Murder in an Italian Village by Michael Falco

Author:Michael Falco [Falco, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2023-06-07T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

“Bugiardo!”

Bria’s outburst was so loud that the man sitting next to her at Caffé Positano turned around to eavesdrop and appeared to be more curious about her conversation than the one he was having with the woman sitting across from him at the small table overlooking the sea. His companion, who was several years older than Bria and more than several pounds heavier, leaned over and slapped the man on the shoulder so hard that he teetered on his chair and had to grab the edge of the table to steady himself. The woman sputtered some colorful language at the man that sounded more suitable coming from an inebriated Italian sailor than a caffeinated Italian woman. Bria saw all this action out of the corner of her eye, and while she did find it, on one level, entertaining, she was much more interested in what Luca had just told her—he had proof that Dante was a liar.

“What do you mean, there was no global warming conference in Milan?” Bria asked.

“There wasn’t a global warming conference anywhere,” Luca said. “Not in Milan, Munich, or Mozambique. We were able to confirm that he did go to Milan, so he didn’t lie about that.”

Bria took a quick sip of her lemon cappuccino, a house specialty that Annamaria had personally created. As anxious as she was to find out more about Dante, she hesitated a moment to allow the citrus and bitter combination to settle on her tongue before swallowing. Her father had always reminded her never to race past the simple pleasures in life, but to savor them.

“How do you know he really went to Milan?” Bria asked. “Did you plant one of those GPS devices on his car? Or did you implant one of those microchips in his skin, like I’ve read people do in Denmark?”

Luca stared at Bria, and she couldn’t tell if he was amused or perplexed. Had she said something foolish? She had read about the technologically obsessed Danish in the very respectable daily paper Corriere della Sera, not some National Enquirer – type tabloid published by Generoso Pope. Maybe her instincts were getting too close to the police department’s top secret actions? Or maybe the caffeine was making her ramble incoherently? Either way, Luca seemed confused.

“Don’t you think that’s a smart thing to do?” Bria asked.

“What?” Luca asked in return.

“Putting microchips in our skin so every person’s whereabouts can be tracked.”

“That would be an invasion of privacy.”

“That would also make it much easier to track suspects when they say they’re going to Milan for a global warming conference that doesn’t exist.”

“The conference doesn’t exist, but we did track Dante and can confirm he flew to Milan.”

“How?” Bria asked again.

“Fabrice was the pilot,” Luca explained, squinting into the afternoon sunshine. “He and I were playing racquetball, and he told me.”

It was Bria’s turn to be confused. “You play racquetball with Fabrice?”

“We’ve been playing for the past few years,” Luca replied.

“Why didn’t my sister tell me?”

“Maybe Fabrice didn’t tell her.

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