The Alchemist's Apprentice (22 page)

The other two muttered agreement. I could see beads clicking on their mental abacuses—the Ten make their reports to the Grand Council, and a truly dramatic conviction would bring great credit to the current chiefs and boost their political prospects.

“You said there were other precedents,
lustrissimo
?”

Sciara smiled his death's-head smile. “Nostradamus has made some startling demonstrations in the presence of state witnesses. I doubt if the learned doctor expects the entire Council of Ten to turn up.”

The chiefs exchanged glances and near-imperceptible nods.

“I see no reason,” Morosini proclaimed, “for us to forbid the sort of charade the Maestro is suggesting, as long as we make clear that it is a private function. How many people would have to be rounded up?” He directed his faded eyes and scarlet wattles at me.

“About a dozen, Your Excellency. Five or six houses would have to be notified. One man and a boatman could deliver the warrants in a couple of hours.”

“Why
about
a dozen?” asked Portly. “Can't you count?”

I glanced at
Circospetto
. Sciara had a sudden need to scratch his right ear, which in turn required him to shake his head, ever so slightly. I took that to mean that I was not to invite the doge.

“My master would like to have the servant Pulaki Guarana attend the demonstration, and also a certain Domenico Chiari. We do not know their present whereabouts. Perhaps the Council does?”

The chairman said, “Even we can't know everything, lad. You want warrants? I s'pose…Can we order the Imer man to allow this invasion of his home,
Avogadoro
?”

The prosecutor smiled thinly. “The learned attorney is certainly aware that it is every citizen's duty to assist the Council of Ten in its inquiries. As long as compliance is voluntary, verbal invitations would be adequate.”

And non-compliance would be prima facie evidence of guilt of course. The chairman glanced at his companions and both nodded. Sciara took up his pen again.

“Let it be recorded,” Morosini declaimed, “that the chiefs raised no objection to the petitioner organizing a private party to reenact the events at the Imer residence…within the existing laws governing assemblies. The petitioner was so advised, and…”—more glances and nods—“…and
Missier Grande
was instructed to ensure that the proposed gathering be conducted in an orderly fashion.”

I bowed, backed away three steps, and bowed again.

Bruno bowed also.
Missier Grande
strode across to open the door and see us out to the anteroom. One of the
fanti
closed the door behind us.

“Find the
vizio,
”
Missier Grande
told him. “Quickly. I'll watch this door.” Both men vanished out the door to the staircase. He turned back to me with an eye colder than the peaks of the Dolomites. “That man you scared to death yesterday—we had been keeping him under observation for months. The Ten nearly skinned me, because of your meddling.”

For once I could think of nothing to say, so I said nothing.

“Does Attorney Imer know you want to stage a masque in his house?”

“Not yet,
Missier.
”

“Do any of the ‘guests' know?”

“Not yet,
Missier.
”

He growled. “So now I'm going to have to send Vasco out with you again, wasting another day of his time as if he had nothing better to do? I warn you, Alfeo Devil-take-you Zeno, that when he came back with a corpse yesterday, the chiefs tore his balls off and made him eat them. The
vizio
likes you even less than I do. Now I will more or less be putting him under your orders, so I suggest very strongly that you do not say so! If you try to lord it over him, he may lose you in a canal somewhere, and if he does, I do not intend to lead the search party.”

What Filiberto Vasco had in mind for me was forty or fifty lashes, I recalled. Perhaps ten of those had been added by yesterday's disaster; the rest had been building up over the years.

“The Maestro is very sure of himself,” I said quietly. “He is certain that Karagounis did not poison the procurator and that someone else did.”

Missier Grande
grunted. “He had better be right. You are not to mention the chiefs, understand? You do not speak with their authority.”

“If I cannot say that the Council of Ten has given its permission, then no one is going to turn up.”

He growled again, longer. “Vasco's presence will tell them that.”

For a moment there was silence, but it was too uncomfortable to last.

“I assume you have Pulaki Guarana locked up?” I asked.

“I will see he is there tonight.”

“And Domenico Chiari, the interpreter?”

“Never heard of him.”
Missier Grande
's basilisk stare dared me to call him a liar. I didn't. “Just between us two,
sier
Alfeo, who do you think your master is going to accuse?”

I was not going to fall into that trap. Any opinion I ventured would be held against me by somebody. “I honestly do not know,
Missier Grande.
I have learned never to try and outguess the Maestro.”

A glare from Gasparo Quazza would strike terror into Medusa. “If he is so frightened of having the name mentioned beforehand that he does not even tell you, his trusted apprentice, does that not suggest that the person he will accuse is someone of importance?”

Of course it did. It might also suggest that the Maestro thought the murderer was possessed. Karagounis might have died to save another demon from exposure and eviction. Mentioning that theory would land me in even worse trouble.

“Being a doctor, he regards everyone as being of importance,
Missier Grande
.”

The silence was now deadly. Fortunately at that moment my dear friend Filiberto Vasco flew in, cloak swirling. He shied back when he saw me and bared his teeth like a horse. He was sweating like one, too, from his run up all those stairs.

“It's more bad news,” Quazza told him. “The chiefs have agreed to let Nostradamus organize revels. The host doesn't know it yet and none of the guests will want to attend. So you have to accompany this pest around the city and make sure everybody understands they are under absolutely no compulsion to cooperate, but if they don't show up their absence will be noted. Attendance is purely voluntary, but God help those who stay away. No threats, though. Understand?”

The
vizio
's eyes measured me for the rack. “And when do I get to extract the real story from Alfeo Zeno? Soon, please?”

“Tomorrow, perhaps. If his master doesn't pull off another of his miracles tonight, Their Excellencies will be very upset. Then I think we can certainly bring Alfeo in for questioning.”

Vasco smiled hungrily. “I look forward to it.”

“So do I. I'll take the first hour. Carry on.”
Missier Grande
Quazza went back into the meeting room.

T
he Lord be with you,
Vizio
,” I said politely.

“You may need Him more.” Vasco flinched at Bruno's troglodyte leer. Bruno knew him and even had a sign for him, but he also knew that sometimes Alfeo did not like him, and Bruno disapproved of such people. Since Alfeo was presently smiling, the
vizio
must be a friend now, so Bruno was happy.

“Come along and let's get it over with,” I said. “I'm fussy about the company I'm seen with.”

As we went down the stairs, I explained the situation in more detail. I could hear the lash count going up inside his head: sixty, seventy…When we reached the loggia, he was chalky white with fury.

“You think that I am now under your orders?”

“Well,
Missier Grande
certainly told me you were, but warned me not to say so, because the news might provoke you to excessive secretion of black bile. I'm sure you'll do fine, as long as you're properly respectful so I don't have to reprimand you in front of witnesses. Your boat or mine?”

“Yours. You sank mine, remember?”

We trotted down the giants' staircase and marched across the courtyard to go out by the Frumento Gate, directly to the Molo. The fog was still heavy, and people would loom into view and then veer suddenly when they recognized the
vizio
almost upon them. Even the normally unflappable Giorgio was startled to see his new passenger and bowed to him. I told him Ottone Imer's house, and off we went. Vasco left the outside, damp, benches for Bruno and joined me on cushions in the
felze
, sitting at my side as if he was about to bite off my ear.

“Did you see your Turkish friend?” he asked suddenly.

“No.”

“Hanging between the columns, in the Piazzetta.”

“It can't make him much more dead.”

“I suppose not.” To my astonishment, Vasco chuckled. Either he had decided to make the best of the situation or he had settled on a nice, round hundred lashes.

After a moment he asked quietly, “How did you know he was a Turkish spy?”

“Just between us two?”

“I swear.”

“Too dangerous to say.”

He eyed me uneasily. “You or the Maestro?”

“In this case it was me.”

“You really have such powers?”

“He's taught me a few tricks.”

“And those tricks won't tell you who set the
bravos
on you yesterday?”

“I can't ask personal favors, but I'm fairly sure it was because I had learned about Karagounis. The idea was to silence me before I could expose him.”

“I would not traffic in such evil,” Vasco said pompously.

“It's dangerous,” I admitted. “I get nightmares.”

Sometimes he was in them.

And yet going visiting with the
vizio
was a wicked pleasure. He might not be able to quell a riot just by appearing, as
Missier Grande
could, but he did shine with some reflected glory. People almost fell off the
fondamente
into the canals to get out of his way. Doors seemed to open of their own accord as he approached. When we reached San Zulian, I left Bruno with Giorgio and strapped on my sword. Vasco always went armed, but he truly did not need to.

Even Imer's mildewed clerk, who had tried to be officious to me two days earlier, just fell back in horror when Vasco walked in. I pointed at the far door. Vasco marched straight on through without waiting for permission and then told the attorney's client he could leave, which he did expeditiously. The attorney cowered behind his desk and listened in steadily rising fury as I explained what we wanted.

“On whose authority?” he croaked when I had done.

“Filiberto?” I said.

Vasco shot me a venomous look and then said, “You have a duty to cooperate with the Council of Ten,
lustrissimo
. Must I go back and report that you refuse?”

“The Council has ordered this?”

“I am here on
Missier Grande
's instructions.”

Imer twitched. “What time?”

I said, “An hour after Angelus will do.”

“Do I have to serve wine again?”

“Not unless you wish to. But we need the same furniture and glasses and some books or papers. Also we want the servant Giuseppe Benzon present.”

“Anything you say,
apprentice
.” His glare would have boiled the Grand Canal. Vasco was untouchable, but I had made another enemy.

As we walked out side by side, I said. “It must be nice, having such power.”

Vasco is slightly taller than I am and never misses a chance to look down on me. “Yes and no.”

“What's the no?”

“I get nightmares too.”

Once in a while he shows a humble streak that I find very annoying.

I told Giorgio the Ca' della Naves and made myself comfortable, opening the curtains and preparing to enjoy the journey. Vasco brooded in silence, mostly, but every now and again he would nonchalantly ask a simple question about what we were doing. I answered honestly, admiring his skill. Without ever pushing, he soon knew everything worth knowing about my meeting with the chiefs.

“So your master doesn't trust you with the name of the murderer?”

“Did yours tell you Karagounis was under observation?” I countered.

No answer.

“Do you know anything about Domenico Chiari?”

Vasco's dark gaze drilled into me. “Should I?”

“Yes. The foreign couple we're about to see hired him as interpreter and guide, so it is sure as holy writ that he was spying for the Ten. Last week he disappeared. I'd like to know if he walked out on them or was ordered to or if he's just floating face down in the lagoon, somewhere.”

“You are melodramatic.”

“We have seen four violent deaths in three days and I barely escaped another.”

Vasco sighed. “Life is full of sorrows. I knew a Domenico Chiari. We took lessons from the same tutor, but I haven't seen him in ages. He works for a banker. I don't know if he spies for the Ten. Only
Circospetto
would know for sure.”

As we walked up the echoing, musty, and scabby staircase in the Ca' della Naves, I said, “Sir Bellamy Feather has been here about two months, buying pictures and other art for collectors in northern Europe. Lady Hyacinth, his wife, is the size of a canal dredger's barge and smarter than she pretends. They were not invited to the Imer party but they turned up anyway and Imer threw them out. No known motive to kill the procurator.”

“Succinct report, deputy.”

That sneer put him a few points ahead, so I resolved to try harder. I hammered on the door. We waited. It stayed shut.

“I can run down and fetch Bruno,” I suggested.

The
vizio
was raising an official fist to try his luck when the door swung open, and there was Sir Feather himself, millwheel ruff, oar-sized mustache, and shoulder high. In fact he was not as small as I remembered, but then his wife was not present.

“You're late! We have been waiting,” he said in his execrable French. “There they are.” He stepped aside to reveal a pile of roped trunks and boxes. Then he saw me. “You again? You dare to return to this house?”

“In the flesh.” I bowed. “And this is—”

“Go away before I call the police!” He tried to shut the door, but the long leg of the law intervened—Vasco put his boot in.

“
Je suis un gendarme, monseigneur.
You have a complaint against this man?” The accursed Vasco spoke French better than I did and was beefier than Feather, because the door opened despite the little man's best efforts to hold it. I know from engaging blades with him on many occasions that Vasco's wrists are stronger than mine, which is another flaw in his character.

Feather glared at both of us, as if uncertain which he hated more. “He inserted himself in this house the night before last under false pretenses and forced my lady wife into the bedroom under the deception that he wished to inspect the paintings we have collected and had I not returned opportunely might have—”

“Yes?” Vasco said breathlessly.

“Frightened her considerably.”

“This is a most serious charge,” the
vizio
told him, and his sidelong glance at me was suffused with pure ecstasy. Heaven had answered his prayers. “I shall need to hear all the details. I am Filiberto Vasco, deputy to the chief of police of the serene Republic.” He flashed the silver badge on his belt, while steadily edging his way into the apartment, herding Feather before him.

“There is no time! My wife and I are leaving on the instant. The men coming to take our baggage are overdue.”

At that moment the lady of the house loomed into view, rattling off some guttural question to her husband. Vasco's eyes widened at the sight of her. He eyed me as if wondering how a charge of attempted rape would stand up before the judges. And then, to my intense annoyance, he switched to English. He was clearly not fluent in it, but he spoke it at least as well as any of us spoke French. The other two cried out in joy and all three began gabbling in a hodgepodge of the two languages.

Another point to him! This day was not working out as it should.

I was not quite shut out, for I could guess what was going on from the French words and watching the faces. The Feathers were about to leave the city to go to Rome. But Vasco had orders to make sure that they turned up at the Maestro's party that evening and they were only foreigners, so he had all the latitude he wanted. Now Sir Bellamy had accused me of attempted rape, Vasco explained, they would have to file a formal complaint and probably stay in town until an investigation could be held.

The English are reputed to be a phlegmatic race, but Bellamy exploded like a bombard. He stamped his feet and screamed and at one point seemed about to draw his sword. I was not worried by that, for I knew Vasco was deft enough with his rapier and I would have enjoyed rescuing him had Feather turned out to be defter. I waited, leaning against the door jamb, occasionally stifling a yawn. Hyacinth watched the argument narrowly, saying nothing.

Three men came plodding up the stairs and stopped in alarm when they saw the
vizio
and a crazy foreigner arguing with him. Vasco, who was starting to turn red himself, stepped out into the hallway.

“If you came to take the foreigners' baggage, you are not required today.”

They shrugged and removed themselves without a word. He turned and the door slammed in his face with a peal of thunder. He laughed.

“Having a better day than you expected?” I inquired.

“Oh, much better! Stay here, Zeno. I don't suppose they will try to slip away without their baggage, but I must find some reinforcements.” He dashed off down the stairs.

I waited, hoping the door would open. After a few minutes it did. Hyacinth peered out, then emerged fully.

“We demand to see the English ambassador!”

“I cannot help you, madame. The matter is in the hands of magistrates.”

She eyed me thoughtfully. “I could reward you well if you would take a message to him. Two ducats?”

I sighed and shook my head in deep regret.

She changed signals, lowering eyelashes, pursing plum lips. “If you could help me, I should be
very
much in your debt,
lustrissimo
.”

Saints protect me! I imagined a tussle with those great limbs and hastily thought of Violetta instead. “It would do no good. The
vizio
has gone to fetch guards. If you try to leave the city, you will be stopped, madame. I am sorry.”

She went back in and slammed the door.

Vasco reappeared at the bottom of the topmost flight of stairs, beckoning me to go down to him.

“All arranged?” I asked. “That was quick.”

He smiled smugly. “All arranged.”

Venice supports nothing like the great police forces found in most cities, but the Council of Ten has agents everywhere. Without doubt someone was already carrying word to the palace and others would keep watch so the Feathers did not slip away.

As we walked back to the gondola, I asked, “Am I to be charged with attempted rape?”

“I hope that can be arranged,” the
vizio
said happily. “It will depend, I suspect, on what happens this evening. If we need a way to solve our Alfeo Zeno problem, and the Feathers need permission to leave the city, something can be worked out to our mutual satisfaction, if not to yours.”