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“Yes. Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Robert suggested that I practice yoga for flexibility and mental fortitude. I took one of Samantha’s classes. She was a little older than me, but she was easily the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.”
“She was beautiful,” Michael agreed.
Giacomo looked away, tears forming in his eyes. His well-defined arms flexed and relaxed as he squeezed his fists reflexively. It wasn’t hard to see why Samantha was attracted to him.
“Did you two live together?”
He shook his head. “No. I wanted to move in with her, but she wanted to take things slowly. She… I think she wasn’t as sure about our future as I was. I knew the moment I saw her that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. I think she thought that since I was younger, I would lose interest. But we would have been married eventually. Of this, I'm sure."
Faith shared a look with Michael. Now came the hard part. She leaned forward and folded her hands. “Giacomo, I know this is hard, but can you think of anyone who might have wanted to hurt Samantha?”
He sighed again and began to rock back and forth. "I don't know. She was so kind to everyone, so giving. She was the person who if you had a problem, she would stay up all night talking to you to make you feel better. She would visit her friends with food, and she would volunteer at nursing homes and hospitals. She was such a kind person. I can't understand why anyone would do this."
“Did she mention having problems with anyone? Anyone new in her life who made her feel uncomfortable?”
He frowned and nodded. Faith’s ears perked up.
“A student,” he said. “In her class. Sometimes, the men, they take these classes because they like to see the pretty girls bend their bodies in a sexy way. You know?”
“I can imagine,” Michael said with a slight smile.
“So sometimes, she has to tell people, ‘Hey, eyes forward’ or ‘Look at me, not her.’”
“You mean she catches men leering at women and tells them to behave themselves?” Faith said.
“Yes. Like that. Usually, the men, they just stop coming. I would be embarrassed if I was caught staring. I never thought anything of it, though. I mean, all men look, right? And Samantha is beautiful. I am sure that many men looked at her and wished they could be with her. That is what happened to me. But I didn’t think any man would go so far. I guess I was a fool. I just…”
His lower lip trembled, and he hung his head. Turk whined softly and nestled in closer.
“Did she have any trouble recently with an inappropriate student?”
Giacomo nodded. “His name was Oliver, I think? He would stare at the women all the time. He didn’t care that she warned him to stop. He would just stare. Samantha let him stay for threemonths, but when she saw him taking pictures of the girls, that was the last straw. She kicked him out.”
“When was this?”
“A month ago. I didn’t think he’d do anything, though. He was a creep, but he was very timid. He didn’t seem like he would be so violent.”
So many serial killers came across as timid. Faith didn’t point that out, though. “How did he react when Samantha kicked him out of her class?”
“Like that. Like timid. She said he turned red and looked at his shoe and only nodded when she talked to him. She said she felt bad for him because he looked so embarrassed, but she couldn’t feel that bad because he was her age. He was old enough to know better.”
“That’s definitely old enough to know better,” Michael said. “So has she seen him again after kicking him out?”
Giacomo stiffened a little, then nodded.
Faith and Michael shared another look. “When?” she asked.
“He still goes there.”
Her eyes widened. “To her class?”
“No, to another instructor’s class. There are five teachers at the studio. Samantha teaches the evening class. Oliver started going to the afternoon class.”
“You don’t happen to know anything about Oliver? Where he works, where he lives, anything?”
Giacomo shook his head. Then he lifted his eyes to Faith. There was pain there, but there was a hardness behind the pain. “If I knew where he worked or lived, I wouldn’t have come here to talk to you.”
Faith nodded. “Giacomo, I promise you, revenge is a dish best never served at all. I know how much you’re hurting right now, but please promise me you won’t do anything foolish.”
