Tricking My Cold Lover

0Salvi and Geun, along with Aldo, had been going around the old house for days, trying to determine what was it that his Aunt Lucia would be interested in.      0

Sadly, they did not find anything peculiar. At least no gold, and no obvious secret wealth.      

Hearing news from Salvi's relatives who took care of Spinello, they learned that his father was ready to leave the hospital. Salvi determined to return to the city the next day, having no results from the investigation so far.      

They received good news, however, coming from Angela. She was able to provide the investigators with the necessary intel to link Ramon, Lucia's brother to the gunman who attacked Spinello. The police were now on the hunt for Ramon, having fled after the arrest of Lucia.      

While waiting for dinner to be ready, however, Aldo noticed a leak in the first level bathroom. The water reached the kitchen area, and it alarmed everyone.     

The facet to the bathing area was completely broken. Aldo had to shut down the water and call the plumber that evening.      

Geun and Chan-Mi remained at the dining area, eating ahead while Salvi aided Aldo and the plumber. They traced the water seeped through the kitchen and down to the basement, following the leak.      

Arriving at the basement, Salvi hissed at the sight of the old structure. The underground level was completely worn out, and the ceiling had signs of a previous water leak. He said, "This house is beautiful, but really does need major renovation. I will definitely tell my father about the urgency of the matter."     

"This is the ceiling from above - the bathroom, right?" The plumber asked with a frown.     

"Ah, yes. Yes, it is," Aldo answered positively. "We noticed that it often leaked here so we don't use the first level bathroom often."      

Turning to Salvi, Aldo added, "Since you and sir Spinello rarely came here, we just opt to use the second level common bathroom."      

"It's okay, Aldo. I understand," said Salvi.      

The plumber pointed to the concrete and said, "The leak in the ceiling is strange. Bathrooms should be waterproofed." The man sneered and said, "By the looks of that, it would seem like occasional leaking had happened over the years."     

Their party returned to the kitchen bathroom and realized how part of the space was strangely elevated.      

Aldo just said, "I just assumed this was meant as an elevated area to stand clearly in front of the mirror or to aid in arranging the stocked toiletries for the entire house."     

He pointed at the hanging cabinets and said, "This is the bathroom with the biggest cabinets and we use it to stock towels and toiletries."     

Salvi frowned and said, "It is odd, but not too much to dwell on. Wonder why... I never thought it was strange before."     

"Regardless, there is a need to break off all the tiles here and replace it with new concrete - have it waterproofed so the leak will not seep through the basement ceiling," told the plumber.      

Salvi and Spinello discussed through the phone that evening to finally push through with the renovations of the house. The priority would be to fix the first level bathroom, so the household need not rush to the second floor in order to have a decent bath.      

Everything was scheduled the very next day.      

Fortunately, the old house had two lavatories on the first level. All of them are working fine.      

Salvi first met with a contractor and the plumber, giving down payment and formally creating a contract for the work before preparing to leave for Florence.      

They were supposed to leave early morning but were delayed by the turn of events. They left soon after, seeing that everything was in order.      

Much to their surprise, fate had other plans, purposely halting them from taking the train ride.     

It was already at the train station when Salvi received alarming news coming from Aldo. He answered the call and heard him say, "Salvi. The workers - they. They started breaking the portion of the concrete at the first level bathroom and - Salvi, there is a human bone on the bathroom. They did not even have to dig deeper."     

Salvi instantly felt chills down his spine. He sensed his heart racing, and he covered his mouth with his hands. He gulped before asking, "Say - say that again, Aldo?"     

"Salvi, someone died here in this house and it looks like he was buried in the bathroom floor. Only tiles and a thin layer of cement concealed its body," Aldo made it clear for Salvi.      

In the end, Salvi, Chan-Mi, and Geun were not able to return to Florence. They had to book another private home for Aldo and the caretaker's temporary shelter. The old house wound up to be a crime scene under investigation.      

In the afternoon, Salvi and Aldo were invited to the police station to give their statements.      

From inside a private room, an investigator interrogated, "The bones we recovered have dried up and the hardening of the concrete from the bathroom suggested, the body had long decomposed. More studies have to be made, but this crime was done long - long ago. Do you have anything to say about this?"      

Aldo and Salvi looked at each other before both still in disbelief. With a heavy sigh, Salvi suggested, "I think that man maybe my Aunt Lucia's husband. He had been missing for." He paused, feeling a lump in his throat, and added, "I think for almost twenty years. I was still a child back then."     

"You should be able to check in the missing person's report. As far as what my father told me, the family of Aunt Lucia's husband was so broken about it that they used up all their resources to find him. Unfortunately, he - he was never found," told Salvi.      

Salvi had to explain to the police that there was an ongoing investigation in Florence, pertaining to a sudden attack on his father and how they suspected the crime resulted in the need of acquiring the old house.     

From there, the investigators knew which direction to pursue. Still, they requested to stay for another two days until they confirm the identity of the man buried in the house's bathroom.      

Chan-Mi and Geun were with Salvi to the police station. They lingered outside the private room, waiting for Salvi to come out.      

When they saw him and Aldo step out of the room, they noticed how life seemed to have drained from his face.      

Chan-Mi pouted her lips and embraced Salvi tight. She said, "Mi Amore. It's okay. I'm here for you."     

Salvi took a deep breath and responded to Chan-Mi's embrace. He said, "Chan-Mi, this is just shocking to me. Never in my wildest dreams would I even think that a relative is capable of killing."     

They all walked lifelessly into the car, and while everyone else was buckling their seatbelts, Salvi gawked for some time.     

Only after Chan-Mi shook him, Salvi suggested, "What if - just what if. What if they had something to do with my mother's accident? What if it was never an accident?"     

***     

Author's Notes:     

My dearest readers, don't forget to buy privilege for at least just 1 coin and support me in the win-win event. Should I at least get 100 privileges, I will have gift cards to give away for Christmas!     

Meanwhile, author-san is working hard to fulfill the daily requirement of the same event.