Death In Bagheria (A Serafina Florio Mystery) Read Online Free PDF

Colonna, up to his old tricks! He’d love to have a cut of the money.”
    “He already knew about my retainer and the theft.”
    “Of course. Not dumb, Colonna,” Rosa said. “He’s got his spies placed wherever there’s a remote chance of a ca-chink.”
    The two women were silent a moment. “With luck, Badali and his men will return it to me tonight, and we can leave for Bagheria in the morning.”
    “Assuming the baron’s at home,” Rosa said.
    “He’s expecting our visit, Genoveffa told me.”
    As if she hadn’t heard, Rosa continued, now in a pensive vein. “The nobility are haughty birds. And worse, Genoveffa is her father’s daughter.”
    “You know him?”
    She shrugged. “Slightly. But his father-in-law, now there’s a man. Why are you looking at me like that?” Hands twirled in the air. “A story for another day. He was enraged when his daughter married a Notobene. There’s bad blood between the families.”
    Serafina shook her head and began writing in her notebook. “I need to make a list.”
    “And I’ll write a letter to Geraldo, telling him of our arrival.”
    “Who?”
    “Geraldo, Genoveffa’s father, the baron, husband of the deceased. You said he expects our visit.” Rosa snapped on her spectacles.
    “You just told me you barely knew him.”
    The unfathomable madam, about to dip her pen in the inkwell, paused in midair. “Did I?”
    “Either you are on familiar terms with the baron or you’re not. And if you are, then he must have been one of your customers, but you guard that information as if I were a robber trying to steal your last coin. How ignorant do you think I am?”
    Rosa puffed her cheeks and was silent for a moment. “You’re right. He might have been.”
    “Finish the sentence. ‘Might have been a …’”
    “A customer, a customer!”
    “Tell me about him.”
    She gave Serafina a wounded look.
    “You do remember him?”
    “After a fashion. Not much to tell. He knew what he wanted, took it, departed. Imperious. Little charm.”
    “Could he have poisoned his wife?”
    She was thoughtful for a moment. “Could have done. But we didn’t sit around all that much talking about wives.”
    “Very well. Tell him we arrive tomorrow. Don’t be specific as to time. Before we leave, I’d like to get my hands on that journal and study it. And we celebrate Renata’s return this evening—you and Tessa are invited, of course.”
    Rosa scratched with her pen, looked beyond Serafina from time to time as she composed. When finished, she blew on the ink and pulled the cord. “Simple matter, anyway. I’ll bet it was the cook,” she muttered.
    “Rid your mind of preconceived notions. Investigations take time and a clear head, so plan on being there for a couple of days. I must be home Saturday. Totò’s big altar boy event is Sunday, and I have to make sure he’s prepared.”
    Rosa tut tutted.
    A knock on the door interrupted them, and the maid entered with a silver tray laden with cups, saucers, and a large cake slathered with sauce and sliced almonds. “From cook: orange cassata filled with ricotta.” She began serving.
    “A tiny wedge for me, thank you. And no cream in my coffee.”
    “Saving your appetites for tonight? Loffredo, of course!”
    “That’s not it.” She wondered how much she should confide in Rosa. Her friend had an eye for the main chance and a heart of gold, but didn’t understand the give and take of a large family—the innuendos and the jealousies, the upheavals to their daily routine—these were beyond Rosa’s ken. And recently, Serafina’s children had been through so much—their father’s death, the uprisings in town, and last month, the arrival of Teo and his baby brother for a stay of indefinite duration. Both Loffredo and Rosa thought Serafina should have sent the orphans to Guardian Angel, but after the horror they’d witnessed and her involvement in the case last month, she just couldn’t abandon those two boys, just