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Transcript
Chapter 8. Showdown
Eugenio’s car is parked right outside the address shown on the map on the webpage he had left open on his PC.
She wasn’t wrong this time! Her detective work had paid off, at last.
Gianna looks up at the building, which is old and in a historic part of the city. From the street, she can see her husband standing with his back to a second floor window. She can also see someone preparing to come out through the building’s large entrance doors…
Quickly, Gianna crosses the road to the building and takes the opportunity to go inside when the door is opened. She goes up the stairs two at a time and, with her heart in her throat, rings the bell of one of the two second floor apartments. She waits a few seconds, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone in. So she tries the door opposite.
“Good morning, and welcome!”
Gianna finds herself face to face with the mysterious woman she has been searching for.
“Please, come in! We’ve been waiting for you!” the woman continues, inviting Gianna inside.
Dazed and speechless, Gianna follows her down a little corridor. It’s very elegant and full of light, furnished in excellent taste, somewhere between vintage and contemporary.
On the left is a lovely modern bookcase, on the opposite side are two closed doors, between which is a stencil of Humphrey Bogart in a raincoat and a hat, just like in the film, “The Big Sleep.”
At the end of the corridor, Gianna stops in front of a glass door, which has her name written above it, just like the door of an inspector’s office in an old police station!
“Gianna Marpelli, Detective… but what does all this mean?” asks Gianna, more and more confused.
“Eugenio will explain everything,” replies the woman, opening the door.
As the two women enter the room, Eugenio smiles and pops open a bottle of fizz. He comes over to his wife, kisses her and offers her a glass.
“Happy birthday, darling!”
Gianna is completely confused. She is in the middle of a large room, with a desk, a sofa, a bookcase and a filing cabinet. It’s as if she’s in the office of one of the private investigator from her favourite novels!
Everything is just perfect, from the typewriter to the old black fifties telephone, from the metal fan to the table lamp, and many other details.
“What is this place? It’s beautiful!” she exclaims, incredulous. “Will someone tell me what is going on?”
“Do you like your birthday present?” Eugenio asks his wife.
“Present?” she repeats, ever more disorientated.
“Darling, let me introduce you to my friend Carla Daparati, the best interior designer in the city!” says Eugenio, pointing to the other woman. “It was she who designed your new office. Fantastic, isn’t it?”
Gianna’s jaw drops. She cannot believe her ears.
“For your fortieth birthday I wanted to give you something special and exceptional, because that’s what you are to me! So, finally, you’ve got your own office and you won’t have to work at home any more. You can’t imagine how much it upset me to always see you so sad and demotivated. I thought that here you would find more inspiration for your translations… and for that novel you’re writing and have never finished! Or, who knows, perhaps then you could begin a career as a detective…”
“So then, you two aren’t…” stutters Gianna.
“No darling, Carla is just a good friend of mine. But giving you a chance to be a detective was just part of your present. I was sure you would follow all the clues I left for you!”
“So, none of it was true? The messages, the perfume, the bar, the clues in your office…”
“We did a good job, didn’t we?” laughs Eugenio.
“Some of it was easy but at times, I must confess, things got really complicated! Like that morning when you followed me in the car. You chose such a slow taxi driver, darling, that I was forced to stop at almost every traffic light!”
“I can’t believe you’ve done all of this for me… and to think that up until ten minutes ago I was going to kill you!”
As Gianna takes in every detail of her wonderful new office, Carla says goodbye and leaves them alone together.
Eugenio brings his glass up to his wife’s for a toast.
“Congratulations, Detective Marpelli! You’ve solved your first case!”
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