81

“You look tired, Signor Urbino,” Gildo said half an hour later. He had been about to go out. He removed his cap and put it on the table in the middle of his crowded parlor.

“I didn’t sleep well,” Urbino said. After his walk last night, he had spent two hours in the library, running various scenarios through his mind. And then, when he had finally gone to sleep, the same dream of Possle, the veiled lady, and the fire had tormented him, except now beneath the veil had been the face of Adriana. “I need your help, Gildo. May I sit down?”

Gildo cleared a pile of nautical magazines from a chair. Urbino seated himself. Gildo remained standing, his slim body tense, his open face clouded with uneasiness.

Urbino started to explain what he wanted Gildo to do that afternoon if necessary. He was taking Gemelli’s suggestion of a bodyguard seriously. He wanted to reduce as many risks as possible. He knew that dangers remained, however, and yet he couldn’t stop himself from going ahead. He had begun something, and he needed to see it to the end.

As Urbino spoke, the boy’s expressive green eyes grew wider and his gaze moved from Urbino’s face to the forcola. It stood there with them like a silent witness and reminder.

“That building frightens me, signore. I told you that.” Gildo’s voice had an uncharacteristic fragility and tremulousness.

“Do you mean that you can’t help me?”

The youth lifted his head a little higher. “I’ll do as you wish. Maybe we’ll find out what happened to Marco, as you say. And the Contessa is a good lady. I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to her if she’s with you.”

“Between the two of us, we’ll be sure that it doesn’t. And the police won’t be far away if we need them. Take this.”

Urbino handed Gildo the copy of the key to the front door of the Ca’ Pozza.

“And your cell phone is in good working order?”

Gildo took it from his pocket.

“Yes, signore.”

“And so is mine. Now to be certain that we both understand each other, why don’t you repeat what I told you that you might have to do.”

“Very well, signore. I take you to the Ca’ Pozza in the gondola. I moor the boat. You get out and ring the bell of the house. If you go in, I leave the gondola and stand by the door. I don’t do anything unless I get the signal from your phone to mine. I don’t even try to see where the police are waiting. If I get your signal, I waste not a second. I push the code for the police. They will know what it means. Then I take the key and I open the door. I must be sure to leave it open. I—I go inside and up the stone staircase. On the other side of the sala there’s a room with a wide door, wider than the others. I go into the room.”

Gildo said this in a voice that became increasingly stronger. When he finished, he stared back at Urbino, a muscle quivering at his jaw.

“Right. And if you see the man who dresses in black—or anyone else? What do you do?”

“Oh, Signor Urbino, I hope I don’t see him! But—but if I do, I tell him that I must find you, you and the Contessa, if she comes with you.”

“And if we aren’t in the room with the big door?”

“I push the button to call the police again.”

“And then?”

“Then—then I go outside and wait for them if they haven’t arrived yet. But, signore, I could not leave you and the Contessa in the house if you need help! I must stay.”

“It would be best for you to go outside. That’s how you could help us if it comes to that. Maybe none of this will be necessary. Maybe you’ll never have to go inside the Ca’ Pozza.”

“I hope not, for the sake of all of us!”

Urbino got up. He threw his arm around the young man to reassure him, but it was also for his own sake.