A Killing on the Hill by Robert Dugoni

Author:Robert Dugoni [Dugoni, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-04-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Though I had to get to the office, I couldn’t go straight there, not in my current emotional state. I needed to think things through, what to do. I walked to the bakery, and when I opened the door, Mr. Giovacchini took one look at me and stopped his daily instruction in midsentence.

“Move down the—” He came toward me with a look of concern. “William. Are you all right?”

I shook my head. “No,” I managed. “I’m sorry to interrupt your morning rush. I know how busy you are, but . . . Is Amara here?”

A dumb question, certainly. Where else would she be?

Amara came out from the kitchen behind the counter. “Can we talk for a minute?” I asked.

Mr. Giovacchini directed us to a storage room off the kitchen. When Amara closed the door, I lost it. Everything came spilling out at once. My father’s heart attack. My desire to be with my family, but my duty to stay here and provide for them. My conversation with my aunt Ida. My failed attempt to interview Joan Daley the previous evening, and Phish’s call that morning.

Amara massaged the back of my head. “William. I’m so sorry. First things first. Have you spoken yet to your mother this morning?”

I shook my head. “She’s at the hospital with my father.”

“Well, of course she is,” Amara said. “So maybe it isn’t too bad.”

“‘Isn’t too bad’?” I said, raising my eyes.

“I mean, there are many types of heart attacks. My uncle in Italy had one and he was back to normal in no time.”

“But what if he’s not?” I said. “I should be there, with my family. My mother needs me.”

“Your aunt is right, William. Right now, your mother needs you here, working. She’s going to have a lot of expenses.”

“I know,” I said. “Which is why I can’t say anything about being in Joan Daley’s room last night.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t tell Detective Blunt I was there last night. If I do, he’ll bring me in as a material witness. Maybe hold me in jail. My name and photograph will be in all the newspapers. I could lose my job. Then what would my family do?”

“But you didn’t do anything.”

“Yes, but Blunt can’t be sure of that. And even if I’m ultimately found innocent, I might not have a job to go back to. At the very least Phish will pull me from covering the trial. He’ll say I’m too close to the story to be impartial. He’ll have Nathan Kawolski cover it.”

“You need your job, William. Your family needs the money.”

“I know.”

“I don’t mean to add to your worries, but what if they find your fingerprints in Joan Daley’s room? You said a criminologist was there.”

“I thought that through. I don’t remember touching anything. I wasn’t there long. And even if they found my prints, they couldn’t identify them as mine. They’d likely think they belonged to a man Joan Daley had in her room.”

Which made me think of my fascination

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