‘We do some things differently here in Italy. I can tell you certain things, but not everything.’
‘What else can you tell us?’ Kate probed.
Again Giordano paused. Then, lowering his voice almost to a whisper, he said, ‘The gentleman was experienced and experimental sexually, but apart from the possessive nature of the relationship, he said he felt he was being groomed.’
‘Be specific.’ Adam’s tone was harsh.
‘At first the man felt it was mutual exploration, but soon realised the woman sought more. Once she had identified his sexual needs and potential fetishes, she became dominant, compelling him to be more adventurous.’
‘How adventurous?’ Kate asked, half guessing the answer.
‘Apart from the various acts of bondage, she liked using a blade.’
‘Anything else?’ Adam leaned forward.
‘There is one thing, Detective, but I cannot be certain of it.’
‘Tell us anyhow.’
‘I think the woman may have been foreign. By that I mean she wasn’t Italian.’
‘What makes you believe that?’ Kate glanced at the tourists firing coins into the fountain.
‘The relationship with the gentleman began within a couple of weeks of Michele Pinzini’s death. It lasted about a month, before the attack, at the end of the summer.’
‘You’re saying you think she was in Italy for the summer?’ Adam sounded unconvinced.
‘It wasn’t only the timing of the affairs that brought me to that conclusion. If the woman had been Italian, living in Rome or any other part of Italy, I have no doubt the gentleman would have had her killed.’
‘What makes you so sure he didn’t?’ Kate asked.
‘When he spoke, he referred to her in the present tense, not in the past.’
After Giordano had left, Adam and Kate had their first proper conversation since Adam had received the text from Lynch the previous night.
‘Well, Kate, what do you think?’
‘He seemed like a man who was passionate about his work. I guess his kind never retires.’
‘He wasn’t prepared to reveal his source.’
‘It doesn’t matter if his informant is connected to the Mafia, politics or both, but if it’s true, we can draw some conclusions from it.’
‘Such as?’
‘If you combine what Andrea’s mystery man said about being groomed, and what we know about Rick Shevlin’s behaviour, it’s likely she does groom her men, the pupil turning into the teacher.’
‘I still don’t get why you believe Rick Shevlin was being groomed.’
‘His behaviour with the escort had inconsistencies. He was playing with both sides of the coin, wanting to receive pain and give it. People generally group sadism and masochism together as sado-masochism, but there’s usually a preference one way or the other. It’s seldom both. He backed off when Annabel wasn’t going with the flow. She may be experienced, but she wouldn’t have been able to distract him if he was used to a particular path. These things escalate over time. The more you explore a fetish, the higher the bar becomes.’
‘So what is our killer looking for?’
‘Control is certainly part of it, but she’s also seeking affection in the only way she knows how. The idea that the killer spent the summer here is interesting. Assuming she was in Paris in the autumn of 2005, she could have stayed on in Europe then or decided to travel to Rome in the summer of 2006.’
‘If she’s one of the females on the list we got from Jacques, she would have set aside time for her stay in Paris. Finishing her studies early made her a free agent.’
‘She would also have been younger. Her circumstances will have changed since then. For all we know, she might even be married. The lipstick on Pinzini’s images undoubtedly links the killing, but with Rick and Pierre, it’s probable; they simply opened the door and let her in. Unlike Andrea’s mystery man, I doubt either of them became suspicious of her. They knew her prior to their deaths, and trusted her enough to let their guard down. They may still have desired her even though, in her eyes, they had fallen out of favour.’
‘So?’
‘If she’s capable of fooling her lovers into thinking she still cares, even after she’s made the decision to kill them, she’s capable of fooling others, including those closest to her. So, yes, marriage is a possibility.’
‘This brings us back, Kate, to her motivation, and what she actually wants.’
‘We’re looking at someone who has learned the art of pleasing men, whatever their sexual desires may be, but for her, emotions and sexual behaviour are inextricably linked. If she was abused as a child, difficult as it is to fathom, she may have perceived a level of affection from the abuse. When a child is starved of love, they will do everything in their power to find it, wittingly or unwittingly. It’s part of the human psyche, going in tandem with wanting to be needed by others, and is for many an affirmation of their individual worth.’