"Unfortunately not, as I've told Mary," D'Alaqua said, with a slight smile. Then he turned to Sofia, his tone perfectly natural and polite, but distant.
"How is your investigation going, Dottoressa Galloni?"
Mary and the rest of the group looked at him, puzzled.
"You two know each other?" Mary asked.
"Yes, I met Dottoressa Galloni in Turin a few weeks ago. You've all heard of the fire in the cathedral, I'm sure. The Art Crimes Department was-perhaps still is, Dottoressa Galloni?-investigating it."
'And what do you have to do with it?" Mary asked.
"Well, it was COCSA that was doing the repair work in the cathedral. Dottoressa Galloni was looking into certain suspicions she and her colleagues had about the incident."
Marco was struck by D'Alaqua's extraordinary self-possession. He projected absolute innocence without ever acknowledging in the slightest that it might be in question.
"Tell me, Dottoressa Galloni, what was suspicious?" asked one of the women in the group, a princess who appeared in all the society and fashion magazines. "I thought it was a simple accident."
Sofia gave D'Alaqua a wounded look. With one brief comment he'd made her feel awkward, clumsy, as though she'd crashed the party. Paola and Marco looked uncomfortable too.
"When an accident takes place in a site where there are cultural treasures of this magnitude-like the cathedral, in this case-it's our responsibility to consider all the possibilities," Sofia responded.
'And have you reached any conclusions?". the princess asked.
Sofia looked at Marco, who cleared his throat to indicate that he'd take it from here.
"Our job is more routine than it might appear, principessa. Italy has an extraordinary inventory of art of all kinds, as you know, and our job is to preserve it."
"Yes, but-"
Lisa interrupted the princess, calling on a waiter to serve another round of drinks, and most of the group began to drift toward the buffet. John took advantage of the break to take Marco gently by the elbow and lead him to another cluster of guests; Paola followed. But Sofia stood firmly where she was, never taking her eyes off D'Alaqua.
"Sofia," said Lisa, trying to move her away, "I want you to meet Professor Rosso. He's head of the excavations at Herculaneum."
"What is your specialty, Dottoressa Galloni?" asked Mary.
"I have a Ph.D. in the history of art, and I did my undergraduate work in Italian philology and dead languages-Aramaic, Latin, that sort of thing. I speak English, French, Spanish, Greek, and pretty good Arabic."
She had spoken with pride, but she realized too late that she'd sounded ridiculous, pedantic, trying to impress these people who could not have cared less who she was or what she knew. She was furious at herself and at being put under their microscope, observed like some exotic specimen by these beautiful women and powerful men.
Lisa tried again. "Coming, Sofia?"
"Lisa, let us have Dottoressa Galloni a litde while longer. This is very interesting."
D'Alaqua's words took Sofia by surprise. Lisa turned away, resigned, but drew Mary along with her. Suddenly Sofia and D'Alaqua found themselves alone.
"You seem uncomfortable, Dottoressa Galloni. Is anything wrong?"
"I am uncomfortable, and I expect you know why."
'Ah, well, you shouldn't be upset with Mary, in any event, for her genuine interest in your work. She is an extraordinary woman, really-intelligent and sensitive, and her question was absolutely innocent, believe me."
"I suppose so."
"The truth is, you and your friends have come to the party to see me, isn't that right, Dottoressa Galloni?"
Sofia felt herself flushing. Once again he had scored a direct hit.
"My boss is a friend of John Barry's, and I… I…"
'And you left my office with nothing, so you and he decided to arrange a coincidence-what a surprise, meeting here like this! Too obvious, Dottoressa Galloni."
Sofia's face burned. She wasn't prepared for this duel, for the frankness of this man, who was so sure of his own superiority and who looked at her with amusement.
"It isn't easy to meet with you."
"No, it isn't, so now that we're here, go ahead and ask whatever you'd like."
"I told you: We suspect that the supposed accident in the cathedral was no accident and that only some of the men who work for you could have set the fire, but why?"
"You know I have no answer for that question. But you have a theory, so tell me what it is and I'll see if I can help you."
At the other end of the terrace, Marco was observing them with amazement, as were the Barrys. At last, John couldn't contain his irritation at the situation any longer and sent Lisa to liberate D'Alaqua.
"Sofia, forgive me, but Umberto has so many friends here who want to talk to him, and you're monopolizing him, my dear. James is looking for you, Umberto."
Sofia felt like a fool.
"Lisa, it's I who is monopolizing Dottoressa Galloni. You'll let us finish our talk, won't you? It's been a long time since I've have such a fascinating conversation."
"Oh, of course, I… well, if you need anything…"
"It's a gorgeous evening, the party is lovely, and you and John are wonderful hosts. I'm so happy you've invited me to share this with Mary and James. Thank you, Lisa."
Lisa beat a quick retreat back to her husband and whispered something in his ear.
"Thank you," said Sofia.
"Please, Dottoressa Galloni, don't underestimate yourself!"
"I never have."
"I think you may have tonight."
"It was stupid for us to come."
"It was obvious, I'll admit. And our hosts' discomfort confirms that they engineered this litde 'encounter.' I'd be surprised if Mary and James knew about it, though."
"They don't-or didn't. I'm sure they're wondering why Lisa invited us, though, because we're totally out of place. I'm sorry; it was a mistake."
"You still haven't answered my question."
"Your question?"
"Yes. I'd like to know your theory of the crime-or alleged crime."
"We believe that someone wants the shroud-whether to steal it or destroy it, we don't know. But we're sure the fire was related to the shroud-and so were all those other so-called 'accidents' in the cathedral in the past."
"That's an interesting theory. Now tell me who you suspect, who you think might want to steal or destroy the shroud, and-especially-why."
"That's what we're looking at now."
'And you have no clues that bear out your suspicions, am I right?"
"That's right."