Viper - Michael Morley [94]
‘You know Pisano, his feet never touch. Anyway, they’ve got Valsi in the frame for the Tortoricci hit. Though I hear no one will go within a kilometre of him until they’ve got a warehouse full of evidence and three armed units to back them up.’
‘Seems the right tactics.’
‘Her body’s at the morgue if you want to go and see. Seems she was stripped and doused in paraffin and then set alight.’
Sylvia raised an eyebrow.
‘Before you ask, the answer’s no – I don’t yet know whether the paraffin matches the stuff recovered from the Castellani site.’
Sylvia crossed her fingers and held them up for her friend to see.
‘Anyway, when they were done they rolled her in an old carpet and dumped her among rubble on an old industrial site.’
‘You got the name of the ME?’
‘I certainly have. Dimitri Faggiani. You know Dimitri?’
‘Nope. I’ve heard of him, but we’ve never met.’
‘Well, for once you got lucky. He’s upstairs now, on the fifth floor. There’s a case meeting – not Tortoricci – some child who died of neglect. If you’re quick, you might just catch him.’
Sylvia was quick.
Dimitri Faggiani was just coming out of the men’s room when she caught him.
‘Buona sera. Capitano Sylvia Tomms.’ She stuck out her hand.
The ME hesitated to shake it. ‘No towels. I’m afraid my hands are still wet.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ She laughed and let her arm drop. He was thin and studious with dark brows and a bush of black curly hair that looked as if he visited a topiarist rather than a hairdresser. ‘I’ve just been with Marianna Della Fratte, she told me you examined the body of Alberta Tortoricci. Is that right?’
He looked puzzled. ‘Do you work for Lorenzo Pisano?’
‘No, no, I don’t. But…’
‘Then I’m afraid without his permission, I can’t discuss this file with you.’
‘I understand. I’ve called Lorenzo several times. You know how busy he is.’
The ME smiled. ‘No permission, no information. Sorry.’ He wiped his still damp hands on his black trousers.
‘I’m working the murders at Pompeii – the Francesca Di Lauro case.’
Faggiani knew of it. ‘My sympathies, I think you too are very busy.’
Sylvia gave him a shy look, a crafted flash of vulnerability, calculated to elicit male help. ‘I am. And I really need your help. Marianna told me that Alberta Tortoricci was badly burned. As you may know, Francesca’s corpse was also burned. We have another woman’s body in a rubbish pit and, again, she was burned.’
His dark brows furrowed. ‘I’m sorry; this is not a good time. I need to get back to my meeting.’
‘Professore, I’m pushed for time as well – I’m trying to catch a serial killer.’ She paused to let her point sink in. ‘Please, just tell me one thing. Alberta – was she burned ante- or post-mortem.’
Faggiani cracked. ‘Post. This woman had been tortured – crudely electrocuted – and then she was set on fire.’
‘Not tortured by being set on fire?’
The ME’s face gave away the fact that he’d said enough. Said more than he’d intended. ‘No. The body was definitely burned post-mortem.’ He held up the palms of his hands. ‘Now that’s it.’
‘Grazie. You’ve helped a lot. I’ll talk to Lorenzo and maybe come back to you – if you don’t mind?’
‘Not at all. Arrivederci.’ He opened a door just a few strides away and was gone.
Sylvia stood and let the information sink in. Was the Tortoricci case really connected to hers, or not? Was she grasping at straws? Post-mortem burning was very different to ante-mortem burning. And if the cases were connected, then what about the electrocution? Was that simply another sadistic pastime in this particular serial killer’s repertoire of murder? Then there was another thing. Maybe significant. Maybe not. There was a clear gap of at least five years between the recent murders and the dates the other women went missing. Could it really be only a coincidence that Bruno Valsi had been locked away for exactly that same half-decade?
70
Grand Hotel Parker’s, Napoli
The downpour at the burial site had caught Jack without a coat. Back at the hotel he showered, changed and sent his soaked clothes to