‘Because now I know what it’s all about.’ I stood looking down at her, wondering why she’d trapped me like this. ‘Are you in love with this man?’ I asked her. It seemed to me the only possible reason.
She sat up then, regardless of the way her dressing-gown gaped. ‘I tell you once before — I hate him. He is — he is a cretin.’ She spat the words at me.
‘Then why do you do what he tells you?’
‘Because otherwise he will ruin me.’ She lay back again, pulling the dressing-gown round her. ‘He knows things about me and he will tell my husband if I do not do what he ask.’
‘Because of Roberto?’
‘No. Not because of Roberto.’ She dropped her eyes. ‘It is because — because he has something I need.’ The sound of voices came through the open window. She listened for a moment. Then she said, ‘I think you should go now.’
But I paid no attention. I was thinking of Walter Shirer. He’d been tough. But he wouldn’t have blackmailed a girl, whatever she was. And he wouldn’t have got involved in the Tucek business. Reason confirmed now what instinct had already told me. I knew beyond any doubt who it was searching for me in the grounds of the villa. ‘His name is Sansevino, isn’t it?’
She stared at me. ‘Please. I do not understand.’
‘His real name,’ I said impatiently. ‘It’s Sansevino, isn’t it?’ But the name apparently meant nothing to her. ‘All right,’ I said. ‘It doesn’t matter. But I’d keep clear of him in future. His name’s Doctor Sansevino, and he’s a murderer.’
‘Doctor Sansevino.’ She frowned. ‘You say he is a doctor?’ Then she nodded her head slowly. ‘Yes, I think perhaps he is a doctor.’