Roman Count Down by David P. Wagner

Author:David P. Wagner [Wagner, David P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mystery, amateur sleuth, police procedural, international, italy
ISBN: 9781464211645
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2019-03-14T07:00:00+00:00

Piero’s lunch spot was Giggetto, a restaurant in the heart of Rome’s Jewish quarter, the Ghetto. It was still early when Rick left Juan Alberto, and the weather was perfect, so he decided to walk rather than take a taxi. He crossed the Tiber and made his way to the Via Giulia, one of the straightest in Rome, built by Pope Julius II who gave it his name. As he walked, he dragged his mind away from Lidia and thought of another Giulia, again marveling at how she had changed for the better. She was still the same person, programmed for success, but at least the exterior made it more pleasant to be around her. And what was wrong with being a success in business? That’s what he was trying to do, wasn’t it? Maybe he should give her a call, especially since Lidia was now very much out of the picture.

Piero was sitting at a table reading the menu when Rick walked through the door. To Rick’s great surprise, his uncle’s suit jacket was hanging behind him on the chair back. Informality gone rampant. The shirt was perfectly tailored, its sleeves just the right fit between baggy and too tight, and the spread collar held the knot of a solid blue tie. It would all be covered by the napkin once the food arrived.

“Hope I’m not late.” Rick took the chair across from his uncle.

“Not at all. I’ve ordered wine, a Velletri Rosso, so we’ll have to have something that goes with red. Which should not be a problem here. Did you eat in the Ghetto often when you lived here?”

“A few times. I had a Jewish classmate who lived down here. She said her family had been in this area of Rome since the forties.”

“Not very long.”

“Not the nineteen forties, Zio, just the forties. The first century.”

“Ah. So you are familiar with the food?”

“Absolutely. Her mother made wonderful carciofi alla giudia.”

“That is a specialty here.”

The waiter arrived with mineral water and the wine, and Piero ordered the Jerusalem artichokes for both of them, along with supplì al telefono, another fried specialty. He poured wine into their glasses, they toasted each other, and took their first sips. The room was about half full, mostly with what looked like local businessmen, though few of them wore jackets or ties. Perhaps that was what had convinced Piero to go casual.

“I saw Sergeant Lamponi just before I came here and she told me about your meetings this morning, but I’d like to hear about them from you. You went first to the street where Count Zimbardi spent his last days, if I remember correctly.”

“At least part of his last days. He saw various people, including Rospo the bookie and Syms-Mulford, as we found out later from Rospo. So the man was busy. But let me go over each of the people we saw.”

Piero took another drink of wine and sat back to listen. Rick described the street in the order he and

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