Read Online Chianti Classico by Coralie Hughes Jensen - Free Book Online

might drive it. I guess I’ll have to confess that I let her drive before he finds out.”
    “And I did an excellent job, didn’t I? Sorry we were late. Sister Daniela had to go to her sister’s house to clean up after discovering some sort of room across from her classroom. I hope we didn’t hold up dinner.”
    Mother Faustine stared at the younger nun. “Perhaps you discovered some clue about Pia’s whereabouts.”
    “I’m afraid I did something stupid. I should’ve waited for the detective sergeant to return to help me, but I was too nosey. I discovered the entrance to some sort of secret room under the orphanage and went in on my own. Elmo reprimanded me, and I deserved it. I could’ve destroyed evidence. We now have to wait for the police to examine what was still there.”
    Sister Angela interrupted. “Perhaps I should’ve asked before we sat down, but I’d love to hear about what you all do.”
    Sister Liona smiled. “At the end of the table is Sister Julietta. She works at the food bank.”
    “I’m so excited to meet you, Sister Angela,” said Sister Julietta. “I’ve heard all about you. I hope you can help us find Pia. What a cute child. Beside me is Sister Agata, who works with me at the food bank.”
    “Sister Agata’s from Genoa,” said Sister Liona. “Across from you here is Sister Sabrina. She helps out in a nursing home. Father Calvino at the cathedral is so glad she’s there because she can call him in if he’s needed. Next to her is Sister Trista. She and Sister Giana have opened a shelter for local homeless. It was needed. The government closed the last one a few years ago, and the poor had to make it to Florence or sleep in the streets.”
    “And you work in legal aid. You’re a lawyer then.”
    “Yes,” said Sister Liona. “There are good lawyers, you know. We aren’t all selfish and greedy.”
    “Of course not. You who offer your services to those who can’t afford an attorney are definitely not greedy. I suppose you do some drug cases. What else do you take on?”
    “We work on immigration complications, thefts, and even murders. I’ve dealt with kidnapping within the family, but nothing having to do with a kidnapping by another nun.”
    “Ah yes, your very own crime,” said Sister Angela. “Mother Faustine, can you tell Sister Daniela and me more about Pia? Her history would be helpful. How do we know we aren’t dealing with a member of the family coming to steal Pia?”
    “Heavens,” said Sister Natalia. “Why would they steal her? All they have to do is ask for her.”
    “There’s a procedure, is there not? If they wanted to raise her, they could just take her. But aren’t there rules about when they adopt? Perhaps Sister Liona can tell us about that.”
    “Yes, there are a myriad of papers to be signed. The family would have to procure an attorney to help them through the process. I don’t know if that’s ever stopped someone who wanted to adopt, however.”
    “I’m not sure poor Pia has any family, though,” said Mother Faustine.
    Sister Angela turned to face the mother superior.
    “The child was left on a doorstep of a convent when she was about two. There was no name so the nuns named her themselves.”
    “What doorstep?” asked Sister Angela.
    “Pia was given to us by a group of Benedictine nuns at the Sacro Cuore della Francesca Convent in Castel Valori, north of Poppi.”
    “No one saw how she got there?”
    “No. The child was alone. The nuns brought her in and cared for her.”
    “So you have no record of any relatives,” said Sister Angela. “That opens the door to the possibility that a relative might be trying to retrieve her. You have no idea, then, if she is indeed an orphan.”
    “No. She was with the nuns at the convent for two years before they reported they had a child. Any investigation of an incident that might have resulted in her appearance on their doorstep would’ve gone cold.”
    “But that’s not true, is it? We