“When was the last time she was here to visit you?” Maurizio intervened. That would have been a good starting point and his heart started slowly to increase its pace, at the thought that perhaps this would have been another piece to be added to the puzzle.
“Hmm... Let me think, it was sometime in October. When my father was murdered, she asked me whether I wanted to have her here. I told her it would have been better if she’d remain away for a time, as I needed to take care of my life, and put the pieces back together. I still need to figure out what I’m going to do from now on.” He peered cautiously at them, twisting his fingers.
After a short pause, Leonardo brought his closed fist to his mouth. “You said this girl, Irina, lives with her aunt. Where is her mother, or father? Do you know anything about them?”
He noticed Luciano’s discomfort and knew it was because they were reaching a critical point.
“We never spoke about her family. I don’t know...”
“How come? She knew everything about your family, she knew your parents divorced and your father was murdered. Yet, although you were in a romantic relationship, you cannot say where his parents are? Did she keep it secret, or weren’t you interested in that detail?” Leonardo pressed. He didn’t care whether his questions were impolite or not. He was smelling a dead rat, and by glancing at Maurizio, the stench was so strong, they could almost see the rotting corpse.
“What are those questions about?” Luciano snapped. “I wasn’t interested in her background, and if you had seen her, you would have understood that the last thing you come to think of is about her family.”
“Do you happen to have a picture of her?” Maurizio’s voice was calm and tried to sound as reassuring and friendly as possible, but he knew they were close to something big, something Luciano wanted to keep secret.
The reason for this secrecy, not necessarily was connected to the murder, as there could have been thousands of explanations, for example keeping secret from his mother the fact that he was having a relationship with the daughter of the woman who stole her husband.
Thinking about it, he realized there would be more than a good reason to hide his relationship, yet he should know that we are supposed to keep the maximum confidentiality on every private detail of the people we are interrogating. It doesn’t matter whether they are serial killers or witnesses, they all have a right to privacy. Maurizio considered.
Luciano relaxed his muscles and drew a deep breath. “Sorry for being rude, I have a picture in my mobile phone,” he said with a defeated tone. With a slow movement, he stood from the couch and pulled it from the pocket of his jeans.
Browsing through his pictures, he returned to sit and as he found what he was looking for, he handed the mobile phone to Maurizio. He was aware of the incredible resemblance to her mother and was waiting for their reaction. Now I need to play my cards wisely. I can still win this game.
Maurizio inspected the picture and immediately recognized the daughter of Madlen.
“She’s indeed a very beautiful girl and resembles quite closely....”
“I know!” Luciano interrupted, throwing his hands up in mid-air. “How do you think my mother would react if she knew I’m dating the daughter of my father’s girlfriend?” Luciano knew he just found the greatest escape plan from a hopeless situation.
“You should have told us, because hiding any sort of detail can be considered a way to misdirect the investigation,” Maurizio warned, his brows furrowed as he handed him back the mobile phone.
“I…I” Luciano’s lips twitched as his heart sank. “I didn’t mean to hide anything. I was sure this was a detail that held no importance whatsoever. I’m dating Irina, who’s generally living in another country. What does this detail have to do with the murder of my father?” His voice trembled as tears started to form in his eyes.
He covered his face between his hands and felt hopelessly slipping into an abyss he’d never imagined possible.
“Mr. Calvani,” Maurizio commenced. “We’re not accusing you of anything, but you need to understand we need every single piece of information. Let us judge what’s important and what isn’t.” He tried to keep his voice calm, although he wanted to run to the Department and start delegating the team to search for every member of Irina’s family and their moves in the last three months, together with their backgrounds.
There was a pause of a few long moments, where Maurizio and Leonardo gave a chance to Luciano to regain his composure and try to calm down. The silence in the apartment brought every noise in the foreground to take center stage. And so, the slight buzz of the fridge, almost imperceptible, took life, merging with the regular ticking of the clock on the wall, and the muffled noises coming from the other apartments.
They weren’t there to arrest him. Not yet at least, but there are so many questions open. I am afraid nobody here has told the whole truth, and Mrs. Fazekas, Mr. Calvani and this girl, Irina, will have to explain a lot once this puzzle will start to come together, Maurizio bit his lower lip, scrutinizing every little movement of Luciano.
Leaning back on the couch, Luciano closed his eyes for a second to inhale deeply, recalling the fact that they didn’t have any proof against him, and certainly never will.
He opened his eyes once again and scrutinized Maurizio, who remained almost frozen into the same expression and position.
“You’re right, detective, and I’m sorry for not having considered this particular. I should have thought about the importance of every detail to find
