The Unraveling of Julia

When Julia wakes up, it is early morning. She finds the comb and watercolors next to her, so she knows it wasn’t all a dream. Anna arrives and knocks on the door. When she sees the room and Julia keeps asking her if she’s real, Anna recoils. Julia tells Anna what happened. There is hair on the comb that Julia can test against her DNA. Julia wonders if Rossi imprisoned her own daughter or kidnapped someone else’s daughter, or multiple daughters over time, and decides to call the police.

Torti and three crime techs come to the villa. Torti says there isn’t solid proof that a girl was imprisoned. Julia doesn’t tell him about her vision, merely that she saw the crack. Torti says this is more reason to sell and leave. Julia refuses to leave. Torti will only look into missing children who are still missing, and it could take a while. He will not release the names, if any, to her without a court order. He claims there was no DNA in the cell, other than the hair on the comb. Julia takes digital pictures of the watercolors, over Torti’s objections, and keeps some of the hair for herself. She feels an electric tingle from the hair.

After the police leave, Julia calls Courtney and updates her on what’s happened. Courtney doesn’t believe in ghosts and is suspicious because the blue light went from malevolent force to benefactor. Julia thinks the light tried to get her to sleep in the living room so she would discover the tunnel. Courtney approves of Julia’s plan to get the hair on the comb tested. However, Courtney is suspicious of Julia’s theory that Rossi might have been a murderer. The word “skeletons” gives Julia an idea and she ends the call.

Julia goes out to where Anna and Piero are digging in the vineyard and asks them to look for skeletons. Julia says she can drive herself to meet the investigator, but needs a car. Anna shows Julia Rossi’s 2012 Ferrari. Piero explains that he’s kept it in good condition, doing regular maintenance, cleaning, and driving. Anna says Rossi burned the title. Julia now worries that Rossi burned everything to make sure there wasn’t evidence of her crimes. Anna and Piero say Rossi drove around a lot at night by herself.

Julia goes back inside and pulls out some hairs from the comb for the investigator and keeps some for herself. She feels the electricity from them again.

Julia drives to Florence to meet Poppy, who was also adopted. They discuss the stigma that comes with being adopted and how some people hide it. Poppy warns Julia that sometimes reconnecting with family members isn’t a positive experience. When Poppy met her birth father, he was unhappy to hear from her, and her birth mother died before Poppy located her. Poppy can help Julia discover if she is related to Rossi, but not if she’s related to Caterina. The process will take a while, and can be done virtually if Julia needs to leave.

Julia shows Poppy the photos she has from the villa and the photo of the self-portrait watercolor. Poppy sees a resemblance. Julia tells Poppy about the tunnel and hidden bedroom, as well as about her visions and nightmares. Julia gives Poppy the hair, but doesn’t feel the electric sensation through the plastic bag. After hearing Poppy’s rates, Julia agrees to hire her, and Poppy says she’ll send an agreement online. Poppy also recommends that Julia meet with a medium.

Julia has dinner with Gianluca and tells him about her meeting. He supports her meeting with the medium. Julia tells him about her vision and the underground room. He has many historical examples of people who are connected to spirits and enjoys discussing them. Saint Lutgardis had a vision of Jesus, to whom he said, “‘I want Thy Heart.’ Jesus responded, ‘I, too, want Your Heart’” (188). Gianluca believes that all love is divine.

They get gelato and Gianluca shows Julia a bridge that appears in Henry Holiday’s painting Dante and Beatrice. Julia and Gianluca are on “the Ponte Santa Trinita” (189). They discuss Dante’s poetry, and Gianluca says he is falling for Julia. He understands she is in mourning and asks if she might be able to love him when her grief passes.

Just then, a group of men in blue hoodies just like the one the man who killed Mike wore walk down the street. Julia flashes back to Mike’s murder and feels like she might faint. Gianluca supports her and takes her to his apartment.

Gianluca explains that the blue hoodies are soccer team gear for the Azure Blues. Julia suspects that Mike’s murder might be connected to her inheritance because of the hoodies. They brainstorm and think there might be a conspiracy and a kidnapping ring. Gianluca thinks the guy in the hoodie might have been trying to kill Julia and not Mike. If he’s part of a conspiracy, he wouldn’t want her to find the underground room. Gianluca hypothesizes that Rossi left Julia the villa because she turned on the co-conspirators and wanted them to get caught. Alternately, Rossi could want Julia dead. Gianluca suggests Julia call Torti in the morning, as well as the Philadelphia police.

Gianluca invites Julia to spend the night and offers to sleep on the couch. Julia can’t sleep and starts to cry in Gianluca’s bed. He brings her tissues and hugs her while asking her permission to do so. Julia worries that her grief will never pass. Gianluca believes she has to fully experience the grief in order to move through it. He already loves her, and thinks, “The thing about a broken heart is that it’s open” (198). She is able to fall for him because of her trauma. He is willing to wait for her to love him back. They start kissing and have sex.

The next morning, Gianluca says Julia can stay at his place as long as she likes. He’s happy to have lunch with her or leave work early to be with her. Julia says she needs to talk to the police, and he agrees to come to the villa later that night. As she drives back to the villa, Julia feels like she betrayed Mike’s memory by sleeping with Gianluca.

Franco is at the villa when Julia arrives. He compliments the Ferrari and tells her about another offer on the villa. It doesn’t involve a teardown and it’s for almost €2 million. Julia rejects the offer and shows Franco the living room with the door to the tunnel. He says many villas have underground tunnels, and it could even be a selling point. Julia reiterates that she’s not ready to sell and finds a note from Anna with Piero’s gun on the table. Anna says she and Piero are going to Abruzzo, the villa is haunted, and Julia is “crazy” like Rossi.

Franco says he’ll find some help for Julia. He doesn’t believe the villa is haunted; he would raise the price and cater to different buyers if he did. Julia asks Franco to teach her how to shoot the gun. They go to the vineyard to practice shooting and Julia sees that Bianco the dog is walking funny. Franco suggests taking Bianco to an emergency vet in Greve that he used, and calls them.

Julia is anxious while waiting for the vet to examine Bianco in the back. Gianluca sends her a text about how much he enjoyed their night together. Julia updates him about the vet and Anna. Gianluca says he’ll be at the villa at eight o’clock that night.

The vet, Dr. Caraccioli, recommends keeping Bianco inside for a few days and feeding him prescription food. Julia updates Gianluca about Bianco. After getting Bianco situated in the villa, Julia goes looking in the hole Piero was digging and continues to look for skeletons or other evidence.

Julia doesn’t find any skeletons or corpses but is more familiar with the land after digging in it. She looks around the fridge and makes herself a sandwich with grapes on the side. Bianco seems to want to go outside to use the bathroom, but when Julia lets him out, he starts messing around in the trash.

As Julia pulls Bianco away, Detective Tom Malloy from the Philadelphia police calls her. They found a video of the mugging and murder, but can’t identify the killer. Julia tells Malloy about the blue hoodie. She also tells him about being followed, her inheritance, and the underground room. She omits the ghostly parts. Malloy doesn’t see the connection between the events in Italy and Philadelphia. He will have to liaise with international agencies to investigate Julia’s new lead. Julia asks him to look for any Italians in his local database. She also gives Torti’s number to Malloy.

After getting off the phone with Malloy, Julia calls Courtney and updates her about the hoodie. Courtney has to take care of some work and asks to call Julia back later. Julia admits she’s having Gianluca over for dinner. Courtney is excited Julia is dating again. Julia talks about her guilt over the new relationship. Courtney encourages Julia to embrace happiness. Julia confesses that she slept with Gianluca, and Courtney approves. Julia worries that she is leading Gianluca on. Courtney says Julia refuses to be happy. Julia realizes Courtney is right and feels ashamed. She ends the call.

Julia gets ready, sets out what she’s going to cook (lamb chops and salad), and drinks some Chianti. The vet, Caraccioli, calls Julia. She tells him about Bianco digging in the trash and that Anna has been taking care of him. He tells her that Bianco had the iboga plant, an illegal hallucinogen, in his system.

Julia asks for more details about the hallucinogen. Caraccioli says it’s similar to LSD. Julia realizes her leftovers were in the trash and she was probably drugged as well. Caraccioli says the drug causes hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia.

After they end the call, Julia thinks about all the cooking Anna did for her and wonders if Anna was drugging her. When Julia didn’t eat Anna’s cooking, such as when she went out to eat with Gianluca, she didn’t have nightmares. Julia thinks it’s odd that Anna put the leftovers in the trash, rather than keeping them in the fridge. Julia wonders how much of what Anna said was just lies. Julia also wonders if Anna is involved with Ballcap and White Fiat.

Julia calls Gianluca, planning on asking him if he’s close to the villa yet. However, Torti answers the phone and tells Julia that Gianluca has been in an accident.

Julia drives to the site of the accident. She calls Torti and he tells her not to cross the perimeter. Julia pushes past another officer and sees Gianluca’s Ducati on the street. Its front end is wrecked.

Torti catches up to Julia and asks her to leave. She asks about Gianluca’s condition. Torti says he doesn’t know Gianluca’s condition, but he claims there wasn’t another vehicle involved in the accident. Supposedly, Gianluca lost control because he was going too fast. Torti shares which hospital Gianluca was taken to.

While Julia drives to the hospital, she calls Torti and asks about CCTVs or witnesses. Torti replies that there are neither and suspects Gianluca was drinking. Julia tries to convince Torti that Gianluca’s accident is connected to the men following her. Torti continues to claim there isn’t evidence of another vehicle involved.

Julia argues the Fiat driver could have avoided skidding, and therefore not left any evidence. Torti agrees to talk to the Fiat driver and warns her about the dangers of motorcycles. Torti doesn’t have any information about missing children yet, and hasn’t heard from Malloy. Julia wants Torti to call Malloy, and Torti agrees to take the number the next day.

When Julia arrives at the hospital, Gianluca is in surgery. She flashes back to Mike’s wake, then goes to the waiting room where there are eight people. Julia introduces herself. Gianluca’s mother, Sherry, introduces herself; she is American and has heard a lot about Julia. Gianluca has a traumatic brain injury, as well as a variety of broken bones. He won’t be out of surgery until the morning. Sherry introduces Julia as Gianluca’s girlfriend to her mother-in-law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and cousins. Gianluca’s father, Tonio, and sister, Raffaella, come in with food for everyone. Raffaella notices Julia’s wedding rings and accuses her of courting Gianluca while married. Julia says she’s not married, apologizes, and leaves.

Julia cries, then cleans up in a bathroom. She finds another waiting area downstairs. The receptionist asks if she couldn’t find the waiting room by the surgery. Julia says she wants to wait where she is and asks the receptionist to tell her when Gianluca is out of surgery. She sits down and prays until she falls asleep.

The receptionist wakes her up and says Gianluca is out of surgery and in an intensive care unit. However, only family may visit him. The receptionist offers to have her friend who works in that unit text Julia if anything changes with Gianluca’s condition. The waiting room is now full of people who are getting tests done, and Julia decides to get a drug test to see if she’s been drugged.