The Witch of Napoli by Michael Schmicker Page A

months I need to investigate her. After that, I don’t care what happens to her.”
    He picked up his cigar. “Do we have a deal?”
    I could hardly believe my ears. “You can count on me, Professor,” I replied.
    I pumped Lombardi’s hand, thanked Venzano, and took off. As I passed Julieta’s desk, she was bent over putting letters into a filing cabinet, her pretty rump in the air begging for a pinch. It was my lucky day, and hers.
    “
Arrivederci
,
cara
” I said, as she jumped up to slap me. “I’m off to Torino.”

Chapter 19
    I didn’t know how Alessandra would escape Pigotti, but I knew she would die before she would miss the train.
    I got to the station as the sun was coming up, determined to surprise her.
    The Piazza Garibaldi fronting the Napoli Centrale was already filled with carriages when I got there, and the station was crowded and noisy, with people hurrying here and there, shouting to each other, dragging boxes and trunks, frantically searching for their train. I wandered around hopelessly lost until an old porter pushing a luggage cart directed me to the office where Lombardi had left my ticket. After the yawning clerk passed me the envelope, I opened it and stared at the ticket for a moment, feeling a bit disoriented and a little scared. I had never been outside Naples. I wondered what Alessandra was feeling.
    I jammed the ticket deep into my trousers in case there were pickpockets around and headed into the main hall to buy a coffee. A sleepy waiter took my order and I sat there, my bag safely wedged between my feet, wondering how I could best surprise Alessandra. Lombardi had bought Alessandra and me second class seats in the same compartment, so I decided I would board the train early, and be sitting there when she showed up. Or maybe I should hide behind a pillar and jump out when she came running up. I nursed my coffee and passed a half hour playing with various ideas before finally deciding to wander around and see the shops. The train didn’t leave until 9:00, and it wasn’t even 7:00 AM.
    I was half way across the main hall when I heard a shout.
    “Tommaso! My God!”
    I turned around and there was Alessandra, sitting on a bench, clutching a battered portmanteau. Her hair was a mess, and her eyes puffy, but she had a huge smile on her face. She jumped up from the bench and spread her arms in welcome.
    “You’ve come to see me off?”
    “When on earth did you get here?” I laughed. “I was planning to surprise
you
.”
    “I slept here last night.” She steered me to her bench and combed her fingers through her hair. “I look like a mess, I know. But I’ve been busy.”
    She looked around, then reached in her bag, pulled out a tin box, and cracked open the lid just enough for me to peek inside. The box was stuffed with
lire
. I stared at the money, then back to her for an explanation.
    “I got all my money back, Tommaso,” she said triumphantly. “The money he stole from me.”
    “The money you hid in the mattress?”
    She started laughing. “And
his
money too.”
    My jaw dropped. “Jesus Christ, Alessandra, he’ll kill you!” Grabbing her own money was bad enough. Grabbing Pigotti’s was insane. He was probably already looking for her.
    I glanced nervously towards the station entrance, half expecting to see Pigotti charging through the door in hot pursuit. I grabbed her bag and hustled her off the main concourse and into a side hallway leading to the public lavatories.
    “Does he know you’re headed for Torino?” I demanded.
    “No,” she shot back. “I’m not stupid, Tommaso.”
    “He didn’t ask you what happened at the meeting in Rossi’s office?”
    “When I got home, he was waiting for me. I told him that Professor Lombardi wanted to conduct some more séances with me – here in Naples. ” Alessandra looked away for a moment, and when she turned back to me, I could see the rage in her eyes.
    “He said he was doubling the fee, then he grabbed me and