David Hewson (56 page)

He
downed the champagne and glanced at his watch.

"I
must be going. Ciao!"

Falcone
moved so quickly. He had his coat back on and was about to leave before any of
them could object, stopping only at the threshold as a final thought struck
him.

"Oh,"
he said, "one more thing."

Peroni
and Costa watched him with a mute foreboding.

"Uniforms,"
Falcone said. "You will be needing them. Best get measured after the
holiday. When you've lost some weight."

Then
Leo Falcone was through the door, with what, in another, might pass for a skip,
leaving the growing storm behind him.

About the Author

DAVID
HEWSON is a weekly columnist for the
Sunday Times
.
The Sacred Cut
is the third novel in a crime series that began with the acclaimed
A Season
for the Dead
, set in Rome and featuring Detective Nic Costa. He is also
the author of
The Villa of Mysteries
and
Lucifer's Shadow
.

A
former staff writer on
The Times
, he lives in Kent, where he is at
work on the fourth Nic Costa crime novel,
The Lizard's Bite
,
which Delacorte Press will publish in 2006.