Pat Davis

The Mad Woman of Portugal Pat Davis

A story of swindle, anger, revenge and murder (with a love story intertwined). Olivia's grief turned to revenge when the Amsterdam authorities refused to take legal action against the four men Olivia denounced for being involved in swindling her son and causing his death. The death is declared suicide by the coroner; Olivia knows otherwise. She accurately accused the botanist, the chemist, the merchant and the artist of being scalawags and duping Nicholas, her son, into believing worthless tulip bulbs were the legendary and priceless black tulip bulbs. At a phony auction, Nicholas, extremely drunk and egged on by onlookers, spent his gold and the gold of his neighbors on worthless tulip bulbs. Later the same night, he is found hanging from a beam in a brothel. "My son," Olivia implored "was honest, hard-working and sober." Unfortunately, that was only in Olivia's eyes! Nicholas Cabral was, in truth, a drunkard, a gambler, a thief, and a man on the hunt for a quick buck. Thwarted by the law and blinded by her love for her son, the aging Olivia sets in motion a murderous scheme. On her deathbed, she enlists her great granddaughter, Marta, to complete her savage plan to kill the lowlifes who caused Nicholas' death. Marta, a talented trapeze artist, enthusiastically expands Olivia's plot and forms a side business-murder for hire.