Westerham Witches and a Venetian Vendetta by Dionne Lister (top rated books of all time TXT) 📕

“What’s his alibi?” I asked because, surely the dead man’s wife’s lover was a suspect.

“He was here working.” Will nodded towards the bar. “Security footage confirms he was there until closing at midnight. He has an apartment nearby. We have footage of him leaving here and then not returning.”

“The Italian agents have pretty much cleared him,” said Beren. Oh, great, so all that cloak and daggers stuff, getting my mum to flirt with him, was all for nothing. “Turns out that Mrs Dal Lago’s magic signature was one of the two on her husband we couldn’t identify, but she claims it was from restraining him in the bedroom that morning, and it was consensual.”

“How are you supposed to prove that?” Seemed like Mrs D had all her bases covered. “She sure had an active sex life. Maybe she has one of those sex disorders?”

Imani raised her brows. “How many sex disorders are there, love?”

“How the hell am I supposed to know? Probably thousands, but I mean the one where you just can’t get enough. Maybe she wasn’t trying to hurt her husband—maybe he just couldn’t perform as much as she needed him to? It’s still no excuse, but it takes away her motive. Have you had her assessed by a psychologist?”

Will stared at me as if I’d lost the plot. “Lily, you know we haven’t. We’ve barely been able to get a search warrant on this place. And just because she enjoys lots of sex, doesn’t mean she has a disorder… necessarily.”

“Yes, but it was her idea to have an open marriage, and from what I saw, he was upset about it, and if she truly loved him, she’d keep it on the down-low, but she didn’t. I figure it’s because she just can’t help herself when the urge strikes.”

“Or she’s a bi—”

“Now, now, Imani, let’s not use that language here.” Beren looked around, his gaze hitting Isabella, who’d apparently been listening from the doorway to the restaurant. Gah, why hadn’t we used a BOS? Being on holiday had turned us into a bunch of amateurs.

Isabella’s gaze met mine, and I gave her an “I’m sorry” look. She blinked, her eyes watering, and her head slowly fell forward. She turned and slunk back into the restaurant. I wanted to run after her, but it wasn’t the time—she might have been upset, but so were we. “I think we just made a mess of that.”

My mother sighed. “You lot should know better than that. If Angelica were here, she’d be ropable.”

My cheeks heated. There were only two people who could make me feel such mortifying guilt—Angelica and my mother. It was like being ten again. Will kept his gaze on my mother, an apology in his eyes. Imani and I looked at each other. I was betting from the awkward look on her face that her shame matched mine. We totally should’ve known better. Thank God Millicent wasn’t here to see this. Liv and Beren were the only ones who could look at my mother without a thick layer of chagrin clogging their pores.

“You’re right.” My tone couldn’t have been any more apologetic than it was. “I think we’re all just a bit put out. We’re worried about Angelica… but that’s no excuse. Sorry.”

“Yes, love, I’m sorry too.”

“Me three,” said Will. I guessed this was his future mother-in-law, and other than being a nice guy, he probably didn’t want to put a dent in their shiny new relationship.

My mother gave us all a firm parental stare. “Do better next time.” She looked at Beren. “Can you please make a bubble of silence?”

“I’d be glad to.” Beren’s magic tickled my scalp, and it was done.

Something I’d wondered but hadn’t had a chance to ask pinged in my brain. “Where’s Sarah and Lavender, and, Mum, can you translate this please?” I brought up the recording on my phone while Will answered my first question.

“They had to get back straight after the interview. They’re working this evening, but they’ll join us again after dinner.”

“Okay, thanks.” I looked at Mum. “What are they saying?” I pressed Play on the recording, and Isabella’s and her daughter’s voices filled our bubble.

When it was done, Mum frowned. “Can you play it again? My Italian’s not the best, and we don’t have the beginning of the conversation.”

“Okay.” I played it two more times.

“I think Isabella is telling her daughter the police are stupid for accusing her and not to tell them anything. She also told her to stop sleeping around. Her daughter basically told her to keep her opinions to herself. It wouldn’t hurt to ask Sarah to listen to it. She’ll be able to get more out of it, maybe.”

“Thanks.” I really needed to get to it on the other languages. I hated not understanding stuff. “In any case, we know someone in this hotel put Angelica in that room.”

My mother’s face paled. “What are you talking about?”

Beren’s brow wrinkled. “Yes, what are you talking about?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Mum, you were standing out here when I found it, and B was in the office with Agent Tondato—I couldn’t show him without revealing my secret.”

Beren gave a nod. “So show me now.”

“Gladly.” I brought up the photo and handed it to Beren. Liv stood on one side of him, and Mum moved to stand on his other side.

Liv sucked in a breath. “Is she…?”

Will cleared his throat. “Dead? No, we don’t think so. She has normal colouring. That either means she was only just killed when she was transported there, or she’s still alive. It’s impossible to know for sure, but we’re betting she’s alive.”

Mum put her fingers to her temples. “You’re right, Lily. Someone from this hotel is the most likely to have done this. Which brings us back to Mrs D.”

The front door to the hotel opened, and a large man walked through. Oh, boy. This was interesting. “Or someone who knows the place well….”

Everyone turned to see what I was looking at.

Lorenzo Zanini halted