Chapter 31

W ith the natural light sufficient to make their way by, Rat had turned off his torch. As they began to make their way out of the room of landscapes, there was a noise ahead. Rat stopped and instinctively threw an arm out to press Melody back against the wall. Perhaps their shadowy companion was a security guard, or perhaps Herr Peetz. However, it was more likely to be Mr X lying in wait. Whoever it was, the reality of the danger he had placed his sister in suddenly overwhelmed Rat. But it was too late now to do anything about it.

Indicating that Melody should remain where she was, Rat tiptoed to the opening separating the exhibition rooms and peered around the wall. He wasn't sure what he'd been hoping for as far as possible hiding spots, but from what he could see, there was nothing in the large exhibition space ahead that would lend itself to effective concealment. There were statues; he could see their outlines clearly enough, but nothing was large enough to provide any meaningful cover.

What Rat could see was a long bench in the middle of the space. Sitting on the bench were two figures. It was too dark to be able to identify who they were, but from their voices, it was clear it was a man and a woman. It was also evident that they were speaking in German. Rat thought there was something familiar about one of the voices, but he couldn't be sure. The man's voice sounded far too young to be Herr Peetz. And anyway, it was fair to assume the woman was Fr?ulein Peetz. Why would her father just be sitting here if he had somehow rescued his daughter ?

As he listened to the hushed tones of the conversation, what Rat realised was that whoever the man was, this was not a kidnapper and his victim. The whispered German phrases had no harshness to them; quite the opposite. While he might not understand the words, Rat was worldly enough to know when he had stumbled across lovers. The words "Meine Liebe" cemented his belief that this so-called abduction was not all they had believed it to be. As if in confirmation, the next sounds he heard were of the couple kissing, or at least that is what he thought they were.

Rat knew that Melody had learned German and had some proficiency, certainly more than he did. Stealthily returning to the spot where he had left his sister, he whispered that whoever they had come across was speaking German, and she should go and see what she could understand. It went against everything Rat believed in to send his sister ahead of him and into harm's way. If he could have thought of any other option, he would have taken it.

Melody moved as silently as possible to where Rat had been standing. The kissing had stopped, and the conversation resumed. She listened for a few minutes, increasingly in shock at what she heard – or what she thought she heard; her German was worse than her Italian.

Finally, slinking back to the relative safety of the smaller room, she pocketed her gun and indicated that Rat should follow her as she retraced their steps back to the staircase that led to the back entranceway. Rat wanted to protest at their retreat. At the very least, he wanted to understand Melody's reasons for leading them back the way they had come.

After crossing the room quietly, Melody was grateful she'd had the foresight to leave the creaking door open. As it was, she couldn't imagine how the couple hadn't heard it open before. Melody could only imagine they had been too absorbed in their lovemaking. Whatever the reason, best not to tempt fate again. What this did mean was they couldn't close the door behind them. If they'd been able to, Melody might have been tempted to explain everything to Rat as soon as they were through it. Instead, she led the way back down the narrow staircase and back into the dark hallway.

Then she stopped. Could they take the risk of going into one of the storage rooms to talk? It seemed unlikely their voices would carry. After all, the lovers didn't seem to be making a lot of effort to modulate their voices, yet Melody and Rat hadn't heard them from downstairs. Weighing this up against the risk of being discovered by security guards if they left the pavilion, Melody made a decision and walked into one of the rooms. Rat followed.

Moving as far into the room as possible, Melody turned and said, "It's a trap. Fr?ulein Peetz hasn't been taken against her will. I heard her saying something to the man about her father and finally getting what she wanted. Her paramour must be Mr X." Then she added, "That man, his voice sounded so familiar, but I cannot think why."

"I thought the same thing," Rat admitted. "And I couldn't even understand most of what was being said."

Suddenly, Melody was hit by the most terrible thought: was the man speaking German Alessandro? Was that why the voice was familiar even in another language? If it was, then Alessandro knew that Melody and Rat were planning to interrupt the rendezvous and must have been lying in wait for them. Perhaps it hadn't occurred to him that they would come early and break in through the back. Icy fingers of dread squeezed her heart; Alessandro and his lover were planning to ambush them. They must have been laughing at Melody's naivete in blurting out their plans that afternoon.

Melody felt hot tears well up in her eyes, and she willed herself not to let them fall; he must have been laughing at her this entire time. Was that night in the gondola nothing more than a sophisticated man of the world playing with an innocent young girl, perhaps hoping to learn what she suspected of his secrets? With growing shame, she replayed that evening and remembered Alessandro saying teasingly, "Were you asking about me?" Well, she had thought it was teasing at the time, but now she wondered if he had already been suspicious of her. More to the point, had he been suspicious of Rat? Thinking back to the day of their arrival in Venice, she reflected on the coincidence of Alessandro having been on their train. Was it merely chance, or had he been watching them? Perhaps even since London?

Rat hadn't noticed his sister's distress; it was too dark to see her unshed tears, and he was too absorbed in his thoughts to pick up on what her worries might be. Rat had experienced his own epiphany about who their mystery man was, and, for once, he wasn't consumed by Conte Foscari's likely guilt.

Instead, he said quietly, "Melody, I think the man up there may be Xander."

Melody was so surprised by Rat's words that she was shocked out of her melancholy. Having spent what felt like many minutes, but in truth could have been timed in seconds, second-guessing everything she thought she knew about and had felt with Alessandro, hearing her brother mention the name of her other suitor astonished Melody. Xander? Sweet, golden retriever-like Xander, who was courting her?

The thought was so absurd Melody laughed out loud.

"Shhh," Rat whispered.

"I am sorry," Melody whispered back. "But truly, I could not help myself. Xander? You think that Xander is in league with Fr?ulein Peetz?" Then, realising the implication of her words, she continued, "Wait? Do you think Xander is Mr X? That he killed Signor Graziano and Silvio Verdi?" It was all just too absurd for words. Melody tried and failed to imagine Xander, with his hair flopping over his forehead, shooting the two men in cold blood.

Then, just as she was about to laugh again, Melody thought back over the past week. She had first gone into Signor Graziano's shop when they were out with Xander, who had insisted on staying outside to smoke. To smoke! Of course, it was hardly unusual for a man to smoke, but had there been another reason he had not wanted to accompany her into the shop? Had he been trying to avoid being recognised by Signor Graziano ?

Melody considered the timing of Silvio Verdi's death: Rat had taken the list to the consulate to show Mr Burrows. Xander had then spent hours in the library with Rat, helping to translate Silvio Verdi's articles. What if Xander had overheard Rat's conversation with the British Consul, and she and Rat were the reason the journalist was dead?

Rat's thoughts had followed a similar line to Melody's. He put his hand out and grasped for one of hers in the dark. "It is not our fault, Melody. We couldn't have possibly known."

Only minutes before, Melody had been heartbroken at the thought that Alessandro's interest in her might have been feigned. Now, she had to contemplate a similar possibility for her other suitor. This did not bring her to tears, but it did cause her to shake her head in confusion. Perhaps it was merely wounded pride and vanity, but Xander's esteem had seemed quite heartfelt. Was it possible it was an act to cover for something else? And if so, what?

They had lots of unanswered questions, but explanations for these things couldn't be their immediate concern. "What do we do now?"

Melody had vocalised the thought running through Rat's head. What should they do next? They had believed they were helping rescue an abducted young woman, but it seemed that wasn't the situation. Instead, if they believed what they had seen and heard upstairs, Fr?ulein Peetz was complicit in luring her father to the Austrian Pavilion. But why?

"We have to stop Herr Peetz," Melody announced. "We cannot let him walk into this trap."

Rat thought about what they knew. They were unsure of Herr Peetz's role in the murders. They had found a note that someone had written claiming to be holding his daughter. They had extrapolated that the kidnapper was Mr X, their murderer, but they had no real evidence to back this up. Was it possible that Xander and Fr?ulein Peetz were not the villains in this story and that by warning Herr Peetz, they might end up aiding the enemy ?

A similar thought had occurred to Melody, but then she had realised the truth, which she now admitted to Rat. "Xander asked if he could court me. He kissed me. This afternoon." If Melody could have seen Rat's face in the dark, she would have observed his over-protective brother look come over his face. Even though it had been obvious that Xander admired his sister, Rat felt that kissing and courting her, particularly without her brother's permission, was beyond the pale.

Melody couldn't see his face, but she could guess Rat's reaction. However, they had no time for that particular conversation. Instead, she said, "The man who kissed me this afternoon is upstairs canoodling with another woman. Everything he said to me, his entire act since we met, it has all been a lie. That much is evident. But why?" Then, realising that they had overlooked the most damning piece of evidence, Melody pointed out, "And he speaks fluent German!"

Rat wasn't sure how damning a piece of evidence this really was. Britain wasn't actually at war with Germany. Moreover, learning foreign languages was a standard part of a good education for Britain's upper classes. The dowager was fluent in German, after all. Was this another piece of the jigsaw puzzle, or a rogue piece they were trying to fit in where it didn't belong?

They had lost track of time, and Rat risked turning his torch on briefly to look at his watch; it was only nine-thirty. Herr Peetz had been told to arrive at ten o'clock. What should their next move be? They had the element of surprise on their side so they could go back upstairs and confront Xander and Fr?ulein Peetz. But to what end? There was no actual evidence that Xander was Mr X. In fact, even saying Mr X out loud sounded absurd. While Xander might be chagrined to be caught in flagrante, as it were, that was also not a crime. All they had were guesses and suppositions. They didn't even have proof that the smuggling of documents from Austria was real and not a figment of their overactive imaginations.

"Melody, is it possible this is nothing? Have we let ourselves get caught up in a story that only exists in our fancy? What would we even accuse Xander of doing? Yes, he seems to have broken into the pavilion, but so did we."

Melody could hear the uncertainty in Rat's voice, and it broke her heart. She had nothing at stake besides her vanity, but for Rat, this investigation could end his fledgling Intelligence career before it had even really begun. To accuse a member of the consulate staff of murder and perhaps treason was not an action to be taken lightly. Yet, she couldn't help saying, "Rat, we did not imagine two murders in almost as many days. Something is going on. And let us not forget that Herr Peetz was scared enough by something or someone to escape out of his window."

"Well, to be fair, it might have been us he was trying to escape from," Rat pointed out.

"I just do not think it was. I think it was receiving that note. A note that claimed his daughter was in danger. The same daughter, we believe, is sitting upstairs, letting Xander Ashby make love to her. If she escaped or was never in danger, why wait here?"

Rat didn't want to point out that Fr?ulein Peetz wouldn't be the first victim of kidnapping to become enthralled by her abductor. He didn't want to point it out because he didn't believe that was what had happened here. There just hadn't been enough time. They were working on the assumption that Fr?ulein and Herr Peetz had travelled to Venice together and were staying in the same hotel. If that was the case, then she could not have been missing for long. After all, the man had pointed out his daughter at the party just a few days before.

When Melody listed all the separate elements of the investigation, Rat had to concede that there was something there. It just didn't seem enough to accuse a man at gunpoint.

"Can we really march up there and accuse Xander Ashby of murder?" he asked, as much to himself as Melody.

"Murder now? That's what you think?" a voice said with a chuckle from deep in the shadows of the doorway.