Page 91 of Chasing Caine

I straightened, a twinge in my ankle when I put more weight on it than I should have. “We caught him cutting into the Minerva wall after we discovered part of the Mars wall was missing.”

Océane’s eyebrow twitched and she made another humming noise.

“Hmm?” I replied in kind.

Her grin remained firmly in place. “I never would have thought him capable of something like that. Perhaps he’s more than he seems?”

“More than he seems?” I spluttered.

She was steadily cementing her spot as suspect number two. He could have removed the flowers, given them to her, then she took them to Rome to a broker. Made sure she bonded with the girlfriend about what dead weight he was, so no one would figure out they were working together.

I took a deep breath when Antonio squeezed me again. “When did you leave for Rome?”

“Saturday.” She leaned closer to me, a heavy and dark fragrance of cinnamon, wood, and flowers wafting off her. “Is that before or after the timing of the event for which you’re going to accuse me of helping him?”

Antonio put up a hand. “No one is accusing anyone.”

“Oh, I think she is.” Océane bit her bottom lip. “Go ahead. Would you like to come up to my room so I can show you my train tickets?”

Someone had taken the flower painting sometime between Saturday morning and early Sunday afternoon. The blue pigment pot was recovered just before noon on Saturday. Her trip was in our window for the pots, too. She could have gone to Rome and delivered those, then come back for the fresco. “What time Saturday?”

“Oh, Dr. Ferraro, I like her. She has spirit.” A car pulled up and she waved to the driver. “But I must apologize. My ride is here.”

Antonio kissed the air at her cheeks. “I’ll see you Wednesday onsite.”

“I look forward to it.” She opened the car door and slipped into the backseat. “And it was two in the afternoon, little detective. Does that make me innocent or guilty?”

As the car drove off, I said, “I don’t like her, Antonio.”

He chuckled, an annoying sound at that moment. “I didn’t notice.”

I glowered at him. “And I really didn’t like how you laughed at my questions and kept squeezing me to tell me to stop.”

He shook his head and looked heavenward. “Oh, come now, bella. I was squeezing you because I was proud of your passion.”

“And the laughter?”

“She was flirting with you, and you just kept grilling her.” He urged me forward along the sidewalk. “I think it turned her on.”

“She was not. She was being evasive. And trying to rattle me.” She reminded me of Victoria Meyers, Miss July in Antonio’s Calendar Club—the name the group of women he used to date gave themselves. Victoria had tried to instill doubts in me about him and his ability to remain faithful to a single woman.

Doubts I was still wrestling with, despite how amazing my visit had been.

“She left Napoli after the first pot was found in Roma, so she didn’t take that. And even so, what are the odds—” He let go of me to pull open the door of the next building and usher me through. “—that two members of my team were in on the theft?”

I limped into the small white marble lobby of a hotel until he caught up and took some of my weight. “That they’d be involved in some criminal plan before you hired them? Slim. But if someone approached them after? Much higher.”

He directed us to an elevator, tone serious, not condescending like I’d expected from his earlier responses. “How many pieces could be physically removed before they were caught? Particularly from the Casa di Marte? It would become obvious after two—plus the missing pigment pots—that someone on a conservation team was involved.”

“Good point.” I leaned against the back of the elevator car, resting my left foot lightly on the floor. When I folded my arms, he unfolded them and draped them around his neck. “Maybe we’re just dealing with dumb criminals?”

He laughed, placing his hands on the wall behind me. “Océane was right about two things.”

I cocked an eyebrow.

“You’re a very suspicious one.” He dipped closer to kiss my cheek. “And sexy as hell.”

I did my best to control my smile and pulled my arms down to shove him gently. “None of that changes the fact that she was in town when the flower fresco was taken, then out of town for a week after. And Umberto told Eva he was thinking about going up to Rome. Maybe he was going to see Océane? Or maybe… We should talk to Eva again and find out if there was an opportunity for Umberto to have passed the items off to Océane, and that’s why he didn’t have to go.”