Some of the women cheered in sympathetic understanding.

  Cinzia's smirk told Tomaso that I was right. Tomaso lashed out at his lover, "Antonio only wanted you to get at me. He was envious because I had a beautiful woman, Laura. So he took my lover, you. It wasn't the first time he'd tried that!"

  A taste of the sibling rivalry Franco had mentioned was like a cold shower. Tomaso's callousness convinced me that I was finally seeing the real person behind all the lies and pretense.

  Cinzia said to him, "Antonio was going to marry me! He announced it to everyone! You could have stopped it, but you didn't!"

  Cinzia had turned on Tomaso. That was what I had been trying to make happen. But what now? How could Tomaso have stopped the engagement? I thought back to the first evening at the Bartolinis and took a guess. "Antonio knew Cinzia had been your lover. He asked how much you would pay to make him stop seeing her. You fought about it in the garden at your family home."

  Cinzia said, "You can't know that. They spoke Italian."

  "How do you know that?" Tomaso asked his question not of me, but of Cinzia.

  "I can answer that." I held center stage, now, and did not want to lose it. "Cinzia overheard you, just as I did. You made her very angry by refusing to pay Antonio. She had wanted to make you jealous, but when you turned Antonio's offer down, she became worried that you wanted to use your brother as a way of neatly getting rid of an old lover."

  Several of the men listening nodded in agreement with me. One shouted out something that Donatella translated as meaning, "Congratulations, Mamma."

  I gained confidence from my correct surmises. I thought back to the day of the murder for more ammunition. "That convinced Cinzia to tell Antonio to go ahead and announce their engagement at the party."

  Cinzia looked smugly at Laura and I. She seemed proud that her pragmatic approach to life and love was finally being recognized.

  "But maybe Cinzia doesn't know this." I enjoyed the sudden change my words caused in the arrogant woman's expression. "Tomaso and Antonio tried to make a deal that day when they arrived at Laura's property, but they were interrupted by Ernesto."

  "How do you know that?" Tomaso snapped angrily at me.

  "She knows because she's smart! Much smarter than you!"

  The crowd laughed as Laura stood up for her 'mother.'

  "Go on, I'm enjoying this!"

  Confident I had Laura's understanding of my motives, I tried to keep up the pressure. I racked my brain for more memories from the day of the murder and tried to interpret them as quickly as possible in the light of this new information.

  "Cinzia and Antonio met in the garden and decided it was time to announce the engagement."

  This produced a reaction of surprise in Cinzia, but unlike Tomaso, she remained quiet.

  I decided to take aim at Tomaso, the weaker of the two. "You didn't want Antonio to have your lover. You didn't want Antonio to tell anyone about your relationship with Cinzia. Those are two very good motives for murder."

  The crowd let out a collective sigh and nodded their agreement.

  "I didn't kill him!" Tomaso stood and shouted at the whole audience, not just at me. "Someone tried to kill me, yesterday! It was the same person who killed my brother, and the police have done nothing!"

  The mention of police incompetence appeared to gain Tomaso some sympathy from the crowd.

  I knew how to change that, even if it meant saying what I did not really believe. "We have only your word for the attack. No one saw anything or anyone. You faked it to take suspicion off yourself. The police are doing something. They're on their way here, right now, to arrest you!" I looked at Cinzia's worried appraisal of her lover and took another shot. "And you, Cinzia."

  "Me? Why arrest me?" Cinzia seemed very concerned by this.

  A guilty conscience perhaps? In the back of my mind, I wondered if Cinzia even had a conscience. "They think you helped Tomaso fake the attack. You, supposedly, found him unconscious with a wound to the back of his head. They think you hit him to make the attack look convincing."

  The threat of arrest visibly upset Cinzia. She looked up worriedly at Tomaso who was standing next to her. With a swift move, she pushed her chair back and stood up. She took a few steps away from him and said, "I didn't help him fake the attack."

  "I didn't fake it!" Tomaso shouted as he tried to get closer to Cinzia.

  Colin stopped him, minus his raincoat, which lay on the floor where he had been standing only seconds before. The Englishman quickly placed himself between them and pushed Tomaso back. "Keep away. Let the girl speak."

  Tomaso sized up Colin Whitehorse, the unassuming librarian who had managed to silence his bullying little brother in a matter of seconds, and decided to take a few steps back and let Cinzia speak.

  Cinzia said, "It's true. I was Tomaso's lover."

  The crowd liked this turn in the story. Someone called out from the back of the room and Donatella translated the comment as, "Confession is good for the soul."

  Cinzia took the man's advice. "We were together for a long time, in secret, of course, because our mothers wouldn't have approved. Then he took up with her." Cinzia indicated Laura, her voice full of the disgust she felt for her rival.

  I suddenly recalled Anna complaining of Cinzia's cold manner with Laura from the first moment they had met. That was understandable, now.

  "Tomaso only went with Laura to upset his mother. He'd told me that she would never accept an American daughter-in-law, and then he'd make a deal to dump you if she accepted me. And if Giovanna accepted me, my mother wouldn't object."

  "But Giovanna did accept an American as a future daughter-in-law," I said.

  I put a comforting hand on Laura's arm. I could see how Cinzia's confession was upsetting her. To know someone used her was difficult enough, I imagined, but to hear how they had both schemed behind her back was much worse. Our audience seemed to understand this, too. Some of the women in the restaurant called out words of comfort to Laura.

  Cinzia ignored them and said, "Tomaso told me he'd marry her and stay with her just until his mother gave him the company." She looked at Tomaso. "That was a lie, wasn't it?"

  Tomaso did not answer.

  "I think it was a lie," Donatella spoke with authority. "I imagine he would have stayed married to his well-off and beautiful wife for as long as possible, and kept as many mistresses on the side as he could get away with. He'd learned that from his father."

  The crowd laughed.

  Cinzia decided to try to play the victim. "I thought I was losing him, that's why I gave in to Antonio's advances."

  "Advances?" Tomaso pointed an angry finger at Cinzia. "From what Antonio said, you told him we were lovers and then you seduced him! That's the only way Antonio would have gone with someone as plain as you!"

  Colin reached out and with one swift move he placed Tomaso firmly in his chair. "Shut up, and listen."

  The crowd laughed and applauded. Tomaso shut up and watched Colin fearfully.

  Cinzia enjoyed Colin's treatment of her lover. She sneered at Tomaso and said, "It didn't make Tomaso jealous. He wouldn't pay Antonio to stay away from me, so I agreed to Antonio's deal. We'd marry if we could convince our mothers, and he would get his mother's trust and a part of the family business, and I would get the money, name, and position I deserved. If I upset Tomaso at the same time, so much the better!" She raised her voice accusingly, "But I didn't expect Tomaso to kill Antonio."

  "I didn't!" Tomaso stopped there. He seemed tired of protesting his innocence to a crowd that had turned against him.

  Cinzia spoke to the crowd. "Tomaso met me in the garden shed that day and told me he'd fought with Antonio. He said he'd offered Antonio money to stay away from me, but Antonio had refused. I didn't believe Tomaso because he's such a good liar. I knew he hadn't offered Antonio any money."

  I noticed the women in the room were nodding their agreement with Cinzia and eyeing the handsome Tomaso with a combination of contempt and lust.

  Cinzia continued, "I told him I was going to marry Antonio and our affair was over. I left him there, and not long after that they told me Antonio was dead." The audience came to the same conclusion Cinzia had. "He went back and killed Antonio to keep him away from me!"

  I saw that the accusation fed Cinzia's ego. The young woman wanted to believe it was true. Her lover had killed his rival in order to keep her, but I felt it was not so clear-cut. Only a moment before Cinzia had accused Tomaso of not wanting to pay to keep Antonio away from her. Why would he then kill Antonio to keep him away from her? Cinzia said she had thought Tomaso wanted her to be with Antonio so he could get rid of her. Why would Tomaso kill his brother if he were doing him a service?

  Cinzia seemed to enjoy the attention she was getting. She said dramatically, "With Antonio dead, he wanted to start up our affair again. He said he would have the company in a few months, and then I would have him. All I had to do was to lie to give him an alibi for the time of the murder."

  That sealed it for Tomaso. Shouts of "assassino" came from all corners of the restaurant. Donatella told me, "They say he's an assassin, a killer." Donatella turned to Laura and said in a loud voice, "You're lucky to be rid of him, Laura. He's conceited, arrogant, and has no scruples. His brother was a womanizer, gambler, and a blackmailer. His other brother was an embezzler." She glared at Tomaso and said, "Your father did a great job with you boys. What a bunch of garbage genes he gave his children!"

  Cheers greeted Donatella's outburst of name-calling.

  Laura took my hand and whispered, "I want to leave. I don't feel well."

  At first, I could not understand what she was saying. I was too distracted by my own thoughts. I turned over Donatella's last words in my mind until an idea came to me that made me dizzy. Words and images from the previous week flowed past my mind's eye.

  "Bert," Laura spoke more loudly this time. "Can we go, now?"

  "Yes, of course." I took in Laura's distraught state and hurriedly said to Donatella and Colin, "It's time to leave. We'll let Franco deal with these two."

  I guided Laura through the applauding customers and staff of the Oenotra Restaurant. Donatella and Colin followed us out while waving to the appreciative crowd.

  "That was brilliant!" Colin repositioned his raincoat on his shoulders.

  "What's wrong with Laura?" Donatella helped Laura down a side street. "Oh, my! You're so pale! It's the realization that Tomaso may have killed Antonio, isn't it? I always suspected it was true, but for you, Laura, it must be a shock!"

  I interrupted them. "I have to speak to Franco Tadeucci and Giusi Cecchi, right away!" I turned to Colin and asked, "Can you take me? Laura should stay here with Donatella until she's feeling better. But if things go as I suspect," I spoke directly to Laura, "I'll be back for you before long, with Franco, and we'll confront Antonio's killer, together."

  *****

  "Signora Bartolini, thank you for seeing us on such short notice." Marshal Franco Tadeucci had Laura sit in front of him. He stood near a door that joined the sitting room to the reception room in the Bartolini's home.

  "You said it was very important, Marshal." Giovanna sat between Anna and Ovidio on the sofa.

  "I believe it is important. Miss Fahey and I have spent the afternoon discussing the case, and we've come to a conclusion that we'd like to discuss with you."

  I felt everyone's eyes on me.

  "Discussing the case with Bert?" Giovanna looked curiously at me but quickly returned her attention to the marshal. "Tomaso should be here! I don't want to discuss this without Tomaso." Her gaze shifted to Laura. "Laura, you look like you could use some comforting from Tomaso. I'm afraid this has taken as great a toll on you as it has on me."

  Franco put a comforting hand on Laura's shoulder. "Your son is in the next room with Cinzia Sanvincenti. For the moment, I think it's best they wait there." Before Giovanna could protest, he continued, "Ernesto and Graziella are in the next room, too. Since you're not pressing charges against them for embezzlement, and I'm not charging them with Antonio's murder or the attack on Tomaso, I've released them."

  "That's wonderful!" Ovidio smiled at Giovanna. "I told you it would work out!"

  Anna was less relieved by the information. "Does that mean you think someone else murdered Antonio?"

  "I'm going to let Miss Fahey answer that question by asking some questions of her own. Please, cooperate with her as you would with me." He opened the connecting door and let in Giusi and Cecilio Cecchi. "We've asked the Cecchis to join you this evening," said Franco, as Giusi sat next to Anna, and Cecilio took a seat near his wife.

  I sat on a stool in front of Anna. "I have one question for Anna. Is Egidio Bartolini Cinzia's father?"

  Ovidio stood up and yelled, "What are you saying? It's a lie!" Just as quickly, he sat down again next to Giovanna, took her hand in his and said to her softly, "Don't listen to her lies, Giovanna. Non ascoltare!"

  Anna looked at Giovanna out of the corner of her eye, but did not speak to her best friend. Instead she turned to Giusi and asked with curiosity, "Did you tell her?"

  "I almost did, twice, by accident. But no, I didn't tell her. She already knew, somehow." Giusi shrugged.

  Ovidio started to shout again, this time at Giusi. "It's lies!"

  Cecilio's gruff voice rumbled across the room. "Ovidio, it's time for the truth. Quiet down and let the women talk."

  Ovidio eyed fearfully Cecilio's sturdy frame, and quieted down. He turned all his attention to Giovanna.

  Anna smiled slightly as she answered, "Yes, it's true. Egidio Bartolini is Cinzia's father."

  Anna sighed with relief once her secret was told. I was sure it was gratitude Anna had in her eyes as she looked at me. "Would you like to tell us how it happened?" I recalled the relief Anna had shown over lunch together when she had related her worries about Cinzia. I suspected she might be relieved to finally speak about this, too.

  "Yes, I think I would." Anna sighed deeply before beginning her story. "I was seeing Egidio before he married Giovanna. I didn't even know about Giovanna, then. I thought he was going to marry me, so I didn't complain about our relationship being kept secret from everyone, even from my parents. I thought it was so he had more time to convince everyone to accept me. I thought I was finally going to be loved and accepted, but it was all a lie. It was a game to Egidio. He seduced me, promised me what he needed to gain my trust, and then left me. He married Giovanna. I was devastated and humiliated."

  Cecilio growled, "He was a terrible man. Using people was what he did for fun."

  Giovanna lowered her head and stared at her hands in her lap, covered by Ovidio's rough, over-sized hand. He whispered comforting words that only she could hear.

  Anna continued her story. "Not long after his marriage, he tried to seduce me, again. I refused! Again and again, I refused. He just kept trying. His sons were born, one after another, in three years time. He was running the family business by then, together with Giovanna. My cousin had just left for America, and I was very lonely. He had become my closest friend while staying with us, and I missed him terribly. Those few months of happiness with his friendship had made my life after he'd gone seem even more horrible. I was weak, tired, and very sad. One night I gave in to Egidio's advances. I became pregnant, and he didn't want to know about it. I wanted nothing to do with him, either." Anna looked at me and asked, "How did you know?"

  "There wasn't any one thing, just a collection of little things. Like when people who knew him spoke of Egidio's sadism."

  Anna smiled when I used the most appropriate word to describe the man's dominant traits.

  "They all spoke of his hurting women, and I assumed they were speaking of Giovanna, but their sympathy was directed at you, too, Anna. Because the two of you were connected in their minds, the two of you became connected in my mind."

  "He hurt many more woman than just me." Anna shook her head and glanced at Giovanna.

  "But I'm not sure he hurt any woman more than he hurt you, except maybe Giovanna." I looked at Giovanna but the woman continued to stare into her lap. "It came to me all at once, this afternoon. Donatella Bianchi had said something about the genes Egidio gave his children. It made me remember something Giusi had said to me about how all Egidio's children showed characteristics she associated with him. She was thinking of Cinzia, too, because she had just, unwittingly, pointed out those characteristics Cinzia shared with her father. It didn't strike me at the time, but it came back to me this afternoon."

  "I know why." Laura spoke for the first time since we had picked her up from Donatella's place. She had been sleeping when Franco and I had arrived. Franco had to be persuaded to take her with us. He thought she needed more rest not more excitement. "Something like that crossed my mind, today, when I saw Tomaso and Cinzia sitting next to each other. I thought they could be cousins or brother and sister."

  "You saw Tomaso, today?" Giovanna looked up suddenly and fixed her gaze on Laura. "Was that at the factory? Tomaso said you were busy with your book and he couldn't see you."

  "No, it wasn't at the factory, Giovanna. It was—" Laura stopped and looked to me for help.

  Tomaso had said nothing to his mother about the confrontation at the restaurant that afternoon. Giovanna did not know that his relationship with Laura was over, and she did not know her son and Cinzia were lovers. Before I could think of something to say to help Laura out of the difficult situation, Franco addressed Giovanna, "That will be explained in due course. Right now, we should let Miss Fahey say all she has to say."

  Giovanna respected Franco's authority as marshal, but I thought Giovanna looked like she was beginning to suspect him as a man who was her son's rival for Laura's affection. Giovanna looked suspiciously from him, to his hand on Laura's shoulder, to Laura's expression of gratitude for his intervention.