Free Death in Autumn by Magdalen Nabb Page B

case. But probably because he'd heard something. It was unlikely that he'd distinguished the four boys who looked for all the world like a seedy bunch of bag snatchers on the lookout for the tourist's handbag that would buy them their next fix.
    'Did you manage to get anything to eat?'
    'Not till three this afternoon! And then it was only a sandwich. You can bet he didn't have breakfast at seven like we did!'
    'Go and eat now, in that case, and then come back here. I want to brief you for tomorrow.'
    'Are we to go on following him?'
    'No. I doubt if he's recognized you, but if he suspects he's being followed he's not going to be seen with the dealer and that's the man we want. We'll leave him alone for a few days and work on the informers. I'm putting you four on another case.'
    Seeing their enthusiasm evaporate and their faces downcast as if he were punishing them, he added, 'You did a good job and if I risk his spotting you I'll have to take you off the case for good. As it is, I'm transferring you to the Vogel case for two or three days.'
    'That foreigner in a fur coat job?'
    Their disappointment remained evident. As they went out one of them turned to say, 'We heard another boy was found dead yesterday up near the fort. Do you think it's another bad dose death to do with this case?'
    It wasn't going to be easy transferring their attention.
    'No,* the Captain said. 'Judging from the doctor's preliminary findings, it happened too long ago. Hurry up and get something to eat.'
    When they had gone he picked up the telephone receiver. 'Get me Marshal Guarnaccia at Stazione Pitti.'
    The first thing the Marshal said was, 'Have you had my report?'
    'I've got it here now. It sounds as if it will turn out to be another drug death but probably from an overdose, nothing to do with the case we have on hand since it happened some time ago, according to the doctor.'
    'Yes, some time ago . . .'
    'He wouldn't have been up there giving himself a fix on his own, and since he had no documents on him it's likely that his friends got rid of them before abandoning him so as not to be picked up as witnesses.'
    'I expect so.'
    'Well, we'll see what the autopsy can tell us. I phoned you to give you the latest information on the Vogel case. The lawyer called me back. Her bank in Florence was Steinhauslin. She had a foreign account there and sent cheques once a month to a bank in Mainz in West Germany to an account in the name of H. Vogel.'
    'She sent money to herself?'
    'It certainly sounds like it. What's more, incoming cheques apart from the rent of the villa were always from a bank in Geneva and were definitely transfers from her own account there.'
    'Hmph . . .' The Marshal, who had never had any money other than his army pay, made nothing of that.
    'I've informed the Substitute Prosecutor and now we're waiting to see if the lawyer comes up with anything useful from the German end. We need more personal background on the woman. As far as finding witnesses is concerned, we've come to a dead end. Nobody saw the body being dumped in the river.'
    'It couldn't have happened further upstream where there are no houses?'
    'No. Judging by the time of death and the sluggishness of the river, which was very low, she was almost certainly dumped from one of the city centre bridges, probably the one nearest the hotel.'
    'I see.'
    'There are alternative theories but none of them can really be considered feasible. If she was killed in a car in some deserted lovers' lane it would have to have happened a few hours' drive out of Florence to account for the amount of time she was lying in one position after death. Nobody would risk driving all that way with a corpse in his car to then try and get rid of it in the city centre when he could have dumped it in the nearest ditch.'
    'No . . .'
    'It seems certain she was killed in her own bedroom and kept there until the early hours of the morning when there was little risk of anyone seeing the body being removed.
    'Yes .