Sicilian Murder Read online

  Sicilian Murder

  A Jill Quint, MD Series Murder

  Alec Peche

  GBSW Publishing

  Copyright © 2019 by Alec Peche

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Thanks to my friends for a delightful vacation on the island of Sicily several years ago. It’s an amazing and historically significant island with ancients ruins representing the many peoples that have inhabited the island over the centuries.

  Thanks to my first readers GM and KP for helping me polish this manuscript.

  Contents

  Untitled

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Also by Alec Peche

  Fide, sed cui vide

  Trust, but take care in whom

  Chapter 1

  Marie Simon was sitting at a table for four, waiting for her friends to arrive for lunch. She was a little early and so took a few minutes to catch up on her email.

  She saw an email from her sister with the subject line of 'need help'. Marie was one of seven children and this sister never asked for help. She clicked on the email wondering what was wrong?

  'As you know, I'm on the island of Sicily, and my boss Randy Chen has been found dead in one of the craters at Mount Etna. I mentioned, to his daughter, the work that you and your friends do, and she would like to hire your team. How soon can you get to Italy?'

  OMG! Marie thought and took a quick look at when the email had arrived in her inbox. Three hours ago. She looked at her watch calculating the time difference. It was a six-hour time difference between Italy and Wisconsin. Did her sister have her phone with her and what was the reception like wherever she was located? She dialed the number but it went to voicemail. Marie tried to remember what Brenda said before she left for the trip, but couldn't think of anything significant. She sent her a text and a longer email, grateful that she had arrived early to the noon lunch.

  She dialed Jill's number for lack of anything else to do it the moment.

  "Hey Marie, how's it going?”

  “It's good. I'm at a restaurant waiting for friends to arrive for lunch and I got a weird email from my sister, and I thought I'd give you a heads up.”

  “Is someone dead?”

  Marie exhaled a quick laugh and said, “How did you know?”

  “Is the body in Wisconsin? I always enjoy visiting you guys!”

  “Yeah and we enjoy having you here! The dead man is in Italy, specifically Sicily.”

  “We've never had a case in Italy. That could be interesting. We'll have to deal with the local police and depending on which way the case goes perhaps Interpol,” Jill mused.

  Marie noticed her friends approaching and waved to them.

  “He was found dead in one of the craters at Mount Etna,” Marie told Jill. Her friends startled at her words and then surmised who she was talking to and why.

  “I'll have to study the volcano. Do you know if he died by falling or is that volcano strewing ash and poisonous gas at the moment?”

  “Brenda didn't say, and I've been unable to contact her just yet. She did say that the daughter of the dead man wanted to hire us. Are you able to leave immediately if I get the call?”

  “The daughter will need to sign our usual contract, but yes I'm able to travel immediately. I'll look into flights from San Francisco and know what my options are by the time you call back. I've been thinking about planting a grape that comes from Italy and so I might tag that on to the backside of our trip there. Knowing Nathan's love of Italy, I'm betting he'll join us there. Will you keep Jo and Angela informed?”

  Nathan Conroy was the love of Jill's life and a master wine label maker.

  “Yes, that sounds like a plan, I'll call you when I have more information.”

  Marie ended the call and looked at the three friends who had been shamelessly eavesdropping on her conversation. She grinned and said, “Well, a phone call like that is how our cases begin. I'm thinking Italy might be in my future if Brenda needs me there.”

  "Brenda? How is she involved in a case in Italy?" asked Jody who knew all of Marie's siblings.

  "Her boss, Randy Chen, was found dead in a crater of the volcano on the island of Sicily. Likely the two of them were there sourcing new ingredients or visiting stores that sell their products. It sounds very bizarre to me and that was Jill, our team leader, forensic pathologist, private investigator and all-around friend who organizes these cases for the rest of us. She's ready to hop a plane to Italy as that is how the business works for her. When she gets a call for a new case, she has to be prepared to be there in say thirty-six hours. So she's used to dropping everything and heading to the airport with her forensic kit in tow. This is a little different as it's Europe, and the laws and processes vary from country to country.”

  "Haven't you already worked in Europe?" asked another friend.

  "Yeah, we had a case that covered Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. We also had a recent case in Scotland although that's not part of Europe. Definitely cases outside of the United States are harder for a variety of reasons. After we're done with lunch, I'm going to research Sicily and its volcano to understand what we're walking into and what my sources might be. I'm sorry Randy's dead, but I'll admit I'm excited to tackle this case and help Brenda and Randy's family find answers."

  After a few more questions, they ordered lunch and wine and caught up on each other's lives. Eventually they circled back to Marie's potential case.

  “How exciting that you get to solve murders all over the world. What’s your favorite part of working on one of these cases?”

  “I enjoy the research, and I love that we can catch the criminal at the end.”

  “What’s your least favorite part of these cases?”

  “We’ve been chased down by some of the killers. That scares the wits out of me, but Jill is the one that’s been targeted the most.”

  “Maybe it’s the mafia. Isn’t Sicily filled with people that belong to the mafia?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe that was true at one time, but even in the United States, organized crime had declined compared to what it was in the 1920’s or 1930s. I guess if we take on this case, I’ll find out just how powerful they are at present.”

  Marie had finished dining with her friends and was on her way home when Brenda called.

  “Hey sis, what’s going on there?”

  “I’ll tell you about that later, I have Randy’s daughter, Melissa, in the room with me and she wants to hire your group. How does she do that?”

  “Dr. Jill Quint is the leader of our group and she’ll need Melissa to sign a contract. She needs the next of kin's permission to perform an autopsy. She's a forensic pathologist and li
censed private investigator. She’s on standby for this case. Should I have her send the contract to your email address? Do you have the ability to print, it sign it and send it back? Then it’s a matter of finding a seat on a plane to Italy from San Francisco. I’m sure she’s looked into possible flight times, and may be able to give you booking information by the time you send the contract back.”

  “You’re coming too, aren’t you?”

  “I can do a lot of research from the states, so it’s not often necessary for me to be on the scene.”

  “Melissa wants you all here as she feels that will help to find the murderer sooner.”

  “Okay, but there’s a cost to that and I don’t know Jo Pringle and Angela Weber’s availability. In fact, I think Angela is in Italy now for the wedding of her goddaughter. She’s not on the island of Sicily, but she’s close by. I let you know, when and if we are all coming.”

  “I need you here. You know I’ve worked for Randy Chen for twenty years, and his death is a shock.”

  “Okay sis, let me see what I can do. Do you want me to email our arrangements to you or should I call you?”

  “Email me, that way we don’t have to worry about the time difference in terms of communicating with each other. By the way the closest airport is Catania, but if you can get here sooner by going to Palermo, then do so. The budget won’t be a problem, so go ahead and book business class seats.”

  “Really? Are you sure? There’s a section on Jill’s contract where the family will specify an approximate budget and just getting us there on short notice will cost a lot.”

  “I’m sure, and I’ll tell them to start you off with $50,000, but tell Jill to suggest an amount in her email to the daughter that will cover your initial travel, hotel fees, your daily rate, and any costs for the autopsy that she might incur.”

  “Okay. Let me get off the phone to call Jill and the others, and I’ll see you soon.”

  Marie called Jill and relayed the information. An hour later, she had a signed contract and a deposit to pay for their flights. Marie contacted Jo and also confirmed with Angela’s mother that she was in Italy already and her goddaughter’s wedding was the previous day. She called Angela, but her call wasn’t picked up, so she left the details of the case and a request to call her. Jo couldn’t get off work for three days and could only stay for four days, while Marie had an entire week to give Jill. Angela might have photo engagements that she had to return to the United States for or she might have time to help on the case. She’d been taking Italian lessons and was good at learning languages so she’d be especially helpful in the investigation.

  Jill emailed her flight arrangements and confirmed that Nathan would be joining them. Marie booked her own flight and that of Jo’s later in the week. Then her phone rang and she saw it was Angela.

  “Hello Angela, how are you? How’s was the wedding?”

  “Mackenzie was a beautiful bride, and it went off without a hitch. No last minute histrionics by anyone. I saw your email, and I can head over to Sicily this afternoon. I had some side trips planned for after the wedding, but this case seems equally interesting. I distantly know our victim as he served on a couple committees at the same time as me. What a loss for his family and the community! He was highly thought of. I went to school at St. Norbert with his daughter. Is she over in Italy at the moment?”

  “Yes, she's signed the contract to hire us.”

  “When are you and Jill arriving?”

  “Tomorrow, before dinner for Jill and I arrive the next day.”

  “See you soon, safe travels. I’ll book all of us a hotel.”

  “Good, Jill was hoping you would take care of that as our Italian speaking teammate.”

  “Ciao.”

  Chapter 2

  Jill Quint, MD, made a record number of arrangements since receiving the call from Marie. She got the contract and a wire deposit from the family of Mr. Chen. She'd been able to make flight arrangements to leave that night from San Francisco. They were connecting in Istanbul to the Catania airport. With the flight arrangements made, Nathan was hustling to reschedule his clients, while Jill was making arrangements to perform an autopsy in Italy. Four hours after the initial call from Marie, they were on their way to the airport.

  After buckling up their seat-belts, Jill said, “Whew! This is going to be an adventure. I've never touched the Italian justice system before, but I know from previous pathologist meetings that their autopsy system is bad.”

  “How so?” Nathan asked.

  “They certify most violent deaths without an autopsy, and when they do an autopsy, it's wrong more than a quarter of the time, and a third of death certificates have no cause of death.”

  “That bad, huh? How about guns? Do they have a lot of them in Italy?”

  “Don't know for sure, but I think so. The mafia is still alive and well there. I know even less about Sicily, then I do about other parts of Italy. Do you have any clients on that island?”

  “Not at the moment. There are a fair number of vineyards on the slopes of Mount Etna. I met a Sicilian wine producer several years ago at a grape grower meeting, and he said to look him up if I ever visited Sicily. So I'm going to email him on the way to the airport. I don't know if he is still growing grapes or if he'll remember me. If he doesn't, there are something like five-hundred wine growers on that island, so I just may spend my time exploring them instead of meeting with clients.”

  “Were any of your current clients mad that you delayed meeting with them?”

  “A few seemed a little put-off, but none of them has a deadline of needing a new label for a special vintage. Besides I told them I was looking for new creative ideas that might make their labels better.”

  “True, but you're full of creative ideas without visiting Sicily. You could probably do all of your research online.”

  Nathan was a world famous wine label artist and then he expanded into marketing materials for wineries, and later glassware and label designs for beer.

  “Yeah, that's true for wine labels, but I'm interested in seeing how the wine industry advertises there. California might be the most famous wine growing region in the United States, but I bet Sicily has a harder time attracting tourists so I may see some new marketing ideas there.”

  “I hope I have time to visit a few vineyards that grow the Nero d'Avola grape. It's suitable for my climate and would grow well here, but it's a dry red, and my palate loves sweet white wines. So I want to sample as many bottles of that grape as possible while we're in Sicily so I can determine if I think I could have a nose for creating a great wine with that grape.”

  “Okay, I'll make sure to keep you supplied with that varietal of wine while we're there and maybe we can set up some wine tasting with Marie, Jo, and Angela to talk about what they like. I'll set that up once they're all there.”

  “Thanks, that would be perfect!”

  “I'm almost afraid to ask, but what's happening to your victim's body while you're traveling to dissect him? Is he rotting in the heat?”

  With a little sigh, Jill said, “That's a good question. I took a quick look at funeral homes to see if they have refrigerator coolers for their bodies and the answer is that they do. Apparently, it's an Italian tradition to kiss the face of your recently departed friend so that they don't come back to earth. Italians believe that they are helping their soul leave earth by kissing them goodbye and not speaking their name or of them. So yes they have refrigerators as no one would want to be kissing the smelly, rotting remains of Uncle Antonio.”

  “That's an awful picture you're painting in my mind. So they don't believe in cremation?”

  “Until recently, the Catholic Church did not approve of cremation. The other factor about this case is the funeral home industry. While I was researching the mortuaries, I found an article about the mafia that was chilling. If a hospital in Sicily called an ambulance to transfer you to a nursing home, or to home to die, the mafia would pay off the ambulance attenda
nts to inject you with air, which will cause a heart attack when the air bubble reaches your heart. Then the attendant influenced the family's choice of a funeral home by transporting dear Giuseppe's body to a particular funeral home controlled by the mafia and they would make a tidy profit on the early death.”

  “Sounds barbaric. Are we going to be safe in Sicily?”

  “As long as the mafia isn't involved in the death of Randy Chen.”

  “Could they be involved?” Nathan asked, filled with trepidation over another case that could put their lives at risk.

  “I haven't ruled anyone out as the source of the death. It is possible that he died of natural causes. He really could have fallen and fatally banged his head on volcanic rock,” Jill said.

  “Yeah right. When have you had a case recently where the person died of natural causes?” Nathan asked pessimistically seeing his tranquil Italian vacation disappearing and mafia gang members emerging from the volcanic smoke.

  She just grinned over at him as they pulled into their long-term parking space at the airport. She'd insisted on them getting to the airport early as this was the first time she'd flown internationally with her autopsy case, and so she was expecting an extra round of questions coming her way. She had knives, scalpels, and flammable substances in her case along with glassware. She'd need to buy a few things in Sicily upon arrival but had already sourced them for delivery at the apartment that Angela selected. After multiple interviews on the contents of her autopsy case, Nathan and Jill were soon sitting in the relative comfort of business class for the thirteen-hour flight to Istanbul.