From Mangia to Murder (A Sophia Mancini ~ Little Italy Mystery) (22 page)

Maria leaned forward. “Did the police captain send you to talk to me?”

Sophia shook her head. “No, I’m not working with the police. I don’t know if Captain McIntyre even knows. Yet.”

“You’re working for Frankie, aren’t you?”

Sophia hesitated. Maria had been less than forthcoming about Vincenzo being her first husband. Maria’s lie had been one of omission. So would be hers.

“It’s not Frankie we need to talk about now. It’s Vincenzo. Tell me how long you two were married.”

Maria stirred her coffee without looking at Sophia, which was maddening. Sophia wanted to see what emotions Maria was feeling. Was it a murderous anger, or fear? Guilt or sadness?

“We couldn’t find a divorce decree,” Sophia prodded her.

Maria’s head snapped up. “That’s because that rotten, lying bastard didn’t file for divorce.” She shoved her coffee cup away, spilling the dark liquid on the white tablecloth. She grabbed her napkin and rubbed at the spot.

“Leave it, Maria.” Sophia put the sugar bowl on top of the coffee stain. “You’re telling me you thought Vincenzo filed for divorce, but he never actually did? Is that right?”

Maria nodded.

Sophia’s eyes widened. “You’ve been married to Vincenzo all this time?”

“Well, what did you think, Sherlock?” Maria snapped. “When you couldn’t find the divorce certificate, what did you assume?”

“That you’d divorced in Las Vegas or someplace far away from Harrison Heights.” Sophia sat back and rubbed her temples. “So Stella was never actually married to Vincenzo. She doesn’t have a clue, does she?”

Maria shook her head. “No.”

“Then your two other marriages were--”

“Not really marriages,” Maria supplied. Tears pooled in her eyes but she waved her hands as if to warn them not to fall. “I have a marriage certificate from my wedding with Alberto. And, of course, I have a death certificate after he fell out of the window, which then allowed me to marry Paulie. And then I have his death certificate too after he tumbled out of the boat. I can’t help it if men keep falling for me, can I?”

Sophia didn’t laugh at Maria’s pathetic attempt at humor. Her mind was whirling.

“How did you manage to obtain a marriage license for your wedding to Alberto if you couldn’t provide a divorce certificate from your first marriage?”

Maria actually blushed. This time Sophia was sure of it. It wasn’t the rouge.

“I might have forgotten to mention it when Al and I applied for our marriage license.”

“Convenient,” Sophia said. “But illegal.”

“I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong except perhaps expediting my marriage. I really believed I was divorced and that Vincenzo was just being a nightmare about not giving me proof we were divorced.”

“Didn’t you keep a copy of the divorce papers?”

Maria rolled her eyes. “No, Vincenzo stuck some papers under my nose, demanded I sign them, and he had the nerve to ask me for money to pay a lawyer. When I tried to get a copy, he avoided me after that until I gave up.”

“I find this really hard to believe, Maria. You had no clue that the divorce wasn’t final?” Sophia watched the other woman closely, but Maria’s expression was guarded again. And Sophia couldn’t really blame her for that. If word got out that she was a bigamist, there’d be hell to pay.

“No, when I married Al I honestly thought I was divorced. I just skipped over the being married before part because he was in such a hurry to marry me. You see, I’d told Al that we couldn’t have marital relations until I had a gold band on my left hand, and he was getting really--”

“Stop,” Sophia held up her hand. “No details, please. When did you find out that you were still married to Vincenzo?”

Maria shuddered. “I wish you wouldn’t say it like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like it was true,” Maria sighed. “I thought it would never come back to haunt me. After Al died, I met Paulie and he charmed me into marrying him. I guess I just sort of forgot about it all.”

“Until?”Maria frowned. “You don’t give up do you?”

Sophia shook her head. “No, not until you tell me when it was that Vincenzo threatened to blackmail you.”

“You know about that?”

She did now. It had only been a guess, but the look on Maria’s face confirmed her suspicion.

“I was married to Paulie when Vincenzo came around. Paulie was a wealthy man, and that rat of a first husband of mine was sure that he deserved part of the riches. But I shot him down. I really believed that because I’d been widowed in my second marriage, that my marriage to Paulie was legitimate.”

“You were never Alberto Tomosolli’s widow, Maria.” Sophia marveled at the other woman’s flexible interpretation of the law. “What did you tell Vincenzo?”

“That I’d rather see him dead than give him a single dollar.” Maria’s expression was sheepish. “I guess it sounds a bit harsh now, doesn’t it?”

“A bit, yes.” Sophia felt a headache coming on. Everything she was hearing made Maria the perfect suspect. But could Maria actually kill a man as big as Vincenzo?

Something still didn’t make sense. “So you told Vincenzo that he wasn’t getting any money out of you, and he just accepted that? Went away without telling Paulie anything about your first marriage?”

Maria wouldn’t meet her eye. “Let’s just say I made payments that weren’t in cash.”

Sophia shook her head. Vincenzo had been a pig.

“The day I met Eugene at the restaurant, Vincenzo came storming in. He was enraged with you. Why?” Sophia remembered that Maria hadn’t seemed a bit frightened. In fact, she’d appeared to have the upper hand. What had that all been about?

“Vincenzo was raving like a lunatic, and accusing me of telling Frankie that he shouldn’t pay Vincenzo hush money. But I didn’t even know that Vincenzo was trying to blackmail Frankie. I didn’t let on though. I took full credit just to get under his skin.” Maria smiled a satisfied smile.

“And?” There was more. Sophia was sure of it.

Maria’s smile faded. She lifted her eyebrows and feigned an innocent expression--one that may well work with any man under her spell, but it wasn’t having the same mesmerizing effect on Sophia.

“Don’t start lying to me now, Maria. There’s more. Vincenzo looked angry enough to kill someone that day. What aren’t you telling me?”

“I told Vincenzo I was done being his dame on the side, and that he could go chase himself.”

“But he could turn you in for bigamy,” Sophia reminded her. “He’d try to take you down with him. Vincenzo wasn’t above that.”

“No, Frankie fixed that.”

“Fixed how?”

“Let’s just say that Frankie spelled out for Vincenzo what would happen to him if he bothered either of us again.” She leaned forward, her intensity palpable. “Don’t you see that Frankie is my salvation? Once I’m Mrs. Frankie Vidoni, I’ll be safe from Al’s kids and those pesky lawyers they’ve hired to get their father’s money back. Marrying my Frankie will be a whole new start for me, Sophia. I’ll be home free.”

Not if Sophia’s theory about Frankie proved to be right, she wouldn’t.

“What about Lily Vidoni?” Sophia decided to start with the obvious. “He’s not technically your Frankie.”

Maria waved her hand around airily. “A small detail.”

The image of an ill Lily Vidoni pulled at Sophia’s heart. Maria and Lily were like two different species. Lily was thoughtful and kind, and Maria was, well, not.

Maria opened her handbag and laid two dollar bills on the table. “Lunch is on me, Sophia. Let’s just forget we ever had that conversation, okay?” She slid out of the booth.

“Wait, Maria. You can’t go now. Don’t you know what this means?”

“That I have to avoid the police captain? Yes, I see that. So you keep him busy for me.” She gave a half-hearted grin.

Sophia couldn’t believe Maria’s levity. Not after all she’d just confessed.

“Stop and think about it, Maria. Can’t you see what you stand to lose here if this becomes public knowledge?”

“Of course I do, which is why you aren’t going to say a word to anyone. You promised, remember.”

“You need to tell the police, Maria. Maybe you can work out a deal.”

“I need to think about it.” Maria’s voice was pleading, all earlier bravado gone. “Just give me a few days to talk to my lawyer before I go to the police. Look, be reasonable, Sophia. Someone did the world a favor by getting rid of Vincenzo. How will it hurt to give me two or three days to see if my lawyer can get me a deal? After what Vincenzo has put me through, can’t you just give me a break? A couple of days?”

Against her better judgment, Sophia nodded. It only seemed fair to let Maria seek legal counsel.

She sat for a while with her cold cup of coffee and tried to make sense of Maria’s attitude. She couldn’t be as light-hearted and care free as she pretended to be. Maria Acino wasn’t stupid. She had to know what this would look like to the police.

Of course she did. Maria knew exactly what she stood to lose--her second first husband’s money, and her second second husband’s money, not to mention her precious lover, Frankie Vidoni.

Wrapped up in a neat little bundle, it was the perfect motive for murder.

At the last moment, Sophia decided not to attend Vincenzo’s funeral.

Her time with Maria had been enlightening, but also unnerving. Maria’s convoluted explanation of her marriage to Vincenzo had answered some of Sophia’s questions, but it brought up just as many new ones. It also drove home the fact that a killer was out there somewhere, literally getting away with murder.

She needed to start eliminating suspects, and she was starting with Frankie Vidoni.

Something about him didn’t make sense. It wasn’t a judgment of his lifestyle, or choice of occupation. No. Some part of the whole picture wasn’t right.

She stood in the shade of a tree across the street from the Vidoni home, and watched as a taxi cab pulled to a stop in front of the gates. A woman stepped out, a small, leather satchel in one hand. Sophia guessed the woman was a nurse, based on her white stockings and shoes. A cloak covered the woman’s dress. A cloak in this weather? Odd.

Even more odd was the way the woman leaned into the open front passenger side window. She might be dressed like a nurse, but her manner was suggestive. Even from across the street, Sophia could tell this woman was used to working nights. And taking temperatures had nothing to do with her duties.

Whoever she was, she had a key to the side gate, and Sophia watched as she let herself in. After the taxi disappeared from sight, Sophia waited a full quarter hour before crossing the street and entering the estate the way she had the first time. Except today she’d planned ahead and worn slacks and low-heeled shoes. Just in case.

Tino answered the front door, a sandwich in hand. He frowned when he recognized her.

“Whatcha want?” He took another bite and wiped the crumbs at the corner of his mouth with the back of his enormous hand.

A hand she wouldn’t want wrapped around her neck. She swallowed. “I’m here to pick up something at Mr. DiMuccio’s request.”

Tino’s eyebrows rose. “Is that so? Mr. Vidoni didn’t say nothing like that to me.”

“I doubt he felt the need. Does Mr. Vidoni tell you everything that he discusses with Mr. DiMuccio?” She waited, but Tino’s silence answered her question. If there was a hierarchy around here, Tino wasn’t anywhere near the top. His indecisive expression made that abundantly clear. “Please show me where Mr. DiMuccio’s desk is.”

Tino didn’t move anything except his jaw as he chewed his mouthful of sandwich. He stared at her, a distrustful expression on his face. “Uh, I think I should clear this with Mr. Vidoni.”

“How exactly do you plan to do that, Tino? He’s in jail. I imagine you could call down there and ask the desk sergeant on duty to ask Frankie’s permission for Mooch’s orders to be carried out.” She waved her hand as if it were of no consequence to her. “You go ahead if you think it’s how Mr. Vidoni wants you to handle things in his absence.”

Tino struggled with that for a moment. “What did you say Mooch wanted you to get for him?”

“He sent me for the keys to the warehouse.” Sophia decided to grab for the brass ring. “He also wanted you to drive me there so I could check on something for him. So where is his desk?”

To her immense surprise and relief, Tino let her into the house. Without a word, he turned and walked down the hallway. Sophia could barely resist clapping her hands together with delight. Who knew, maybe she’d actually begin to like Tino if he kept up this cooperative behavior.

Tino pushed open the door and pointed to a green steel desk in the corner. “That’s Mooch’s desk. Get what you came for.”

Sophia crossed to the desk and opened the top drawer. The ring of keys were just where she’d hoped they’d be. Her eyes scanned the top of the desk, curiosity prompting her to look for some small clue to Mooch’s personal life, but there was nothing. No framed photos. Nothing aside from neat stacks of paper and a wooden pen holder. Tidy. Sparse. Just like Mooch’s apartment.

She picked up the key ring and smiled at Tino. “Thank you. Now, if you’d be good enough to drive me to the warehouse, I’d appreciate it as much as Mr. DiMuccio will.”

“Which warehouse?”

Hells bells. She should have known there’d be more than one. There was nothing for it but to bluff her way out of this situation and into the warehouse, which one she didn’t care.

She slipped the keys into her pocketbook, hoping that the possessive action would appear as a show of confidence. Tino didn’t have to know that she was feeling less than sure about what she was doing. “I think you know which one Mooch was talking about.” She slipped past him, and headed back toward the front entranceway.

“Maybe I should call him to check this out.”

Sophia’s mind raced for something to say to prevent him from calling the hospital.

“Big mistake,” she finally said. She turned around to look at him. “The man was poisoned, for heaven’s sake. Can you imagine how much that must have hurt?”

Tino reached up and touched his throat.

“Exactly,” Sophia pressed on. “And how happy is Mr. DiMuccio going to be if you call and force him to repeat all of this to you when he’s already sent word with me?”