“Is there anything you’d like to tell me?” Pratt asked the short and very pretty young blond woman sitting in front of him. “I’m willing to hazard a guess that you play the piccolo,” he added.
He’d asked the uniformed cop to send the upset woman out to speak to him. Once she’d appeared, Pratt had taken her upstairs and found the backstage area where he knew they could talk without being disturbed. This needed to be handled just right.
She sat stiffly with her hands clenched in her lap. “Actually, I play piccolo and flute in the orchestra.”
Pratt pulled up another chair. “Your name, dear?”
“Sofia. Sofia Barna.”
“That’s Polish, isn’t it?”
“My parents are from Poland. I was born in Toronto.”
“And you’ve been in the orchestra how long?”
“Nearly six months.”
“How do you like it here?”
“It’s okay. I’m lucky to have landed the job.”
“How are you f inding life in our city?”
“All right, I guess.”
Pratt circled a bit closer with the next question. “And when was the last time you saw Luigi Spadafini?”
Her eyes opened wide. “Why are you asking that?”
“Please answer the question.”
Sofia looked around as if she wanted to run away.
“Take your time,” Pratt said kindly.
“This morning just before he…just before he…”
Pratt studied her closely. Obviously she’d been crying, and right now her face looked like she just might do it again. She also had all the signs of someone with something to hide.
“I meant before that.”
“The concert last night. He was so angry afterward. That’s why we had the emergency rehearsal this morning.”
“But you also saw him after the concert, didn’t you?”
The young woman wilted, put her head in her hands and began sobbing. Pratt let her go on for a while.
“Miss Barna,” he eventually asked, but kept his voice gentle, “would you please answer my question?”
She snuffled a moment longer, then raised her head and wiped her eyes and nose on her sleeves.
“You were seeing him, weren’t you?”
She suddenly looked defiant. “Who told you? That Wanamaker woman, the orchestra’s busybody?”
“So you’re not denying it?”
“No. I suppose I can’t. I know people in the orchestra guessed. I was careful. Luigi wasn’t quite as careful. It wasn’t his nature.”
Pratt decided to take out his notebook. “Did you spend the night together?” At first he thought she wouldn’t answer, but eventually he got a nod. “All night?”
“Do you also want a detailed description of what we did?” Sofia asked harshly.
“What was Spadafini’s mood like?”
“He was very angry at the orchestra. He went on and on about it. Then just before midnight, his phone rang.”
“His cell phone?”
“No. His home phone. I think he’d left his cell in the car. He got out of bed and took the call in his study. I heard a lot of shouting through the door.”
“Do you know what the argument was about?”
“No. I think it was about money or something. The only clear thing I heard was about Luigi not owing anything.”
“He used those exact words?”
She nodded.
“And did he say anything to you about it later?”
“Not a word. Actually, he was in a very good mood when he got back in bed. A very good mood…”
Sofia looked as if she was going to cry again. Pratt gave her some time to regain control.
“Did you come to this morning’s rehearsal together?”
“Of course not! I took a cab from his place around nine o’clock and went home to change clothes.”
“Then you came here.”
She just kept from rolling her eyes. “We had a rehearsal.”
“Did you speak to him at all after you left his apartment?”
“No.”
“You had no communication whatsoever? You didn’t, for instance, go up to his office during the break?”
She looked really horrified. “Are you suggesting I murdered him?”
“I’m only trying to find out what happened. You were intimate with the man. It’s a logical question.”
“No! I didn’t go to his office. Luigi was in a very bad mood. I stayed in the rehearsal room to practice. Ask anyone in the orchestra. I was there for the entire break.”
“We will be asking.”
“Everyone stayed either in the rehearsal room or the corridor outside. Some would have used the restrooms, I suppose. The break was only supposed to be a short one. We all stuck close by.”
“No. One of you was up in Spadafini’s office, strangling him.”
Sofia Barna put her hand to her mouth and bolted from the stage.