Page 34 of Sisters

Matteo led them into his kitchen and offered a drink, which they declined. He wanted them to get on with what they had to say. He was about to call in Susanna, who was sitting in the cool of the living room, alternating between reading her magazine and dozing off, but they said they wanted to speak to him first.

‘Has Abby called you?’ asked Baroni.

‘No.’

‘You are sure?’

‘Of course I’m sure.’

‘You understand that you need to tell us if Abby calls you, either on your mobile or here at the house?’

She is really pushing her luck, thought Matteo. He was tired. He had eventually got to work the previous night and had to explain to his superior officer that he suspected his wife had taken his gun. The other part of the story, the part he hadn’t admitted to Baroni and Susanna, was that although he’d locked it away, as per the ‘custody of weapons’ procedure, he’d made a fatal error of judgement.

He’d left the gun loaded.

His boss’s face had fallen. He’d had no choice but to hit Matteo with what he’d been dreading.I’m suspending you from duty with immediate effect.

It had been a long night and Matteo desperately needed sleep, but Lieutenant Baroni was looking fresh and determined. He wondered if she knew about his mistake with the gun.

‘So you’ve been suspended?’ she said, with what he thought was a strong note of disapproval.

He refused to rise to the bait. So she knew. Had to, really, seeing as she was in charge of this investigation.

‘Where are Abby’s letters?’ he asked, pouring himself a coffee. Stupid, really, if he wanted to go to sleep soon, but he felt as if he needed to sharpen his mind for whatever might be coming next.

‘We’ll return them to you as soon as we can,’ she said, and Matteo felt himself get irritated by the stock phrases. He knew he was being fobbed off, damn it. Worse, she knew he knew. He met her cool eyes. She was treating him like a member of the public.

Santini, who had been silent until now, spoke. ‘He hasn’t answered the question.’

Matteo stiffened. He looked at Santini, saw an expression in his eyes that he didn’t like. This was a man who enjoyed his position of authority, who likely abused it. Matteo tried to remember what the question was but was too tired, and anyway, this Santini was winding him up.

‘Youunderstand,’ said Santini, in a patronizing tone, ‘that you need totellus if Abbycallsyou.’

Who is this total idiot?thought Matteo. He was about to retort when Susanna came into the room.

‘I thought I heard voices,’ she said urgently. ‘What’s going on? Have you found them?’

‘Signora Spencer, we have some news of your daughters,’ said Lieutenant Colonel Baroni. ‘We know they stayed in apensionein Barga last night. This is a small town in central Tuscany,’ she explained. ‘However, they left very early this morning.’

Susanna clutched her chest in relief. ‘Oh my God. So they’re OK? Ellie’s OK?’

‘They appear to be.’

‘Where are they now?’

‘We don’t know. Your daughters stayed at thepensioneunder false names, which of course meant their identification was delayed and consequently gave them time to get away. But we know what vehicle they are driving and we are looking for them.’

Susanna’s earlier relief evaporated. ‘So they could be anywhere.’

‘How are they surviving?’ Matteo asked the lieutenant coolly.

‘Abby withdrew a significant amount of money yesterday. Ten thousand euros.’

Susanna’s eyes widened. ‘She always was Miss Moneybags.’

‘Which makes it all the more concerning that she didn’t pay thepensioneowner for the night’s stay. In fact, both she and Ellie ran out on him this morning, not even stopping when he chased them.’

‘Why would they do that?’ asked Matteo.