Page 25 of Be Still My Unbeating Heart

“If I offended you, Inspector,” Bastian said softly, “I apologize.”

De Luca stared at the spilled soda cans, beer bottles, and half-eaten pretzels that lay in the street. He breathed hard. A moment later, his shoulders dropped, and he began to pick up the trash.

“I care about the people in this town,” he said. “It’s my job to protect them. They already think I’m—”

He broke off. Pressed his mouth shut.

Bastian tilted his head. “People already think you’re what?”

De Luca’s brow furrowed. “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I do the right thing by the people of Vernazza. I can’t allow anybody else to get hurt.”

Bastian smoothed down his shirtsleeves. “I want to find the person responsible for killing that girl—”

“Luna!” De Luca cried, clutching a couple of soda cans. “Is that so difficult for you to remember? Her name was Luna Esposito.”

Bastian blinked. “My apologies.” He gave the inspector his most solemn stare. “I want to find Luna’s killer, too, Inspector. I do.”

De Luca muttered as he dropped the trash into the bin. “You had me fooled, the way you behaved in the café. What did you do to Emilio? It was like he was in a trance.”

“I was mind-casting,” Bastian said. “It was the only way to get him to answer honestly.”

“You brainwashed him?”

“No. I merely encouraged him to let go of any silly notion that he had to withhold the truth from us.”

De Luca’s mouth sagged and he stared at Bastian in disbelief.

“It is illegal, not to mention amoral, to force information from a witness against their will,” he said, voice barely above a growl.

Bastian rolled his eyes. “It’s not like I waterboarded him, Inspector. I would think you would appreciate the help. I told you, I’m useful to have around.”

“You can’t just go around brainwashing people.”

“Again, not brainwashing. And Emilio’s fine. The worst he’ll experience is a mild headache for an hour or so.”

De Luca didn’t appear to believe him, and there was something else in his gaze. A flash of fear and suspicion. Bastian could guess what he was thinking.

“I would never use mind-casting onyou, Inspector,” he said. “I couldn’t even if I wanted to. Mind-casting requires a baseline of trust, and it’s pretty clear you wouldn’t trust me to paddle in your private pool, let alone your mind.”

De Luca’s blue gaze rested on Bastian, bright and cold. He couldn’t deny it; hedidn’ttrust Bastian. After a moment, the inspector straightened, appearing to reach a decision. “We’re going back to the apartment,” he said.

“What? We can’t! We have two suspects! The fortune-teller and the waiter.”

“Not to mention the League,” Whitby said from her perch on the windowsill. “Don’t forget we found the infinity pin next to Luna’s body.”

De Luca ignored her. “I won’t allow you to jeopardize this murder investigation by compromising witnesses with mind games. If Emilio reports you messing with his head to the commissario—”

Bastian raised his hands. “People rarely remember what they’ve said afterward. Emilio has no idea what happened to him down there.”

De Luca’s ears pinkened. “So people have no idea you’ve been in their mind?”

“I wasn’tinhis mind, Inspector. I was merelysuggestingthat he answer my questions. It only works on people who already trust you. That’s why I had to play good cop; to get him to lower his defenses.”

De Luca’s glare intensified. “And thetouching? The neck rub? That was part of it, too?”

Bastian suppressed a laugh. He couldn’t tell if De Luca was upset or embarrassed by the physical contact. Had it offended him?

“Listen,” Bastian said, “Emilio trusts me now. When we meet him again, he’ll be more likely to tell us what he really knows.”