‘I’ve heard a lot of nonsense about doctors and assumed identity and I’ve heard the man who made that accusation laughing like a maniac. Now you just leave the guy alone and I’ll telephone the carabinieri. It’s their responsibility.’
‘Listen, Hacket. This man has kidnapped Hilda Tucek’s father.’
‘I don’t believe it.’
‘I don’t care whether you believe it or not. Go out and telephone the carabinieri. Meanwhile—’
It was at this moment that the lights dipped. They did it twice and then they faded away. For a moment we could see the filaments in the candle bulbs of the chandelier glowing faintly and then they vanished and the room was a red glare full of moving shadows. ‘The plant must have run out of gas,’ Hacket said. At the same moment Maxwell shouted. A figure slid by me. The door opened and slammed shut. Maxwell dashed past me, had it open in a flash and disappeared into the darkness of the hall. I got my torch out and followed him.
The front door was still bolted. ‘Through the servant’s quarters,’ I said.
We dived into a passage. It led to the kitchen. Beyond were outhouses and here we found a door hanging open. We went out, sinking to our ankles in soft ash. We could see his footsteps in the ash leading out of the shadow of the villa into the red glare towards some outhouses. As we ran over the sifting surface of the ground there was the roar of a motor and Zina’s cream cabriolet came slithering round the corner of the house, the back wheels sending up twin sprays of ash that caught the light so that they looked like firemen’s hoses in the glow of a fire.
I had a brief glimpse of Sansevino at the wheel, then the big car was charging straight at us and we were jumping for our lives. He just missed us and I heard him change gear as he rounded the corner of the villa. ‘Quick! See which way he goes.’ I followed Maxwell as fast as I could to the front of the building. The car’s headlights cut a swathe through the red night as it hurtled down the track through the vineyards. We could see carts and people straggling along the road to Avin and Maxwell’s car shrouded in ash standing by the open gateway. With blaring sirens Sansevino nosed out on to the refugee-strewn road and turned right. ‘He’s going up to Santo Francisco. Come on! We’ve got to follow.’
Hacket and Hilda had joined us now and as we started off down the track to where the cars were parked, Zina came flying after us. ‘Don’t leave me,’ she whimpered, clutching hold of my arm. ‘Please don’t leave me. I’ll show you where they are.’
Maxwell heard her and turned. ‘You know where Tucek is?’ he asked her.