Jane sat down next to Lisbon. Nadine took a moment to gather her thoughts, then began.
"He was a good person," she started. "He was funny and generous and... and I could talk to him about anything, and he would listen."
Patricia placed her hand on Nadine's and smiled gently.
"Yes. He could be charming," she said and then took them away again. "He had his ways."
"What kind of ways?" Lisbon asked.
"He had a temper."
"That he did," Keith agreed.
He looked at Adriano and Jane, who took a sip of tea and elaborated.
"I mean, his heart was in the right place."
"Whatever his faults, he didn't deserve to die this way," Patricia said.
"Hmm," Adriano said and looked at Keith.
Suddenly, Adriano's phone rang, interrupting the sombre atmosphere that had been built. He took the phone out of his pocket and looked at the number. There was no name; only the phone number was visible. '+39'. Without a second thought, he declined the call and put the phone back.
"Excuse me. Please, carry on."
.
In New York, Giovanni and Reina were having lunch in one of his restaurants. They were talking about nothing important, telling each other about their respective days.
"How was work today?" Giovanni asked.
"The usual. A lot of high-pressure decisions, lying to potential business partners and rivals and money-making. What about you?" Reina asked.
"Not as exciting, I'm afraid. I came up with a new variant for when I make ramen, though. I'm sure you'll like it."
Reina stopped eating and looked at Giovanni with narrowed eyes. She loved ramen. Unlike other successful businesspeople, she didn't think her eating habits, likes, or dislikes had to change. Why would she? She liked what she liked.
"Well?" she asked.
"Well, what?" Giovanni asked back.
"You know exactly what."
Giovanni had a playful smile on his face, which he couldn't suppress. She was right, he knew exactly what she wanted to know. But he enjoyed teasing her far too much. He found her adorable. Reina narrowed her eyes, like a predator about to pounce.
"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, now would it?" Giovanni said.
"..."
Without a warning, Reina grabbed his fingers and playfully squeezed as hard as she could. Giovanni was a monster in terms of physical strength and durability. So he didn't even feel this, but acted as though he did. It turned into a strange mixture of a laugh and a cry.
Seeing that her 'attack' had no effect, Reina stood up and straddled her husband, getting more intimate, but also more violent.
"Hahaha, Reina, stop, what would your father think?" he asked playfully.
"Who cares about my father, you brute?"
Whatever might have become of this exchange, it was interrupted by Giovanni's phone ringing. He didn't move Reina and put the phone on loudspeaker. There were no secrets between the two. Reina knew what she had married, and so did he.
"Mattei."
"Ciao, Giovanni, how are you?"
A smooth, Italian female voice was heard. Giovanni switched to Italian as well, since Reina understood the language perfectly.
"Ciao, Donatella. To what do I owe the pleasure of your call? Aren't you busy with a fashion show right now?" Giovanni asked.
"I was, but that's over now. Milano has gotten rather silent now. I was thinking about coming to America."
Donatella Rahn was a very special woman, in more ways than one. Her voice was smooth and enchanting. Hearing her talk, even over the phone, one was certain that she was one of the most beautiful women there was.
"And why is that?" Giovanni asked.
"Well, there is something I wanted to see there. About that, I wanted to ask Adriano about something... strictly legal, but it's strange, I don't seem to get a hold of him. Could you help me?" she asked.
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
"Hmm. Very well, I'll look into it."
"Thank you so much, Giovanni. A kiss to Reina, alright?"
Giovanni hung up and looked at Reina. She had a less-than-pleased look on her face. They went over what they heard in their heads.
"What do you think?" Giovanni asked.
"I think she's interested in Adriano and wants us to establish a connection for her."
"Yes, that much was obvious. I mean, what do you think about it?"
"I'm not sure Donatella is the kind of woman I want near my son," Reina said.
Giovanni nodded slightly but sighed nonetheless. He understood why she said that, he really did, but he also knew Donatella and where she came from.
"I understand your concerns, love, but Donatella isn't a bad person. You know I'm right in these things."
"Not a bad person? Then let me go over the things Donatella is, shall we? A former Italian model, a former drug addict, recruited by Mossad, turned into a killer spy, had several affairs, was betrayed, and now owns a modelling firm... Did I miss something? Oh, how about the many people she killed over the years?"
Giovanni sighed deeply.
"And yet, that doesn't make her a bad person. Our past doesn't define who we are, love."
"No, but it shapes us," Reina said.
"Yes, and that's a good thing, no? Look at me, Reina. Why don't you do the same thing you just did with Donatella to me? And we'll see how I score?"
Reina pressed her lips together, understanding her husband better than anyone. She was naturally biased in this regard, but wouldn't admit it out loud.
"I just don't think I'm comfortable knowing that such a woman gets close to my Adri-chan."
"I know, I know. But Adriano has always known what he wanted and is a grown man. He should know what he wants even more now. Besides, Adriano is smart enough to know who Donatella is and whether or not she wants something from him. If she tries to trick or manipulate our son, I feel sorry for her."
"But if he hasn't taken Donatella's calls, he clearly doesn't want to talk with her."
"Hahaha, come now, love. You more than anyone should know the reason for that. There is no one as lazy as our boy. And he understands perfectly what it means to take Donatella's calls, so he simply ignores her; that's easier."
Reina grimaced, knowing full well that this was most definitely true. Her son was the laziest person she knew, and he would have been perfectly content to lie on his back and watch the clouds pass by, or to enjoy the sun in a deck chair. It was she who forced her son to use his immeasurable intelligence to achieve greatness.
"Argh, you're right."
Giovanni smiled and picked up the phone, calling Donatella.
"Giovanni?"
"Yes, Donatella. Tell me exactly what it is you need from Adriano so that I can give him a reason."
"I think you know why I want to get a hold of your son. But if you need a reason, there is indeed a legal problem I am dealing with."
"Say, Donatella, don't you think that you should take Adri's actions of ignoring you as a sign?" Reina asked.
"Hahaha, oh Reina. It's lovely to hear your voice. Tell me, did you ever take Adri's actions as a sign that he shouldn't study and achieve great things? Should you have let him laze around the house all day?"
"..."
Reina stopped and then agreed with Donatella.
"He'll call you," was all Reina said before hanging up.
.
Back in the Farrow household, Adriano finally spoke for the first time.
"Miss Farrow, may I ask something?"
"Of course, Mister Mattei. If I can help you with something?"
Adriano smiled lazily.
"Most definitely. You mentioned earlier that your husband... Ah, pardon me, ex-husband had a temper. What did you mean by that?" he asked.
"He could be very... quick to anger," Patricia said, trying to leave it at that.
"I see that there is a particular case you all are thinking about," Adriano said, after a pause.
The three looked strange. Nadine looked at her mother for a brief moment and pressed her lips together and her hands. Patricia looked at Keith, while he looked like he was going to explode from the memory. But that was something Adriano had already seen before, when Patricia mentioned that Pete Russo had a temper. There was something there, and Adriano was now 100% sure he had solved the case. No, actually, he was already sure he had solved the case after seeing the crime scene.
"I see that it is a bit uncomfortable to talk about? Mister Farrow?"
Keith was surprised to find himself suddenly the centre of attention.
"You don't have to worry about anything. Whatever you say here will not get leaked in any case. Telling us this will allow the police to get a better picture of Mr Russo's character and who he might have interacted with. It would help us catch his murderer, you understand."
Seeing the look his step-daughter gave him, that hopeful look and knowing that there was no good reason not to tell, he agreed.
"About six months ago... Nadine was staying out past curfew... and drinking and smoking... Your basic teenage stuff."
Nadine looked down, already knowing where this was going. It took Keith considerable strength to continue, and Adriano saw the massive shame in his face.
"So we had a conversation about the rules and... things got a little out of hand. You know as they do."
"Of course," Adriano said. "I still have handprints on my ass from where my father used to 'talk' with me."
"No, no!" Patricia said quickly.
"No! Nothing like that. I would NEVER lay a hand on Nadine like that..."
"Hmm, but this time, you did?"
Keith couldn't look at Adriano. He stared at the ground, as if there was a hole he could escape into.
"A slap, perhaps? A tap?" Adriano helped.
"...yes. I'm not proud of it. It really was a tap. It was no big deal," Keith said.
"I see. But you told Peter about it, did you, Nadine?"
"Yes. I did," Nadine admitted.
"Hmm. So, Mister Russo, with his temper, forgot all about how good friends you two were and thought you were abusive towards his daughter."
"Yes!" Keith said, looking miserable.
"And what did Mr Russo do when he found out?"
"He came into our house... I didn't even have a chance to defend myself..."
Keith had lost himself in the tale. He shook his head in disgust and anger.
"He sucker-punched me and beat me up badly... In front of my wife and step-daughter."
He looked directly at Adriano.
"He put his foot on my neck, and he spat on me. In my own house!"
"Hmmm, quite a temper indeed-nee," Adriano said, scratching his head lightly.
Suddenly, Nadine seemed to have a revelation and looked thunderstruck. She stood up quickly and pointed at Keith.
"Wait! Then... was it you?! Did you kill my father?!!" she shouted.
Nadine was about to rush towards Keith. Seeing the chaos, Lisbon intervened, stepping between her and her stepfather. Patricia was also shouting something, while Keith tried to placate Nadine's worries. Jane was drinking tea, while Adriano watched with his trademark lazy expression.
"Relax, Nadine. There's no need to jump to conclusions here. In fact, we know that it wasn't your stepdad," Adriano said, when Nadine had calmed down slightly.
"What?! What do you mean, but he--"
"I know what he said, but if every person who experienced injustice killed the one who did the injustice, half the human population would be dead and the other half in jail for their murders."
The strange logic behind Adriano's words seemed to calm Nadine down further.
"In fact, we know that your stepfather wasn't the murderer of Peter Russo. It was someone else," Adriano said, dropping a bomb rather casually.
"WHAT?! Then... do you know who it was?"
Jane was looking at Adriano with great interest. He was the only one who understood what was happening, although he didn't understand why he had done it this way. Jane would have approached this differently, but was now more than interested in where it would go.
"Well, initially we thought this was about a diamond, but--"
Again, Adriano's phone rang, interrupting the dialogue. Adriano stopped what he was saying and took out his phone. Seeing who it was, though, this time he picked up right away.
"What's up, Okaasan?"