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.He was tall, as Ipredicted, with light brown hair with a balding spot, blue eyes, and alopsided smile. Rob Luczka, he said. Pronounced L-o-o-c-h-k-a and spelled L-u-c-z-k-a.Ukrainian.You, I know, are Lara.It s nice to meet you. And you, I said between clenched teeth.How could someone be so cheery firstthing? Here, let me get you some breakfast.Marissa has left us lots of good stuff.How do you like your eggs? In the carton, I said. I ll just have some toast and coffee, thanks. You need fuel to get through the day, you know.I m cooking you some bacon.No, how about an omelet? That s a good idea, he said, answering his ownquestion.My God, I thought.There s going to be another murder victim before this isover.I ll kill him for sure.But I said nothing.He served up quite apassable omelet actually, and once I had that and some coffee, I felt I couldface a conversation with him with some equanimity. So you re here to assist with the murder investigation, I said as my openinggambit. Yes, sure.Pretty cut-and-dried, though, I d say.Most likely suspect isGalea s wife.What s her name? Marilyn, I said. And I don t think she did it.Didn t you see the autopsyreport? Said he d been dead for only a few hours. I ve seen the report.Tabone showed it to me.Somewhat& basic, shall we say?I mean I don t wish to criticize another jurisdiction s work, but& Tabone didn t think much of it either, I admitted. The point is, it s been mighty cold back home.Sub subzero.I figure Galeacould have been dead for much longer than the coroner here thinks.We alreadyknow that the furniture was loaded outside, it was minus fifteen at the time,and we checked the cargo line for the temperature of their cargo bays theywere embarrassed to tell us how cold they were, actually.So I figure Galeawas just thawing out about the time he got here.That would account for thePage 45 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlreport. But you re here now, I persisted. Presumably you weren t sent here becauseit was an open-and-shut case.You or your superiors must have thought therewas some doubt. Not really.We were sent a copy of the autopsy report, so we had to look intoit. So when do we start? Start what? And if it s what I think it is, who s we? I m the policeman, youare the shopkeeper, the one in whose shipment the body turned up, I mightadd. Fine.Go out investigating by yourself.You ll get lost five minutes out ofthe driveway, I assure you.And were you planning to take the car? I can twait to hear all about it! Do I take it that you think that because I m a Ukrainian from Saskatchewan Ican t find my way around an island this size? I m a Mountie, remember.I trackcriminals through roaring blizzards, just like on TV. He grinned. But of course, I said. Let me get you the car keys. EIGHTNormans, Hohenstaufens, Angevins, Aragonese, Castilians a blur of rulers,mostly absent.My tiny islands pass from hand to hand, pillar to post,sometimes the spoils of war, other times, more happily, to seal the marriagecontract, yet others, a forgotten outpost in some despotic sovereign s empire.Will freedom never come? I have A couple of pieces of news I think you ll find interesting, VincentTabone said, looking across his desk at Rob Luczka and me.My anticipatedmoment of triumph at seeing Luczka off in that splendid car was denied whenTabone called to say he was sending a squad car to the house.The factormitigating my disappointment was that I was invited too, the Mountie s opinionof shopkeepers doing detective work notwithstanding. I ve heard back from the Italian authorities, Tabone continued. MartinGalea got to Rome on Canadian Airlines flight 6040.His car, a Jaguar I mimpressed! was found in the long-term parking area at Toronto InternationalAirport.The Italians no longer require disembarkation cards at FiumicinoAirport a mistake if you ask me
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