Free The Penny Ferry - Rick Boyer by Rick Boyer

minutes Joe suggested we get coffee. Lucia gladly accepted, and
ten minutes later we were in the lobby sipping and munching. Lucia,
educated in Switzerland, France, the States, and England, spoke
perfect accent-free English. Boy, was she a looker too. Her
dark-blonde hair was rather short and swept back soft and thick. I
guessed her to be around twenty-five. Her face was finely chiseled
and showed no sag or fat. Her mouth was almost too large and full.
But not quite.
    She puckered her lips over the steaming cup and
sipped. A gold pin on her blouse glowed with bucks. Her nails were
shiny beige. Bracelets twinkled. Four of them on her right arm, but
thin, not overdone. Beautiful watch on her left wrist. I stared at it
hard. Something wrong with the watch. Why did it make me uneasy?
    "Well," she said, brushing crumbs off her
hands, "it's Sunday, and like a good European I don't do
business on Sundays, so what is it, please?"
    Joe explained to her about the death of the messenger
who had transported a piece for her exhibit. She was shocked and
subdued at the news.
    "Oh, I am truly sorry. The poor man. And he was
so nice! He let me pet his big beautiful Alsatian dogs. I hope they
are all right . . ."
    "They were killed too, ma'am. It was a gas bomb.
They were all killed instantly. Because of the nature of the killing
we're investigating all possible motives. You say the cup is safe
back in the museum?"
    "Yes."
    "And why was it taken out in the first place?"
    "We took some pictures with it here in the hotel
suite for a newspaper. The World ,
I think."
    "The Globe ?"
    "Ah yes, the Globe .
This man, he was a black man, sort of old with gold glasses, yes?
Well, he brought the cup and then took it back. It is quite
priceless. It was made by Baccio Bandinelli in Florence in fifteen
thirty. But it is the legend surrounding Romeo's Chalice that makes
it especially valuable, even though the legend is false. Supposedly
it was the chalice used at the wedding mass by Romeo and Juliet. So
it is still called that— Romeo's Chalice."
    "And it is really pure gold?" asked Joe.
    "Yes. Gold inlaid with silver and black onyx. It
is a prize one might kill for, but as I told you the killing was
quite unnecessary, since the cup was safely delivered by this man and
his messenger service. Is this all now, please?"
    "Uh, almost, Ms. Fabrianni. We just want to know
if, when you met Mr. Robinson last Friday, anything seemed unusual.
Did he seem nervous? Did he say anything unusual?"
    "Well," she replied impatiently, "since
I have no idea what his usual was, how could I tell if there was
anything unusual, you see?"
    "Yes, I understand. Well thank you, Ms.
Fabrianni." He looked wearily at me. "That seems to clear
this end up, eh Doc?"
    I shrugged and nodded at the same time. Who knew?
    Lucia rose from the table to say good-bye and return
to her suite. Joe had his wallet out but she waved him off, saying
she would have it put on her bill and charged as a business expense
to her father's corporation. She said this as if she were used to
doing it for many things.
    "Uh, if anything further develops, we'll be in
touch with you," said Joe.
    "Oh. Why would there be any need for that?"
she asked.
    "Well I don't know. just in case."
    "Mr. Brindelli, I have been most cooperative, I
think. Have I not?"
    "Oh yes. We thank you,"
    "Well then, I see no reason to continue the
matter any further, though I think it was unfortunate that the poor
man was killed. Yes?"
    She was lighting a Marlboro with a purple-and-gold
lighter that had a tortoise-shell texture. It definitely wasn't a
Bic. Probably cost a grand. Again l saw the watch on her elegant
wrist and involuntarily shuddered.
    As Joe stammered for an explanation we both saw the
spoiled princess emerge from beneath the regal courtesy. Her
irritation and impatience were less the product of a Latin temper or
a nasty nature than the natural outgrowth of a centuries-old
aristocratic view of life, in which the European wealthy