Into the Killer Sphere (5 page)

According to the blood traces and this new wood splinter evidence, somewhere in Tursenia there was a murder weapon to find. Piero couldn’t have been killed by the chandelier: the scratches on his body seemed to have been caused by the glass splinters falling on him later. This was a subtle difference that only a meticulous technician such as Cangi could have detected and reported.

Besides, Chase was right about Piero’s unnatural neck position. Unless it was broken, it couldn’t end up like that. Maybe the killer had used a weapon to finish off Galli, and then had cut the chandelier down to create a distraction and make it look like an accident.

Chase was pondering on this when suddenly he sprang towards one of the forensic technicians, catching a glass ball in mid-air as it slipped out from the man’s hand. It was just a matter of a brief moment, and in that moment Chase saved the ball from an unhappy, shattered end.

“Watch out mate, you could have really messed things up,”
the forensic scientist would have heard from Chase if Angelo’s yells hadn’t drowned out all the other voices around, and even drawn the attention of the Gallis outside the room.

Angelo took the ball from Chase’s hands, holding it by the top.

“
E Madonna, e allora
?” he screamed at the man. “Be careful! This isn’t any old bloody workshop you’re working here.
Madonna Santa
!”

The item was a big glass sphere, the type with fake snow inside. It had a massive, thick base, much wider than the sphere it held. It was quite heavy for an ornament, because of its base. There was a brown-haired dog inside the sphere, precariously standing up on two paws. It wore traditional Italian clothes and was eating a kind of bread wrap.

In a flash, Gloria arrived at Angelo’s side, and in turn gently took the sphere from his hands.

“It’s ok, no damage done,” she said to the forensic scientist, then she turned to Angelo. “You obviously don’t know where this belongs, Inspector. Here we are, everything is all right now.”

She placed the sphere on a cherry wood dresser near the entrance. Gloria’s calmness seemed fake, like she was trying to
make the event seem completely trivial.
Chase frowned as she put the item in its place: the sphere was placed so that the dog turned its back to the room. Quite unusual for an ornament, as usually you admired them from the front, not the back.

“I’m sorry, Signora. I didn’t mean to drop it. I can only imagine what sentimental value it must have for you,” the man babbled.

“Of course it has. It’s a gift from Piero’s daughter,” Mr Galli said with a veil of melancholy. “I guess she brought it back from her stay in Romagna.”

Chase wondered if he was the only one to sense a certain hesitancy in Marco’s words.

“Did she stay there for a long time?” Chase asked. He tried to sound as nonchalant as he could. It was an innocent question, after all, but Galli’s use of the word “
stay”
instead of “
vacation”
made an alarm bell ring in Chase’s head. He was definitely not a master of the Italian language, but the difference between those two words was one of the very first things he’d learnt once he’d landed in Italy. He had needed to give some explanation for his move to Tursenia without revealing the real, awful reason.

“Actually, Rachele returned to Tursenia recently. Let’s just say that she enjoyed a nice long vacation,” Gloria replied straight away. Now it was also clear to Angelo that they were poorly concealing their discomfort.

“As you know, Chase, Rachele lives in this house. We interrogated her at the police station yesterday,” Angelo said to break the awkward silence falling into the room. “She’s about to get married, so the evening her father died she was at the printers with her fiancé choosing their wedding invitations.”

The Inspector asked to meet Rachele and her husband-to-be again. Gloria immediately picked up the phone to call Rachele, then left the room again to find a quieter place where she could talk with her. Marco followed his wife outside like a loyal bloodhound. Angelo and Chase could hear Gloria chatting on the phone in the library. Her voice was soft and supportive when she spoke to Rachele, completely different from the feeling of control and authority she showed talking with her husband and with them, ham-fisted forensic scientist included.

“She’s at the funeral agency, she’ll be back in half an hour,” Gloria declared, before finally she and her husband left the villa.

As soon as their footsteps had faded away, Chase raised an eyebrow at Angelo, pointing out the glass sphere on the dresser.

“So?” Angelo mumbled.

“Have you ever seen a trinket placed like that?” Chase asked.

“I don’t get it,” Angelo replied.

Chase sighed with a smirk. “Lift it up and look at the base. Do you want to take a sample of what you find there? I believe Matteo’ll propose to you after that!”

Chapter
5

Rachele Galli was staring at the bottles of whisky in the drinks cabinet in the living room, looking almost
hypnotised. The big table of the room was literally chaotic: a dozen samples of tulle, taffeta and organdie were on it, all curled up, simulating simple wedding favours. On the side was an open magazine with a number of centrepieces, candles and suggestions of ways to set the tables at the wedding reception. Opposite was a price list of wedding cakes and various types of traditional Tursenian confectionery and desserts. Everything had been left the way it was the night Piero died. No one had cleared it up. Those were just some of the details that Rachele was deciding on for her wedding day. Chase had had enough time at the villa to snoop around upstairs and had managed to look in her room, full of boxes and packages. The bird was ready to leave the nest.

Rachele’s groom-to-be was Simone Conforti, a General Practitioner living in a little town very close to Tursenia. He was staring at the window, watching Gloria picking the latest fuchsia bougainvillea, while Marco was behind the gate, waiting. A police officer gently took her arm and tried to lead her off the property. How could it be possible that Gloria was still there, after having been ushered out of the building more than thirty minutes earlier? How stubborn she was!

“Let me take the flowers, at least,” she said to the officer. “I want to give Piero’s coffin a touch of colour.” Then she grabbed the blooms and left. There was no easy way to keep that woman away from flowers and the garden, so Angelo was going to have to get firm with her.

Simone seemed to be Rachele’s exact opposite: well-dressed, smart, and sporting an impeccably ironed shirt. His work bag was placed on the fine wood chest in the hallway; a folder of documents was leaning on the bag. Simone pretended not to be concerned about the sudden call from Inspector Alunni, displaying as much self-confidence and coolness as possible. Just like his patients when they went to his surgery.

Rachele, on the other hand, was the perfect copy of her grandmother; same features and same pointy chin, as well as the graceful posture. Her slender figure made even the simple dress she was wearing appear elegant. However, her eyes and hair, in Amy Winehouse style, did not detract from her hollow face at all. Rachele Galli was an insecure and needy woman in every way. You can judge a book by its cover if you are used to sniffing out a person’s soul at first sight, like Chase always managed to do naturally.

“I hate reading about people in police reports. They always lie. Tell me something about yourselves,” Chase said to the couple, closing the thin file handed to him by Angelo. Even if it seemed weird, Chase wanted to hear what they would say about themselves. Not alibis or police stuff, just some details of their lives.

“We met in San Patrignano, a community near Rimini, in Romagna, which takes care of drug addicts for free,” Doctor Conforti commenced. “I helped Rachele out during her recovery, and afterwards I realised that she was the love of my life. It was hard for her to accept that she had a serious drug problem at the beginning. I really admire her. I decided to change my life for her, just as she did with her previous life. Then I came back to Tursenia to take over my father’s practice, which is nearby. We’d be really happy if it were not for Piero’s tragic death.”

Conforti lowered his head, looking restrainedly dejected and sad.

“Thanks to Simone I overcame my addiction,” Rachele quietly confessed, her hands resting on her lap. “I wasted so many years chasing after Dexedrine and what I thought was… feeling alive. I was left without money and dignity, but I moved on. Grandma and my poor father have never forgiven me for my mistakes. It’s been tough living with the constant criticism of my close relatives. Once I’d recovered I decided to accept Simone’s marriage proposal right away.” She exhaled, as if she had thrown a heavy weight from her shoulders.

“
What a beautiful fairy tale,
” Chase thought. The story of a weak girl rescued by a
Prince Charming
who gives up his brilliant medical career to start a new life with her in the place they both come from. Too easy, especially if Weak Girl has such a conflicting relationship with her closest family members and Prince Charming has a profitable kingdom to rule over, built by his father. A wonderful legacy to manage, and apparently not the only one, as Agata’s inheritance sounded to be quite large.

Chase was sitting down on a chair when he moved his leg and felt like he was squashing something.

“That is where the sugared almonds have gone! Apologies for your trousers.” Rachele came over to Chase, inspected his chair and collected two chocolate sugared almond samples stuck to his trousers. Chase smiled and told her that really, it was ok, as she looked quite embarrassed about it. He blessed the moment he’d decided to not wear his favourite trousers today and went on with his questions.

“And you, Signorina, do you bear a grudge against your family, since they’re not very nice to you?” Chase’s eyes were fastened on that withered face, certainly not one of a happy bride. Rachele reached her seat again and looked really astonished by Chase’s question.

“Oh, I’d never do that! I made them suffer too much in the past. I’ve simply reaped what I have sown. I used to fight with my father a lot because he saw me not only as a drunk junkie, but also as a conspirator.”

“A conspirator?” Angelo said with surprise. Rachele raised her eyebrows, like she was seeking the understanding of her audience.

“Yes. I always defended Grandma when Dad lobbied her; he wanted her to allocate my share of her inheritance to him to build a shelter for stray dogs. He didn’t care that I wasn’t a minor anymore, he claimed he needed to manage my inheritance since I was irresponsible. When he realised that Grandma was going to put everything in Ramona’s name, he went berserk and took it out on me. He said that I’d known about this from the beginning and that I agreed with it, but it’s not true, I swear, I didn’t know anything.”

“She's such a broken record,” Angelo whispered to Chase. “She keeps repeating these phrases as if she’s learnt them off by heart.”

While Rachele was speaking, Simone began to fidget where he was standing at the window, looking really annoyed at that story.

“And you, Signor Conforti, do you have anything to add?” Angelo said.

“What might I add, sir? I’ve never approved the way Piero and Agata coped with Rachele’s issues. People make mistakes, but can also redeem themselves and change profoundly. Anyway, I feel upset and shocked by the death of my future father-in-law.”

Simone came closer to Rachele and took her hand. His glance to her was full of sympathy.

“Agata never stops saying that there’s a murderer among us, and I'm pretty sure she’ll be continuing her crazy crusade against Rachele, like she’s a demon. I tell you, Inspector, I’m not going to stand that anymore. We have an alibi; we were at the printers, as you know.”

It seemed to Chase that every word Doctor Conforti said was well considered and measured.

“What do you mean by
her crazy crusade
?” Chase asked.

Conforti took a seat at the table as well and stacked some of the things scattered on it to one side.

“I mean that ever since I met Rachele in San Patrignano, she’s told me about the hatred her grandmother harbours towards her. Agata thinks that Rachele’s drug addiction killed her mother first and then has driven her father mad. That is silly and illogical, as I’m sure you can understand.”

Simone didn’t reveal any sign of uncertainty. Indeed, his body language showed his deep, instinctive protectiveness of the fragile girl sitting next to him.

Chase changed target and turned to Rachele.

“Signorina Rachele, I had reason to believe that only your father was aware of the impending change of your grandmother’s will. How come that you know about it too?”

If she was really a weak woman, she would soon show it. It would took just a little pressure on her, and Chase
knew what he was about.

“I… I overheard. I heard them arguing one day, so I began listening to them,” Rachele admitted, betraying a hint of embarrassment and looking up at the ceiling.