His psychology was right. Mancini shrugged his shoulders as the auctioneer glanced at him enquiringly. Then he rose to his feet. The bidding was over. Mancini was making a grand exit as though washing his hands of a preposterous business. The auctioneer raised his hammer. This time his movement was quicker.
But as the hammer rose, a sharp firm voice said, 'Due e mezzo.'
The room gasped. Two and a half million lire!
Mancini sat down again, searching the room. For a moment there was not a sound. I looked across at Valdini. The beaming importance had been wiped from his face by this fresh bid. His features had a mean look. The auctioneer searched out and found the new bidder. He was a small, pallid man in a dark grey suit seated uncomfortably on an upright chair. He looked like an undertaker. His clothes did not suggest that he was worth a lot of money. Asked to repeat his bid, he did so in the same firm voice.
The auctioneer glanced at Valdini who nodded his head with a worried look and raised the bidding five hundred thousand. 'Tre million!.' The voice was firm and impersonal. It hushed the sudden outburst of excited conversation.
'This is incredible,' I said to Mayne.
His eyes were fixed intently on the new bidder. He did not hear me. I turned to Mancini. 'Who is the little man who is bidding?' I asked him.
'A lawyer from Venezia,' he said. 'He is a partner in a firm which works for big industrial enterprises. He, too, is bidding for a client.' His tone showed his concern. I think he was envisaging a big syndicate invading Cortina with money enough to put himself and his friends out of business.
Valdini suddenly jumped five hundred thousand. His voice was pitched a shade high as he made the bid. It was a violent gesture. 'Shock tactics,' I whispered to Mayne.
He was still watching the scene intently, his eyes narrowed. I noticed the knuckles of his hands were white where they gripped the chair. He was clearly very excited by the bidding. Suddenly he relaxed. 'What? — oh, shock tactics — yes. Valdini is near his limit.' And he turned away again, tense and watchful.