CHAPTER TWELVE

‘So you see the monastery itself may well be the true owner of the inheritance,’ Angela explained to Jack as they sat later in her cell, drinking water and munching chocolate.

‘The family and the inheritance are one and the same, is that what you’re saying?’ he asked.

Angela frowned and looked thoughtful for a moment then slowly nodded her head.

‘Branches of the same tree, yes.’

‘But surely they know this. The family unit is everything in Italy. You cannot own a monastery and forget about it.’

Angela silenced him with a raised hand.

‘Neither Hugo nor Giorgio is the direct heir, yet they know about the monastery.’

Jack stared at her.

‘Hugo knew all along. The piece of parchment was probably given to him by his father. This is what he took with him when he left Italy and hid it in the locket. Giorgio also knows that the inheritance is still in Italy, Claudia as much as told me so, but perhaps he doesn’t know exactly where the monastery is which is why he had to trap Hugo into coming home.’

Jack’s tone was grim as he asked, ‘So what is it Hugo expects you to do?’

Angela shrugged her shoulders.

‘Perhaps it isn’t so much what he expects me to do as what he hopes the police will do.’

‘Explain.’

‘Well, if he knows the abbot is unlikely to hand over the jewellery and he can hardly expect me to steal it, perhaps he hopes the police will follow me and commandeer it to trap Giorgio.’

Jack’s tone lightened and a smile slid across his lips.

‘Which is exactly what I have done. It took some persuading but eventually the abbot agreed.’

He turned to his haversack and pulled out an oak and brass chest, a miniature of the large one in the abbot’s office. Jack twisted a sunken design in the centre of the lid and it lifted to reveal a silk-lined box, the gems laid out each on a velvet tray stacked in three tiers. They were so beautiful tears blurred Angela’s vision.

‘Oh, my goodness.’

‘They are brought out and worn only at the inception of a new abbot,’ Jack told her.

He closed the lid, placed the box back in the leather pouch and returned it to his haversack.

‘It is a big responsibility. We must take great care of it.’

‘When do we leave?’ she asked in a hushed voice.

‘It’s too dark now. First thing in the morning.’

Suddenly she asked, ‘Is there any way we can find out what happened to the little boy, Carlo?’

Climbing to his feet Jack took hold of the haversack and made to leave the room.

‘Don’t worry about the boy. I had someone from the station go round to your apartment before we left the chalet. They didn’t get back to me but I would be most surprised if he isn’t eating more ice-cream than he has ever had before.’

Then he left her alone.

The following morning, Angela had completed her toilet, tidied up her cell and packed her belongings and was waiting impatiently for Jack.

‘Eager for your breakfast then?’ he asked, laughing at her from the open doorway of his cell.

‘Not on your life. We aren’t really going to eat their awful food again, are we?’

‘I’ve no taste for it either. Come on, let’s go.’

He took her bag from her hand and together they made their way down the passage to the door into the cloisters. It was here Brother Brin caught up with them.

‘I wanted to say goodbye but also to warn you that a stranger has been seen several times since you arrived in the forest around the monastery. It may be nothing, but be careful and Our Lord go with you.’

Angela followed her instinct and kissed the little man on both of his rosy cheeks. Jack did likewise, it being tradition in those parts and they moved on down the cloisters to where the monk who had let them in on their arrival stood waiting by the open door. It clanked shut the moment they crossed the threshold.

Jack bustled her over to the car, wasting no time as he loaded up their bags and climbed in, locking the car doors before starting up the engine.

‘What’s with the locked doors?’

She was more frightened still when he pulled a hand gun from somewhere beneath his jacket and slipped it into his pocket.

‘What’s that for? Do you think that stranger might be after us?’

They were racing down the rocky mountain path, being tossed from one side to the next when Jack said, ‘It could be that we were followed after all.

They reached the house sometime before lunch after a trouble-free journey. A car stood out front and as they drew up, the driver’s door opened and Claudia climbed out. She rushed over to them and grabbed Jack’s arm.

‘You must stand up to him, Giovanni. I told him we would marry but he is very angry. He tells me you have run off with Hugo’s girl but I know you have only taken her to find the jewellery.’

Jack held her away from him.

‘You told him this?’

‘You must be very brave. He knows he dare not harm you. You are the police.’

She tried to wriggle closer as she spoke but Jack set her to one side and moved back to Angela.

‘I’m taking you into custody for your own safety,’ he said urging her back into the car.

Claudia was once again clinging to his arm. When he had Angela safely in the passenger seat and the door shut he turned back to Claudia.

‘I want you to get back in your car and drive home. Obviously there has been some misunderstanding with your father. We will sort it out when this case is closed and not before. Now go.’

Claudia looked stunned. Then she started to shout at Jack, hurling insults and threats at his back as tears ran down her cheeks when he climbed back into the car alongside Angela. He started the engine again before it had even cooled and they were flying back along the track to the road that would take them on down to Bassano. Angela said nothing as she watched in the rear mirror the red sports car belonging to Claudia swirling after them. A nerve ticked along Jack’s jaw as he followed her glance.

‘She’s in a rage but she’ll cool down before she gets home.’

‘What happens if she doesn’t go home but follows us?’

He shrugged.

‘She can’t make a scene at the station. The place is like a cross to a vampire in that family.’

Angela swallowed the nervous mirth that ran up into her throat. Glancing once more in the mirror she couldn’t help the small gasp that escaped. The red car was almost on their bumper, but Jack was ignoring it. She glanced at Jack’s grim profile and closed her eyes tight.

When she opened them again an even worse scenario met her gaze. A large lorry, followed by a tourist bus, was rapidly approaching on the opposite side of the road and as she watched, a large black car pulled out from behind the bus to overtake. To the rear of them the red sports car leaped forward, jolting them onward as Jack braked. There was nowhere to go.

Angela heard the screams but there was no time to pinpoint where they came from. She was conscious of their car leaping from the road, then nothing.