Into the Killer Sphere Read Online Free PDF Page B

refined make-up and the jewellery she showed off. She was middle-aged, tall for a woman, with dark hair down to her shoulders, a slight double chin and a watchful gaze. “And by the way, who are you, may I ask?” She turned to Chase and got straight to the point.
    “Yes, I need to ask that too. Are you some kind of foreign specialist sent to figure my brother’s death out?” Marco Galli joined in.
    Chase held his breath for a second: who the hell was he supposed to be?
    “He’s with us, no worries.” Angelo barged into the room, saving Chase. “Chase, this is Gloria Rolli, Marco’s wife. I imagine you have already met Piero’s brother.” Angelo politely gestured at Gloria’s outfit and the dibber she was holding which was still dirty with soil. “As you can see, Signora Gloria is an incurable gardening enthusiast who is not supposed to be here.”
    Angelo’s tone of voice was severe as he was trying to get them away from the crime scene without upsetting them any more than they already were.
    “ Sì , she takes care of the villa’s garden as well as ours. She is a natural, like Piero with the dogs.” Marco Galli justified his wife’s presence with pride.
    “Ok, but you shouldn’t be here,” Angelo told them. “Who let you come in? Maybe one of those lazybones officers out there? Don’t you see that the area is still cordoned off by the police? And you are here for… gardening? Really? Everybody out, please!”
    Angelo made them leave the library, checking to see if they had left any footprints inside the room.
    “I noticed you didn’t scold her about contaminating the crime scene,” Chase quibbled with Angelo. He was still smarting from his near-blunder the day before. Angelo, however, couldn’t fight fire with fire because his phone rang.
    Gloria, in the hallway, took advantage of the moment to straighten some paintings that were a little lopsided, probably as a result of someone bumping them in the chaos following the discovery of Piero’s body. There was also a little bathroom along the hallway, which Gloria dashed in to check if everything was all right.
    Marco, in order not to be the only one doing nothing, involved Chase in a gripping report of the movements and actions of himself and his family the night of his brother’s accident.
    Chase barely heard what Galli was saying about the moment when he and his wife received Rachele's bad news, as his attention was dragged away by Angelo. Chase knew by now that Italians were not able to speak without gesticulating, but Angelo's gestures and exclamations were far too dramatic not to be noticed.
    Marco seemed pretty annoyed at Chase’s lack of attention, so Chase managed to focus back on him.
    “We were waiting for Rachele and her fiancé for dinner. They should have been at the house by nine. You know, it was my son’s eighteenth birthday and we wanted to celebrate together in peace, without any family feuds.”
    “I spent the whole afternoon setting up the dinner,” Gloria added, waving her arms around. Chase could easily have been hypnotised by her rattling bracelets.
    “It was supposed to be a surprise for our son. It was hard to keep him and his sisters upstairs all evening,” Marco explained.
    “Yep, I can imagine the surprise they did get was the worst ever.” Chase was cut short because Angelo hurried over to them, thus allowing Chase to escape the awkward moment created by his last sentence.
    “Do you mind if I steal him for a minute?” Angelo asked the Gallis, leading Chase into the library again.
    Matteo Cangi was on Angelo’s phone. Matteo was a workaholic young forensic scientist in the Tursenian police department.
    “What’s up mate?” Chase joked.
    “Good news. The chandelier was cut by something quite sharp and resistant, it’s official. Moreover, Matteo found a wood splinter in Galli’s head. It was plunged well down into his skull. That’s how he died. Do you know what that means?” He compulsively kept