Read Online Into the Killer Sphere by Stefania Mattana - Free Book Online Page B

shards of the flower pot were scattered on the ground, as well as soil and large purple flowers. It appeared that the killer - even if he or she still seemed quite unexperienced - already had a personal signature: throwing heavy things from above their chosen target.
    It was only few moments before a figure materialised in front of them. It was not the first time that Gloria had appeared out of nowhere.
    “What the… Signora Agata, are you all right?” she cried, seizing a broom and a large dustpan. “Ramona, come here, quickly! Get a glass of water or whatever!” she shouted, then began cleaning up eagerly. The speed and energy Gloria showed while she was sweeping the pottery shards were remarkable.
    Ramona appeared in a flash holding a glass, but she spilt most of the water in it due to her shock when she arrived at the scene. In fact, it took only an instant for her to catch Agata’s eye and realise that something bad had just happened to her.
    Rachele, Simone and Marco were right behind her, attracted by Gloria’s screams.
    “What happened, Grandma?” Rachele frowned, spotting Gloria cleaning up the shards, then approached Agata. She turned back to seek some answers on Simone’s face, but apparently he had still not realised what was going on.
    All the fear Agata was feeling disappeared into thin air as soon as Rachele tried to hug her. Agata backed away, firmly rejecting her granddaughter; her face became a mass of disgusted wrinkles contracted into a frightening expression. She began holding her arms outstretched to keep Rachele away from her as far as possible.
    “You. You must never speak to me!” she grabbed her umbrella and pointed it to Rachele, who took a step back and put both hands up in front of her face to protect herself. Rachele was now even paler than usual, her eyes wide open in distress. “Go away, you wretched demon! You killed your parents and now you’re trying to kill me. You’re out of your mind! You’ve always been out of your mind because of the stupid drugs you take. Get out, get out, you despicable person!” Agata had started off whispering but ended in yelling.
    Doctor Conforti ran to his fiancée straight away, and Rachele could only turn to him and hug him, speechless. He covered her head with one hand as his defensive instincts cut in. However, he was not in a defensive mood for long, as he immediately turned into Agata.
    “Enough, Signora Agata,” he shouted authoritatively. “I don’t know what happened here but you can’t accuse Rachele anymore. She was upstairs with me! How can she be involved with what’s going on here?” His voice was firm and decisive, although he betrayed his distress.
    “That’s the point, Doctor Conforti. The pot fell down, right, Signora?” said Ramona, standing up for her employer. “I remember that pot, it was on the balcony upstairs. You could easily reach the balcony from Rachele’s room and push it down. You’re covering up for her!”
    Marco was staring at the scene fixedly. He still had no idea what was going on, and tore his eyes from the quarrel to his wife, who was disappearing around the corner with the dustpan full of broken pottery and soil.
    “Calm down everybody!” Chase interrupted. He was representing the police at that moment. Nevertheless he had to repeat his command twice and raise his voice, as the first time no one took any notice of him.
    “Why are you accusing each other like this? We have an inquiry in progress and none of you are in custody yet. That means something, doesn’t it?”
    Agata turned suddenly to him.
    “You still don’t get it! She’s the killer. She’s killed every member of her family. You must arrest her, now!” Agata stamped her foot just like a child having a tantrum would have done.
    Chase raised his eyebrows; there was no pleasing her. And he had to be patient, again.
    “Come on, people! Everyone knows she did it!” the old lady insisted, talking to her audience.
    Rachele’s sobs