Page 36 of Once Upon a Time in Venice

The case had plagued him for a decade; it was one that Detective Gallo had always wanted to solve. Lorenzo Mancini had been a young man when he’d disappeared on his way home from church. He had seemed to vanish into thin air, and the rumour mill had whirred into action. There were whispers that he’d run away, or that he’d simply left home and moved to the big city, perhaps following a girlfriend no one knew about. There had been mutterings that the Camorra might have been involved.

But Lorenzo’s mother was insistent that none of these was the case – something had happened to her boy, she was sure of it. Detective Gallo thought so too. Something was off; his gut told him that something wasn’t right, and he was determined to find out what had really happened.

He had faithfully promised Lorenzo’s distraught mother that he would solve the case, and he intended to honour that commitment. Her son’s disappearance had haunted her ever since; it was such a quiet town, and things like that didn’t happen in Cannegia.

But there had been no leads, no evidence, no witnesses and no body. The trail had gone cold, and the file languished, unsolved, at the back of Detective Gallo’s cabinet.

Now, with Lorenzo’s remains on ice in the morgue, everything had changed. The body’s remains had been partially preserved by the unique conditions in which it had come to rest, caught on a ledge – too high to be seen from below and too hidden to be seen from above. Frozen for most of the year on the ledge where sunlight rarely reached, and unreachable to the forest creatures who might have feasted on the remains. Now there would be an autopsy, DNA samples, forensics.

It was no longer a missing persons case.

‘Marco? It’s Gina.’

Gina was back in her office, making a call to Marco’s mobile. It had been half an hour since she’d returned from Lucia’s suite, and Gina hadn’t done a stroke of work since. She’d kept replaying her conversation with La Leonessa in her head, and had finally decided she couldn’t put the inevitable off any longer. She dialled Marco’s number.

‘Gina! This is an unexpected pleasure.’ She could hear the smile in his voice, but couldn’t find her own right now.

‘I need a favour.’ Gina closed her eyes, grimacing as she said the words. She concluded that she had no option; perhaps Lucia was bluffing, but Gina didn’t intend to find out. If La Leonessa wanted a dinner date with Marco – and Brad Redford thought it was a good idea – then Gina would do everything in her power to make it happen. That was her job, she told herself.

‘Sounds intriguing,’ Marco replied. ‘I’m actually on my way to the hotel right now, with Edoardo. I’ll come and find you?’

‘That would be great, thanks, Marco,’ Gina sighed in relief. ‘I’ll see you soon.’

‘Ciao.’

Gina, Marco and Edoardo were sitting in the glamorous surroundings of the hotel’s Casanova Bar. It was decorated in the same extravagant style as the rest of the White Palace, with flock wallpaper and wingback armchairs, and a Canaletto painting on the wall that was almost identical to the view of Venice that could be seen through the arched windows. A long marble bar ran the length of one wall, with scores of bottles on glass shelves, and suited waiters attending to the guests as piano music played softly in the background.

Across the low table, Gina looked at Marco, trying to work out how she felt about him. The last time she’d seen him, when they’d sheltered from the rain after the opera, there’d been a chemistry and connection between the two of them. But now the situation was completely different; they were in a work environment, and had to be professional. Still, Gina couldn’t help noticing how good he looked in jeans and a chunky navy sweater, a smattering of stubble peppering his jaw. Beside him, Edoardo cut a more slender, wolfish figure, in black trousers paired with a black polo neck.

They made small talk until their coffees arrived, and then Marco sat forward and said, ‘You wanted to ask me for a favour?’

Gina hesitated only slightly. ‘It’s Lucia de Santis …’

Marco raised an eyebrow as he sipped his cappuccino, but didn’t say anything.

‘She would like you to accompany her to dinner one evening.’

Marco spluttered, almost choking on his drink, as Edoardo exclaimed in shock. When Marco had recovered, he said, ‘She wouldn’t be my first choice for dinner.’

‘I know,’ Gina apologized. ‘But she’s insistent. She wants to talk about the movie.’

‘Sure she does,’ Edoardo snorted, as Marco and Gina both turned to look at him. ‘What?’ he snapped. ‘What’s the problem? If it was me, I’d say yes without hesitation.’

‘Sorry Edoardo,’ Gina shrugged. ‘She specifically requested Marco.’

The two men looked at one another, an awkwardness rippling between them.

‘The chosen one,’ Edoardo muttered under his breath. ‘First my father, now Lucia …’

Marco ignored his brother-in-law’s jealous sniping. ‘And if I say no?’ he wondered, his thick brows knitting together in a frown as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

‘Well, of course it’s your choice,’ Gina said, hoping her tone conveyed how much she wanted him to say yes. ‘But it would certainly grease the wheels. Lucia would be happy, Brad would be happy … I’d be happy,’ she added, looking up at him beseechingly.

‘Would you?’ His dark eyes searched hers.

‘Well, it would mean I’d get to keep my job.’ Gina forced a laugh, trying to keep it light-hearted. ‘And I wouldn’t have Lucia de Santis on my case any longer.’

‘But why me?’ he asked. ‘What does she want?’