The Broken Frame by Claudio Ruggeri Read Free Book Online Page B

Carlo.”
    "Madam, do not waste my time, and do not try to fool me. Rather, it would be better to try to explain to me why two thousand Euros per month were no longer sufficient."
    “I’m not trying to fool you!”
    “Perhaps you should make yourself clear.”
    "It was an operation on my knee. Unfortunately I’m following a very expensive course of rehabilitation. Without this intervention, I risked not being able to walk anymore."
    “At this point you asked for more money?”
    “Well, sort of. We asked Carlo for help.”
    “It seems more likely to me you were blackmailing him. Threatening him that you’d tell the rest of the story to his wife. Including the bit about the illegitimate son. You told him you’d raise a scandal which would hurt a person as prominent as him.”
    “I don’t how he took it, but certainly, we weren’t trying to blackmail him.”
    "I think he took it just like that, Mrs. Lucci. You would tell everything to his wife in order to force her to settle the matter. She, in her own way, fixed it for you.”
    “What do you mean, Germano?”
    "When was, if there ever was one, the last time you met Mrs. Bezzi, wife of Riva?"
    "Two or three months ago. She came directly to my house, close to Via Cristoforo Colombo. She was accompanied by a tall, slender man."
    “Did he look like this man here?”
    "Yes, it was him." The woman recognized the photo of the lawyer Morosini, Michael Riva’s current attorney.
    “I see. What was said, specifically?”
    "Mrs. Bezzi told me that she was aware of the history. Our history, that is, and she proposed a deal which we agreed to."
    "The agreement was a reward in exchange for your silence?"
    “Exactly. She offered to make the arrangements so we would become a part of the husband's last will and testament. We’d get ten percent, in return for which we would have to disappear, and not disturb Carlo anymore.”
    “And what about the two thousand Euros? The amount that you received monthly?”
    “She said she’d take care of it. All we had to do was tell Carlo that we wanted nothing more from him, since he’d already helped us so much.”
    "I'm sorry Roberto, but I bet you told your father of your decision to break off relations in a letter, didn’t you?"
    “Exactly, but how did you know?”
    "I would also guess that you never received an answer?”
    "That's true, I never did receive an answer. I thought that he felt sad, or that he considered he’d finally got rid of a nasty irritant. However, Dr. Germano, you haven’t answered my question."
    “Which is?”
    “How did you know about that letter?”
    "Ah! You see, Roberto, your father did write the letter, with his apologies. Only since we found it at the scene of the crime, this investigation has been littered with clues. Clues that would lead us to the two of you. They were artfully placed, so that at the end of the story the person who had to go to prison for life would be you, Roberto. A legacy, but what a legacy!"
    “Now what’s going to happen to us?”
    "At the moment, nothing. Unfortunately, stupidity is not yet considered a felony.”
    “How will this story end?”
    "Well, until now, Michele Riva is and will remain guilty of the murder of his father. The only hope we have is that in the end he decides to talk. If only because of your lack of involvement."
    “What do you suggest we do?”
    "Get out of town for a while, and of course, don’t dare to claim that ten percent of the inheritance."
    "We’ll disappear. Maybe it’s the only way to remove ourselves from the publicity generated by this story."
    "I can’t guarantee that, Roberto. It’s possible that Michele Riva, when he discovers that it won’t be so easy for him to get out of prison, tries one last card."
    “To implicate us?”
    "Exactly. Perhaps in the belief that the police did not move against you because they weren’t able to understand certain clues. So he'll try to present his side of the story in a more coherent way. I