Free Patrice Greenwood - Wisteria Tearoom 03 - An Aria of Omens by Patrice Greenwood Page B

crept on to Tony’s face. “You’re good.”
    “Did she go backstage?”
    “She did. She was overhead giving Sandra Usher a piece of her mind right before Act Three.”
    Sandra Usher was the soprano who had played Tosca. I didn’t need the program for that one.
    “So she wasn’t mad at Mr. Solano?” I asked.
    “Apparently not.”
    “So that’s a dead end. Do you have a suspect?”
    Tony got up and started pacing again.
    “You don’t have to answer that,” I said.
    “If I’m going to use you as a sounding-board…” He slowed to a stop and turned to look at me. “Hell, I’ve already told you more than I should.”
    “I won’t say anything. Scout’s honor.”
    He laughed. “Were you a girl scout?”
    “Yes, until high school. Then I got more into band and let scouts drop. Were you a scout?”
    His smile vanished. “No.”
    Because his family couldn’t afford the cost? Fees, uniforms … things I had taken for granted….
    Tony came back to his chair, but didn’t sit. He leaned his hands on the back and stared at me, his hair almost brushing the ceiling.
    “Other than Carter and Harrison, we don’t have a suspect. Mrs. Passaggio is on the maybe list, just because she had opportunity and was … agitated.”
    I thought back to the cigar-man. I supposed he might look Italian. His wife didn’t.
    “Why was she angry with Sandra Usher?” I asked.
    “According to the person who overheard her, she was accusing her of sleeping with Mr. Passaggio.”
    “Oh, good lord! Right before she had to go onstage?!”
    Tony shrugged. “People lose control. That’s when bad things happen.”
    “She wasn’t the only one who lost control!”
    “No.”
    Our gazes held. I felt as if Tony wanted something from me; wanted me to guess something that would solve the case. Unfortunately, I was pretty brain-fried.
    “What a mess,” I said. “I’m so sorry you have to deal with this, Tony.”
    His eyes softened. “It isn’t your fault.”
    “But if you hadn’t been there with me, someone else might have gotten the call. I guess the police department knew where you were?”
    “I had told a couple of people, yes. That’s how they knew I was at the scene.”
    “So…”
    He sat down, pulling the chair closer to my desk so he could lean his elbows on it. “It’s good that I was there. I was able to secure the crime scene pretty fast, and get the house security people to take contact information.”
    “And now you just have to interview a few hundred people.”
    He grinned. “That’s what beat cops are for.”
    I picked up my teacup, but it was empty. I put it back down. “I just feel bad. Like I caused you a bunch of extra work.”
    “Don’t.” He picked up a cucumber sandwich, inspecting it. “I would probably have been assigned to the case even if I hadn’t been there. As it is … I think it’s helped that I was there to see the opera.”
    “Helped?”
    He nodded and swallowed a bite of sandwich. “Nobody else in the department knows much about opera. Because I was there with you, I’m kind of the local expert now.”
    “Oh!”
    “And that’s why I came to talk to you tonight. You know way more about this stuff than I do. You might make a connection that I can’t. If you don’t mind my bouncing ideas off you…”
    “Not at all. I’m glad to help if I can.”
    “So I’m considering you an unofficial consultant, all right? But I’m serious about not saying anything to anyone. Not even your priest.”
    I smiled. He knew perfectly well I wasn’t Catholic.
    “I promise I won’t.”
    “Good.”
    I picked up the last sandwich. “Want this?”
    He shook his head, then frowned at my plate. “This isn’t your dinner, is it?”
    “Lunch, actually.”
    “Jeez! Let me buy you a steak, for Chrissake!”
    “I’m not hungry enough now. Unless you haven’t eaten?”
    “I had a burger.”
    “Another time, then.” I ate the sandwich and poured out the last of the tea into my cup. “Have