Free The Marshal and the Madwoman by Magdalen Nabb Page B

But surely she hadn't a penny!'
    'What's that got to do with it?'
    'Well... I don't know. I just thought—I don't know.'
    'As far as I know she hadn't a penny, but somebody killed her, even so. Not a word to anybody, think on!'
    'I won't say anything. You needn't have told me if you didn't want to. There's no need to get annoyed.'
    'I'm not annoyed.' But the truth was that he was annoyed and it showed in his voice. Annoyed with himself because he'd got so distracted by the photograph business and the old woman's madness that the obvious idea of her being killed for money had quite gone out of his head. And when all was said and done, what did he or anyone really know about Clementina? She might have been a miser. There could be money tucked away that they hadn't managed to find, however unlikely it seemed. Her past was a mystery, which brought him back to the photograph problem. Who was she? Where was she until ten years ago? That's what he needed to know.
    'Well, if you'd rather not talk about it I'll switch the light off'
    'What? No ... I was just thinking, that's all. But switch it off, anyway.' All of a sudden he was tired..It had been a long day, and tomorrow looked like being a longer one still.
    Morning, in August, was the best time of day, the only time when the body felt cool enough and light enough to be active and the head clear enough to make the decisions of the day. The Marshal was in his office a good hour before the boys on day duty came down. Before that he had heard them getting up and showering upstairs, their voices thick with sleep when they muttered the occasional remark to each other. Outside his window the air was still and birds were chinking among the laurel bushes. He heard the park keepers arriving on the ground floor, where their office was directly below his. On a morning like this it would have been nice to live out and to walk to work through the Boboli Gardens. He got up and opened the window. The morning air was just warmed by the sun and smelled of the trees instead of the heavy traffic that burdened it for the rest of the year. He leaned out a little for a glimpse of the red dome and white marble tower of the cathedral against a pale, misty blue sky. It always pleased him. His freshly-ironed uniform felt good against his skin. He would have given a lot to get out of his office at this hour, but he had things to do and by the time he was ready to leave both the air outside and his uniform would be hot and sweaty. So he stayed where he was for a moment at the open window, making the most of it until he heard the boys come clattering down the stairs.
    "Morning, Marshal.'
    "Morning, lads. Sit down a minute, both of you. Everything all right?' This remark was addressed to the boy on the left, a big, cheerful lad doing his National Service.
    'Yessir!' He would insist on saying Sir and saluting with a snap of his heels at the most unexpected moments. The Marshal found him disconcertingly military. The other boys laughed at him. Di Nuccio was smirking now. The Marshal maintained a pop-eyed solemnity.
    The door burst open while somebody was still knocking on it.
    'We're going to get the post, Marshal.'
    'Wait.' The Marshal pushed the preliminary report of last night's events into a large envelope. 'Deliver this to the Public Prosecutor's office first—and put a spurt on this morning because I want to send Di Nuccio here out as soon as you get back.'
    He had good reason to tell them to hurry. Going for the post at Headquarters was everybody's favourite job, since they were bound to bump into old friends over there and always got in a quick coffee and a few minutes' gossip. The Marshal knew this and pretended not to.
    When they'd gone he had a few words with the National Service boy whose name was Bruno, taking care to avoid Di Nuccio's smirk as he did so. You couldn't help liking this lad although he was so eccentric. When he'd first arrived he'd been a physical fitness fanatic and spent every spare