Chapter 8

“Wonderful. While you’re at it, take anything else you think you can use.”

“Yes, Sir. Let me say again that even though I didn’t know my brother, I’m sorry he has died.”

“Thank you. When I finally retire for the evening, I will grieve in private.”

The next day after work, we took our car—a car is a liability in Boston, so we shared one—to the North End, and went through the town house once again. Our efforts were rewarded with a full dozen bottles of very fine Italian wine. We also selected half a dozen books from the shelves in the late Tommaso’s study. I called a local funeral home, gave them the necessary information, and we began to make serious plans to wrap things up in Boston. When the time came, a pair of round-trip tickets was delivered by FedEx, and we began to prepare for our summer in Italy.

The day before we were to depart, Dani received a telephone call. He listened for a few minutes and said, “Send me an e-mail with a file attachment. Thanks.”