Free From Mangia to Murder (A Sophia Mancini ~ Little Italy Mystery) by Caroline Mickelson Page B

and turned back to look up at him. “Did you know Vincenzo Moretti?”
    In answer, he slammed the door shut and turned the dead bolt.
    Mooch, she realized, was someone she needed to have another conversation with at a later date. Was he always that rude? Or was the silent treatment his way of hiding something?
     
     

Chapter Eight
     
    “You wanted a murder and now we’ve got one. What’s next?”
    Sophia eyed her brother. He sat on the sofa opposite her. Her nephew was curled up next to her. “Hey, don’t forget, I’m new to this. I’m not sure what to do, but we’ll think of something.” She reached down and smoothed Luciano’s hair from his forehead. His mercifully short fever had broken, and she knew by tomorrow morning he’d be back to running around.
    “You got Frankie to agree to pay double the fee we talked about.” Angelo smiled. “That must have taken some smooth talking.”
    “Not really. Last night, I retyped a higher fee agreement after you went to bed. I took the original one with me in case he balked at the amount we asked for, but he didn’t blink.”
    “Which takes us right back to my first question. We’ve got a client, a contract, and enough cash to satisfy the judge. Where are we going to start looking for answers?”
    “I’m meeting Stella at Vincenzo’s in a little while. I agreed partially because I felt sorry for her, but also so I could find out more about Vincenzo and who she thinks might have killed him.”
    “Assuming it wasn’t her, it will be interesting to hear what she has to say.”
    Sophia wasn’t sure she’d heard him right. “You don’t really think it could be Stella, do you? Good heavens, Angelo, he was her husband.”
    He shrugged. “More murders are committed by people the victim knew well than by strangers. The closer their relationship to the victim, the more closely we have to examine their motives.”
    “I definitely want to ask her what she was doing at the party.”
    Angelo cocked his head and made a face. It was a look she knew all too well. She issued a quick and silent prayer for patience and then spoke. “Remember? You told me you saw her at the party?” Sophia struggled to keep her voice level. The doctors had told her that pushing Angelo to remember would only frustrate him. “Do you think it was someone else you mistook for Stella?”
    He thought for a moment and then shook his head. “I’m sorry, I can’t remember exactly. Maybe I saw her. Maybe I didn’t.”
    “It’s not a problem.” Except that it was. Had he or hadn’t he seen Stella Moretti at the murder scene right before her husband was killed? She hated the guilty look on her brother’s face. It wasn’t his fault.
    “You seemed sure yesterday so that’s good enough for now, Ang. Just tell me if you remember something else later.”
    He nodded. “It’ll come back. Did you see anyone else at the party that you didn’t expect to see there? Any uninvited guests?”
    “No, I don’t think so, but you saw what it was like. There were people in, people out. Everyone was everywhere.” Mancini family gatherings usually came complete with a revolving door. “So you also think the murderer was someone at our party?”
    Angelo nodded. “I think it’s more than likely. Face it, Sophia, the room was full of people coming and going. The murderer could have been someone we invited, or someone who invited themselves and fit in so well we didn’t notice them. What better way to get to Vincenzo then in his own crowded restaurant? With all those people milling about, it would have been easier to catch him off-guard.”
    “That’s what Captain McIntyre said.”
    “That’s something else I wanted to talk to you about. After I spent some time talking to the guys I used to work with, I remembered something about McIntyre you should know.”
    Sophia’s curiosity was aroused, but she stayed quiet.
    “You remember his uncle, the first Captain McIntyre?”
    She nodded. “You