunlight and shot it around the floor.
    “I live simply. But I always choose good pieces. Makes life more civilized, don’t you think?”
    The countess looked beautiful in black linen pants and a caftan—creamy silk with a design of pale blue flowers. Drop earrings to match. Sapphires? Mariel would have known. Natalia’s friend from childhood was raised in wealth. She rarely wore jewelry more flashy than a strand of pearls, but nonetheless, she could tell paste from real in a glance.
    “I helped Dr. Agari design her living space,” boasted the countess. “I’d be happy to consult with you.”
    “I’m not sure it would help,” Natalia laughed. “I’m a bit of a pack rat.”
    “Interesting. As I get older, I value the physical world less and less.”
    “You mean, it’s natural?”
    “One de-acquisitions as one prepares to leave, I suspect, yes.” The countess gestured for Natalia to be seated. “Sorry if I kept you waiting. My yoga class ran late today. She’sfabulous—a Swedish girl. Woman, sorry. You’re all girls to me. She has a cute studio on Vico di Pace. Either I go to her or she comes to me. If you’re interested, I’d be happy to treat you to a private session sometime.”
    “That’s kind of you, but I’m not permitted to accept such generosity.”
    “Of course. Forgive me. But you must have a lot of stress in your line of work. Yoga certainly helps. Nonetheless, I barely slept last night. Those young men murdered. It’s so unsettling.”
    “I had a talk yesterday with Stefano Grappi, Vincente’s boyfriend. I wanted to check something with you.”
    “I never had the pleasure of meeting him. I think it’s wonderful these days that people are free to choose whom to love.”
    “According to Stefano, you and Vincente were in the habit of meeting for lunch once or twice a month. When we spoke yesterday, you told me you had met at a function for the museum and saw him at board meetings. I wondered why you omitted mentioning your luncheons.”
    “I didn’t mean to leave you with that impression. I think I was a little unhinged is all.” She shrugged. “And some of what I told him was embarrassing. That may have played a part in my being less than clear about our connection.”
    “So you met with