As Chase says in this chapter, the interconnections in this case are beginning to resemble a bowl of spaghetti. But we know House won't give up until he's solved it.

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Chapter 97.

The more questions I added to the whiteboard, the more I realized how little we knew about Julio, Molino, the Locarnos and Bertoli.

"Did you learn anything from your uncle?" I asked Jess.

She sat at the conference room table, staring at the board, her face scrunched up in concentration. "Nothing new. He knows very little about the Locarnos or Molino. Of course, he couldn't say much with Bertoli standing there." She looked at the board again. "I'm not sure whether this is getting us any closer to answers." She stood. "I'm going to see my sister before Wilson takes her home, but I'll be back."

I nodded, but thought we were closer to a solution than before. At least we knew what we didn't know. I wondered if there was anyone who could tell me something about Francesca's death. I didn't know how she died, only that it happened in New Jersey.

Before I could head for my office to do a search, Chase entered. He glanced at the whiteboard and frowned. "What's this?"

"You heard about the kidnapping and Jess and Nina's illness?"

"Sure. It's all over the hospital. So, now you're playing detective?"

I shrugged. "Why not? Isn't that what I always do?" I splayed my fingers out on the table. "The cops aren't pursuing the case. They're happy that they were returned, and don't seem to care why they were taken in the first place."

"Jess and Nina are OK now, aren't they?"

"Yes. And the young man they were with is also recovering. Everyone thinks he was the intended victim here, and that taking Jess and Nina was an unplanned consequence."

"And you don't?" He'd learned to do that one eyebrow thing finally.

"I don't know. But the motivation for taking Julio is muddy and even more so is the fact that they were all released for a piddling ransom."

"So, what are you doing about it?" Chase's eyes lit with interest.

"Talking to Julio, his boss, investigating their background, and this." I pointed to the board.

"It looks like a bowl of spaghetti."

"Yeah, it does, doesn't it?" I scratched my head. "Considering that Bertoli's restaurant sells fondu, not Italian food..."

"House?"

My eyes narrowed. "Julio said he went to work for him because he'd worked in his family's restaurants in Italy, but I doubt they served fondu."

Chase shrugged. "A restaurant is a restaurant. They all operate pretty much the same way."

"Up to a point." I nodded. "And probably closer than a restaurant to a car shop."

"Huh?"

"Julio worked at a car shop before Bertoli hired him."

He walked closer to the whiteboard and read some of the items that weren't completely obliterated by the connecting lines. "Who's Francesca?"

"Julio's cousin. She ran away from her husband in Italy, but was killed here. Julio was sent to...well, to retaliate in some way. Sent by her cousin's husband." I pointed to the name on the board. "Carlo Molino. He owns the car shop where Julio worked."

"And this name, Locarno? Seems to me I've seen that name before."

"You have?" My eyes opened wide in surprise. I hadn't heard of them until just a day or two earlier.

Chase nodded. "I don't remember where, but it'll come to me. I only have an impression of a good connotation." He shrugged. "I'll let you know. Meanwhile, is there anything else I can do to help?"

"Look at the board again, and see if there are any other familiar names."

Studying the cluttered surface, Chase shook his head. "That's the only one that jumps out at me."

I blew out a breath and continued on to my office, still intent on finding out all I could about Francesca Molino's death.

The obituary was brief and details were scarce. She was twenty-five, died on June eighteenth with no cause of death given, and she was a native of Palermo, Italy, the daughter of Luigi and Maria Curci and the wife of Carlo Molino. I already knew most of that. Curci was Julio's surname, so he was related on her father's side. Big deal. Not any help.

Next I tried the newspapers for the day of her death, but there was no reports of an accident or murder that would match. I even went forward a few days. Nothing. The only one who might give me a lead was Julio. He might also tell me what Carlo expected him to do to the Locarnos.

Chase's remark about having heard of them before was stuck in my head. I'd done a search on the name before, but mostly in terms of business and mob connections. It might be worth a shot to do a more general search.

It didn't take me long. Why hadn't I made the connection to the name? It had been in the papers for weeks the previous fall. The Locarno family had been big supporters of a state senatorial candidate, and when he won election he'd persuaded the governor to reward them with a large contract for managing several badly needed construction projects. Try as they might to prove that the family made a huge profit from the deal, the news media and the opposing party hadn't proven a thing. They were on the up-and-up, true citizens of the state. A recent article even praised them for their help in getting some communities up and running after the megastorm.

In fact, everything that I found out about the family, especially the patriarch, indicated that he was an admirable man, well-respected, with no real mob-connections. All of his businesses were legit.

So why did Carlo consider them rivals? They weren't in the same class. The Locarnos had been in New Jersey for over a hundred years. They'd come from northern Italy, not Sicily. What was Carlo Molino's beef with them? I shook my head in wonder at what motivated people to do what they did.

I also looked for any connections between the Locarnos and Carlo's wife, Francesca. There were no traces of any. That didn't necessarily mean that they didn't exist, but it seemed mighty strange.

Again, I thought that Julio might have more answers than he knew. I'd wait until later in the day and tackle the young immigrant again.

I leaned back in my desk chair with my hands behind my head and closed my eyes, not so much to think as to concentrate on what else I could do, what other avenues I could explore. I was missing more than one thing this time.

A knock at my door pulled me from my swirling thoughts. I slowly opened my eyes and focused them on the figure in the doorway. Johnny Giordano. I smiled. Jess hadn't been able to find out much from her uncle when we arrived back at the hospital earlier because she didn't want to ask too many questions with Bertoli listening, but I had a feeling I'd have my own chance to pick his brain.

"Welcome to my den of iniquity." A grin accompanied my quip.

He nodded and entered. "Dr. House. I'd hoped I'd find you here and alone."

I raised an eyebrow to encourage him to continue. "Have a seat."

He looked around and decided the arm chair at my desk would do. "I'm sure you know I have my nieces' welfare at heart."

"Now that you've met them finally, I can see that they've impressed you with their...shall we say abilities?"

Johnny nodded. "This entire business with Bertoli, Julio, the Locarnos, and Molino..." He shook his head. "I'll do anything to prevent any of their problems from affecting Jess and Nina."

"Of course. Frankly, I'm beginning to wonder what Molino had against the Locarnos and what he sent Julio here to do." I studied him. "It seems very odd to me. There's no apparent connection between them. I haven't even found one between the Locarnos and Molino's dead wife."

"And yet, he felt the need to send the young man all this way to exact some kind of revenge." Johnny nodded again. "Yes, that is very strange indeed."

"You know nothing about either family?"

"No, nothing beyond what I read in the papers about the Locarnos. They seem to be quite a respectable family."

"I'm planning to talk to Julio again later today to find out what he knows about his cousin's death and what Molino wanted him to do."

"Would you mind if I came with you? I'd like a word or two with the young man myself."

"Really?"

Johnny smiled. "From Bertoli's praise of him, I might have a place in my own business for him, something even more promising for the future than working in a fondu place and attending night school."

"Uncle Johnny, what are you doing here?" Jess came through the door and smiled at her uncle.

"Oh, just having a word with the good doctor. How is Nina?"

"Much better. Wilson is taking her home and will stay with her while she settles in there." She turned to me. "I told them we'd bring dinner by later."

I nodded. "But not until we talk to Julio again. It seems that your uncle and I both have some things to discuss with him."

She grinned. "Me too."