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Dalton’s building was in a peaceful part of the Canarregio district, the northern sector of Venice. It was away from the usual tourist paths, and a short walk from Sal’s place.
He sat at the large table in the main conference room with five other microtech experts plus four patent attorneys. One attorney stood at a whiteboard sketching the interrelationships between patents, when Shirley called.
“Please excuse me, this will just take a moment. Keep going with the meeting.” Dalton stood up and walked to a corner of the room.
“It’s great to hear from you, Shirley. How goes everything in Milan? ... Good ... Good ... Yes, of course I’m doing everything I can to get your motorcycle back ... Yes, just like I said last week ... Yes, and the week before that.”
The engineers and attorneys stopped talking and started listening to Dalton’s call.
“No, of course I’m doing everything I can. But you know how much paperwork the Italians have. In fact, I’m at the police station right now with an attorney getting all the paperwork filled out.”
“Which police station?” Dalton’s eyes grew wide. He looked at the others, who looked back at him. “Uh, it’s hard to describe the location. You know how all these piazzas look alike ... Uh, I just followed the attorney getting here, so I’m not exactly sure where it is. Let me ask.”
The others in the room started grinning. One engineer made a motion of cutting his throat.
Dalton put his hand over the phone’s microphone and whispered, “Help! Where’s the police station that impounds motor vehicles?”
The Italian attorney at the whiteboard wrote the word, “P. Roma.”
Dalton said to the phone, “Oh, got it. I’m at the station at Piazza Roma near the parking garage.”
The attorney nodded.
“I don’t know, I’ll ask if it’s Caribinieri or municipal police.”
The attorney wrote, “Muni.”
“It’s municipal. Don’t worry, Shirley, I’ll get the motorcycle released today. Next week at the latest ... Yes, and I’ll replace the jacket and helmet I threw away. Better yet, you go ahead and buy them, and I’ll reimburse you ... No, really, there’s no need for you to come here. I’ll take care of it. I mean, I’m taking care of it right now, even as we speak ... Of course I’d love to see you. It’s just that you’re very distracting and I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Another engineer grimaced, shook his head, and made another throat-cutting motion with his finger.
“But I hope you can come here soon. And I’ll make time for you, no matter what ... I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that. There’s a strong echo on the line. Say that again, please.”
The attorney at the whiteboard looked past Dalton to the door of the conference room. He set down the marker he had been using, quickly moved to his chair and sat down with his hands folded in front of him. He stared at his hands.
Dalton looked around and saw Shirley looking back at him from the doorway. White slacks, pink blouse, classically stylish, and glowering. His mouth opened, but only a faint whimper leaked out.
Shirley said, “Yeah, I’ve heard that before.”
She spoke into her phone, “I said, you’re playing a game you cannot possibly win. Don’t try. Don’t even want to try.”
Dalton said, “There’s something I haven’t been totally honest about. I’d like to make a full confession.”
Everyone in the room laughed.
Even Shirley smiled. “Oh, we’ll get to that ... eventually,” she said. Then she smiled at everyone else in the room. “Hi! I just got off the train and I’m starved. Who’s up for lunch? I think Dalton is buying.”