'Therapy?'
'In a way,' Katherina agreed reluctantly. 'It's always helpful to meet others in the same situation – to know you're not alone.' She looked Jon in the eye. 'As you can tell, our goal is to stay together as a group and help each other, not to take over the world or even harass a couple of booksellers. We simply don't have the energy for that.'
Jon nodded. He could see in her green eyes that what she was saying was more than just words.
She looked down as she rubbed her chin with her fingertips. 'Isn't it about time to go?'
From Sankt Hans Torv Katherina led the way along Nшrre Allй. Across from the church they entered a doorway and went up the stairs of an older building. She rang the bell on a door with a big brass sign.
'Centre for Dyslexia Studies,' Jon read. 'Does dyslexia always go hand in hand with the powers of a receiver?'
'It's not a prerequisite,' she replied in a low voice. 'But more than a third of us are dyslexic, so it can't be just a coincidence.'
Behind the door they heard someone approach and undo the locks. A plump woman wearing a black dress opened the door. Her round face lit up with a smile when she saw them.
'Come in, come in,' she welcomed them, stepping aside. 'The others are already here.'
Katherina and Jon stepped into the hallway where rows of overcoats bore witness to the presence of more than twenty people.
'I'm Clara,' said the woman, shaking Jon's hand vigorously. 'I'm the head of the centre here.'
'Jon Campelli,' said Jon.
'You don't have to tell me that,' she said with a laugh. 'It's incredible how much you look like him – Luca, I mean. Besides, I saw you at the funeral.'
After they took off their jackets, Clara hustled them down the long corridor towards a white panelled door that stood open at the end of the hall. A buzz of voices streamed towards them from the room beyond. The sound stopped the moment Jon, who was first, stepped inside. Around an oval conference table sat at least ten people, with the same number or a few more seated along the walls.
'Hello,' said Jon, raising his hand in greeting. Everyone nodded and murmured in return.
'Sit down here at the end,' suggested Clara, pointing to two empty chairs at the table.
Jon and Katherina sat down, carefully observed by the others. Clara took her place at the opposite end of the table.
'As I mentioned,' she began, 'we have the pleasure of meeting with Luca's son, Jon, and our own Katherina, of course.' She smiled. 'Let me start by offering my condolences on Luca's death. He was a close friend to all of us, and we considered him one of the group. We miss him very much.' Scattered nods and murmurs of agreement were heard from all sides.
Jon nodded his thanks. He noted that the women were in the majority, making up about two-thirds of the group, but it was hard for him to see all their faces. The people seated around the table were lit from above by a long, oval lamp, but the light didn't reach all the way out to the walls, where the rest of the members sat. Some of them he glimpsed only as shadows or partial shapes, with the top half hidden in darkness.
'That's why we will do everything we can, of course, to help find out what happened,' Clara went on. 'We've followed the latest events with concern. We have nothing to gain from anything that has occurred, least of all from the loss of your father.'
'What function did he serve in your group?' asked Jon.
'First and foremost, he acted as an ambassador,' replied Clara. 'Up until the very end he was trying to reunite the Bibliophile Society, and without his efforts, the relationship between transmitters and receivers would be even worse than it is.'
'It's hard to imagine the relationship could be any worse,' said Jon.
'Things have escalated lately,' Clara admitted. 'But before these events started, we were actually very close to a reconciliation. It's not easy to forget twenty years of hostilities and mistakes – that requires a great deal of diplomacy and a willingness to compromise. You might say that Luca had already spent years laying the groundwork by holding evening readings at Libri di Luca, which was regarded by both sides as a neutral zone with a permanent cease-fire. But for the Society's part, the cooperation hadn't yet begun.'
'What would it mean?' asked Jon. 'Why is it so important to be united when your powers are so different?'
'Even though you haven't been activated yourself, you still must have some idea of how effective an instrument the respective powers that transmitters and receivers possess can be. But it's only when these powers are combined that their true force emerges. If a transmitter is supported by a receiver, the result is much more focused and the effect on the listeners is so strong that few can resist.'
'So it's a matter of power?'
Muted protests came from all sides, but Clara raised her voice.
'Power over the story, you might say. We would never dream of misusing our talents. The goal is to present the story as faithfully as possible and convey the message of the text as effectively as we can.'
'And yet these attacks have been occurring,' said Jon.
'That's correct,' Clara admitted with a nod. 'But there's no evidence that any receivers are behind them. We realize that Luca's death bears the mark of being provoked by a receiver, but it's also possible that he died of natural causes, or that his heart attack was prompted by something else.'
'Like what, for example?'
'Poison, or possibly shock,' Clara suggested, though she didn't sound very convinced.
'But if we assume that a receiver was behind it,' said Jon calmly, 'and all indications point in that direction, could it happen without you knowing something about it?'
Everyone sitting around the table turned to look at Clara. For a moment she glanced up at the ceiling and then shrugged her shoulders.
'I can't rule it out,' she said. 'But I find it very unlikely. We're a very tightly knit group and an act of betrayal is unthinkable. Besides, we've all enjoyed Luca's company, not just because of his personality and wisdom, but also in a purely practical sense, by training with him. Without his cooperation as a transmitter, our powers as receivers would not have reached the high level they have. Katherina here is a good example. If Luca hadn't taken her under his wing and trained with her almost every day, she wouldn't be one of the most skilled Lectors that we have today.'
Katherina nodded in agreement.
'Could it be a receiver outside the group?' Jon suggested. 'Someone you don't know?'
'In theory it could be a "freelance",' Clara said after pausing to think for a moment. 'But as a rule freelances aren't especially well trained, so they're not strong enough to kill someone. You have to remember that they often have no idea what their powers are, never mind what they might be used for. Sooner or later they end up with us, provided they don't get institutionalized, or worse.'
'Could it happen by accident? If you say they don't know their own abilities, could a freelance kill someone by accident?'
'That's very unlikely,' Clara said hastily. Her gaze shifted for a moment from Jon to Katherina before she continued. 'It requires a gradual build-up in effect, which in turn presupposes a great deal of training and self-control.'
'And nobody has ever left your group after having achieved the requisite powers? Someone who might have reason to seek revenge?'
'No,' Clara replied firmly.
Jon looked at the people who were visible in the light from the lamp. Some of them were whispering to each other, some were waiting expectantly with their arms crossed, as if challenging him to come up with a new and better scenario.
'So if the motive isn't revenge or power,' Jon summed up, 'then what is it?'