The Alchemists pursuit

Four single-mentions and three favorites were identified only by Christian names, the favorites being Chiara Q, Lodovica Q, and Tonina Q. Recalling do

Apart from gondolas, the scenery mentioned included chairs, tables, and floors; also haystacks, grass, stables, and a coach, all which must have been on the mainland.

At last we had the courtesan murders unarguably tied to Zorzi Michiel and in the morning we could start sending out warnings to any women Violetta and Alessa had missed. It was time for me to go. I checked that there was no light showing under the Maestro's door and left the book and my notes on his side of the desk. I added a note: The Popess left this for you on Sunday.

I hadn't done my dusting.

Again Giorgio rowed me to San Zulian. Normally I tell him what I am up to and the fact that I had not explained these midnight journeys was making him uneasy. Again I walked the deserted streets by feeble lantern light, for the moon was clouded over. This time I had only my shadow for company, not even a cat. Illogically, the fact that now I carried a fortune in gold under my shirt made me more nervous than before, as if thieves might somehow smell it from the shadows. I was actually happy to see the door with the grille. I was probably early and risked ru

It was not until we were both in the room with the table that either of us spoke. As before, Sciara wore black and a sardonic, cadaverous smirk.

"Did you get it?" I asked, louder than I expected. The question was superfluous, because he had a coin balance waiting.

He stood with his fingers on the table, looking across at me with a fixed, catlike stare. "Of course, or you would not have been admitted. I warn you, though, that some documents seem to be missing."

"What isn't missing?"

He shook his head. "I ca

The terms were unconscionable and the moment I brought out the gold, then that mysterious second door might swing open and Missier Grande march in to arrest me. If Sciara was just cheating me and there was nothing of value in the folder, I should have no recourse except to poke my rapier through him, but that would be no solution and little satisfaction. If I refused to trade, more women might die. I reached for the pouch.

"You will understand," he remarked as he began weighing the coins, "that I ca

I pulled out the chair on my side of the table. "Of course we must trust each other. Let there be honor among thieves."

He showed his teeth in a satisfied leer at the balance. "Excellent, one grain over. You are generous." He dropped the coins in a bag and hung it on his belt. He returned my money pouch.

Only then did he pull out his chair and sit down. Reaching under the table, he produced a document folder, a large sheet of heavy paper with its corners folded over to make an envelope, tied up with ribbon. I could see right away from the older creases and dust marks that the package had been originally folded around much thicker contents. It had been plundered, perhaps quite recently.

Sciara held it close to one of the lamps and sca

"Why don't we just see what's in there?" I demanded, for the contents clearly could not match the length of the index.

"Oh, the impetuosity of youth!" Sciara murmured, but he set to work on the binding.

"Do documents often go missing from such files?"

"Not since Domine Spataforta became grand chancellor." He opened and spread out the cover, exposing about a dozen or so sheets of paper held together by ribbon. I could almost believe he was too embarrassed to meet my eye as he passed them across to me.

I moaned. "Sixty ducats a page? I hardly dare touch such valuable material." Few things taste more bitter than the knowledge that one has been played for a dupe. Sciara must be enjoying himself enormously, remembering past slights. I began at the back, where the earliest documents should be.

The first was a report: Testimony of His Excellency, NH Giova

Gradenigo had been present in the dark and crowded atrium and was apparently quite close when Gentile Michiel was stabbed. His first warning had been a woman's screams, followed by clamor from many throats. He had fought his way through the fleeing, panic-stricken mob, and it sounded as if he had been a large, or at least powerful, man. He found Gentile Michiel writhing on the floor, with do

Either Pesaro or Foscari asked a question and the clerk had followed normal interrogation style:

Question: The witness was asked if he recognized anyone who was close when the murder was committed.

Answer: "No, there was complete confusion. People had fled in all directions. Do

Then Agostino Foscari took up the story, backing up Gradenigo's version and going on to describe Michiel's death, still down on the floor, waiting for medical help to arrive; not that doctors could have done anything for such a wound.

Then came an exchange that hit me like a bolt of lightning.

Question: The witness was asked if he observed the murder weapon.

Answer: "I did. When we were certain that the victim had been gathered to the Father, and when poor do

Question: The witness was asked to describe the weapon.

Answer: "It's an ordinary straight dagger of landsknecht type, made in Germany. You could find a dozen of them for sale in the city. It's probably a century or so old and has recently been sharpened."

For a moment I sat amid the thunder of our case against do