Dolce Giardino

"And I think we can handle that."

They went home, and that evening over dinner with their best friends Sharon and Mike Armstrong, they talked a little about the house and the about what little Dell had learned from his Aunt Mary.

Mike put his napkin next to his plate and said, "We remember you saying your relatives were murdered, so that happened in the backyard."

"Right."

"I'd love to have their old Cadillac now, because I'm sure it would be worth quite a bit. Besides, I really like looking at those old cars.

"I'll have to do some research on nineteen twenty six Cadillacs one of these days."

"So do we get the guided tour after you've moved?"

"Now what do you think."

Mike smiled and said, "Let's go back to them wandering around naked."

"You perv," Sharon said as she poked his shoulder.

"Well I'm curious. That was big time stuff back then. Hell, that's really wild by todays standards for that matter."

"Well Auntie told me that we might be surprised by what went on back then. They were just very secretive about it according to her."

"Yeah, now people post naked pictures of themselves on the internet and brag about their exploits."

"I didn't know that," Dell said as he tried to hold a straight face.

"Bull," Sharon told him, and then smiled at Carrie.

Carrie told them, "Well eighty or whatever years later, and I can tell you that I still wouldn't wander around outdoors with nothing on."

"Me either," Sharon added.

Mike was thinking about the murders, and a moment later he said, "Charles was murdered first."

"Why do you say that?" Sharon asked him.

"Between him and Kathryn, he would have been the most difficult to control, so he had to die, or at least be subdued...knocked unconscious. Then he could have caught tall and thin Kathryn and dispatched her, and then gone back and finished Charles."

"God, that gives me the creeps and that was a very long time ago."

"I agree," Dell said and then added, "Well hell, what was I thinking, I'll go down to the library and look up the article about their death. I can copy that and I'll have more information about their death, and I imagine I'll have some family names or whatever."

"True."

Chapter Four

Dell and Carrie finally moved in, and the move went well enough, but they still had days of little projects to see to before they could actually sit down and say the project was done. The maid's quarters were converted to into an impressive office area for both of them, and their suite was at the top of the grand staircase and to the right a dozen feet. Between the door to their suite and the stairs was a beautiful open area, with the oak stairway bannister going up and curving in both directions. To the left of the staircase was the first guest suite. Across from that was a second suite and in addition to that was a smaller guest room with a more modest bathroom. Straight across the balcony was an open sitting area with old and pristine sofas chairs and tables.

"It will take us months if not years to really furnish this whole house," Carrie said as she looked around.

"Months at least, because we can't figure out just what we want."

"But there's no real hurry either, because we have what we need to be comfortable."

"I brought down that portrait of Kathryn and put it in the office."

She smiled and asked him, "What for?"

"I like it, and it's like that portrait is a connection to...I don't know, my ancestors maybe."

"Well at least you have the...what term did Aunt Mary use? Oh, the penetrating blue eyes."

"I have penetrating blue eyes?"

"Well they're blue and I've decided they can be penetrating too."

"Oh, well wonderful, I take after Charles, and thank you. By the way, I hung that painting you like over the fireplace."

"I noticed. So what do you think of it?"

"So so."

"Is that the best rating you can give it?"

"I'm afraid that's it."

"What would you rather see up there?"

"I once saw a stunning painting of a nude that..."

"No."

He smiled and said, "It was a nude guy with a big dong, does that help?"

She smiled and said, "That helps, but still no. Be careful or you'll be an embarrassment to your ancestors. They may be watching over us you know."

"I'm sure. Well wait, if Kate and Charles could run around naked, I should be able to have a reclining nude on the office wall at least."

"You have Kathryn to stare at and she's attractive so that's enough."

"But she isn't naked."

"You poor thing. You wouldn't want to see your relatives naked anyway."

"Maybe I would. You're taking the fun out of this."

The old oak front door had an old fashion doorbell right in the middle of the door. It was all brass and with an old green shade patina. To ring it, one twisted the knob in either direction, and that's what happened. The ching ching sound echoed around the entryway, and Dell looked at Carrie before going to the door. "May I help you?" Dell asked the nicely dressed man at the door.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but my name is Kenneth Cantor. James Cantor, my father, used to own this old place and I've noticed as I've driven past that it was sold."

"Cantor. That name sounds...oh, my aunt mentioned that name."

"Yes, Dad and Mom lived here many years ago. I'm in a slight hurry, but the reason I stopped is, we have a number of old items that were in the attic that..."

"I'd like to buy them from you," Dell said too eagerly.

"Oh no, I'll give them to you. I doubt there is any great value to any of it, but perhaps you'll enjoy looking through some of the things."

"We'd love to have whatever you're willing to part with."

He smiled and said, "I'm willing to part with all of it actually. If you're going to be here Saturday, I'll have my son drop them off."

"Thank you very much. This home was in my family back when it was first built."

"Oh, then all the more reason for you to have those things."

"Thank you very much Mr. Cantor."

"My pleasure. Have a nice day," and smiling, he did a crisp about face, and with quick steps he returned to his car.

Dell went back to Carrie and shared his news with her, and they talked about what might be in that little collection until he went to their office.

Friday evening, Dell came dragging in from work and Carrie was in the kitchen in her duster making iced tea. "Hi hon, I just got here myself. Care for a glass of tea?"

"I'll pass but thanks. I'm going to change and look at some of the things we've accumulated about this old place."

"Okay."

Half an hour later, Dell appeared and said, "I didn't learn much from that, except this house spent a fair amount of time empty."

I'm not all that surprised. It's huge and it's going to be expensive to keep up with, and a whole lot to keep clean."

"Well we have it now, so for now at least, I'm going to stop digging into all of that."

The subject of housecleaning was on Carrie's mind more than Dell would have guessed, because within days she told Dell over dinner, "I hired a maid today."

He held his fork halfway to his mouth as he looked over at her and showing the thinnest of smiles he said, "Um...okay, tell me more," and he set his fork on his plate.

"Her name is Ula and..."

"Ula?"

"Yes, her parents were...Slavic did she say? Yes, or at least I think so."

"Oh, but she speaks English."

"Yes silly, she was born here."

"Okay, sorry I interrupted."

"She's forty nine and has very nice letters of recommendation."

"How did you come to find her, or her find you?"

"Patricia Stockworth told me about her."

"Pudgy Patty?"

"Dell now stop that, she's nice."

"Okay sorry, she is nice. So is Ula ugly," he asked almost laughing at his own lame comment.

Carrie couldn't help but laugh that time, and then struggled to say, "No, Ula is not ugly. She's even attractive in her own way."

"That's nice. You say maid, but what will her duties be?"

"About whatever we ask of her she said. She's a pretty good cook I was told, but most importantly to me, she'll clean this monster of a house. The main living area twice a week, and of course keep the rest dusted and tended to as needed."

"Is she full time?"

"Oh god no, of course not. Just those two days a week."

"Did you hear that? Our bank account just breathed a sigh of relief."

"Oh stop, I'm sure you'll approve of her."

Chapter Five

Mike and Sharon finally got their tour of Dolce Giardino after they went out for an early Saturday dinner. As they stood on the large patio back at the estate and sipping a nice port wine, Mike asked, "So where do you think they found your relatives?"

"My god Mike," Sharon said, "That's a gruesome question."

"Honey, that happened three quarters of a century ago."

"I know, but still..."

Dell smiled and said, "Well to answer your question, I can't answer your question. But...but as I stand here and try to picture that happening, and assuming Elmer was the guilty one, I'd say somewhere between here and the carriage house. I say that because I'm assuming that Kathryn and Charles were strolling the estate in the buff, and as I see it, they would pass close by the carriage house where Elmer, it has been said, lived for a time, or off and on."

"I can see what your saying Sherlock, what else can you conger up?"

"The motive puzzles me. Did he benefit financially by their death? Maybe, but I have trouble believing that. Say he was in their will for a few bucks. He'd be out of a job too so he'd win, but also lose. Then there is the possibility that he had the hots for Kate and he wanted Charles out of the way. Killing Charles certainly wouldn't charm her into his arms so that doesn't fit.

"The idea that Elmer diddling the maid doesn't fit, because where's the connection? What does one have to do with the other."

"Right, unless Charles or Kathryn told them that no more diddling or both of them would be fired."

"Run away rage?" Mike asked.

"A thin idea I know, but that was one of the thoughts at the time according to my aunt."

"Or, maybe Elmer objected to Kathryn and Charles being naked in broad daylight."

"Considering the morals of that time, a good thought, but again, he'd be out of a job as would the maid, and I'm sure neither of them had other skills."

"That's right too. Impossible to solve after all these years."

"Sad, but true."

Carrie interrupted their sleuthing saying, "Oh honey, that guy's son dropped off all of the stuff for us, and I put it in the study."

"Great."

Mike and Sharon left just before nine o'clock, so the pile of remnants of past occupants of Dolce Giardino would have to wait until Saturday some time. But before they could go to bed, Carrie said, "Oh look, the picture you hung over the mantle is all crooked. One of your hooks must not have held."

Dell pulled the picture out, and looking behind it he said, "That's weird, both of the hooks are fine and yet...well no big deal," and he straightened it and they went to bed. As they lay next to each other and after they had shared a good night kiss, Carrie asked him, "Could we hang Kathryn's picture somewhere else in the office? It's really too big for where it is now."

"Sure, "I'll hang it near my desk."

"Why?"

"It's a big wall and I like the picture, and it needs to be hanging somewhere and not stuffed in an attic."

"Well you'll be the one to look at it the most, so that's fine with me."

Carrie was up well ahead of Dell, so she'd had her first cup of coffee by the time he joined her in the kitchen. "Morning hon," he said and kissed her lightly.

"Good morning."

"I heard the phone while I was showering, was it important?"

"Only to me. Linda called and is going to be in town for two or three days, so I invited her to stay with us."

"Linda as in from your nursing school days?"

"Yes, you met her last year."

"Okay, I have her pictured in my mind now.

"She's teaching now, and is in town to visit the nursing school here."

"Checking the competition?"

"No, of course not, the two schools are partnering to some degree is all."

"Oh. Well I'm sure you two will have a great time visiting the past."

"I'm sure we will, but you won't be neglected completely."

"That saves me from practicing my pout. So she'll be here when?"

"Tomorrow afternoon."

"That gives us time to look at the stuff in the study and to dig into the attic in the morning."

"Good idea."

They spent an hour glancing through the boxes of what appeared to be junk and trash, but they stayed with their task and sorted more than read or focused on. In a short time they had a generous collection of old journals and papers, a couple of newspapers that had been used for padding and different small objects. They knew it would take them hours to inspect just what they were saving, but there was no real hurry to get into that project. They were going nowhere, and the secrets Dolce Giardino held could wait.

"Ready for the attic hon?" Dell asked her.

"Sure, that shouldn't take us a long time."

"Probably not. While we're at it, we can pile up the junk and I'll hire somebody to haul it out."

At the bottom of the steep and narrow stairs to the attic at the end of the hallway, Dell stopped and turned to Carrie. "What's wrong Dell?"

He smiled and said, "Nothing, except...you showered right?"

"Of course I showered."

"Clean clothes right?"

She knew he was up to something so she slowly said, "Yes, that's right."

He reached for her blouse and undid the first button as she watched him, and he said, "We'll leave our clothes here, and then after we shower again we can..."

"Now aren't you clever. Dell, I'd feel very funny digging through the attic naked."

"I'd feel pretty happy if you would."

"Is that right. So you're going to work naked too."

"Of course."

"Are you sure you have work on your mind?"

"Again, of course. We wouldn't want to make love on that dirty board floor."

"Yuck, no we wouldn't. But honey, you know me, I don't even leave the bedroom without putting a duster or robe or something on."

"I do know, but we're talking attic honey. Very safe and very private. Unless we confess to somebody, it will forever be our secret."

Her smile continued as she told him, "Okay we'll do it your way, but then it's straight to our bathroom for a hot shower."

It didn't take them long to amass a pile to be discarded, and collect a lot of dust all over them, but they found a few odd things like an old wall mount light fixture that might be salvageable, and a box of old brass light switch covers, but most things were broken stained or was incomplete. Many things must have been saved because of sentimental reasons, and once stored, forgotten about. Toward the end of their mission Carrie said, "Oh no."

He went over to her quickly and asked, "What's wrong honey?"

"Look," and she pointed at another portrait of Kathryn.

"Oh, very nice, I like that a lot."

"That figures, she's naked. Dell we can't have both portraits in the office."

"Why not?"

"They're too big."

"Oh, okay, I'll...well I'll figure something out, but I don't want anything to happen to either of them."

"Okay. Of course I know you'll hang this one near your desk and the other one will probably end up in a closet somewhere."

"What else is in that mess?" He pulled naked Kathryn out and saw another portrait. "Well now we know what Charles looked like."

"That must be a mate to the one that hangs in the office now."

"It must be because they're the same size and framed alike. Oh, I know, we'll hang those two on that long wall in the study."

"No, that wall would look so overwhelmed."

"Okay then...okay, Charles in the study and Kathryn over the fireplace."

"Really?"

Sure. They obviously had an interest in things Italian, and I'm sure the portrait frames were selected to go along with the architecture of the house."

"I suppose you're right, and besides you're not impressed with what's over the fireplace now."

"I've never been impressed with that painting."

"Okay. You are so spoiled, but at least you didn't want to hang naked Kathryn over the fireplace."

"Damn right I do, but I didn't think you'd go along with that."

"Well of course not. I'm sure that was meant for their bedroom...or a closet."

He pulled his eyes away from their discovery and put his hands on Carrie's breasts. She smiled and looked down as she said, "Now look, you've put attic dirt and dust on me."

"Let me get that off," and he moved his hands over her breasts as she pulled her shoulders forward and stepped back.

"You must have been thinking and planning that."

"Well...yes actually, you're right."

"I think we're done here for today because for some reason I feel totally filthy and in desperate need of a shower."

"Let me get my portrait and I'll follow you down."

As Carrie started down the stairs she said, "Most men your age, or at least those interested in porn, would go online, but you have to be different. Rather than photos, you're turned on by a eighty year old painting."

"But of my relative."

"Pervert, your young and naked relative."

"But I'm not lusting for her."

"She's very dead, so that's a good thing."

Chapter Six

After showering and getting dressed, Carrie said, "I still can't believe you talked me into working naked in the attic."

"I'm a little surprised that you allowed that to happen."

"I am too, and especially so now that I think about that more."

"Want to go naked outdoors," he asked as he watched her expression.

She was smiling as she told him, "My god Dell, you know better than that."

With Kathryn's portrait in hand, they went to the living room and stopped. "Dell, I saw you straighten that picture, and now look at it."

He smiled and kissed her cheek and then told her, "See, that picture doesn't like it there either."

"Just take it down and hang up your dead relative."

"You're a cold woman," and then to stay on her good side he kissed her and reached for the painting over the fireplace. "Well maybe this will solve the problem of tilting pictures." He set that aside and hung Kathryn's portrait in its place. "There, now that looks like it belongs there."

"Nice, a painting of a long dead woman that we never knew. Okay, if you're happy with that, then fine. The frame does look nice though."

Linda arrived just after two, and Dell joined the two women for an hour of listening more than talking. Then at the first chance of a graceful withdrawal, he went to the office, smiled at naked Kathryn, and then took care of some work that he had carried home Friday night.

As they prepared for bed Saturday night, Dell asked Carrie, "How is your visit going with Linda?"

"Great. We had a lot of catching up to do. Oh, and when I showed her the guest suite after she arrived, she was very impressed and went on about how nice it is."

"Good. Did you give her a tour?"

"No, I thought we could do that in the morning."

"When is she leaving?"

"Eager to get rid of her?"

"Not at all, just curious."

She smiled and just said, "After lunch."

When Carrie woke in the morning, she saw Dell sitting on the side of the bed, so she asked him, "Are you okay?"

"Morning hon, yes I'm fine. I was having a strange dream and I was trying to recall it."

"Like a nightmare?"

"No, nothing stressful or anxiety producing, just...well that's it, even as I sit here I'm losing the details." He stretched, yawned and the putting both hands to his scalp, he scratched and rubbed his head before he went to the bathroom.

He helped Carrie make the bed and then she slipped on her robe and went out to make coffee while he showered, dressed and went out.

Dell was sitting at the table when Linda appeared and Dell got her a cup of coffee as she sat down. "Linda, you look very nice. That's a beautiful gown."