The Case of the Twisted Truths by Lucy Banks

Author:Lucy Banks
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Published: 2020-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10: ITALIAN INVESTIGATIONS

The Lake Garda visit was arranged with astonishing speed, which Miss Wellbeloved assured Kester was very normal whenever Infinite Enterprises was involved. Within twenty-four hours, the flights had been booked, the accommodation arranged, and everything set in place for their trip to Gardone Riviera.

On the day of the flight, Miss Wellbeloved accompanied him to the airport, more to settle his nerves than anything else. Before he passed through check-in, she patted his shoulder and gave him a proud smile.

“You’ll be fine,” she said, glancing at the line of people waiting to go through. “Flying is as easy as anything, you’ll see.”

Kester clutched his suitcase, feeling as nervous a small child going to school for the first time. “I thought Dad might have come too,” he muttered. “I know he’s not feeling great at the moment, but it wouldn’t have been too much effort to see me off, would it?”

Miss Wellbeloved laughed. “You’re going to Italy, not the moon. Besides,” she added, rolling her eyes, “he’s still hell-bent on punishing us both, isn’t he?”

“Probably.” Though I wish he’d just get over it, Kester added silently. Although his father was talking to him again, he’d been distinctly frosty, particularly when discussing the trip to Italy—not to mention the prospect of working with Infinite Enterprises and Larry Higgins again. Putting the thought from his mind, Kester fumbled in his pocket to check he still had his passport to hand. “I suppose I’d better go through,” he concluded lamely.

“Yes.” Miss Wellbeloved hugged him briefly, then stepped back to admire him. “You know, you look very grown up, Kester.”

“I’d hope so. I mean, I am in my twenties,” he pointed out.

She smiled. “Yes, I know. I’m just proud of how far you’ve come. Anyway, you’d better get on. Remember, you’ll be the last to arrive, but Ian Kingdom-Green said he and Lili Asadi would be waiting at the airport for you.”

Kester took a deep breath. “I’ll see you in a few days then?”

“Absolutely. Good luck.”

He watched her leave, then turned to the windows. The sight of the aeroplanes did nothing to calm his nerves, nor did going through passport control and finding himself scrutinised with alarming intensity by the officer. Finally, he entered the departure lounge, where he promptly buried his head in a book and hid from all the other people around him.

The plane took off without incident. After a while, he started to enjoy the sight of the landscape laid out like a patchwork quilt below. Even the in-flight meal was surprisingly edible, though he wasn’t sure if it was a hash brown he was eating or particularly rubbery scrambled egg.

After a while, he closed his eyes and settled back into his seat. It seemed like only a few minutes later that a tinny voice broke through the peace; the pilot was announcing their impending arrival to Verona Airport. Kester immediately sat up and peered out of the window. The plane dipped steadily through the clouds until finally it emerged over a seemingly endless landscape of fields in varying shades of brown and beige.

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