‘Not bad, is it?’
He smiled back at me. ‘Not bad at all. You’re lucky, you know?’
‘I know I am. Maybe not so much at this precise moment.’ He started, and looked guilty, but I just chuckled and gave him a pat on the back.
The vaporetto pulled in to the San Zaccaria stop, and I held the swing doors open for Dad as best I could, as Mum set off in pursuit of the two kids haring their way through the cabin. ‘ Schoenes urlaub ,’ I said. He smiled and nodded.
We had, perhaps, ten minutes. I reached into my pocket, and brought out the envelope I’d taken – stolen – from his hotel. I passed it over to him. ‘It’s all in there, Paul. Everything he’s done. All those people he threatened. Those careers he ruined. And buried deep inside are the details of all the money he’s ripped off from you.’
He nodded. ‘We don’t really have a choice, do we?’
‘Not really.’
‘And I just have to trust you on this?’
‘That’s pretty much it.’
‘Can you tell me what you’re going to do?’
‘No.’
‘Why not?’
‘Too dangerous.’ But mainly because I hadn’t actually thought of anything.
He closed his eyes for a few seconds, and then smiled. ‘Okay, Nathan. Let’s do it.’
‘Good man.’ I heard the engines of the boat spinning into reverse as we slowed down and approached the Arsenale. We paused only for a few seconds to allow some passengers to get off, and then the marinaio had cast off again. Another few minutes, and we drew near to the trees and green spaces of the Giardini.
‘Let’s go.’ We made our way through the cabin of the vaporetto , and were the only ones to alight. Indeed, there were precious few reasons to get off at Giardini at this time of night. ‘Lovely when it’s like this, isn’t it? No one else around. And it’s Monday night. Which means the gardens have been closed all day. Which means the lightest of security details, and probably not even worth activating the CCTV.’ Yes, Lewis had thought it through pretty well. ‘Would a cigarette be good?’ He nodded. My phone, in his pocket, started to ring. He began to reach for it, but I waved my hand. ‘Ignore it. It’s probably not important. Let’s just enjoy the moment, eh?’ He smiled again, and we stood there and smoked in silence, looking out across the bacino to the city under the moonlight.
I ground my cigarette underfoot. ‘Guess we’d better go, then?’ He followed me into the gardens, and along the path to the fenced and gated area that separated the public gardens from the Giardini della Biennale proper. ‘I take it we’re going inside?’ He nodded. ‘Okay. If we try to get in here we’ll probably set off all sorts of alarms. Follow me round here.’
I took him into a thickly wooded area, perhaps a hundred yards to the right, where the metal fence was thickly concealed. ‘Hope you’ve not got your best jacket on,’ I joked, as we hauled ourselves over. I could see the main path leading up to the British pavilion shining in the moonlight. ‘I think we’d best stay off the beaten track, don’t you? We’ll go around the back way. Just be careful where you put your feet, the ground is a little bit treacherous.’
We crept through the undergrowth until we reached the fire door at the back of the pavilion, now open again with a faint light glowing from inside.
‘Okay, Paul, I think we’re here. Let’s go in. Good luck, eh?’
I checked my watch. Nearly eleven. I’d burned up as much time as I possibly could. Still, Federica would only just be turning the key in the lock.
I was depending on her, now. More worryingly, I was also depending on Gramsci.
Chapter 40
‘Where the hell have you been?’
I looked around, but couldn’t quite identify where Lewis Fitzgerald’s voice was coming from. ‘Had to be careful, Lewis. I didn’t think you’d want anybody spotting us on the way in.’
‘Fair point, Sutherland. And I’m up here.’ I looked up to the gantry where Fitzgerald was leaning – more than somewhat theatrically, I thought – upon the glass barrier, his body silhouetted by the emergency lighting shining from behind him.
‘Good pose, Lewis. I’m not sure I’d trust those barriers, though.’
‘Trust me, this one is absolutely fine. I’d stake my life on it.’
‘I’ll bet. Where’s Dario?’
There was no answer.
‘Where’s Dario?’ I repeated, trying to keep my voice steady.
‘He’s up here, Sutherland. And still in one piece. Tell Considine to come up here, would you?’
‘Tell him yourself, Lewis. Better still, ask him. He’s your friend after all. Isn’t he?’
‘You’re right. Paul, come up here a minute would you? There’s a good lad.’
Considine looked at me. ‘It’s all right, Paul,’ I said. ‘You go on up. It’s all going to be fine, I promise.’ He looked scared, but nodded, and then made his way up the stairs, and along the walkway, his boots clanking on the metal.
‘Now you, Mr Honorary Consul.’
I shrugged. ‘Sure.’ I followed Paul up the stairs, and was halfway along the walkway when Fitzgerald’s voice rang out. ‘That’s enough.’
I stopped.
‘You know why you’re here, Sutherland?’
‘Well, it’s one of two things, I guess. I’m hoping this is an exclusive private view and this is all just part of the experience. Or . . .’
‘Or?’
‘Or you’re going to horribly murder the three of us and make off with Considine’s money.’
He smiled. At the mention of his name, Paul looked over at him. ‘Lewis, I don’t care about the money. Take it all. Just go, and leave us alone.’
Fitzgerald smiled, and patted him on the cheek. ‘Oh Paul, but I’ve looked after you so well. Signor Nicolodi wrote some horrible things about you and got his just deserts. Nasty old Vincenzo Scarpa gets the shock of his life.’ He chuckled. ‘Silly old fool’s probably at home right now wondering if it’ll ever be safe to take a bath again. And that spiteful old queen Gordon Blake-Hoyt meets a nasty, brutish and short ending as well. Everyone who’s been horrible to you. I’ve done so much to help you, haven’t I?’
‘Except, of course, it isn’t quite like that, is it Lewis?’ He looked over at me, an expression of mild irritation in his eyes. ‘Nicolodi’s article wasn’t aimed at Paul, was it? It was aimed at you. “Look at me, I’m in print now in a big, proper national newspaper and perhaps I’m starting to think I’m not getting enough from this deal of ours. Because I know about every last skeleton in your closet, and where every last body is buried and, you know what, this hotel is just a little bit small for my tastes, can you do anything about that?” ’
‘Balderdash, claptrap and bunkum, Sutherland. In no particular order.’
I ignored him. ‘And grumpy old Vincenzo Scarpa? He was just a great big red flapping fish, wasn’t he? Somebody to send a scary postcard to. Somebody who you knew would create a big scene and throw us off the scent.’
‘Shut up, Sutherland. You’re boring me.’
‘It’s all true though. Isn’t it? Paul and I had a nice little chat about it on the boat. He’s seen all the documentation. Nicolodi confessed to everything. Intimidation, arson, false accounting. Even murder. And your name is linked to everything.’
Paul’s hand trembled as he pulled the envelope from his jacket. ‘He’s right, Lewis. He’s telling the truth. I’ve seen it all in here. You frightened me. Told me I’d be blamed for GBH dying and that only you could help me. And then, when that didn’t work any more, you told me you’d hurt Gwen.’
Lewis just smiled his shark’s smile.
‘I trusted you for years. I thought you were trying to help me. And now, all that money? All that money I’m supposed to have made. Where is it, Lewis? What have you done with it?’
Lewis continued to smile. ‘Paul, it’s all safe. It’s all where it should be.’ He reached out to him, as if to pat him on the shoulder, and then his fist la
shed out and he punched him in the face. Paul’s head jerked back and banged against the wall. He slumped to the floor and didn’t move. Lewis kicked him in the face anyway, whether to be absolutely sure or just out of sheer spite I couldn’t be certain. He wiped his hands, just for effect, with a handkerchief. ‘The money is all safe. In my account. And that’s where it’s going to stay. Oh, and I’m sorry if I said terrible things about your Welsh glamorous granny.’
‘That hand seems to be healing up well,’ I said. He nodded, finished wiping his hands, and tucked the handkerchief inside his jacket. ‘Of course, it was never really badly hurt to begin with, was it? There was never anyone else there at the Arsenale. You just took a swipe at the nearest person – didn’t matter if it was me or Scarpa – and then just cut your palm enough to make it bleed. And then you grizzled all the way to the hospital about how it had gone through your hand. And I believed you. I really started to believe you were the manager of some drug-crazed psycho artist who was going on a killing spree.’ I touched my nose. ‘Dario gave me the idea. “Why didn’t you just pretend to be hurt?” he said. And, of course, that’s exactly what you did.’
At the mention of his name, Dario groaned. I couldn’t quite make him out, half concealed as he was by Considine’s unconscious body.
‘Dario, are you okay?’
He raised himself, ever so slightly, and nodded. ‘I’m okay, buddy.’ His forehead, I noticed, was bleeding. His hands, I could see, were tied behind his back but he made an effort to get to his knees.
‘The gorilla is fine, Mr Sutherland. The trouble is, he didn’t have one of these.’ He brandished a revolver at me, twirled it in his fingers and then, almost casually, smacked Dario across the face with it.
‘Bastard!’ Dario slumped backwards.
‘Language, please,’ drawled Fitzgerald, and drew back his hand to hit him again.
I held up my hands. ‘Stop it. Please, Lewis, just stop it. Don’t hit him again. It’s nothing to do with him.’
Lewis shrugged. ‘I’m sorry, Nathan, but it seems to me it’s very much to do with him.’ He hit him once more, and this time blood sprayed from Dario’s nose.
‘For God’s sake, he’s got a wife and kid.’
‘Tragic, isn’t it?’
‘Please. It’s me you want. Just let him go.’
‘Well that’s very noble of you, Nathan, but you’re just going to have to wait your turn.’
‘But why, for God’s sake?’
‘Well, it has to look convincing. I mean, look at poor old Considine down there. He doesn’t really look like he’s capable of fighting the two of you to the death, does he now? Still, we’ll do our best to make it look good.’
‘Lewis, please think. This is insane. You can’t kill all three of us.’
He scratched his head. ‘I rather think I can, you know.’
‘So what’s the idea? Dario and I were trying to clear my name, only to be killed in a showdown with the crazy serial-killer artist?’
‘Pretty much. Something like that. Well done, Sutherland, well thought out.’
‘Oh look, just think. People will find out. It’s a stupid idea, too many people already know about it.’ He hesitated. ‘People know about you and Francesco Nicolodi. How many people do you think he had his insurance policy sent to? They’ll join all the dots up.’
Lewis scratched his chin. ‘It’s possible. Trouble is, I don’t really see an alternative now.’ He gave a little jump, and the gantry shuddered, ever so slightly. I clenched my eyes shut, and grabbed the guardrail. He smiled. ‘Not very good with heights, are you, Nathan? What if I do it again?’ He stamped down, properly hard this time, and again the gantry shook.
‘You stupid bastard, you’ll kill us all.’
‘Not all of us. Only you. My bit is perfectly secure.’
I grabbed for a railing but, before I could put my weight on it, I felt it wobble underneath my hand. I leapt back from it, my movement making the gantry shudder terribly, and then watched as the section of glass crashed to the floor below.
Lewis reached inside his jacket, and took out a hex key. ‘Sorry, Nathan. Truth is this whole thing is a bit of a lash-up. It can be put together in a few hours. And dismantled in round about the same time.’ He stamped again, and I dropped to my knees and gripped the floor beneath me.
‘I don’t think that’ll help, you know. Remember poor old Gordon Blake-Hoyt, Nathan?’ I said nothing. He stamped again. ‘I said, do you remember poor old Gordon, Nathan?’
It took all my strength of will to keep my eyes open. ‘How could I forget?’ I said.
‘Do you ever wonder what it must have felt like? When he realised he was falling? Do you?’
I nodded.
‘This, I imagine, must be worse?’
Again, I nodded.
‘The difference is, you now have time to think about it. Gordon would have had, what, a fraction of a second as he fell? But you, every time I do this,’ he stamped again, ‘you have so much time, so much time to wonder, will this be the last time, will this be the time the structure collapses, what will I hit, is there any chance I’ll survive? It must be terrifying. Mustn’t it?’
I screwed my eyes shut, took a deep breath and raised my head. Then I slowly, ever so slowly, got to my feet and forced myself to keep my eyes open. It was difficult to keep my voice steady. ‘Yes, I’m scared,’ I said.
I reached my hand out to the wall on my right. Solid, reassuring. Yet nothing to hold on to. Nothing that would help me if the gantry, which swayed beneath me, collapsed. ‘I’m scared,’ I repeated, ‘but I’m going to give you one last chance.’
I could hardly see his face in the semi-darkness, but I could imagine his expression. ‘You what?’
‘One last chance, Lewis. You leave us now. You run like hell out of here. You leave me, Dario and Considine unhurt. You get on the next flight to China, or Belarus or Iran or somewhere else that doesn’t extradite. And you have my word – my absolute word of honour – that I will say nothing about you, nothing about the past, nothing about what’s happening now. I’ll let you get away with murder if you let us go. Do you understand?’
There was a brief pause, and then he laughed. ‘You must be absolutely mad.’ He stamped again, I clung to the wall, and something metallic dropped from the gantry and pinged off the floor. It wasn’t going to last much longer.
‘I’m not mad. I’m giving you a chance. There’s a stack of evidence against you in that envelope.’
‘Oh yes. Thanks for reminding me.’ He reached down, and picked it up. ‘I’ll make sure to take great care of it.’
I nodded. ‘Okay. But I did try.’ I reached into my jacket, and drew out the USB stick. ‘You know what this is?’
Lewis had his foot in mid-air, ready to bring it down again. He paused.
‘Ah, you do, don’t you?’ I tossed it in the air, and caught it in my left hand. The right, for what it was worth, still clinging to the wall. ‘You want this?’
Lewis stepped forward. The gantry shook, just a little, and so he stepped back. He ran his hands through his hair, and forced a smile upon his face. ‘Oh, poor Mr Sutherland. I don’t know what you think you’ve got there, but – and I am most terribly sorry – it really isn’t going to help you.’
‘Isn’t it?’ I said. ‘Okay. Stamp on the gantry again.’
He raised his foot. And then he paused.
‘Come on. Do it. Once, twice more and I’ll fall. The only thing is, this,’ and I brandished the USB stick, ‘is going to fall with me. Because everything is on here. Nicolodi’s complete, signed testament. And you’ll have to find a way of getting it back from the midst of a forest of broken glass.’
And then I heard it. A long way off, but unmistakable. A siren.
Federica. Gramsci.
They’d done it.
I put my hand to my ear. ‘Listen. You hear that? That’s a police boat coming across the lagoon.’
‘Liar!’ he shouted.
> ‘Of course I’m not a bloody liar, Lewis. You did everything you possibly could to stop me contacting the police. But you’re holding my best friend captive, so of course I’m going to find a way. What do you think this is, some shit movie? And in the end it wasn’t that diffiscult. You know why? Because my brilliant girlfriend is smarter than you. More than that, my cat – my cat, Lewis – is smarter than you.’
‘Bastard!’
‘Now you’re not even using sentences any more, Lewis. Come on. Step out of here. Step back. The deal still holds if you want to.’
‘Bastard. Lying bastard.’
‘Yes, you’ve said that before. Both of those I know. Come on, be original.’ Again, I raised my hand to my ear. ‘Closer now. Must be at San Zaccaria. Maybe another two or three minutes to get here, perhaps another few minutes to find us. We are making rather a lot of noise.’
‘Give me it, you bastard. Or I’ll kill them. I’ll kill both of them.’ He spun around and trained his gun on Considine, who was trying to get to his feet.
‘Not much of a threat, Lewis. I don’t really know him. So I don’t really care. Sirens are getting closer, aren’t they? Try again.’
He raised the gun and smacked it against Considine’s forehead. Then he moved on to Dario. Dario, still dazed from the beating, tried to raise himself. Lewis, slowly, deliberately, put his boot on his chest and forced him back to the floor. Then he pushed the barrel of the gun against Dario’s forehead. He turned and looked at me.
‘Lewis. Please.’
He continued to stare.
‘Lewis. He’s my best friend. Maybe my only friend. Please don’t do this. He’s got a wife. His daughter isn’t even a year old. Please.’
He smiled.
‘It’s your last chance, Lewis.’
His expression changed. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, give up now. Obviously. What did you think I meant?’ By now, under the blare of the sirens, I could hear the crunch of boots on gravel.
‘Son of a bitch,’ Lewis swore, pushed his gun against Dario’s forehead and forced him to the ground. Did I see his finger tighten on the trigger? To this day, I can’t be sure. All I knew was that Valentina and Emily were waiting at home for him. Make him angry, Nathan. Make him so angry he’ll stop thinking . I gripped the USB stick in my fist. ‘Okay, Lewis. Here we go. Come and take if off me, eh? Come on boy. Fetch!’ And I tossed it over the side. There was a gentle plink from below, and I gestured with my left hand. Twenty feet below, the stick lay in a maze of jagged glass.
Vengeance in Venice Page 25
