Death in Autumn by Magdalen Nabb

married, I mean. In any case she must have read the expression on my face and since I stood there without making a move she sat up and started abusing me. I realized when she came closer to my face that she must have had a few drinks before I arrived. She ripped off the bathrobe. " What's the matter, am I too thin for you? Not as good as your tubby little wife, is that it? Do you know how many men would like the chance you've got — and not men of your class and breed, either 7" All of a sudden she began laughing hysterically. "So that's what it's come to. 1 Turned down by a creature Ukeyou}"
    'She was still almost laughing but she took a vicious swipe at my face. All I did was to try and grab her arm to stop her but she was too fast for me, with the result that I scratched her forearm very slightly and her left breast. I tried to quieten her. After all, the people in the adjoining rooms must have been able to hear her. They did hear her, as it turned out, and the evidence, of course, was all against me. They heard a scuffle and her screaming and when they came to the door to see what was the matter they saw her naked and scratched and crying, pushing me out of the room, and me resisting because I was still hoping to calm her down. I suppose I can't blame anybody for not believing me. I probably wouldn't have believed it myself.'
    'She claimed you'd attacked her?'
    'Yes. The manager was called immediately. There was a terrible scene.'
    'But I understand there was no official complaint made. Our people in Milan have no record of one.'
    'Even so, she insisted on calling the carabinieri. By the time they arrived she'd passed out. She must have drunk a lot, I suppose, but I've often thought since that she was playacting and that she'd had second thoughts about telling her story officially, as it were. After all, that would mean I'd have to tell my side of it, with the risk that I might be believed. She left the next day. I think the manager let her off her bill provided she took the matter no further. He also told her I'd be removed from the hotel and I suppose that satisfied her more than anything.'
    'And you moved to Florence?'
    'The owner of that hotel had just bought the Riverside and was sending the manager down here. I came with him and my wife gave up working since she wasn't too well anyway.'
    'They made you night porter, or was it your choice?'
    'It was the manager's decision. That's why I'm sure he never believed my story. I have less contact with the guests than I did. I admit that for me it was a relief, even though I was paid less and there was a baby on the way.'
    'Nevertheless, you had quite a lot of contact with one guest, it seems.'
    'It was what she wanted, and after last time I was afraid . . . Am I going to be arrested?'
    'That depends on what you tell me now.'
    But the warrant was lying before the Captain on his desk. Needless to say, the Substitute Prosecutor had only stayed just long enough to sign it and had gone off to his bed with barely a glance at Querci. If the latter should be arrested or detained he would return to question him the next day at his convenience.
    'Was it the same thing all over again with Signora Vogel?'
    'No. It wouldn't be fair to say that. Fair to her, I mean, and now she's dead ..."
    She wasn't just dead, she'd been murdered and thrown in the river.
    Must be some sort of loony.
    I don't know whether the editor would wear it . . . not if she was just nuts.
    That foreigner in a fur coat job.
    The only person who showed any delicacy or respect for her was this quiet, frightened man sitting before the Captain with a warrant for his arrest on the desk between them.
    'Were you lovers?'
    'No. She was an intelligent woman, sensitive too, even though she liked to hide it. It's true that at first I was afraid of another episode like Milan but that wasn't any fault of hers. More than anything, she needed someone to talk to . . . No, not even that because she wasn't much of a talker except on