Blackmail Blueprint (Old Bookstore Two-Hour Cozy Mysteries Book 7) by Isabella Bassett

Author:Isabella Bassett [Bassett, Isabella]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-04-04T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Driving back to Ascona, Marco and Anne passed the trip mostly in silence.

Before leaving the estate, the detective had interviewed them. It was mostly routine stuff–what they had been doing at the estate, what they had witnessed in the past few days that might shed some light on the murder. The detective had stopped short of asking Anne about her movements last night. But he did ask her a few uncomfortable questions about Emma, now that the letters and other documents were missing.

The only concrete answers and evidence Anne had been able to give him was an equivocal statement that Emma would never steal those documents, and her account of the argument she had witnessed between Lucrezia Dubini and the murdered man. Now she felt bad about throwing the woman under the bus. She had no idea if the woman was guilty.

“I hope Lucrezia Dubini doesn’t live up to her name,” Marco said, breaking the silence.

“What do you mean?” she said, unsure about what he was referring to.

“You know, Lucrezia Borgia, she of the hollow ring full of poison; the notorious poisoner of men,” Marco said. “Although her reputation was probably based on nasty rumors spread by her enemies.” He turned his eyes back on the road.

“Ah,” Anne said, catching on to his reference. “Yes, but Lorenzo Oretti was not poisoned. He was bludgeoned to death.”

“True. So who do you think did it? You’ve been so quiet since we left the estate, I’m sure you’ve come up with a few theories already,” he said and threw a sideways glance, as well as a sideways smile, at her.

“Well, according to the evidence, we’re looking for a woman. There is Lucrezia Bor…, I mean Dubini.” Anne shook her head and laughed at her own Freudian slip. “We know she argued with her boss. But the uncle says she wasn’t at the meeting. Maybe she was, and no one saw her–she might have been lurking in the shadows unnoticed. Without knowing her alibi for the night, we can’t rule her out. She definitely had a motive–her experimental biodynamic growing method wins a prestigious award, and instead of being rewarded for it, she’s fired or pushed to resign. It’s probably enough of a motive for murder.”

Marco nodded. “Then there is the woman that the uncle suspects,” he said.

“That’s right,” Anne said, picking up his thread. “We know little about her besides the fact that she met the CEO at the award ceremony in London. Was she really his lover, or is she a spy?”

This statement elicited a hearty laugh from Marco. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt,” he said, after he stopped laughing. “Keep going.”

Anne smiled. “I know it sounds like a James Bond plot, but these things happen. Corporate espionage is a thing. It happens at tech and pharma companies. I’m sure it happens at wineries as well. She’s always lurking about, looking at that statue. Don’t you think that’s strange?”

Anne kept her eyes focused on the road; going down, the sharp turns always made her nauseous.

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