Frail Barrier (27 page)

Urbino thanked the
cartaio
and left. On his way to the Marciana Library across from the Doges' Palace, Urbino went over what Clementina had said during her demonstration of the marbling process. He didn't recall her mentioning alum, but this didn't mean that she didn't have the chemical in her shop or didn't have easy access to it.

Could she have managed to administer alum to Zoll? Had her brother been involved? What would have been their motivation? The obvious one would seem to be financial gain, as it would have been for Hollander. One of the classic motives. Zoll's death might have meant money for Luca, and money for Luca might have meant money for his half-sister, struggling with her newly established business. It was Hollander, however, who had inherited Zoll's fortune.

But it was certainly possible that Luca might have got something, too, depending on when the will had been made. He had known Zoll for over two years, and Zoll's knowledge of his own imminent death could have resulted in his drawing up a new will. Even a small sum could have been a temptation for Luca. And perhaps money for Luca would have meant more money for Clementina when Luca died, although she had said that he hadn't been a beneficiary in Zoll's will.

Urbino wondered when Zoll's last will had been made out. Before or after he had met Luca? Urbino was counting on Rebecca to shed some light on this through her contacts in Munich.

At the Marciana, however, where Urbino did some research in the large reading room, he was pulled in directions that had little if anything to do with Clementina. It was all because of watercolors. Very clearly spelled out in the books was a warning against cadmiums and cobalts, which, like alum, were toxic. Watercolorists were advised against wetting the brush with their mouth to avoid ingesting the poisonous substances.

What would happen if one or both of the chemicals were administered in large doses?

But what motivation would Maisie Cray have had? There was nothing linking her to Zoll, Luca, or Albina – nothing concrete except for her watercolor of the bridge that had somehow come into Zoll's hands and on to the wall of his Grand Canal apartment.

Two women, Foppa and Croy, and both of them with access to poisons through the normal line of their work.

Poison, it was said, was a woman's preferred method of murder. Urbino believed this to be true, but not because women were by nature more devious than men. Women, as food-preparers and caregivers, however, were in an excellent position to administer poisons.

Yes, food-preparers and caregivers. Had Foppa or Croy been able to get close enough to Zoll to slip him some poison in his food or medicine? Or maybe Luca, who was perfectly placed to do it? And once Zoll had been poisoned, how and why had Luca and Albina been murdered?

But there was another person, and also a woman, who was in an even better position to poison someone. And she too had access to poisons in the natural line of her work. Urbino was dead certain that Perla Beato's
erboristeria
contained substances which, in large dosages or when combined together, could be lethal. And Perla had been a nurse – or rather, as she herself had said to Urbino when he had visited her
erboristeria
, she still
was
one.

The evening brought further complications as well as clarifications.

First the contessa called. She had received a preliminary report from Bascomb about Hollander Tours.

‘From what he's learned, it's in financial trouble. He said that on the surface everything looks to be flourishing; but they're not too far from collapsing. I'm surprised.'

‘You shouldn't be. Even an old established firm, one like Bascomb's itself, can look prosperous but have a rotten foundation. Look at some of the palaces here. Their piles are rotten.'

‘Poor Nick. He's putting on a brave front. I know what you're thinking. He needed money and he killed his stepfather for it. But he was going to die anyway, and from what Bascomb says Hollander Tours could easily keep floating for at least another year without any capital. And Zoll had a natural death sentence.'

‘I agree with you. I don't think Hollander killed Zoll.'

Half an hour later Urbino got another piece of information that did nothing to shake his belief that Hollander hadn't killed his stepfather even though it gave him one of the strongest of motives.

Rebecca's contacts in Munich had informed her that Konrad Zoll had drawn up a perfectly legal will six months earlier when he had learned that he had only a short time to live.

There were several bequests – one to the Egyptian Museum in Berlin – but the bulk of his large fortune he left to Hollander.

‘I've been regretting that I told you those things about Perla,' Oriana said that evening when Urbino phoned her. ‘And now you want more information.'

‘I wouldn't ask unless it was extremely important. And whatever you could tell me is probably a matter of public record anyway. I could unearth it, but it would take time.'

Urbino heard Oriana take a long drag on her cigarette.

‘Well, Perla never swore me to secrecy, and as you say, you could find out easily enough. Yes, she did have a problem as a nurse. At the Ospedale Civile.' This was the municipal hospital in the Campo Zanipolo. It was in the quarter from which Urbino had seen Romolo rushing when Urbino had been in the bookshop near Santa Maria Formosa. ‘Three of her patients died during her night shift within a period of a few months. They hadn't been seriously ill. She was suspended while an investigation was made. But she was cleared of any suspicion of negligence. She still is a nurse and could practice if she wanted to. But it soured her about the profession. It was one of the main reasons she studied homeopathic medicine.'

A few nights later Urbino was jolted from a deep sleep by the ringing of his bedside telephone. He looked at the clock. One fifteen.

‘Pronto!'

He sat up.

‘Signor Urbino?'

He recognized the voice immediately.

‘Giulietta? What's the matter? Has someone broken in again?'

‘No, no! May God protect me! If he breaks in again, I might be as dead as Albina!'

Giulietta was close to shouting.

‘You know who broke in?'

‘No! I wish I did. We could protect ourselves then. All of us!'

‘The doors are secure now. It's your nerves.'

But Urbino sensed it was more than this.

‘Why are you saying this, Giulietta?'

‘I wouldn't have to explain anything if I hadn't lied to you. It's on my conscience. I'm afraid I'll pay a high price. Yes, lied. It was because I was scared, but now I'm more scared. I can't sleep a wink.'

‘Lied about what?'

A deep sigh came over the wire.

‘About nothing being stolen. Something
was
stolen!'

Urbino was fully awake now.

‘Something of Albina's?' Urbino prompted when Giulietta fell silent. ‘Nothing of Albina's, no. Something of mine! A pistol.'

‘A pistol?'

‘Yes!' she cried. ‘I've had it for years.'

‘But what were you doing with a pistol, Giulietta?'

‘Nothing! And I never did anything with it, I swear. But I had it.'

‘Where did you get it? From Albina?'

‘Albina? That mouse? She wanted me to get rid of it. Remember I told you about my trip to Vienna with a friend? I got it there.'

‘Why?'

‘It was such a pretty little thing, with a mother-of-pearl handle. A lady's pistol, my friend said. Her father collected guns. They were in a big cabinet. So many of them.'

‘Your friend gave it to you?'

‘I'm ashamed to admit it, Signor Urbino.' Giulietta lowered her voice. ‘I stole it, you see. I want to tell you the truth now. Maybe it will protect me. It was in a box. Dark wood, all carved, with mother-of-pearl on it, too.'

‘Why did you take it?'

‘My friend had so many. And it was so pretty. Albina and I lived alone. I thought that it would protect us if something bad happened, but now it's the exact opposite!'

‘Did it have bullets with it?'

‘Of course!' Giulietta said, raising her voice again. ‘Could it have done any good without bullets?'

‘But that was dangerous, Giulietta, having it in the house.'

‘It was never dangerous when it was in the house. Only now that it's out of it! The bullets weren't
in
the pistol! They were in the box. But everything's gone: the box, the pistol, the bullets! And if the person shoots someone with it, I will be to blame.'

‘Did you ever tell anyone about it?'

‘Only Albina.'

‘Do you think she might have mentioned it to anyone? Now that I think of it, she might have been about to tell me the night she died. She said that you could protect the two of you. It must have been the pistol she was thinking about.'

‘She talked too much, not like me. Maybe she did tell someone.'

‘And your friend? The one from Vienna? Did she notice it was gone?'

‘If she did, she's never mentioned it.'

‘You have to tell the police about this, Giulietta. They need to know.'

‘Would you tell them for me, Signor Urbino, please?'

‘You must do it yourself. First thing in the morning, and in person. You can't wait any longer. The day after tomorrow is the regatta. I mean the day after today,' he corrected himself, it now being the early hours of Saturday. ‘Everything is going to be busy and confused on Sunday.'

Urbino gave her the name of Corrado Scarpa, the contessa's police contact.

‘I hope you don't think I'm a bad woman. I know I stole and I lied.'

‘I understand these things. And I'm sure the police will. Everything will be all right.'

Urbino hoped that Giulietta was more reassured by his words than he was.

Part Five

The Finishing Line

Twelve

It's as if we put in an order, paid a top price, and got even more than we expected – or deserve,' the contessa said to Urbino on regatta afternoon.

They stood on the loggia of her palazzo waiting for her party to begin and looking out at the sweep of the Grand Canal.

Fleecy white clouds drifted in slow procession against a French blue sky, driven by a pine-scented breeze from the Dolomites. Little diamond points speckled the waters of Grand Canal, undisturbed by its usual traffic on this day of the celebration.

People crowded any free space that bordered or overlooked it. Banners supporting teams for the races were draped from the windows and the balconies of the buildings. It was much worse around the area of the finishing line by Ca' Foscari, which would provide a clear view of not only all the races but the water parade as well.

‘You look handsome,
caro.'
The contessa ran her hands down the front of his dark blue linen jacket and straightened his tie. Her bracelet of three gold strands with the intertwined letters
B
and
A
reflected the sunshine.

‘And you're a vision as usual,' Urbino responded.

The contessa was wearing a pleated silk Fortuny dress in a shade of sea green and weighted with corded pearls of Murano blown glass. Around her neck was a gold chain with an oval pendant of Titian's portrait of Caterina Cornaro at the Uffizi. The contessa had commissioned a painter to make the miniature copy so that she could wear it today. She had swept her blonde hair up and back like Cornaro's coiffure in the portrait.

‘Let's hope my little gathering goes smoothly and Gildo and Claudio do well.'

‘They already have. To have got this far is a major achievement.'

Voices and laughter spilled out onto the loggia. A few moments later Vitale, the contessa's major-domo, came through one of the high wide doors and nodded to her.

‘It's begun,
caro,'
she said.

She planted a quick kiss on his cheek and went into the
salone da ballo
.

Draperies of red, white, blue, and green adorned the
salone da ballo
. These were the colors of the ribbons that would be awarded to the winning teams at the end of the competition. Through an artful arrangement, these decorations didn't clash with the Murano chandeliers, gilded moldings, and stuccoed ceiling of the room. Nor did they seem out of place with the sixteenth-century tapestry of Susanna and the Elders that dominated one wall.

A long buffet table covered with a dark blue cloth offered delicacies of various kinds, including the more mundane tradition of the regatta,
brodo
and boiled meat. The foods were placed in a series of large and small bowls, chafing dishes, and plates in the shape of some of the boats that would appear in the water parade and races –
caorline, gondolini, mascarete, desdotone, pupparini, bissone
. The centerpiece was a three-foot replica of the
Bucintoro
, the doge's ceremonial barge. Its elaborately carved dark wood and gilded figurines, with a lion of St. Mark on the prow, set off the mounds of caviar piled in its hull.

Beneath the tapestry stood a platform with a five-piece orchestra. The soprano Annamaria Terisio and the tenor Michele Altieri, who frequently performed at the contessa's gatherings, had just sung, to considerable approval, a series of arias and duets from Donizetti's
Caterina Cornaro
.

The orchestra was now playing popular tunes. Guests swept across the floor. Oriana and Nick Hollander were proving to be excellent dancing partners, especially in the absence of Filippo who, to Oriana's delight, had another engagement. Clementina Foppa was in the arms of a middle-aged man with a goatee and glasses who had come with Romolo's son, Rocco.

After dancing with the contessa until an elderly Da Capo-Zendrini nephew cut in, Urbino went to sit with Giulietta. It was the first opportunity to ask her if she had gone to the police the day before.