Page 37 of Murder at the Ponte Vecchio (Armstrong and Oscar Cozy Mystery #11)
‘Safely locked up in a cell downstairs, changed into prison uniform in place of his wet clothes.’ He smiled. ‘The convict clothes suit him, which is just as well as he’s hopefully going to be wearing them for the rest of his life.’
‘Did he tell you why he chose to come out to the quarry at that particular moment?’
‘He told me he was tidying up a few odds and ends before leaving. Those are the exact words he used – as if he were just doing a few little jobs around the place. With Marco still alive, he knew we would soon be onto him, so he booked himself onto a flight from Rome to Johannesburg tomorrow morning. Interestingly, the booking was just for him, not his wife or kids. He was only interested in covering his own back.’ He went back to his chair and sat down.
‘It’s amazing how you can work with somebody for months, years, without realising that you’re working with a madman.
Thank God you stopped him when you did. Who knows how many other people he would have killed if he’d managed to get away and start a new life? ’
Johannesburg stirred a memory in me. ‘I noticed on social media that he and his family went to South Africa on holiday a year or two ago. Maybe that’s where he heard about conflict diamonds being smuggled into Europe by asylum seekers.
Anyway, shall we take a look at the camera footage of the cigar box? ’
I checked the app on my phone and, sure enough, there was Inspector Roberto Faldo levering open Virgilio’s desk drawer and removing the box from the evidence bag.
The expression on his face when he discovered that the contents weren’t diamonds after all was a picture.
In a matter of a very few seconds, we could clearly see realisation dawn on him that he’d been caught in a trap.
We saw him hastily drop the cigar box back into the drawer and search the office desperately until he found the other camera and then make a run for it.
I looked up and caught Virgilio’s eye. ‘With Marco’s confirmation that it was Faldo who made the phone call on Wednesday afternoon and this video, you should easily be able to make the attempted murder charge stick against him.
Hopefully, you’ll also see his Land Rover on the video footage of the vehicles in the area around the time of the hit.
’ I reached into my pocket and brought out the two rolled-up poo bags, one containing the bloodstained plastic from the Land Rover’s light and the other containing the piece of material from Marco’s trousers.
‘Here, these should also help. I peeled them off the front of the Land Rover just before the rain started. Forensics should be able to get Marco’s DNA off the dried blood on the light.
And don’t forget that Faldo told me everything and I’ll be delighted to give evidence against him. ’
Virgilio took the bags from me. ‘Thanks, again, Dan. We can certainly nail him for the attempted murder of Marco, and, with your evidence, we should also be able to pin Jacobs’s murder on him and the others as well.
I’ve been in touch with the Grand Hotel and they’ve sent me the CCTV footage from the dining-room cameras – which Faldo deliberately omitted to mention.
Who do we see sitting there, eating his way happily through a hundred-euro meal, but Faldo?
He looks as if he hasn’t a care in the world when he gets up at ten-fifteen and heads off with a bag in his hands – no doubt containing the hoodie – to commit murder.
Mind you, he wasn’t holding back in the car on his way here.
It was almost as if he was proud of what he’d done. He’s singing like a canary.’
‘I hope he continues to do so. Have you given the Berg family the good news that you’ve nailed the killer? Presumably, they’ll be off back to the Netherlands.’ A thought occurred to me. ‘What about Axel Jacobs’s diamonds? Have you been able to contact his next of kin?’
‘Yes, his daughter and her husband have been informed. He’s in the oil industry and they live in Dallas, Texas.
As far as I can tell, there’s been little or no contact between her and her father for many years.
When I told her he’d brought three hundred thousand euros’ worth of gold bars to pay for conflict diamonds, which were going to be held as evidence in the murder case, the woman didn’t sound in the least upset.
She told me she had no interest in either her father or his “dirty money” – those are the words she used – and she told me she would be more than happy for anything of his to go to charity.
That saves me a lot of paperwork and saves the courts a lot of time, but it’s sad all the same that neither of these two old men will be missed by their children. ’
I nodded in agreement. ‘Maybe it’s like the Scottish professor told me: blood diamonds are called that for a reason.
They corrupt everyone they touch. I’ve been wondering why David Berg contacted me last Friday night.
He was clearly worried about something. I suppose it was because he’d found out that his contact at the station had been murdered, and he was afraid he would be next.
Presumably, because he was involved with the illegal diamond trade, he felt he couldn’t come straight to the police. ’
Virgilio got to his feet. ‘I’m sure you’re right. It’s a pity for him that he chose to get involved with such a dirty business. And now, if you have time, the questore has asked us both to go up and see him.’
I followed him up to the top floor, where we were ushered into the questore ’s office by his secretary. As soon as he saw us, he leapt nimbly to his feet and came across to pump my hand vigorously up and down.
‘Signor Armstrong, I wanted to shake your hand and thank you in person for your outstanding bravery in bringing a truly evil man to justice.’
I repeated my usual line about having gone to the quarry simply to look for evidence and not having done anything particularly heroic, but he was having none of it.
‘I’m going to put your name forward for a gallantry award. Excellent, excellent. Thank the Lord that we no longer have a traitor in our midst, and not only a traitor but a sadistic serial killer as well.’
He asked if there was any more practical way he could reward me, and Virgilio was quick to step in and tell him about the spy camera that Faldo had smashed. The questore nodded enthusiastically. ‘Of course, of course, buy Signor Armstrong a new one – no, get him two of them.’
By the time I left his office, I’d been told I was going to receive not only two new cameras but also several cases of expensive Villa Antinori wine and a new suit, made to measure by the questore ’s own personal tailor with his compliments.
This, of course, meant that I would now have two brand-new suits and very little opportunity to wear either of them.
Still, I told myself, it’s the thought that counts.
As Virgilio walked me back down the stairs, he added one more bonus. ‘You and Anna – and Oscar, of course – will be the guests of the Florence police for a slap-up dinner after Saturday night’s show.’