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Yes. That had to be it.
Leonardo hurried inside, the house very quiet. He always gave his housekeeper the weekend off when he went to Capri. Francesca was a widow in her fifties and lived in most of the time, but on her weekends off she liked to visit her daughter who lived in Florence, so she wouldn’t be back until the morning. A glance at his Rolex showed it wasn’t too late to call Veronica. It was only twenty-past nine. Pulling out his phone, he hurried upstairs and lay down on his bed, stretching out before bringing up her number and hitting the dial icon.
She took her time answering. The thought that she’d seen who was ringing and simply didn’t want to answer was a worrying one.
‘Hi,’ she said at last. ‘I’m glad you rang.’
His spirits rose immediately.
‘I have something I wanted to ask you,’ she went on, her voice brisk and businesslike, reminding him of the voice she’d used when she’d discussed arrangements with him over the phone from Australia. It made him rethink his tactics, knowing instinctively that she wasn’t just going to say yes to what he wanted. Maybe he should concentrate on getting her to come to Rome in a fortnight’s time. Asking her to come visit him in Milan seemed a step too far at this early stage.
‘What is it?’ he replied, trying not to sound crestfallen, which was something Leonardo rarely felt when it came to women.
‘I need the password to Laurence’s computer,’ she said.
Leonardo frowned. ‘What for?’
‘I’ve been going through his things. I thought I should go through his computer as well, have a look at his search history. It might give me a few clues.’
‘Clues to what?’
‘To why he left me this place, for starters,’ she said sharply. ‘Which reminds me, what happened to his phone?’
‘His phone?’
‘Yes. I would imagine my father was well up on technology. He was an intelligent man. He would have carried a smart phone with him everywhere.’
‘Yes, he did. I have it in a drawer at work, along with his wallet and his watch.’
‘Oh.’
‘If you want them, I could give them to you when we meet up in Rome,’ he offered.
Her hesitation to answer straight away was telling. Leonardo’s heart sank.
‘I… I haven’t made up my mind about that yet,’ she said carefully.
At least she hadn’t said no outright. Still, Leonardo wasn’t used to women waffling where his invitations were concerned. He wasn’t sure what to say next.
‘If you don’t fancy Rome, then how about Venice?’
‘Venice?’ she echoed.
‘Yes. The city of love.’
‘I thought that was Paris,’ she returned, her voice quite cool, making him instantly regret his use of the word.
‘You sound like you’re not too keen,’ he said, knowing that he sounded put out, but unable to harness his disappointment.
‘I told you, Leonardo. I think it’s best we don’t keep seeing each other.’
‘You don’t really mean that.’
‘You’re just not used to girls turning you down.’
‘Possibly. But I honestly believe we have something special. I’d like to explore things further between us.’
She laughed. She actually laughed. ‘I know the kind of exploring you mean and I’m sorry, Leonardo—I do find you terribly attractive, but I can’t see any future for us.’
