“I agree,” Grenville said. “Were you friends with the conte?”
“No.” Trevisan was as chilly as ever. “He was, as you say in English, a mountebank.”
Grenville’s brows rose, and I stepped closer to listen. “Do you mean to say he wasn’t who he said he is?” Grenville asked.
“Oh, he is from an old family. The de Lucas have been in Rome for centuries. But how they obtained their wealth does not bear scrutiny. They take what they find and are in league with those who would gut all our lands.”
Trevisan pinched his mouth shut as though he hadn’t intended to say so much.
“That is quite an accusation,” I remarked.
“But the truth.” Trevisan bent his cold eye on me. “He was ever good at playing thebuon amico, the good friend, themate, as you might call it. To his own ends.”
I was realizing this, which was too bad. Conte de Luca had been larger than life, and I’d wanted to become better acquainted with him. I reflected that I might dismiss Trevisan’s claims as nothing more than his sour disposition had Denis not told us his convictions about de Luca this morning.
Trevisan’s gaze turned steely. “You, Captain Lacey, must find out who has killed him. I need to know.”
The second person today adamant that I solve de Luca’s murder. “May I ask why?” I said, somewhat ill-temperedly. “I am here on holiday.”
“I have heard of your reputation.” Trevisan adjusted his gloves. “You find things out. We must know whether a ruffian thief killed him or if this is … political.”
I did not like the thought that de Luca’s demise involved the tangled politics of the Italian states. Unrest simmered below the surface up and down the peninsula, which I’d felt since our arrival. Too many changes at once on top of the collapse of theAncien Regime.
I could scoff that of course a thief had done this for de Luca’s great wealth, but I was no longer certain. A thief would have quickly helped himself to whatever goods he could carry before he’d realized that de Luca, alone in one room of this vast house, was even at home.
However, de Lucahadbeen killed, and Denis’s worry was real. I would need to stay close, in any case, if I were to find out if de Luca did have the dangerous information Denis claimed he did.
Grenville watched me closely as I debated with myself. Finally I squared my shoulders and sent Trevisan a nod.
“Very well,” I said. “I will see what I can turn up.”
Chapter14
The corners of Trevisan’s eyes tightened as though he was surprised I’d agreed. He’d been prepared to battle with me, and he no longer needed the arguments he’d been ready to grind out.
“You will tell me about anything you discover, and bring the culprit to me,” he said.
“I beg your pardon,” I answered with a coolness that matched his own. “I do not work for you, sir, nor am I a subject of this land. If I do find the killer, I will of course want him brought to justice. But you are not a magistrate, not here in the Papal States. You hail from Milan, which is in Lombardy, I believe.”
“I do, and it is. But that does not matter. Until Conte de Luca’s death is resolved not one thing must be removed from this house.” Trevisan glared at me as though he knew all about me taking away the Cupid statue. I decided not to enlighten him about that.
I wondered at Trevisan’s insistence—as I’d said, he was not a magistrate here, and he’d just told me he’d had no fondness for de Luca. Did he believe de Luca or his family had taken something that belonged tohim?
“I will tell Gian,” I said. “He will not want the things removed either.”
Trevisan’s lips pinched. “This person called Gian should not be the only man to look after things here. You should do it.”
I was growing tired of Trevisan’s imperious ways. No matter what good Baldini and the Stanbridges had said of him, to me he’d only been irritating and demanding.
“I will do what I can,” I said. “That is all I can promise.”
At last, Trevisan seemed to realize he could only intimidate us so much. He gave us a truncated bow. “Inform me of your findings.” He turned and strode out, boot heels drumming on the stones of the floor.
Grenville blew out his breath once the gate had clanged behind him. “Didheever meet Bonaparte, I wonder? And who was the victor in that exchange?”
I grunted a laugh. “He certainly expects obedience. I can scarcely believe he is the warm family man Baldini told us about.”
“Very odd.” Grenville glanced at the jumble of the downstairs. Gian was nowhere in sight, and Brewster had disappeared as well. “This will be a puzzle, Lacey. Anyone in Rome could have killed de Luca that night. The only people I’m certain are innocent are you, Brewster, and me. Baldini as well—he was waiting for us in Herculaneum, at Trevisan’s command.”
