SAY MURDER WITH FLOWERS: A Rex Graves Mini-Mystery Read Online Free PDF Page B

death. The flowers you gave her were a death warning. Not true?” A sous-chef at Presto’s had supplied this interesting tidbit when Rex asked if chrysanthemums were popular in Italy, thus confirming what his suicidal ex-girlfriend had told him.
    Gino shook his head derisively, going so far as to tap his temple to indicate the Scotsman’s lack of sanity. “You are reading too much into all of this.”
    Undeterred, Rex continued his theory. “You heard the powerful engine of a speeding car and pushed Elise in front of it, not realizing it was Scalfaro’s Ferrari. The left-hand drive may have afforded the ambassador less reaction time as Elise ‘leapt’ onto the street, as he described it. A wee push by you in her inebriated state would have sufficed.”
    “ Vaffanculo! ” Dark fire flashed in Gino’s eyes. While Rex did not understand what had just been said, it sounded obscene nonetheless. “Why would I want to kill her?”
    “Several reasons. First, you saw her in the limo with Christiansen and got jealous.”
    “I admit I saw her with the chauffeur, but she got out soon afterwards, and I followed.”
    “Even though you were cheating on Elise, you didn’t like seeing her kiss another man. But you had planned to kill her anyway, before she could cancel the cheque for your business. Hence the Ecstasy, which Shannon saw you take with you and which you would have rammed down Elise’s throat once you got her home, and then made it look like suicide. But she blew you off on the street, and her indiscretion with the Dane served to add fuel to the fire. You saw another opportunity for murder when that Ferrari came tearing down the road. Impulsive and spur of the moment,” Rex added with a mirthless smile. “Is that not how you described yourself?”
    “You can’t prove any of this!” Giannelli said, echoing his compatriot.
    Maybe not, Rex thought grimly. It was all circumstantial, but the accusations had certainly got the wind up the hotheaded Italian. And he wouldn’t be giving Shannon any more roses.
    *
    Rex called the solicitor upon leaving Gino’s garage and made an appointment to report his findings.
    “Premeditated murder is not easy to prove in this case,” Rex concluded at Mr. Whitmore’s office. The solicitor sitting at his desk was a fussy little man with womanish hands. “Giannelli caught a lucky break if his intention was to O.D. his fiancée. A reckless driver beat him to the punch, with perhaps a little help from Casanova. Elise Howes was drunk and probably distracted to-boot, so it was a perfect opportunity. Pure coincidence it was one of Giannelli’s cars.”
    “Ye- es,” Mr. Whitmore said ruminatively. The tapered fingers, on which glinted a bejewelled wedding ring, drummed the mahogany surface of the antique partners’ desk. “Well, we had better just stick to the facts. Sir Howes can draw his own conclusions. It won’t be the news he anticipated, of course. What a devastating thing to have happen. Vittorio Scalfaro’s reputation will be ruined if this gets out. However, that Sir Howes’ prospective son-in-law was cheating on his daughter will come as no surprise. But I would have credited Shannon with more sense.” The solicitor checked his gold Rolex and grabbed a hat and umbrella from the coat tree behind his door. “Sir Howes is expecting us. There’s a car waiting outside.”
    The cabinet minister resided at Wilton Crescent in a grand terrace house five stories high, a frill of black iron balconies adorning the stone clad façade. He received his guests once again in the rich wood -panelled library and offered them sherry, barely able to disguise his displeasure when he heard the results of Rex’s investigation. It soon became clear he intended to make public Vittorio Scalfaro’s involvement in his daughter’s death.
    “What a can of worms,” he growled, turning to Rex. “And Giannelli sold him that Ferrari. Bloody stupid, if you ask me, bombing around in one of