Chapter 9
FRIDAY AFTERNOON
When we got back to the island, I thanked Diego and went to my room with Oscar.
When I got there, I dug his bowl out of my bag and gave him a long drink of cold water.
I then turned my attention to a large paper parcel I saw lying on my bed.
Sure enough, wrapped in brown paper was my costume for the murder mystery session tomorrow evening and for the dummy run tonight.
I tipped the contents onto the bed and took stock.
It looked ominously similar to the costume I had had to wear on the set of the movie a couple of years back when I had met Selena Gardner and, more importantly, Anna.
That movie, too, had been set in Renaissance times.
I unfolded each of the articles and studied them.
On top of the pile, there was a papier maché mask that looked chilling.
It wasn’t a full face mask but more of a half-mask, covering the top half of the face.
It was a sinister black with red around the eyeholes with a long, curved, beaky nose almost covering my mouth.
I had a feeling it would be next to impossible to eat or drink while wearing something like this, but what lay below it was even worse.
There was a white silk – or imitation silk – shirt, over which I would wear a deep-blue, velvet sleeveless gilet, trimmed with silver braid.
That wasn’t the problem, but my heart sank as I spotted the next article of clothing.
It was a pair of baggy, blue and yellow pantaloons, composed of stripes of blue velvet and white silk.
To make matters worse, there was a floppy hat, also made of blue velvet, with silver trimmings and a tassel at the back.
I picked it up and spotted, nestling innocently underneath everything, what I’d been dreading most of all: a packet containing a pair of blue tights.
Oscar had finished his water by now and was sniffing the costume with interest. I don’t know whether it stirred a distant memory in him, but he glanced up at me, and there was no mistaking the expression on his face. He was giving me a big, hairy, toothy, canine grin.
I didn’t grin back.
‘It’s all right for you; nobody’s making you dress up. I just hope all the activity takes place inside air-conditioned rooms, or at night. A combination of heavy velvet clothes, the silly hat and tights is going to make life pretty damn uncomfortable in this heat.’
Still, I told myself, I had no choice, so I would have to grin and bear it – or at least bear it while grinding my teeth.
I checked the time and saw that it was already five o’clock, so that didn’t leave me much time before the dress rehearsal.
I took Oscar outside again and let him wander about, sniffing his surroundings, while I sat down on a stone bench and called Anna to check that she’d got safely to her friend’s place in the Apennines and to give her a progress report.
I felt quite jealous when she told me that she was up at fifteen hundred metres, where the temperature was a very pleasant twenty-one degrees.
I told her that here in Venice it was at least 50 per cent hotter than that and when I related what I was going to have to wear tonight, I could hear her giggling.
‘I’m beginning to wish I’d come with you now. I do love dressing up in Renaissance costume. But you’ve always enjoyed it as well, haven’t you?’
What could I say? ‘Yes, of course, it’ll be fun.’
I caught Oscar’s eye and read a fair shot of scepticism in it – and he wasn’t the only one to feel that way.
By the time I’d struggled into my costume, I was already sweating, and the mask over my nose didn’t help.
When I went out of my room into the stifling heat of the Venetian summer evening, I could feel perspiration running down my back.
It was, therefore, a considerable relief when I walked into the dining room to find that the air-con had been doing a fine job, and it was refreshingly cool in there.
Oscar at my side kept casting suspicious looks in my direction.
Although he appeared to have accepted that it really was me underneath the mask and the silly clothes, he was clearly unsettled.
As I walked in, I was greeted by Mary. I almost didn’t recognise her at first, as she was dressed in a long, maroon, velvet dress trimmed with gold, and she had a simple, but elegant, black, lace mask around her eyes.
She had bare shoulders, a pearl necklace, and her hair was tied back with a red and gold contraption, making her look like a painting I had once seen of Anne Boleyn.
She gave me a smile and a little curtsy.
‘My Lord Magistrate, good evening.’ Her tone was formal and respectful.
I grinned as I saw Oscar stop and do a double take. What were these humans up to? Seeing his confusion, Mary reached down to fondle his ears, and he gradually started to look reassured.
Entering into the spirit of the evening, I swept off my silly hat and bowed towards her. ‘Good evening, ma’am, and who might you be?’
‘I’m the personal secretary to the Doge.
My name is Maria.’ She transferred her attention to Oscar, who was sniffing the hem of her dress with great interest. ‘I see you’ve brought your faithful assistant.
Come and let me introduce you to your fellow dinner guests, starting with the Doge himself.
’ She lowered her voice and changed to a less theatrical tone.
‘Miss Graceland is playing the part of his wife, Donna Alicia, the lady who really runs the show in this version of Venetian history. She’ll be here shortly.
’ I saw her check out my appearance. ‘Valentina’s done a great job on your costume.
You really look the part of the Doge’s chief enforcer. ’
‘That’s what I’m supposed to be?’
‘I hope so. Miss Graceland asked me to check out what the Doge’s chief of police would have been called, and it’s been tricky. The closest I could come up with was Magistrato alla Milizia, who was responsible for investigating “serious crimes”. I reckon that’ll do.’
She led me across the room towards where a man was seated on a throne-like chair, surrounded by a group of five other people, all decked out in convincing Renaissance costumes.
Presumably, these were the actors Alice had mentioned.
There were four men and two women, and I didn’t need to be a Renaissance expert to see that the man at the centre of the group was dressed in the finest silks and lace, while two of the other men and both women were dressed in garments similar to my own – fine but not opulent – while the remaining man was wearing simpler clothes.
One of the men had a red mask while the two women were adorned with elaborate, glittering masks trimmed with feathers.
Mary morphed back into her Renaissance character and made the introductions.
She spoke in English and I could see that the actors understood.
Of course, I told myself, as the guests tomorrow presumably wouldn’t be likely to speak much Italian and, from what Mary had told me, Alice herself probably didn’t speak more than a few words, fluency in English must have been a prerequisite.
Mary started by addressing herself first to the Doge, the man in the middle.
‘Your Excellency, ladies and gentlemen, this is Don Daniele, the Magistrate, the head of the Doge’s police force, and a man to be feared and loathed in equal proportions.
’ I saw the man in simple clothes give a realistic shudder at the sound of my name, while the others didn’t react – except for the Doge.
He raised a regal hand in greeting towards me but made no comment while Mary pointed at Oscar and continued.
‘With the Magistrate is his ferocious hound, trained to sniff out conspiracy wherever it may lie.’
Bang on cue, Oscar wandered over to the Doge and rather spoilt his ‘ferocious hound’ appellation by wagging his tail good-naturedly and licking the man’s hand. Mary turned back and addressed me formally.
‘My Lord Magistrate, of course you know the Doge well after working with him for years, but let me introduce you to the Doge’s half-brother and his wife, along with Admiral Diodato, the head of the Venetian navy, a man of considerable substance.’
I checked them out and had to commend whoever had selected the actors for their roles.
The Doge was smaller than I had expected, but he made up for any lack of height by emanating an aura of power.
Giordano, the Doge’s half-brother, was holding his mask in his hand, which meant that I was able to see his weaselly face, while his wife in her sumptuous, yellow, feathery mask positively exuded supercilious noblesse, even though I couldn’t see her full face.
As for the Admiral, he was certainly a man of substance.
His wide leather belt barely retained his massive stomach, and the red mask across the top half of his face matched the colour of his cheeks, giving him the appearance of a freshly boiled beetroot.
He looked as though he were about to explode at any minute.
Doing my best to enter into the spirit of the play, I bowed to the Doge and then adopted a haughty air, merely acknowledging the three nobles with the slightest nod of the head before transferring my attention to the remaining woman, who was wearing an unexpectedly revealing dark green and gold dress. ‘And who is this young lady?’
Mary was on hand to introduce her. ‘This is Donna Lucia, a courtesan, and the man behind her is Giorgio, the landlord of this inn.’
The landlord gave me a respectful bow, and Donna Lucia followed suit, although her neckline threatened a serious wardrobe malfunction as she leant forward.
Her extravagant, feathery mask concealed her whole face, but when she clapped eyes on Oscar, she pushed it up onto the top of her head and gave him a broad smile.