L'Oro Verde by Coralie Hughes Jensen Read Free Book Online Page A

Angela with the murder
case. Sister Daniela knew solving crimes was intriguing and important, and she
longed to take part in her mentor’s cases. It was not only an idle or a
romantic yearning. Just last summer, Sister Angela recruited the novice to play
shopkeeper at a pottery store that was robbed three times at gunpoint. The
thief demanded money and threatened to
    shoot and destroy the beautiful plates
and vessels that lined the shop’s shelves.
    For two scary days, Sister Daniela took
over the register while Sister Angela and Officer Tortini hid in back. When the
thief returned with another demand for money, Tortini arrested him without much
of a struggle. The gun turned out to be a toy, but it looked real to Sister
Daniela. At the trial, Sister Angela learned that the thief was down on his
luck. She visited him in prison and, after he was released, helped him get a
job so he could repay the shopkeeper.
    As Sister Angela’s student, Lazaro
Tortini loved to draw designs of sleek automobiles in the margins of his history
papers. She described him then as an adequate student and predicted he would
become a mechanic in Petraggio or design luxury cars at the Alpha Romeo plant
in Milano. Instead, he stayed in Montriano and broke into police work. At first,
he did little more than maintain the two police cars and painstakingly detail
their doors with police logos. He gradually became move involved in crime solving.
Back in school, Sister Angela never anticipated that either she or Lazaro would
work on a police case—and she certainly did not foresee that they would do so
together.
    *
    Vittorio made his way down the dark
hallway at the far end of the house and tapped on the door.
    “Nicola,” he said, knocking louder. When
she did not answer, he quietly entered. Letting his eyes adjust to the darkness,
he whispered her name again. “Are you all right, Nicola? I don’t understand why
you didn’t come to dinner. Should I call a doctor?”
    “I’m all right, Papa. Please don’t
worry. I must rest so I can go to work tomorrow.”
    He sat on the edge of her bed. “Is it
Enzo? Did he say something? Is your work too much?”
    “No.”
    “If Enzo says anything to you, you must
ignore him. That man isn’t any good, Nicola. If he offers to hire you, you must
turn him down.”
    Nicola sat upright. “Why, Papa? What did
he do to you? Did he squeeze a few too many dollars from the business? Or are
you just jealous of his accomplishments?”
    Vittorio rubbed his eyes. “You
ungrateful child.”
    “I want to be successful too, Papa. You
don’t think so, but I’m capable of being somebody.”
    “Why do you want to work at a plant,
Nicola? You know the orchards will always be here for you and Carlo.”
    “I know they will be Carlo’s when you
are gone. I’ll have nothing. I’ll be his burden.”
    “You know that’s not true.”
    “I want to see the world, Papa. I can’t
stay here. I just can’t,” she wailed, her voice trailing off into sobs. “I no
longer have a reason to stay here.”
    “My dear child, how I wish your mother
were here. Mariella would know what to do, what to tell you. I am so helpless.”
    Vittorio stood up but was unsure if he
should leave her like this. “We need you here, Nicola. Neither Carlo nor I are good
with the customers. They love you , Nicola. We need you,” he repeated.
Dropping his hands, he quickly walked to the door. He had run out of words to
comfort her.
    *
    At the end of class, Sister Daniela
skipped over to the bulletin board outside the administrative offices to check
the schedule for the rest of the day. The mother superior posted the schedule
and all teacher-related notes there. Sure enough, Sister Angela’s name was
crossed off for the next class at eleven and again at two and three. Sister
Daniela’s name was penciled in.
    “Wow!” she said. “This must be a big
crime.”
    Sister Lucia was checking the board too.
    “Congratulations, Sister. Looks like
you’ll be