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GIALLO POLIZIA

Inspector Silvestri talked in high,their activities in the Piazza di Trevi Speaking English to Kate, his voice was entirely different, deeper Flat-toned, like a bad actor

&039;You saw the assassin?&039; Silvestri asked &039;Il Boia Scarlatto?&039;

Il Boia Scarlatto - the Crimson Executioner

In herin the pool

&039;Only his reflection,&039; she admitted

Silvestri noted that down Despite the Roman summer, he wore the European detective&039;s unofficial unifored man

&039;He had a reflection?&039;

&039;The man was not a vampire, Inspector&039;

Two policemen lifted Kernassy&039;s cloak out of the water like a haile remains in it Minions from the coroner&039;s office sifted with butterfly nets, scooping up stuff she supposed own had been spirited ahich irritated Silvestri Some cop&039;s fiancee or mistress had best not ask questions about the provenance of their birthday gift Kate hoped it was cleaned and mended before presentation

Merciless sun poured into the piazza She had not expected the heat to be this bad She didn&039;t perspire - a trick of her altered body chemistry - but was thus all the more uncolish norht creature

Crowds of curiosity-seekers were roped back The paparazzi who&039;d haunted Malenka were replaced by less frenetic, hungrier-looking criry carhorns honked Despite the barriers, a lad on a Laun-toting carabinieri

The shadow Kate had found at one side of the fountain was shrinking Her eyes hurt froht on her face and hands, and knew she was going beet-red Sun-scars sometimes took decades to heal She&039;d planned to spend the day indoors like a proper vahtfall

She looked around for Marcello He was chatting easily with a couple of uniformed cops and soarettes and laughed She recognised the professional callousness of those who trawl around where ghastly things have happened, press sainst bullet-riddled, blood-patterned massacre walls

What had Marcello told Silvestri? They clearly knew each other The first thing the Inspector had done upon arriving was take the Italian reporter aside and listen intently to a lengthy explanation with illustrative gestures

One of the coroner&039;s ged cat Everyone expressed syht stand in Roh the crowds like black scarecrows, nuns and priests glared disapproval at her The Catholic Church was never going to be couessed she was the favourite suspect Marcello had come back to the piazza and found her alone with the remains of Count Kernassy and Malenka He hadn&039;t seen the killer, hadn&039;t even heard his ridiculous laughter

She&039;d retold her story three tiiven a description to a police artist They had worked up a sketch which looked erin Next time, she&039;d be sure to be nearly killed by someone who could be taken seriously

&039;Have you found the little girl?&039; she asked Silvestri &039;She looked sad, frightened She saw thethe need to jog his irl eeping&039;

&039;There couldn&039;t have been many children on the streets It was near dawn&039;

&039;There are always children on the streets, Signorina This is Rome&039;

&039;She didn&039;t look&039;

What did she irl&039;s face No, the reflection of her face Upside-down She couldn&039;t say what she had been wearing She had an ied urchin, even that she came from wealth, old money Why did she think that?

&039;Her hair,&039; she said, thinking aloud &039;It was long, clean Well-groo over one eye, like Veronica Lake&039;s&039;

Silvestri&039;s mouth was fixed, but he smiled with his eyes

&039;You observe,&039; he said

&039;I&039;ain, as he rattled off orders to his assistant, Sergeant Ginko Kate caught a feords: ragazza - girl, lunghi capella - long hair, Veronica Lake - hubba-hubba

They were taking her seriously now Good

&039;What else did you observe that you can report?&039;

She al

That upside-down face Blonde tresses, sad-clown mouth, tears The killer, dressed as an executioner - red, sharp silver Kernassy&039;s skull, Malenka&039;s eyes

What&039;s wrong with this picture?

&039;Go on,&039; Silvestri encouraged &039;Anything, even if you&039;re not sure of it&039;

&039;It&039;s a puzzle,&039; she said &039;I keep trying to fit it all together One of the pieces is wrong, but I don&039;t knohich I&039; for ness - soer on I keep going over it&039;

The Inspector was disappointed He wrote his telephone nue of his notebook, tore it out, and offered it to her

&039;If the puzzle fits together, you will call me?&039;

She took the number