The Alchemist's Pursuit

13

Back at Ca' Barbolano, I found a note from Violetta to say that she was going to a house party on the mainland and would be back on Sunday. It was addressed to me, but the Maestro had opened it and read it. He always does, so she knows not to include any lovers' secrets. For once I wished I knew where she was going and who was taking her.

I had just enough time before dinner to give the Maestro a quick summary of what I had learned. That left him to do most of the talking at table, which he normally does anyway. As we headed to the dining room, I was pleased to see that his lameness was less marked, his disposition was improving, and he was definitely caught up in the Honeycat case now. Which effect was the chicken, which the egg, and which the rooster, I do not speculate.

"So you think," he demanded, "that the dying Giovanni Gradenigo learned of the murdered Caterina Lotto and remembered that it was she who betrayed Zorzi Michiel to the inquisitors? That was all he wanted to tell me?"

While planning my response, I nibbled appreciatively on a mouthful of Mama Angeli's delicious Taglierini noodles. I had told Violetta that any connection between the death of her friend Lucia and the patrician's deathbed appeal had to be an impossible coincidence. Now it was starting to look like no more than close timing.

"Possibly, but I think he must have heard about the other murders too, at least one of them. One dead courtesan wouldn't mean much-that was your own reaction when Violetta told you about Lucia. It's hard to believe that three women all betrayed Zorzi," I hastened to add. "Which may mean that Honeycat doesn't know which of his lady friends shopped him and is going to avenge himself on all of them…

"Or," I added with sudden inspiration, "he wanted to kill that particular one without drawing attention to his own case, so he killed a couple of others as well." Too late I saw the trap I had fallen into.

"Bah! Rubbish! Why tell me? An antiquated, invalid retired doctor? Why wouldn't Gradenigo summon one of his Council of Ten friends, who could start a hunt for the returned exile?"

"I don't know," I said humbly. "But the fact that the old man was a state inquisitor right when Zorzi was exiled can hardly be pure coincidence."

"And just what is an impure coincidence?"

When I said that the Maestro's disposition was improving, I meant that it was returning to normal. I sidestepped the question.

"You want me to try Bernardo Michiel this afternoon, master?"

"You are not a court. I want you to try to get to talk with him. If he doesn't know where his murderous brother is hiding, then I don't know who else to ask."

"Domenico, perhaps," I said. "He's the one who buys and sells property, so he could give Zorzi sanctuary somewhere on the mainland. It would be easy enough to nip across from Mestre, commit the murders, and nip back again."

"By 'nip' you mean 'row'? Or 'swim'?"

"Sail or be rowed. And Bernardo was the one whose political career was swamped by his brother's patricide. I doubt if Domenico's real estate business would have been hurt much, so there may be less ill-feeling there."

One of Nostradamus's tiny fists thumped the table. "That is absurd speculation. Facts! You're job is to bring me facts, not guesswork. I do the guessing. You cannot predict the brothers' respective reactions to their father's death until you know them personally. Speak with Domenico if you get the chance by all means. And find out if the sanctified Timoteo is now going by the name of Fedele. That might be an impure coincidence."

Since Violetta was out of town, I abandoned thoughts of a siesta after dinner and trotted up to the archive boxes in the attic to find the Michiel file. It was thinner than a portrait painter in Constantinople, just a brief personal letter from Bernardo and the Maestro's even briefer response, dated the following week and written for him by my predecessor. I learned nothing I did not already know, such as that a nobleman writing on a topic that might interest the Council of Ten will do so in his own hand rather than trust a secretary.

Few of the Venetian nobility go back to work after their noon break and a meat inspector would find little to do by that time of day anyway. Confident that one or other of the Michiel brothers should be home, I copied out the Bernardo letter in an honest Roman hand and then created one to Domenico, giving myself the same glowing introduction without mentioning Bernardo's previous approach to the Maestro.

From the outside, the ancient Palazzo Michiel looks as if it is merely keeping its site warm until it can be demolished and replaced by something newer and grander. I was anxious to see inside it, though, for its art collection was reputed to be one of the finest in the city. Its location certainly is, just around the corner from the Doges' Palace, right on the Riva degli Schiavoni-the Croatians' shore-looking out over the basin where the fleets gather. I had Giorgio drop me off at the Molo and strolled the rest of the way, admiring the setting even while I huddled my cloak tight against a gray February bluster.

Three men were quietly freezing as they sat on a long bench in the loggia. One was clearly a porter; the other two were younger and probably apprentices. I wasn't going to put up with that treatment. I was armed and wearing my best outfit, wishing as always that the Maestro were logical enough to see that he should not try to exploit my title without dressing me to match it. I rapped the worn brass knocker hard.

The flunky who answered my signal recoiled slightly before my haughty aristocratic simper and I moved to step past him. He hesitated, but the sight of my sword convinced him, and he let me enter. I bestowed my sier Bernardo letter on him. He took it, asked if messer would be so kind as to wait, and vanished through an archway that offered no view beyond it except the wall of a corridor. In seconds a page emerged from wherever he had gone and hurried off across the androne, bearing the letter.

Indoors was probably no warmer than outside, but at least I was sheltered from the wind. By then I had observed another three men-well-dressed men waiting on well-upholstered benches-and had deciphered their clothing as that of a hungry young lawyer, an aging merchant with liver trouble, and a prosperous middle-aged Jew. The liver trouble I deduced from the color of the sufferer's eyes, of course.

I was more interested in the decor than a chance to rest my legs. The androne was large enough to revive the Battle of Agnadello, and the page was running up a quite admirable staircase. Obviously the palazzo had been heavily updated sometime in its latest century and I approved of the result, although it was going to start looking old-fashioned fairly soon. I presumed to wander around the big hall, admiring sculptures and wall paintings. Two of those I thought might be by Guariento. Nothing was new, but it was all fine quality.

An hour later I was sitting on a bench and starting to grow bored. The door knocker knocked, callers called, the flunky flunked. The visitors who had preceded me had been led off to attend to their business and been replaced by others. Other people wandered in and out unchallenged as if they belonged there, but nobody paid any attention to me at all. At the end of a second hour I was all alone and starting to suspect that I was not welcome. I have met such studied rudeness often enough that I can usually ignore it, but in this case I had reason to wonder if the Council of Ten had been informed of my presence there and we were waiting for Missier Grande to arrive and arrest me.

Finally a different flunky emerged from the cubbyhole, a spotty boy who was probably the most junior servant they could find in the entire palazzo. To his credit, he looked uncomfortable as he confirmed that I was who I am, and then informed me that sier Bernardo had no wish to meet with me.

"Then perhaps sier Domenico will? I have a letter-"

Alas, the second brother was not in residence at the moment. Would I like to speak with a secretary?

"No," I said, displaying admirable poise. "The matter is very confidential."

He escorted me to the great door and bowed me out. I refrained from tipping him for this service. I paused for a moment in the loggia while I wrapped my cloak tight about me. The riva was almost deserted now; the wind had risen and was whipping a fine spume off the waves of the basin, but it would be at my back as I walked to the traghetto. I had noticed that there was only one man left sitting on the bench, but paid him no heed until I started to move, for by then he had risen to accost me.

"Sier Alfeo Zeno?"

I nodded.

He bowed. "A lady wishes to receive you. Will you be so kind as to accompany me?"

"The kindness is yours," I retorted. "I trust I did not keep you waiting long?"

A polite but meaningless smile flashed across his face. "Much too long, but the blame does not rest on you, messer. This way, if you please."

He led me along the riva to the corner of the palazzo, then turned into a very narrow and inconspicuous calle. He puzzled me. He was stocky, with the breadth of a porter or stonemason, yet his dress was a vision in red and gold brocade, with osprey plumes in his hat and a ruff like a waterwheel, far too expensive for any servant, even a steward or secretary. His manner was genteel but lacked the Stand Aside, Rabble! arrogance of a young nobleman and he had not given me his name, as a gentleman would. I judged him to be about my age, but his beard was bushy and tightly curled, and beards can be deceptive. He could be some years younger or older.

Once around the corner and a dozen or so paces along the calle, he entered a shallow archway and paused to unlock a small but solidly built door, clearly a private entrance. Then he ushered me through, to a cramped, shadowy stairwell, and proceeded to relock the door. We began to climb.