The younger detective, Morelli, opened a file on the desk and showed me a picture of Aria and me posing for the media outside the event. “You were present on the rooftop when the device detonated.”
“Si.”
“And you’re recently married. This is your wife, Arianna Buccini, who attended tonight’s event with you.”
“Si.”
“Who also happens to be the mayor’s daughter.”
“Your detective work is impeccable.”
Salvo nudged my shoe with his under the table, a warning to behave.
“The same mayor who is currently in critical condition in the hospital.”
“I’m aware.”
Detective Ferri leaned forward. “You were seen having a tense conversation with the mayor just minutes before the blast.”
“I was speaking to him, yes. Tense?” I tilted my head with a frown. “Not that I recall.”
“You and the mayor are often seen in tense conversations, sometimes heated, in fact. Just two nights ago, you had dinner, and he stormed out, appearing very upset.”
“Good to know you keep up with the latest gossip columns, Detective.”
“There have been reports of tensions rising between the two of you since the mayor’s crime campaign came into effect.”
“Do you base all attempted homicide cases on rumour and inference?”
Detective Ferri clenched his jaw as Morelli pushed a photograph of one of my warehouses near the port across the table. “A container of controlled demolition compound was signed out of this warehouse twenty-four hours before the blast.”
“That’s what my lawyer tells me.”
“You own the company.”
“I own many companies. Doesn’t mean I personally load the trucks.”
Detective Ferri smacked his lips together in a pathetic attempt at asserting dominance. “You’re a powerful man,SignorBuccini. And powerful men don’t like losing control.”
“Is that a question?”
Silence. They allow it to linger as a classic intimidation tactic to unsettle me. I folded my hands loosely on the table and waited.
Morelli broke first. “Your wife was on that rooftop.”
“Si.”
“She could have been killed.”
“Exactly.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Detective,” I said evenly, holding his gaze. “You’re suggesting that I orchestrated an attack at a public event I was visibly seen at, in front of cameras while standing next to the woman whose safety I value above all else? Would I really be so reckless?”
“That’s not denial.”
“No,” I groaned. “It’s logic.”
