Delayed Death (Temptation in Florence Book 1) by Beate Boeker Read Free Book Online Page A

warning, she started to cry. "I'm going to miss him."
    Carlina put her arm around her mother, her own eyes filling with tears.
    "Signorina Ashley, I don't wish to make your life difficult at such a sad time, but could you please corroborate the statements I heard earlier?"
    "Of course." Carlina bit her lips. Had she just agreed to confirm everything? Oh, no. Her mother pulled the cushion from behind her back and sobbed into it.
    The Commissario watched her without twitching a muscle.
    He won't understand. He won't believe me. He's a police computer with a body wrapped around it. He has no idea how a human being feels.
    Fabbiola's sobs made Carlina wince. I can't embarrass her so much. She'll never forgive me if I present them all as liars now.
    "Signorina Ashley? Would you please answer?"
    Carlina met his cool gaze for a fleeting instant. He seemed dark and menacing, though she couldn't tell where the impression came from. I never want to see him mad. She opened her mouth and heard herself say. "My grandfather didn't want to come to the wedding. He said it would be unlucky. We had the impression the bad vibe period had returned, and we couldn't change his mind, so we left." The words rushed out of her mouth. There. She had said it. She had crossed the point of no return. Oh, Madonna.
    The Commissarios light eyes seemed to penetrate into her brain. "You're quite sure he was fine and well when you saw him?"
    Her heart started to race. What does he know?
    "Of course she's sure." Fabbiola said. "Do you think my daughter would lie to the police?"
    The Commissario didn't take his gaze off Carlina. "Signorina Ashley?"
    Carlina cleared her throat. "Yes." Her voice sounded higher than normal.
    "Then how do you explain the socks?"
    Carlina shrugged. Did that look nonchalant enough? "He probably felt too bad to take them off."
    "Did he seem different compared to his usual self?"
    Very. Carlina bit her lips. "No."
    "Thank you." The Commissario got up. "I have all the information we need. Due to the circumstances, we will arrange an autopsy, but it will take some days. You will hear from us. In the meantime, I would like to seal the apartment."
    Fabbiola gasped. "What?"
    He looked at her. "It's standard procedure. We're treating this case as a murder investigation until we have further evidence. I understand your father lived on his own?"
    "Yes." Fabbiola clutched her cushion tight.
    "Then it won't create too much of an inconvenience." He held the door open for her to leave the sitting room. "Please ask the family to leave the apartment."
    Carlina shook her head, but the feeling of having strayed into a surrealistic movie remained.
    As soon as the Commissario was out of earshot, Carlina rounded on her mother with a hiss. "Why did you behave as if I'm a five-year-old?"
    Fabbiola pouted. "I don't think you should be alone with a policeman."
    It sounded as if policemen were a dangerous species. "Why?" Carlina put her hands on her hips. "What did you think would happen?"
    Fabbiola hitched her cushion higher and gave her a dark look. "He kept asking who had last seen father alive. He said it was important to speak to you. It sounded . . . " her voice trailed out, then she shrugged. “It sounded sinister."
    "Oh, Mama." Carlina gave her a quick hug. "Thank you, but it wasn't necessary at all." In fact, you rendered me the worst possible service.
    When the Commissario and his assistant had left, she extricated herself from the family and ran upstairs to her apartment on the top floor. It was a relief to be alone, to stop acting, and to be just herself. She felt hollow and exhausted and dropped onto her bed with the leopard print cover. I have lied to the police. She felt like a criminal.
    Carlina placed her hands behind her head and looked at the slanted ceiling painted in a soft lilac. Now what? Call the Commissario and tell him it was all lies?
    She shuddered.
    No way. He would look at her with those cold eyes and would decide it was time to