Martina Landini, translated into English by Ruth Stephens
Chapter 5 – An Explosive Finale
The show started punctually. The models began to parade in their beautiful, coloured dresses. Maria thought Gioacchini had excelled himself this time. The collection was a dream.
As the show progressed and the finale with the appearance of the bride with the necklace was approaching, it suddenly dawned on Maria that they were in real danger.
“An explosive finale”…..but of course! Why ever had she not thought of it? She would have to act quickly.
She sent a message to a close friend at the police headquarters explaining everything and asking him to come as quickly as possible.
Forgetting her age, Maria clambered up on to the stage and, as the model and Gioacchino appeared to greet the public, jumped on to the model and pulled the necklace from her neck. She threw it as far as she could, away from everyone there.
Gioacchino was aghast. “Maria! What are you doing? Why have you ruined my finale?”
“I suddenly understood everything! You were in danger, Gioacchino,” replied Maria.
“An explosive finale it would certainly have been and heads would have flown in every sense of the word. There was a bomb in the necklace!”
Everyone was shocked.
“After I came to see you in your dressing room I saw that delivery boy still hanging around and I became suspicious. Then I went to the delivery firm he worked for and they told me had resigned after delivering the necklace. They told me his father owned a firework factory and, well, I put two and two together….”
At that moment the police chief entered. He had already arrested the delivery boy. He thanked Maria. “Without you this delinquent would have blown everything up. He wanted revenge on Gioacchino for firing him. He wanted to make him pay and saw a way to do this using explosives stolen from his father’s firm to make a bomb.”
The police chief took the boy to the police station and, meanwhile, a special unit of the police recovered the necklace and defused the bomb.