'What a fool I was to be taken in by his protestations! I ought to have known that he would never forget the injury I had done him.'
'He planned it well,' said Matteo.
'Except for the soldier,' I remarked. 'He should not have chosen anyone who could be recognised.'
'Probably he was the leader. But how well he managed everything, keeping us after the others, and nearly persuading Filippo and me to go home before you. Caterina was in the plot.'
'I wonder he did not defer the attempt when he found you would not be alone,' I said to Checco.
'He knows I am never alone, and such an opportunity would not easily occur again. Perhaps he thought they could avoid you two, or even murder you as well.'
'But Ercole and his men?' I said.
'Yes, I have been thinking about them. The only explanation I have is that he placed them there to cover their flight if they succeeded, and if they failed or could not escape, to kill them.'
'As, in fact, they did. I thought I saw Ercole make a sign to the soldier who stabbed the only living one.'
'Possibly. The idea was evidently to destroy all witnesses and all opportunity for inquiry.'