AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Did you try to ask your father what made him want to leave? Later? When he was calmer?”
“I did. I visited him in New York one Christmas when my boys were old enough to fly to America, but all he would say was that now, things were set right. The vases didn’t belong to us anymore.”
Caroline tried to stay calm. She tried not to flinch at the mention of the vases, but she could do nothing about her eyes. They sought Ryland, who was also trying to act cool as a cucumber. He was failing just as badly as her.
“The vases?” she asked, trying to be innocent. “You don’t meantheVases of Destiny, do you?”
Salvatore sniffed loudly, once again reluctant to answer. “My father had the Vases of Destiny. We didn’t knowwhatthey were for a long time. They were passed down to my father from his father and his father before him. Whoever worked the farm. The eldest son.”
“So the vases would have gone to you, then?” Caroline asked, exchanging a look with Ryland. It didn’t escape either of them that Salvatore spoke ofallthe vases, or at the least, in the plural.
Luigi Bonettihadmore than one vase at one time in his life. They needed to confirm this, but Salvatore was an uneasy man.
Salvatore nodded, and it took him a long time to continue. “My father took them to America and donated them to a museum. He was a lot calmer after that. He vanished not too long after, and eventually, we heard he had died.” He paused to heave a heavy sigh. “I always wondered if the shock of selling the olive groves killed him. Being so far from home and everything he knew wasn’t good for him.”
“That’s possible,” she whispered. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Don’t be. My life is a lot simpler now than it would have been if I had to take over Bonetti Olives for my father. I’ve had a good life.”
“Was anyone in your family upset that your father gave the vases away?”
He considered this for a few moments. “My youngest sister, Isadora. She was angry. The groves wouldn’t have gone to her, but she wanted them. She even married a rival olive farmer. It broke my father’s heart, but Isadora always did as she pleased.”
“Oh? What do you mean?”
“The night before my father left for America, one of the vases vanished. We all knew Isadora took it, but she denied it.”
“Is Isadora … Do you think she still has the vase?”
“She might, but you will have a hard time seeing her. She doesn’t see any visitors. She’s gotten a bit odd in her old age.”
It was the second time this excuse was being given to them. Could they be referring to the same person? Caroline wanted to see a Bonetti family tree and fast.
“Did your family have all six vases?” Ryland asked.
“I don’t know how many there are or how many my father had,” Salvatore replied bitterly. His reluctance was now open aggression.
They tried to cajole more information out of the old man, but he was now tight-lipped and walked them to the door with an angry bounce in his step.
Once they were heading for the city center, Ryland sighed. “That wasn’t much help. What do you think?”
“I think we need to see this Isadora character. Maybeshecan tell us how many vases the Bonettis actually had.”
“You think she has one of the vases?”
“Why wouldn’t she? However, I still don’t understand why Luigi told the museum he had two vases ayearlater.”
Ryland shrugged. “Maybe he thought he would have time to convince his daughter to give the vase over.”
“Maybe,” she wasn’t convinced, though. “If only we knew how many of the six vases were actually out there.”
“The accepted number has always been three,” Ryland said.
“Well, sure. For people who didn’t have them on their farm,” she cried. “I get the feeling Luigi Bonetti had at least three. One Isadora stole. The other two made it to New York, but only one was delivered to the museum.”
“Right,” Ryland nodded. “But we don’t know anything with any kind of certainty right now.”
“Maybe if we can track down this Isadora character, we’ll get a better idea of what we’re dealing with.”
