‘Ciao, Dan. Lina tells me you’re going to Venice next weekend. I don’t suppose you could do me a favour while you’re there, could you?’
Virgilio is a very close friend, and I was quick to agree. ‘By all means. Is it business or pleasure?’
‘Pleasure. It’s Lina’s birthday in a couple of weeks, and for once, I’ve remembered and I even know what I want to give her. The problem is that it’s a piece of glass from the island of Murano in the Venice lagoon, and it’s very fragile. If I get them to send it by post or courier, I have a horrible feeling it’ll arrive here in pieces. Seeing as you’re going up there, could I arrange for somebody to give you the vase and then you bring it back for me? I have a good friend up there who says she can pick it up and let you have it. Would that be okay?’
‘Of course it would. Just give me the details of where and when to meet your friend and I’ll happily bring it back to Florence wrapped in my dirty washing. You’re an old romantic at heart, aren’t you?’
‘I think we both know the answer to that one but, at least, that might make up for my forgetting Lina’s birthday last year.’
At that moment, Mum and Anna appeared, so I rang off and hurried inside to fetch a bottle of cold white wine, a couple of glasses and a plate of nibbles. Anna had prepared bite-sized pieces of traditional Tuscan bruschetta, some topped with chopped tomatoes, some with soft goat’s cheese and some with pâté. I poured the wine for Anna and Mum and sat down at the table under the pergola with them. I kept a close eye on both of their faces and I was unable to spot any signs of awkwardness so, hopefully, all was well so far.
We chatted increasingly easily. Anna told them about her job as a university lecturer and I gave them an edited version of some of my recent cases, including my trip to Venice – deliberately not mentioning Alice Graceland by name. This had the effect of stimulating my father to join in the conversation more than he normally did, and he sounded genuinely fascinated by what I’d been doing. In return, I got news via Mum that my brother had been promoted at long last – he’s in insurance – and that both his children were doing well at university. Mum, who knows everything about the area in Croydon where they’ve lived ever since I was a boy, told me about various friends, some doing well and some not so well. It sounded very parochial now, and I found myself yet again thanking my lucky stars that I’d chosen to take the big decision to give up my career with the police and move here to this idyllic spot. Meeting up with Oscar and Anna had been the icing on the cake. I sat back and admired the view, knowing that I was a lucky man.
‘Daniel? Daniel, have you been listening? I bet you haven’t heard a word I’ve said.’ My mother’s voice roused me from my thoughts, and I saw her turn to Anna with an air of exasperation. ‘I can always tell, you know. He gets that faraway look in his eyes when he goes into detective mode. He was like it as a little boy. Has he told you about the Sherlock Holmes Club?’
I was definitely listening now and I tried to intervene, but it was too late. I could see a twinkle in Anna’s eyes as my mother set out to embarrass me in front of her – and she succeeded. ‘When he was twelve, he and a couple of other boys in the road decided that they were going to be detectives. They used to go around hunting for clues to solve crimes.’ She glanced across at me and smiled as she must have seen my cheeks colouring. ‘We had the mystery of the dead mouse, the mystery of the broken milkbottle, the mystery of the missing shoe, and oh-so many more mysteries.’
Anna was positively beaming by this time. ‘The mystery of the dead mouse? This I must hear. Let me guess, it was next-door neighbour’s cat. Surely you should have got that. Am I right?’
As my professional reputation had been impugned, I felt I had to respond. ‘That was what everybody thought at first, but we managed to prove the cat innocent.’ I turned and pointed an accusing finger at my father. ‘You have before you, ladies and gentlemen, the culprit. Would you please confess to Anna your part in this heinous crime?’
My dad was only too happy to play along. He adopted an expression of contrition as he confessed. ‘I admit it. I was responsible.’
Anna was looking less sure of herself now. ‘What did you do?’
Dad shook his head ruefully. ‘I’m afraid the mouse must have been hiding under the wheel of my car. When I reversed out of the drive, the boys told me I must have killed it. I won’t go into the rather disgusting detail of how they managed to prove that the mouse had been flattened by something heavy, but you get the picture.’
I turned triumphantly towards Anna. ‘You see, without the intervention of the Sherlock Holmes Club, Tiddles next door might have been wrongfully accused.’
Anna was grinning as well now. ‘And the rest is history. Fired with enthusiasm after the success of your first case, in which you proved the innocence of a poor feline, you knew how you wanted to spend the rest of your life. Am I right?’
I grinned back. ‘Without the Tiddles saga, who knows what I might have ended up doing?’
6
NEXT FRIDAY MORNING
According to the regulations of the Italian state railways, dogs travelling on high-speed trains must be equipped with muzzles. Oscar didn’t like the muzzle I had bought for him and, for my part, I felt almost embarrassed having to tie it on him. Fortunately, this was Italy, and there’s a lovely Italian expression that translates roughly as, ‘No sooner is the law made, than the way to get round it is invented.’ The ticket collector who came walking through the carriage spotted him sitting at my feet, wearing his muzzle and looking fed up. She stopped to inform me that she was quite happy not only for me to remove his muzzle but also for him to sit on the empty leather seat alongside me so he could be more comfortable. He licked her hand gratefully and she went off with a smile.
I gave him a treat and apologised again for the demeaning muzzle. In reply, he licked my hand as well, and I got the impression that he understood and forgave me. As the train picked up speed and dived into an impressive series of tunnels bored through the Apennine mountains, I sat back and reflected on the past few days with my parents. All in all, things couldn’t havegone much better. Within a very short space of time, Mum and Anna had ganged up against me and had soon been giggling like schoolgirls at embarrassing tales of my youth. They had spent hours in the kitchen, where they had swapped recipes, and I had found myself served Yorkshire pudding for the first time in ages. Most importantly, Mum had never once brought up the subject of Helen, my ex-wife, and I was feeling very relieved as a result.
Dad and I had taken Oscar for walks in the hills, where Dad was fascinated by all the different plants, from olive trees and vines to wild rosemary and orchids. He loves his garden and he appeared fascinated by my new plant identification app on my phone. This had been a Christmas present from Lina, and it was surprisingly accurate. All I had to do was point it at a plant, and it would produce the Latin name and, with the more familiar ones, the common name. I offered to buy him one but, as his idea of a phone is a nineteen-sixties vintage landline, he had nothing on which to instal it. I wondered whether maybe I should buy him a smartphone for Christmas, but I had a feeling it would lie unused in the back of a drawer. Technology never was his forte and, as for my mum, she believes the Internet to be the work of the Devil.
We went into Florence to see the sights on a number of occasions, including taking Mum and Dad to visit the Uffizi gallery. We had to book in advance and there were crowds of people in there, admiring some of the most famous paintings in the world, but they both seemed to enjoy themselves in spite of all the visitors. We walked across the Ponte Vecchio and, inevitably, called in at the office of Dan Armstrong, Private Investigations. Mum did a lot more walking than I had expected, and she managed pretty well although, come the evenings, I could see that she was weary.
When the time came to take them back to the airport onTuesday, both Mum and Anna had been in tears, and I had felt an overwhelming sensation of relief that Anna had been accepted into the family – as had Oscar. Mum had actually hugged him before she left and promised to bring him ‘something special’ next time she came to see him. All in all, things had gone a whole lot more smoothly than I had been expecting – apart from the numerous revelations about the Sherlock Holmes Club, of course, which still made Anna snigger when she spoke of them. I had little doubt that before long, she would tell Lina and she, of course, would then tell Virgilio. As a result, I felt sure the next time I had to visit the Florence murder squad offices at thequestura, I would be the object of considerable ridicule. Still, the important thing was that by the time that I dropped my parents back to the airport, I had been confident that all was well on the family front.
The train arrived in Venice on time and, as before, Mary was waiting for me on the platform. Oscar greeted her enthusiastically – no surprise there – and she appeared equally pleased to meet him. As we walked out of the station, we chatted.
‘I’ve prepared the final list of guests – Miss Graceland has a copy for you – and there are going to be twelve in total: two big-name directors, two producers, an agent, a couple of other studio staff – I’m not too sure what they do – and two actors whose names I’m sure you’ll recognise. Would you believe Dirk Foster and Lucy O’Connell?’ She caught my eye. ‘Movie royalty, right?’
I nodded in agreement. I had seen a couple of films featuring Foster. He was a Sylvester Stallone lookalike with bulging muscles in places where most normal humans like me don’t have places. As for Lucy O’Connell, she had been acclaimed as the sexiest woman on the planet some years ago with her pouting lips and gravity-defying bust. I hadn’t heard much about her recently. I seemed to remember reading that she had been introuble of some sort, but the detail escaped me. She was certainly a big name though, and I looked forward to meeting her – along with Foster and his muscles.
I queried Mary’s maths. ‘I make that nine. Who are the others?’
‘Three partners, then there’s you and me, along with the actors for the murder mystery event, although they won’t be staying over. Add in Valentina, Diego and their daughter, and that’ll be over twenty people. I think Miss Graceland’s quiet island retreat is going to get busy.’
As we emerged into the sunlight, I saw Diego in the launch. As before, he was waiting a little way out in the channel and when he spotted us, he came chugging over to the steps. Oscar’s eyes lit up as we approached the Grand Canal. Like most Labradors, he loves water, and I made sure I kept a tight hold on his lead to prevent him from diving in. Apart from the risk of being run down by one of the numerous vessels travelling up and down the waterway, I had read that swimming was prohibited – maybe because the waters were potentially polluted – and I didn’t want him to catch anything.
