Luca spun the boat round and headed back toward me. Santo stuck his arm out and grabbed me while the boat was still moving. I felt like a stuntman as he hauled me over the side. That hurt my stomach, but I didn't complain. Charlie didn't tell me I was an idiot; instead he wrapped a towel around me.
Santo asked, "You swallow any water?"
I shook my head.
"Good," he managed to answer before he was back on the police radio again.
The boat sped up until we were going real fast again. Lucky the sun was warm and I dried out a bit. "Has anyone got a plan?" I asked Charlie.
He nodded toward Santo. "He's talking to the Carabinieri."
Wow, they could chase the bad guys in their boat and my story for school would be even more exciting.
Luca yanked the steering wheel right, and the boat did a sudden turn down a narrow canal. That time I managed to hang on. Then I saw the bad guys up ahead and we were getting closer. They saw us too. Lucky there weren't any other boats between us. Then the bad guy in the Save the Planet T-shirt rolled a metal drum off the back of his boat and it hit our boat with a thud. I jumped backward. The front of our boat jerked up out of the water, then crashed down and the boat kept going.
Charlie and I crouched down and glanced at each other. I whispered, "What if Santo and Luca catch them? They'll have to wrestle the bad guys to the ground. They aren't as young and fit as the bad guys."
"If Santo carried a gun like real policeman that wouldn't be a problem." Charlie rolled his eyes.
"We should tell Santo we've got junior black belts in taekwondo. We can help. Four against one." I imagined Charlie and me impressing Santo with our flying side kicks. Of course in real life the bad guys could probably pick us up and throw us over the side of the boat, but if I got a few bruises in a fight that would make my story for school even better.
Santo hadn't taken his eyes off the bad guys. Our boat took another sharp turn, which made me feel like throwing up. We were going so fast everything was a bit of a blur. The canals got narrower. Had Luca lost the thieves? I stood up straight again and Charlie did the same. There wasn't any sign of the water taxi.
"Luca is trying to cut off the their boat," Santo said to us.
Seconds after, we turned into another canal and I almost fainted. The bad guys' water taxi was facing us head on. It was as if we were about to play a serious game of Chicken on the canal.
Santo stood his ground, directly facing the guy wearing the Save the Planet T-shirt. Santo wasn't afraid; that was good. But the bad guy stood his ground as well and he didn't seem afraid either. That wasn't so good. I could barely breathe as I looked from Santo to the thief and back to Santo. No one moved.
The driver who was wearing the Save the Whales T-shirt began to reverse his boat, when a different siren sounded real close. Suddenly behind the water taxi was a boat full of Carabinieri with their machine guns by their sides. They didn't even bother pointing them at the two bad guys.
Charlie and me didn't need to speak Italian to know what was going on. The bad guys stared open-mouthed at the Carabinieri for seconds before it sank in that they were trapped. Slowly, they put their hands behind their heads and in no time the Carabinieri handcuffed them and took the black bag with the tubes inside.
Luca maneuvered the police boat alongside the bad guys' boat, and Santo and Luca stepped into the bad guys' boat to talk to the Carabinieri. They were chatting and laughing with one Carabiniere like they were at a football match. A couple of times, Santo turned and pointed to me. I guess he was telling the Carabiniere the whole story. Santo waved for us to join them and Luca got out his cell phone and took our photo with Santo and the Carabiniere. Then he took a photo of the bad guys.
Wow! Now I had evidence to show my class.
Another boat suddenly appeared from nowhere. There were two passengers - a bloke with a big camera and a lady who looked like a fashion model, but must've been a reporter because she had a microphone. After the cameraman got photos of the bad guys and the Carabinieri, the reporter asked Santo for an interview. Her high heels made it difficult to stand steady in the boat. We got in their boat and docked it, so we could stand on the sidewalk.
Charlie and me stood close to Santo, but since he and the reporter were chattering in Italian we didn't understand a word. Santo pointed to me and the reporter gave me a smile. Not long after that, one of the Carabiniere came over in his boat and called Santo and Luca over.
The reporter turned to Charlie and me. She switched to perfect English and asked Charlie, "Could you please tell me what part you played in these dramatic events and what you witnessed?"
That always happened; because Charlie is older and taller, adults always talk to him when they want information.
Luckily, Charlie slapped me on the shoulder and told her that I was the one who'd noticed the details that didn't make sense and she should talk to me. Sometimes Charlie could be a really good brother.
The reporter stuck the microphone in front of my face and asked my name.
"Max McLean," I said. "Charlie and me are from Australia and the policeman you were talking to is our uncle. He told us that policemen need to look for the detail that doesn't make sense. Santo took us to The Cursed Mansion on the Grand Canal to meet the film director, André, and to see some filming. When we had a look over the mansion, I saw one of the bad guys and I got a bad feeling." Then I told her about the details that didn't make sense.
The whole time I was telling her the story she was nodding and encouraging me to keep talking, like this was the best story she'd ever heard. I even told her the bit about me falling out of the boat. If she thought I was a hopeless case because I couldn't hold on, she didn't say so. When I'd finished, she asked Charlie and me about our trip to Italy and told us we'd have to return again soon. The guy with the camera took about ten photos of Charlie and me.
Then he and the reporter zoomed off in their boat and the boatload of Carabiniere zoomed off in their boat with the bad guys. Two of the Carabiniere took the water taxi that the bad guys had stolen and zoomed away. Luca and Santo joined me and Charlie on the sidewalk.
"Well, Max," said Santo as he shook my hand, "you got your real bad guys, real crime and real action. I expect the owner of The Cursed Mansion is very happy that you noticed the detail that didn't make sense."
We all laughed.