“You lost her?” Columbo asked, clearly stupefied.
“Yes,” Alessandro answered grimly.
“And this was the same girl? The chattering-teeth, bomb-scare girl?” Columbo made it sound like the title of a paperback mystery.
“Yes.”
“And you’ve been dating her?
“Yes.”
“Is there anything else I should know? Anything that might save us from complete and total embarrassment?”
“It isn’t up on YouTube yet,” one of Alessandro’s colleagues said helpfully before bursting out laughing.
“‘Yet’ being the operative word,” Columbo returned. “Any ideas on where you might find her, Rossi? Did you check her apartment?”
“Of course.”
“And the offices of Silvio Milan?”
“Not yet. Silvio Milan or someone at the company could’ve been using Olivia to deliver the drugs, so that all blame fell on her if caught.”
“Rocco could have put the drugs in the glass. How’s the Zucaro business doing?
“Just fine. Katarina had completely turned it around before she . . .” He forced himself to say the word: “. . . died. And Rocco is a good guy. It’s like trying to imagine Katarina herself dealing drugs—or Olivia, for that matter.”
“If Olivia’s innocent, then why did she run away?”
“Because she was in shock, and because I didn’t tell her I believed her.”
“We’ll have to put out a warrant for her arrest.”
“Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”
“No. And this is your superior talking. Most likely you’re right that she was being used, but just remember we’re probably not the only ones looking for her. A woman who worked at the airport was found in a dumpster this morning, you may recall. If these incidents are connected, these are killers we’re dealing with.”