What could I say? ‘Yes, of course, it’ll be fun.’
I caught Oscar’s eye and read a fair shot of scepticism in it – and he wasn’t the only one to feel that way.
By the time I’d struggled into my costume, I was already sweating, and the mask over my nose didn’t help. When I went out of my room into the stifling heat of the Venetian summer evening, I could feel perspiration running down my back. It was, therefore, a considerable relief when I walked into the dining room to find that the air-con had been doing a fine job, and it was refreshingly cool in there. Oscar at my side kept casting suspicious looks in my direction. Although he appeared to have accepted that it really was me underneath the mask and the silly clothes, he was clearly unsettled.
As I walked in, I was greeted by Mary. I almost didn’t recognise her at first, as she was dressed in a long, maroon, velvet dress trimmed with gold, and she had a simple, but elegant, black, lace mask around her eyes. She had bare shoulders, a pearl necklace, and her hair was tied back with a red and gold contraption, making her look like a painting I had once seen of Anne Boleyn. She gave me a smile and a little curtsy.
‘My Lord Magistrate, good evening.’ Her tone was formal and respectful.
I grinned as I saw Oscar stop and do a double take. What were these humans up to? Seeing his confusion, Mary reached down to fondle his ears, and he gradually started to look reassured.
Entering into the spirit of the evening, I swept off my silly hat and bowed towards her. ‘Good evening, ma’am, and who might you be?’
‘I’m the personal secretary to the Doge. My name is Maria.’ She transferred her attention to Oscar, who was sniffing the hem of her dress with great interest. ‘I see you’ve brought your faithful assistant. Come and let me introduce you to your fellow dinner guests, starting with the Doge himself.’ She lowered her voice and changed to a less theatrical tone. ‘Miss Graceland is playing the part of his wife, Donna Alicia, the lady who really runs the show in this version of Venetian history. She’ll be here shortly.’ I saw her check out my appearance. ‘Valentina’s done a great job on your costume. You really look the part of the Doge’s chief enforcer.’
‘That’s what I’m supposed to be?’
‘I hope so. Miss Graceland asked me to check out what the Doge’s chief of police would have been called, and it’s been tricky. The closest I could come up with wasMagistrato alla Milizia,who was responsible for investigating “serious crimes”. I reckon that’ll do.’
She led me across the room towards where a man was seated on a throne-like chair, surrounded by a group of five other people, all decked out in convincing Renaissance costumes. Presumably, these were the actors Alice had mentioned. There were four men and two women, and I didn’t need to be a Renaissance expert to see that the man at the centre of the group was dressed in the finest silks and lace, while two of the other men and both women were dressed in garments similar to my own – fine but not opulent – while the remaining man was wearing simpler clothes. One of the men had a red mask while the two women were adorned with elaborate, glittering masks trimmed with feathers.
Mary morphed back into her Renaissance character and made the introductions. She spoke in English and I could see that the actors understood. Of course, I told myself, as the gueststomorrow presumably wouldn’t be likely to speak much Italian and, from what Mary had told me, Alice herself probably didn’t speak more than a few words, fluency in English must have been a prerequisite. Mary started by addressing herself first to the Doge, the man in the middle.
‘Your Excellency, ladies and gentlemen, this is Don Daniele, the Magistrate, the head of the Doge’s police force, and a man to be feared and loathed in equal proportions.’ I saw the man in simple clothes give a realistic shudder at the sound of my name, while the others didn’t react – except for the Doge. He raised a regal hand in greeting towards me but made no comment while Mary pointed at Oscar and continued. ‘With the Magistrate is his ferocious hound, trained to sniff out conspiracy wherever it may lie.’
Bang on cue, Oscar wandered over to the Doge and rather spoilt his ‘ferocious hound’ appellation by wagging his tail good-naturedly and licking the man’s hand. Mary turned back and addressed me formally.
‘My Lord Magistrate, of course you know the Doge well after working with him for years, but let me introduce you to the Doge’s half-brother and his wife, along with Admiral Diodato, the head of the Venetian navy, a man of considerable substance.’
I checked them out and had to commend whoever had selected the actors for their roles. The Doge was smaller than I had expected, but he made up for any lack of height by emanating an aura of power. Giordano, the Doge’s half-brother, was holding his mask in his hand, which meant that I was able to see his weaselly face, while his wife in her sumptuous, yellow, feathery mask positively exuded supercilious noblesse, even though I couldn’t see her full face. As for the Admiral, he was certainly a man of substance. His wide leather belt barely retained his massive stomach, and the red mask across the tophalf of his face matched the colour of his cheeks, giving him the appearance of a freshly boiled beetroot. He looked as though he were about to explode at any minute.
Doing my best to enter into the spirit of the play, I bowed to the Doge and then adopted a haughty air, merely acknowledging the three nobles with the slightest nod of the head before transferring my attention to the remaining woman, who was wearing an unexpectedly revealing dark green and gold dress. ‘And who is this young lady?’
Mary was on hand to introduce her. ‘This is Donna Lucia, a courtesan, and the man behind her is Giorgio, the landlord of this inn.’
The landlord gave me a respectful bow, and Donna Lucia followed suit, although her neckline threatened a serious wardrobe malfunction as she leant forward. Her extravagant, feathery mask concealed her whole face, but when she clapped eyes on Oscar, she pushed it up onto the top of her head and gave him a broad smile.
‘Hello, doggie. You’re a looker, ain’t you? Come and give us a kiss.’ Her accent took me back to my life in London. She could have come straight from behind the bar of any number of East End pubs. I wondered idly what had brought her to Venice. Oscar, for his part, didn’t bow but he trotted over, tail wagging, to say hello and found himself almost smothered by the warmth of her greeting.
Before I could initiate any kind of conversation, there was the sound of a door opening behind us and Alice Graceland appeared, dressed in a spectacular cream-coloured robe. She was wearing delicate, lace gloves to her elbows and her hair had been curled up onto her head and tied back with strings of pearls. She looked every bit the First Lady of Venice, and Oscar at my side obviously agreed as his tail started wagging furiously. She sweptgracefully over and stopped to survey us with what looked like satisfaction.
‘Excellent. You all look the part.’ She, too, was speaking English. She turned to Mary. ‘Mary, I think Oscar could do with a bow around his neck. Could you organise that for tomorrow, please?’ Without waiting for an answer, she turned back towards our group. ‘Thank you all for coming. For any of you unfamiliar with murder mysteries, I’ll just run through the basics of what’s going to happen. I would like you to all be back here on the island by six tomorrow at the latest. That should give you ample time to get changed and ready. The guests will assemble, either here or outside under the pergola, at or after six o’clock, and you then join them at seven. It will be your job to move around among them, giving them all a chance to speak to you. As you do so, I want you to pass on a few clues that may help them when trying to establish the identity of the murderer. I’ll let you have these clues later this evening. Each of the guests will have received a card with a brief background to their character. Obviously, they will be all be instructed not to reveal what’s on their cards to anybody.’
The Admiral raised a hand. ‘Excuse me, but could I ask a question, please?’ To my surprise, he had a strong Yorkshire accent. ‘Who’s going to get murdered? Is it going to be one of us?’
Alice shook her head. ‘The victim will be me.’ This came as another surprise to me, but Alice went on to explain. ‘I play the part of the real ruler of the Venetian Republic, the power behind the throne. The Doge himself is completely in my thrall and, as a result, I have collected a considerable number of enemies, jealous of my power. All of the guests will be given cards explaining who they are and why every single one of them would dearly like to see me dead. Just to complicate things for them when they try to work out who did it, all of you will alsohave reasons for wanting me, Donna Alicia, the Doge’s wife, to die.’
I caught her eye. ‘I gather that I’m the Magistrate. Does this mean that I’m impartial?’
‘Indeed. You are the investigating officer. It’ll be up to you to draw all the different strands together and, at the end of the evening, to give each of the guests the opportunity to point the finger at the person they believe to be responsible for the murder. Once everybody has said their piece, you will reveal the identity of the murderer and reward whoever has got it right.’ She looked around at all of us. ‘The basic premise of the story is that we have escaped from an outbreak of plague in the city and are hunkered down here in this isolated inn until the disease passes and it’s safe to return to Venice again. Is that clear to all of you?’
The Cockney courtesan had a question. ‘What happens to you, Donna Alicia, after the murder? Do you just lie on the ground with a dagger in your heart or a rope around your neck, or do you continue to play a part even after your supposed death?’
Alice nodded. ‘The murder will take place right at the end of the meal, so I shouldn’t have to wait too long for the denouement. I’ll just pretend to be dead and listen in to the conversation until everything is revealed. The important thing is for you all to circulate among the guests in the course of the evening and to pass on the clues that I’ll give you. Please keep these to yourself until tomorrow as this will enhance the experience if nobody knows in advance who the murderer is. Is that clear?’
There were murmurs of agreement, and she continued.
‘I’m delighted you’ve all brought masks, and this will further confuse the guests in their investigations.’ She produced a golden mask from behind her back and put it on. This was a full face mask with a blank, pitiless expression that looked downrightscary. The top half of the mask with the eyeholes was solid, while the lower half over her mouth was made of golden lace, concealing her lips but presumably allowing her to eat and drink without having to remove it. ‘Thank you in advance for your efforts. Now, I suggest that you all help yourselves to a drink and get to know each other, but please do try to stay in character. Dinner will be served in an hour, so that should hopefully give you time to talk among yourselves and refine your backstories.’
