"Hello?" Chiara pressed the phone to her ear," Yeah Enzo... I'm coming to pick you up... yeah, okay. Yeah, I have coffee. Okay see you then" she placed the phone down and inwardly groaned.
Taking Enzo was the last thing that she wanted to do, but Salvatore had asked her to do so. They were heading to the address that made the canister, it was somewhere near Villagrazia-Falsomiele, and she would have to drive out.
She had wanted to do this on her own, purely based on a gut feeling that this was an important clue. The shop in question was from a residential area and had been listed as a home based business.
Slowing down near Enzo's home she smiled at the man who was waving. He sat in the car and offered her a box which had zeppole in it. It was a type of Italian doughnut that she was particularly fond of.
"Oh cool... thanks, I was starving" she took one and bit into it," ooh Che buono! (so good!) these are good... where did you get them from?"
"I uh... made them" he smiled proudly," glad you think it's good enough to be bought from a shop"
"It's really good... Faccio il bis! ( I go back for seconds)" she grinned.
"Ma figurati... ("Do not even mention it..." )" he said shyly," so why are you going to the canister place instead of sending an officer?" he asked.
"Because I feel like it is an important clue" she explained," either way it's the only thing I have right now. I looked up the shade of nail polish, but it's a generic shade of pink and that was fruitless"
"What other clues do we have?" he asked.
"Nothing else... the murders got out by the way... have you heard the news?" she asked.
"No... I have been busy," he shrugged," what do you mean got out?"
"I was trying to show it to the press as a suicide, but someone leaked that they were murders, so now we have press on our ass. ---- won't leave us until we give a statement. Salvatore said he would give a statement tomorrow... so lets see how that works."
"I get that you don't like the press?" he chuckled.
"Not really...specifically one of them. A freelance journalist. His articles get published in a lot of newspapers, and he considers himself to be a... detective of sorts. In fact, he was a private detective of sorts." she drove past the houses.
"Oh, what is his name?" Enzo asked.
"Dom... Domenico" she trailed the last letter of his name.
"You seem to know him well" Enzo remarked.
"Oh, I do" she chuckled," Anyway I'm sure you'll meet him soon enough. This case may not stay with me long anyway"
"Why not?" he asked.
"It may go to the carabinieri and if that happens, I can sit back and relax... Kore will be in prison in a few days" she smirked to herself, knowing that this would rile him up again.
"Kore has escaped them before" he shrugged.
"Luck" Chiara shrugged, " anyway we are almost there so finish up your coffee."
He stayed silent and sipped his coffee while a smug expression sat on her face. It was nice to annoy him even if it was strange that he took such offense to the thought of catching Kore.
She had her own assumptions as to why that was but nothing much to back it up, besides if it was going to go to the carabinieri, she wanted him to think she was as disinterested as possible, so he could get off of her back and let her work in peace.
"And... we have reached" she drove up to a house.
They exited the car and walked up to the door, knocking on it.
"Buonasera " Chiara grinned, and showed her badge, " I wanted to ask you some questions?"
"Uh yes... but I just came" he said, flustered.
"Sorry? I don't understand sir..." she narrowed her eyes.
"This my new house. I shifted in today" he pointed at the hallway that had unopened boxes lining it.
"Who was staying here before?" she asked.
"Ah, no one. It had some legal issues and so no one could stay. It took me one year to get this house. The realtor, he scammed me, and I was foolish to buy the house without checking the papers. " He sighed," all was bad luck! If I find him: I kill him!" he growled before realizing that he was threatening to murder in front of a police officer," uh... not literally but uh, you know"
" I understand" she nodded," can you show me your house papers? And proof of your previous place of residence?" she asked. He nodded and disappeared into the house to retrieve the papers.
"If he wasn't here then why was this the listed address?" he asked.
"Not sure... maybe a squatter?" she asked. The man returned soon, and she checked the papers which confirmed his story.
She took his number and told him to be available for questioning in case she needed him. He agreed and they left.
"Well, this was disappointing" She sighed," I have to just repeat this several times over now"
"What do you mean?" Enzo asked.
"We have to question the neighbors" she said," if there was someone staying here, they may have seen him."
"Is this really that important?" he asked," You should focus on the bodies and on what Kore has demanded of us. She said she wants Andrea right? So let us work on a strategy to lure her out"
"We can't lure her out if we don't know what we are dealing with" Chiara shrugged," If you don't like my methods, you are free to leave"
"I am just saying that it's a better strategy to offend rather than defend" he explained.
"It's the worst strategy" she rolled her eyes," she could be anywhere in Sicily... how are we supposed to know how to threaten her or to offend her if we don't narrow down her whereabouts?"
He stayed silent as she walked to nearby houses and began to ask about whether or not people had seen any occupants in the previously empty house.