Vipers Read Free Page A

the woman nodded her head slightly, and the girl turned to Ricciardi.
    â€œYes. I went past her door, I’d . . . I had finished, and I was going to the balcony. And Viper’s door was open, just a little, it was, what’s the word . . . ajar. And she was on the bed, and I noticed her leg, dangling over the side . . .”
    She reached a trembling hand up to her face, as if to chase the image away. Her voice, deep and mature, clashed with her evident youth and her delicate features.
    Ricciardi asked:
    â€œAnd you, what did you do?”
    The young woman hesitated, glanced again in her madam’s direction, then decided to answer.
    â€œI stuck my head out the door and called Madame.”
    Maione broke in:
    â€œAnd how did you know that Cennamo—I mean, Viper—was dead?”
    Lily shrugged.
    â€œThere was a pillow on her face. And she wasn’t moving.”
    What Ricciardi sensed in the girl’s voice, and even more in her reactions, wasn’t grief, only fright. He decided to get confirmation of that impression.
    â€œWere the two of you friends? Did you get along with Viper?”
    This time it was Madame Yvonne who replied:
    â€œOf course! We’re like a big happy family here, Commissa’. The girls are all like sisters, they spend all their time together, and they love one another, both the girls who come here to work for a couple of weeks and then go away and the ones who’re here permanently. And Lily, just like Viper, is here to stay, she’s not one of the girls on rotation, and so they’re . . . they were even closer. Isn’t that true? Answer me!”
    Suddenly called upon, Lily stared at her employer and slowly nodded. Ricciardi’s first impression remained unshaken: the relationship between Lily and the late Viper would need closer examination.
    â€œAnd then you, Madame, sent Marietta to get us. All right. And who was here, besides you and the girls I see over there?”
    Yvonne spread her arms wide.
    â€œCommissa’, of course, there were the clients. Amedeo over there, our piano player, was entertaining them while they waited, and the waiter was serving drinks. The usual afternoon activity.”
    â€œSo these customers, what happened to them?”
    The woman shook her head.
    â€œI’m sure you can imagine it for yourself: the minute they heard Lily crying and screaming, they vanished. I certainly don’t have the authority to stop them and tell them to wait for you all, do I?”
    Ricciardi nodded.
    â€œCertainly not. But you must remember at least your regular customers, and you can tell us their names, I believe. Just so we can check them out.”
    Yvonne exchanged a look with Lily that didn’t escape the commissario’s notice.
    â€œOf course. Though I might have overlooked a few, in all the chaos. This kind of terrible accident, it doesn’t happen every day.”
    â€œNo, luckily, this sort of thing doesn’t happen every day. Signorina, earlier you said: I had finished, and I was going to the balcony. What did you mean?”
    Lily answered:
    â€œDo you see that passageway up there, with the railing? We call that the balcony. When we’re done working with a customer, after we’ve washed up and straightened up the room, then we go up there, where they can see us, that way the customers here in the waiting room know that we’re free and that they can pick us. The one they like best.”
    Camarda sighed, earning himself an elbow in the ribs from Cesarano. Ricciardi decided to overlook it.
    â€œAll right, I understand. I may need to ask you a few more things later. Now, if you don’t mind, take us to Viper’s room.”

III
    W hat is this breeze on my face?
    What are these scents, the flowers and the sea?
    What does springtime want from me, why doesn’t it go back where it came from?
    I’m a dead man, don’t you understand that,