Charlotte 'Sempiterna ruìna' E-Book

Magda Moro (Dama Missy)

• Herausgeber: Youcanprint
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

In a small village on the outskirts of Florence, a teacher, Leyla, receives a strange 'gift' in the second fortnight of each month: a wicker basket containing a murdered kitten. A small wooden stake engraved with the red writing 'Sempiterna ruìna' is driven into the chest of the animal: it is blood. Her younger sister, Camilla, who has returned from France, is involved in this mystery. A singular 'priest' roamed around. An elderly professor, Maria, passionate about criminology, and one of her former students, Genius, an aspiring investigator, are fundamental to the research. Other crimes are added: an attempted murder with concealment of the body of a woman whose husband becomes the alleged 'visionary' culprit, a death in an arson attack and a stabbing crime. The driver thread, an intrigue branched out into several areas, is sometimes tinged with pink with some tragicomic nuances. Lieutenant Marcus takes charge of the investigation to help Leyla, with whom he is secretly in love. But where will the crux of the matter be? In a mysterious research institute?

Leseprobe

Index

Camilla The arrival

Leyla and Camilla Dreams

David Memories

Leyla Memories

Leyla Gianni

Leyla and Camilla Investigations

Leyla and Camilla From the neighbors

Camilla Max

Leyla Lunar cycle

Leyla and Camilla Lady Maria

Leyla and Camilla Conjectures

Leyla and Camilla From Marcus

Leyla and Camila The nonsense rhyme

David (in prison) Memories

David The reality

Rudolf The blackmail

David Confessions

David Searches

David Investigated

Camilla Max

Gianni The ambush

Leyla and Camilla From Marcus

Marcus Investigations

David Visit in prison

The priest It’s me

Lady Maria Too acute

Marcus Flash of insight

Max The fire

Genius Nhurox

Lady Maria The victim

Leyla Incredulous

Marcus The crime scene

Charlotte (Carlotta) Nhurox

Charlotte (Carlotta) Epilogue

Charlotte (Carlotta) Two months later

Camilla Awakening

Dama Missy Reflexions

Dama Missy (Magda Moro)

CHARLOTTE

'Sempiterna ruìna’

(Eternal ruin)

The book is a work of fantasy. The characters and the circumstances told are not real.

Any reference to facts, places, living or missing persons, events, diagnostic and therapeutic methods is the result of the pure invention of the authoress and is entirely random.

Title | Charlotte ‘Sempitema ruìna’

Author | Magda Moro (pseudonym Dama Missy)

ISBN | 9791221451085

© 2023 – All rights reserved to the Author

This work is published directly by the Author through the Youcanprint self-publishing platform and the Author holds all rights to it exclusively. No part of this book can therefore be reproduced without the prior consent of the Author.

Youcanprint

Via Marco Biagi 6 - 73100 Lecce

To my daughter Laura with love

and in memory of Missy

Camilla

The arrival

Tu-tum tu-tum tu-tum... the train rattled on the railway rails.

With my eyes closed, I imagined... the first words my mother would say to me "What did I tell you? You know, I did not like him right away. I felt it would make you suffer. I knew it!"

To avoid even this humiliation, as if the one suffered by my former great love, Max, was not enough. I had preferred to seek comfort near my sister.

Leyla had offered to host me.

Older than just two years but much more mature, she always had a maternal spirit towards me and, above all, never judged me.

She was always ready to console me, from when I was peeling a knee or crying. Even now, she would dry my tears, making me feel at home.

I couldn’t wait to see her again.

<<Next stop, Florence.>> announced the voice on the speaker. I reopened my eyes and looked at the watch on my wrist, a gift from Max. Alas.

It was 6.15 pm. Not a minute late.

I put on my sunglasses.

The weather was already warm for to be April 22nd.

As the train slowed down, I saw Leyla searching for me with the look, her tall, well-proportioned figure, her brown hair gathered in the inevitable chignon that gave her that aristocratic touch that I envied.

My hair, brown as hers but more moved and slightly curly, seemed to want to go each for oneself instead.

When I got off the platform roofing of the train, and she saw me, she hastened the pace, squeezed me with protective do, and kissed me on the forehead.

We had not seen each other in four years since I went to live with my great love, Max, in Paris.

I had left my job at the University and my family in Italy for him.

<<Camilla... how nice to see you again.>> and hugged me.

I gave her a big kiss on the cheek.

<<I, too, was looking forward to being here, big sister.>>

<<Are you alluding to the fact that I have a few pounds more than you?>> asked me, smiling.

<<But no, it is that you have always been more mature than me that, instead, I only mess up.>>

I replied, dejected.

<<Dear, dear my little sister...>> repeated, hugging me, then, with a sigh, observed me: <<But... let me look at you. This time you have lost too much weight. When our mother sees you, who knows what she will say...>> lifting her eyes to the sky.

<<Forget it. It’s best.>> I replied, sketching a grimace.

Our mother would have insisted on bringing me back to her with the intent of gorging me, but I preferred to stay with my sister.

We headed for her car.

<<It will be fantastic to see these places again... the ‘Lungarno’ and the ‘Old Bridge’ (Ponte Vecchio)...>> I sighed, melancholy.

<<You will see, they too will help you recover. Like your friends, who always ask for you.>>

After a short drive, we came the driveway to her house. Leyla lived in a graceful three-story building at style liberty, in a street delimited by tall poplars, on the outskirts of the small village near Florence, which I had left four years earlier.

The tires of his tiny white car creaked on the gravel of the lane bordered by multicolored flowers.

The house was surrounded by an ample open space used as a lawn and garden, with a small kitchen garden; the light wood fence enclosed various fruit trees inside.

We arrived at the gravel area at the back of the house. Leyla stopped suddenly when she saw a small dark-colored bundle in a wicker basket on the steps before the kitchen door.

<<Oh, no! Another 'present' for me...>> she said in a whisper.

At the same instant, I, too, brought it into focus.

What could it be?

I noticed my big sister’s face darkened, and she was struck dumb.

<<What worries you so much?>> I asked her.

She replied as if in a trance: <<I have a strange presentiment... Miky... Miky... where have you ended up?>>

<<Your cat has always been a ‘lover’. He will be around to look for female kittens.>> I replied, but she did not listen to me.

Quickly, she got out of the car and ran to the strange bundle.

I reached her, but she had already opened and closed it when I arrived.

I saw her whiten and collapse on the steps of the house. The dark cloth was stained red.

I lifted a flap and saw a kitten with a wooden stake stuck in its bloody chest.

<<But who can be so inhumane to do this to you?>> I asked, amazed.

<<And it's not the first time...>> she confessed to me. Heavy sobs broke her voice, but she breathed a sigh of relief as she realized it was not her beloved kitty.

Miky sprang up from behind a hedge, and Leyla hugged it to her breast.

<<What? Do you mean that you have already received other similar 'little gifts'?>>

She nodded, with downcast eyes and an air of resignation that was not like her: <<I have already filed a complaint three times, but unfortunately... against unknown persons.>>

<<Let's go there again!>> I urged her.

I took the basket with her macabre contents, and we left for the nearby police station placed in an old colonial-style building.

At the entrance, there were characters of all sorts and various nationalities. Phrases like these fluttered in the air 'I did nothing, I am innocent, I have nothing to do with it, let me go.'

While I was thinking "Thank goodness I was the one having problems me...", a man in uniform came towards us, a good-looking Hispanic type, dark wavy hair, a strong-willed chin, and two eyes of such an intense blue as to capture attention immediately: <<Miss Leyla, what did you receive this time?>>

I read the slight mocking note in his voice, but my sister was still too shaken to notice it.

Then Lieutenant Marcus lifted the cloth that wrapped the kitten: it had been stabbed to death! A red inscription, 'Sempiterna ruìna' (Eternal ruin), engraved with blood, stood out on the small wood that transfixed the animal's chest.

I was stunned.

When Leyla's eyes focused on the Lieutenant's sarcastic smile, the reaction didn’t tardy: <<So I have to wait for them to kill my Miky to have some consideration?>>

Her voice’s tone had risen quite a bit, and Marcus looked around in the large and crowded atrium.

I think he motioned for us to follow him out of respect to my sister, and we entered his office.

<<Please, sit down.>>

We sat on the chairs in front of the desk cluttered with papers, which the Lieutenant had collected in two lateral piles to be able to put 'the body of the crime'.

All three we were silently watching it.

The last rays of the sun, which filtered through the windows, lit up the lazy dance of the dust in the room.

Marcus stood motionless and with his back turned

towards the window.

After a moment of hesitation, he spoke: <<Miss Leyla, I think, as I have already told you, that it is just a joke in bad taste.>>

<<But how many times has this already happened?>> I asked.

<<With this, four in four months.>> my sister answered and turned dryly to the Lieutenant, right after: <<Do not you think it is a warning? Next time it will be my Miky’s turn?>> and she burst into sobs.

I was furious.

<<I repeat, it is a nasty trick of a bad person. You can make the complaint again against unknown persons. I will see to this case, but there are not enough elements to proceed for now.>> continued the Lieutenant.

However, I saw a veiled concern in his eyes.

<<All right, little else remains to be done...>> Leyla replied, and then looked at me disheartened: <<What did I tell you, Camilla? I will make another complaint... against unknown persons.>>

Marcus now had a look of apology on his face.

After completing the formalities, my sister and I left the office.

<<Good evening, Lieutenant...>> I addressed him with sarcasm.

<<Believe me, I'm sorry, I can't do more.>>

Leyla was angry and embittered.

<<At home, you will explain the whole matter to me.>> I lovingly ordered her and we directed to the car.

<<Yes, but first, let's stop at the pub for a drink. All this stirred my nerves. I am in pieces.>>

We parked in the open space in front of the small country-style bar. The pianist's music was an enveloping background. At the counter, a few customers were sipping a drink.

<<Joe, give us two 'bombs', please.>> Leyla asked, still troubled.

The bartender was a her old friend. Many years ago, they had had a love affair, and I noticed the interest with which he still looked at her.

In front of her sad face, removing some hair from her face, he told her: <<If something worries you, you know you can always count on me.>>

She, however, preferred not to let him know what had happened, minimizing: <<Don't worry, it's just too much stress accumulated.>>

I thought that the memory of their love affair was not so positive for my sister, and I passed over the details. After all, this wasn’t my business.

Relieved by the 'bomb', a mix of which Joe would never reveal the ingredients, we headed home.

Calmly, on the sofa, Leyla summarized the facts.

In the past four months, again in the second fortnight of the month, she had received the macabre gift of a kitten who was stabbed to death.

The stake stuck in the animal's chest bore, each time, the same red inscription engraved with blood: 'Sempiterna ruìna'.

<<The police do not think it can be a warning. Who knows, maybe it isn’t. It will be just a bad joke... well...>> concluded Leyla, disheartened.

<<But who could do such a thing to you?>> I asked her again.

<<I have not the slightest idea.>>

<<Does anyone have it with you?>>

<<No, no, no, I don't think... at least not up to this point...>>

<<But think calmly... maybe a person who holds a grudge against you for something you have given little importance to.>>

<<I tried to think and hypothesize, but I do not know... I do not know who...>>

Effectively, Leyla was a quiet person and avoided quarrels.

I insisted: <<Have you quarreled with someone who could have taken it badly? Perhaps at work? Or with some students resentful for a bad grade? >>

<<No, no, I have never had such serious discussions with colleagues or my students.>>

<<Maybe... a rejected suitor? Is it possible?>> I ventured.

She didn't answer immediately, but her face darkened: <<Goodness knows, you made me remember it now, an almost insignificant episode, but no, it can't be. Perhaps I'm exaggerating.>>

<<Come on, tell me. Even the smallest detail could help us to get to the bottom of this thing.>>

<<But ... it seems absurd.>>

<<Tell me, please!>> I insisted.

<<My husband Gianni, and I, were in crisis for years, and since we divorced two years ago, I never had an affair with anyone else. Then, last summer, I met a rescue nurse: David.>>

<<Tell me...>> I urged her to continue.

<<It happened by pure chance. In the apartment on the top floor of my building lives a lady who is getting on in years. The daughter had moved temporarily to the mother to assist her. One morning, upon her return after shopping, the girl found the woman passed out on the floor and called for help. When the ambulance arrived, I was picking up the incoming letters in the hall. David was among the paramedics and asked me for some information. He was so amiable and cute... The next afternoon, I saw him again on the way home. He wanted to update me on the events: the old lady was still hospitalized, but she had recovered. "How kind." I thought. He offered to help me with the shopping bags, then we chatted in front of the door for a while, and so... it seemed natural to invite him to come inside for a coffee. He told me he moved from the South after winning a competition as an emergency room male nurse in Florence. The next day, he asked me to go for a drink. It was nice to be with him; he was so likable and caring... After a few days, we had dinner together and started dating, but only occasionally. He said to me that the work absorbed him completely and described, with rich details, the services performed. Once he told me that he had practiced heart massage on a four-year-old boy who, after walking away from his mother, had fallen into the river and risked drowning. He cried, remembering how he managed to revive him... he immediately seemed to me to be tender-hearted. His eyes lit up even when he invited me to visit his little town of origin, Sicily, but I didn’t accept. I was not ready for a stable love affair and did not hide from him that I still felt connected to my ex-husband. He replied that, for the moment, he was fine with that, and we started a... let's say... sporadic frequent. Everyone lived their own life without asking too many questions to the other.>>

<<The ideal relationship.>> I pointed out, with irony.

<<Yeah. At first, I felt like the center of attention. David showered me with kindness and gifts, and I always received flowers. He made me feel like a princess... Over time, however, his telephone calls became more insistent. Gradually he became more jealous, expected to know where I was, and I was not free to move or have an aperitif with friends or colleagues. I couldn't even go to the hairdresser without telling him. Devil, I felt controlled, which I couldn’t stand. When I caught him secretly reading text messages on my cell phone... that was the straw that broke the camel's back: I preferred to cut off the relation. He didn't take it well. At first, he thought that mine was just anger momentary and kept looking for me as if nothing had happened... he convinced me to see each other again. I accepted, under the illusion that it had been an isolated negative moment, but, little by little, his behavior worsened, and a horrible side of it emerged. He became aggressive and violent.>>

<<He beat you?>> I asked, amazed.

<<No, no, he never put his hands on me. But he used a harsh, menacing tone, wanting to impose his will on me. He made me feel like his property. Evidently, he was used to treating women like puppets, regardless of their decisions. When he finally realized that I wanted to finish our love affair in earnest, with a mocking air, he predicted to me 'Someday you'll regret it!'. I was stunned. He was no longer the person I had known... I could see him lurking in front of my house or near my workplace in the following days. I thought "Sooner or later, he will get tired." After a couple of weeks, I never saw him again. Only now, on reflection, it seems strange that he disappeared without insisting. I wonder if he didn't deliberately wait for months to pass and then do this to me. But, at the same time, it seems so far-fetched to me...>>

<<No, no, it could be so.>>

<<However... from then on I've never again spoken with him or heard him.>>

< <Did you tell Lieutenant Marcus about it?>>

<<No, I didn't think there could be a correlation.>>

<<Instead, you have to tell him and how. Never underestimate a psychopathic, and this chap looks really mad.>>

<<And you think I was fond of him. If only he hadn't had such an absurd character...>>

<<How long have you not seen him?>>

<<Well, from about six months.>>

<<Everything balances. You have been receiving the 'present' for four months, you have not frequented anymore this... David for six months. Therefore, he could have temporized two months from your last meeting and then started to take revenge.>>

<<I wish it were not so, but... maybe this is the reality. But now I feel bad about you, little sister. I wanted to help you recover from your problems, and instead, I unload the case on you of the ‘murdered kitten'.>>

<<You know what I tell you? Let's have a nice relaxing herbal tea, and tomorrow morning we'll talk about everything. Let us hope that the night brings us advice. I'm tired from the trip, and you also seem exhausted.>>

<<Yes, it is true. I need a good sleep.>>

Each one was absorbed in her thoughts, stretched out on the sofa.

We allowed ourselves a moment of relaxation.

Miky was curled up between us.

We hugged for a long time before going to bed.