Paco pointed towards the northeast, somewhere between the Metropolitan Cathedral and the National Palace. ‘To honour Huitzilopochtli, construction begins on a temple made of earth and wood. To protect it, you build canals to funnel the lake and rainwater away. Before long, your island is interlaced with bridges and canals that allow you to visit every section of the city on foot or canoe. But there is a problem. The water that flows through your city is brown, muddied by runoff from the mountains. To fix the issue, your engineers build a dike that is ten miles long. It separates the spring-fed waters to the west from the dirty waters of the east. Next comes a pair of aqueducts — three miles each and made of terracotta — that pump fresh water into the city from the springs at Chapultepec. But this water is not for drinking. It is for bathing and toilets. Unlike the savages who came from Europe, our ancestors bathed twice a day and went to the bathroom indoors instead of in the woods.’
Tiffany laughed at the description, as did most of the group. She had never heard Europeans described as ‘savages’ before. Normally, the natives were the ‘savages’, and the conquerors were the ‘enlightened’ — not the other way around. But from Paco’s perspective, the roles were reversed. Until that moment, she had never thought of things in a foreign way. Whether right or wrong, she had always viewed things from an American standpoint.
It was probably why so many people hated her countrymen.
Paco was ready to explain a crucial part of Mexico’s history. He waited for the laughter to stop before he continued. ‘In 1428, barely a century after the birth of your kingdom, a pact is made with two neighbouring city-states. Suddenly, three different groups — the Mexica of Tenochtitlan, the Acolhua of Texcoco, and the Tepanec of Tlacopan — are fighting under one name. This Triple Alliance of Nahua tribes is known as the Aztec Empire.’
He spread his arms out wide. ‘For the next hundred years, the Aztecs dominate this valley and beyond. Led by rulers such as Montezuma, Tlacaelel and Ahuitzotl, the Empire stretches from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. And our city — our tiny little island in the middle of the lake — becomes a capital unlike any the world has ever seen.’
Once again, he pointed to the northeast. ‘Remember our temple? The one made of earth and wood? It is no longer suitable for our city. It is rebuilt over and over, seven times in all, until it is an enormous pyramid of stucco and stone. Unlike Egyptian pyramids, the Templo Mayor has no apex. Instead, there is a great platform on top that is over three hundred feet wide. The platform is divided into two shrines — one for Huitzilopochtli, and one for Tlaloc, the god of rain. The shrines are over a hundred feet in height. They house sacred fires that always burn.’
Paco raised his arms while wiggling his fingers to indicate smoke.
‘Surrounding the Templo Mayor is a walled square. It is known as the temple precinct. It is home to more than forty buildings. This includes a temple honouring Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, and several smaller shrines honouring minor gods. We do this to keep them happy. We expand our city even further by building miles of roads upon the water. They stretch west to the mainland and connect us to smaller islands that we have raised in the lake. But these are not normal causeways. They have special bridges that allow boats and people to pass freely. Amazingly, if we are ever attacked, the bridges can be pulled away instantly to protect our city from invading forces.
‘Tenochtitlan was grouped into four zones called campans, which surrounded the temple precinct in the middle. Each campan had twenty districts, and each district was crisscrossed by perpendicular streets that were half land, half water. This allowed boat and foot traffic throughout the city. Each district, or calpulli, had its own marketplace where the Aztecs went to buy products, but they paled in comparison to the main market to the north.
‘By 1492, the year Columbus discovered the Americas, the population of Tenochtitlan is more than three hundred thousand people. That is bigger than London, Madrid, or Rome. On a normal day, more than fifty thousand people work and shop at our marketplace in Tlatelolco. Money is not used there. Goods and services are bartered for. Small trades are made. Differences in price are settled with cacao beans. They are small, brown and practically worthless, just like an American penny.’
He winked at Tiffany, who responded with a smile.
‘There are restaurants and hairdressers. Pharmacies and butchers. Art shops and fruit stands. Everything you can imagine in one immense plaza. Best of all, the marketplace is clean and orderly. No chaos, little crime, no garbage on the streets. More than a thousand men work as cleaners. This includes men in small boats who collect the trash and haul it away.’
Paco lowered his voice to a whisper. ‘Do not get me wrong. Our city is not perfect. At night, half-naked women with heavy make-up and painted teeth — yes, painted teeth — roam the alleys looking for men. To attract attention, they chew Aztec gum called tzictli as loud as they can. The clicking noise echoes throughout the streets. When the noise finally stops, you know their mouths are doing something else, like … talking.’
Everybody laughed at the misdirection. They thought for sure that he was going to say something much dirtier than ‘talking’.
Paco gasped in mock disgust. ‘What you think I going to say? I am a classy tour guide!’
22
DeJute fiddled with his wheelchair until he was perfectly positioned in front of the control panel. ‘Much better. Now let’s get down to business. What’s your room number?’
Payne gave him the number of Maria’s suite.
DeJute punched the information into his computer and pulled up her registration. He studied it intently. ‘Hmm. Must be some kind of mistake. You don’t look like a Maria.’
‘I’m not. I’m Miss Pelati’s bodyguard.’
‘Her bodyguard?’ He glanced over his shoulder and stared at Payne’s biceps. His muscular arm was almost as thick as DeJute’s withered legs. ‘Now that I believe. What, is she an Italian princess or something?’
Payne scoffed at the notion. ‘Sometimes she acts that way, but she’s just a regular person. No better than you or I.’
‘I hear ya, chief. Rich people piss me off.’
‘Me, too,’ he joked.
‘Is she gonna fire you?’
‘If this goes public, she probably will. You know how rich people hate bad publicity. That’s why I didn’t go to the police with any of this. If they get involved, my ass is grass.’
DeJute reached behind him and tapped Payne’s arm. ‘Don’t worry, chief. You came to the right place. We only call the cops if it’s absolutely necessary. They’re bad for business.’
‘Tell me about it.’
‘So, when did this break-in occur?’
‘Late afternoon, early evening. She was having drinks at that bistro by the beach. When she returned to her suite, the place was trashed.’
‘Someone trashed it?’
‘Like a rock star,’ Payne replied. ‘Don’t worry, we straightened things up. Looks almost as good as new.’
‘What did they steal?’
‘Not much. Maybe a few trinkets. The main thing was her passport. Someone swiped it from her nightstand. We’re still trying to figure out if they got anything else.’
‘Jewellery? Laptops? Anything like that?’
‘Nope. Nothing big. Just her passport.’