The Deadliest Sin (15 page)

‘I think your entreaties are ill-placed, messer. I have no influence over the selection of the Council of Ten, being a mere Florentine.’

His voice was grating, and carried a note of disdain. Zuliani responded ingratiatingly.

‘I would not say that, Messer Perruzzi. A man of your wealth and influence wields power wherever he desires.’

Perruzzi narrowed his eyes, not sure if what this ridiculous man in his outrageous garb said was meant sincerely, or as a criticism. Cat, who was now at Zuliani’s shoulder, smiled at
Perruzzi reassuringly. Zuliani meanwhile pressed on.

‘You trade in such great amounts of silver coin and gold that we mere mortals can only stand back and admire. They do say that the King of England is so indebted to you that his whole
realm could not pay you back what is owed.’

Perruzzi’s thin lips tightened so much that they were all but invisible. Even as he replied, he began to cast around for one of his minions to come to his rescue.

‘I do not trade, sir, and any debt owed is to the bank, not to myself. Now if you will excuse me . . .’

A hand fell on Zuliani’s shoulder, and he looked round to see it was Agnolo Rosso who had come to the banker’s aid. He turned, taking the man’s hand in his as he did so. He
looked down at the heavily ringed fingers, and shook the hand vigorously.

‘Rosso, so good to see you again. I hope you got your profits from Baglioni before his unfortunate demise.’

Rosso nodded curtly. ‘Yes, as a matter of fact I did. A bad business that. Such blatant street robbery as that would not be allowed in Florence. But I am not in the mood for such
depressing matters. How about a drink to celebrate our mutual good fortune?’

A servant with a tray of drinks was close at hand, and Rosso took two, passing them to Zuliani and Cat, before taking one for himself. Behind him, Perruzzi slipped away into the throng, and
Rosso turned his attention to Caterina.

‘Tell me, Domina Dolfin, is your granddaughter well?’

‘She is very well, Messer Rosso. Thank you for your enquiry. I was not aware you knew I had a granddaughter.’

Rosso’s smile was broad, but somehow unreal.

‘Ah, well, the Doge mentioned her in conversation. And Domina Tron, also, I believe. There is so much to learn about the grand families of Venice.’ He turned his false grin on
Zuliani. ‘Is she related in any way to you, Zuliani?’

Zuliani’s face froze.

‘Why would you even ask such a question, Rosso? That would presuppose some family connection with Domina Dolfin, who is, as you rightly observe, a member of one of the grandest families of
La Serenissima.’ He paused momentarily. ‘While I am a mere member of the merchant class.’

Rosso flicked a beringed finger at him.

‘And yet you are a candidate for the Council of Ten, and this charming lady is by your side.’

Zuliani shrugged. ‘Merely as a sponsor to smooth my path into the top echelons. And you will have to excuse me now. If I am to win this election, I will have to ingratiate myself some more
with the great and the good.’ He took Cat’s arm firmly. ‘If you will introduce me to Domina Tron, I should be obliged.’

As he hustled Cat away from the Florentine, she whispered in his ear, ‘What was all that about? And if you want to win over Sofia Tron, you are going in the wrong direction. She is over
there putting the Doge in his place.’

She indicated off to their left, where the matriarch of the Tron dynasty was bending the ear of a glum-looking Giovanni Soranzo. The Doge glanced over at Cat Dolfin and Zuliani with a pleading
look in his eyes. But Zuliani was in no mood to come to his assistance. He didn’t know who to trust any more in this palace of greed. And he was suddenly afraid for his granddaughter, Katie,
whose name was apparently on the lips of the Doge and the Trons. Perhaps her presence on his trip to the Arsenale wasn’t as secret as he had hoped.

‘We are going home, if you want to know. And as swiftly as possible.’

Not wishing to alarm Cat unnecessarily, he came up with an excuse for his sudden change of plans.

‘This gang of crooks has depressed me.’

Cat beamed at him. ‘I’m glad you said that. I am as tired as you of them all.’

Zuliani did not want to wait for the Dolfins’
barchetta
, so the couple exited the palace by the land gate, and hurried home through the dark streets of Venice. Reaching Ca’
Dolfin, Zuliani called out Katie’s name, and when there was no response, ran to her room as fast as his ageing legs could carry him. The room was empty, and the only sign she had been there
was the book by Dante Alighieri lying open and face down on the floor. It looked to him as if it had been hastily discarded, or dropped in a struggle. He slumped down on the bed beside it.

‘What’s going on, Nick? Why are you so concerned about Katie?’

Cat stood in the doorway, a dark look on her face. Zuliani hesitated for a moment, not sure whether he wanted to share his fears with her. But then he knew she would never forgive him if he
didn’t do so and something terrible had happened.

‘I know who killed Baglioni, Saluzzo, and the old man. And I think he knows about Katie and me uncovering the secret hoard of gold in the Arsenale. Even if he doesn’t, I think he is
going to use Katie as a pawn to draw me out, and kill me, too.’

Cat felt the heat of her body falling away, and being replaced by an icy coldness. She leaned on the door frame for support, her legs quivering.

‘What is all this about, Nick. Whose gold is it?’

Zuliani took Cat’s arm and drew her down on to Katie’s bed beside him.

‘At first, I thought it was Soranzo, or another member of the
case vecchie
– the Trons maybe – accumulating gold secretly. They are not listed in the
Libro
d’Oro
for nothing, after all. But then I began to put Baglioni’s trip together with other stories I have heard bandied about for some time now. The big banking houses have been
shipping out silver coins by the thousands in order to buy gold at preferential rates in the Middle East and beyond. They seem to care little about the effect on trading here in the West as our
coinage disappears abroad. Greed is all that drives them.’

Cat gasped as she realised the truth.

‘The Florentines are behind this. That is why Rosso funded Baglioni’s
colleganza
– in order to ensure the scheme went ahead.’

‘Yes, and behind Rosso stands old man Perruzzi – the greediest of them all.’

Cat clutched Zuliani’s arm. ‘But then where does this leave Katie?’

Zuliani shrugged. ‘My best guess is she is at the Arsenale. They have not had time to move their gold yet. If she had been taken anywhere, it will be there.’

‘Then you must find her.’

Zuliani didn’t have time now to sneak in the way Francesca Este had described to him. Nor was he inclined to be circumspect, not caring this time about being seen. Maybe
it would be best if Rosso knew he was coming anyway. So he marched up to the main entrance beside the water gate. Surprisingly, he was unchallenged, and swiftly made his way along the quay to where
Baglioni’s galley had been moored. It was no longer there, but another vessel was, which was no surprise to him. The galley’s purpose had been served, and its secret cargo would now be
moved in a different ship to Florence and the coffers of Perruzzi’s bank. There had not yet been time to move the chests, and so Zuliani assumed they were still in the storehouse where he had
found them.

When he approached the building, he saw that the small wicket gate set in the larger main doors was ajar. It looked so inviting it made him think that he was right concerning the whereabouts of
Katie. With such precious cargo inside, the door would not normally have been left unlocked. They wanted him to enter. He edged up to the opening, and peered into the gloom.

At the far end of the storehouse a couple of lanterns lit a shadowy figure moving along the stack of wooden chests that Zuliani had seen on his last visit. It was difficult to see who it was
because the lanterns provided only a silhouette. Zuliani inched through the door and tiptoed towards some barrels piled along the left-hand wall, trying to get closer before he revealed himself. As
he crouched down behind one of the barrels, he almost cried out as a hand touched his shoulder. Looking up, and thinking he was discovered by one of Perruzzi’s henchmen, he was astonished to
see a slim, pale face staring at him from under a sugar-loaf hat. The person’s hat was pulled well down and the face was in darkness, but a stray blond tress told him all he needed to know.
It was Katie in her page-boy garb. He hissed a strangled question at her.

‘What are you doing here?’

Katie grinned. ‘I might ask you the same question, Grandpa. But seeing as you asked first, I will tell you. I thought you and Granny would be fully occupied for hours at the Doge’s
party, so I decided it was time to find out if there was gold in all those boxes, and get to the bottom of the matter.’

Zuliani was so relieved to find Katie had not been taken hostage, or worse, he became very angry.

‘And you didn’t think to speak to me first?’

Katie pouted. ‘You would have stopped me coming. And besides, I thought you had given up as you seemed so busy with wheedling votes from everyone.’

‘Wheedling?’

Zuliani almost forgot where they were, and had to choke off his annoyed cry.

‘Tell me. Have I ever given up on anything as important as three murders?’

Katie thought for a moment, then shook her head.

‘No. You are right and I was wrong. But now we are both here, what do we do next?’

‘What I do is confront a murderer. What you do is get out of here and go safely back home.’

Katie began to protest, but in so doing managed to knock over an adze that had been left by one of the shipbuilders working in the Arsenale. The loud clunk of the wooden handle echoed down the
length of the warehouse, alerting the man they had been spying on.

He grabbed a lantern, and called out. ‘Who’s there? Show yourself now.’

He began to stride towards where Zuliani and Katie were hiding, his face still hidden by the hood of his cloak. Zuliani pressed the crouching Katie down, indicating she should stay in the
shadows, and stood up himself. As he moved away from Katie’s hiding-place, he spoke up boldly.

‘I’m here, Rosso.’ He peered beyond the beam of the upheld lantern. ‘It is you, isn’t it?’

The man threw his hood back, revealing himself. It was indeed Agnolo Rosso, who was now lit by the lantern he held over his head. He laughed.

‘Yes, it’s me, Zuliani. Damn you for being such a nuisance. I should have killed you sooner, but I can easily get on with the job now.’

‘Just as you did away with Baglioni, Saluzzo and old Baseggio because they got in your way. Or should I say in the way of Perruzzi, because it is his gold in those chests, is it
not?’

Rosso merely smiled enigmatically.

‘I would have thought you of all people understood about making profits. You’re the legendary Zuliani, who came back from Cathay a rich man.’

Zuliani didn’t rise to the bait. It was true he believed in making money from trade, but only in the good old-fashioned way of buying and selling goods. That sort of business always
carried with it the thrill of a gamble. Perruzzi and his like did nothing but speculate on money and the fluctuating value of gold and silver. And when the profits were not sufficient, they
manipulated the markets. Standard silver coin had been the stable currency of the Holy Roman Empire in Europe since Charlemagne’s time. Now it was disappearing into the East at an alarming
rate. Zuliani was beginning to see that the massive export of silver coinage from Venice to the East would create severe problems in making payments in trade. But the Florentine bankers were
protecting themselves from any difficulties with chests of gold. They were like dangerous sharks swimming in Venice’s seas. He answered Rosso’s taunt.

‘Yes, but I made my money honestly.’

Rosso pulled a face. ‘Do you really want me to believe that you never cheated anyone?’ He held a finger and thumb a little distance apart. ‘Just a little? Besides, what’s
dishonest about using money to make money?’

Zuliani didn’t answer him this time. He prayed that Katie would stay hidden. Rosso took Zuliani’s silence as a sign he was winning the argument, and his stance became more relaxed.
But then Zuliani saw the man looking not at his face, but over his shoulder. He risked turning his gaze away from Rosso to see where the man was looking, afraid that Katie had been revealed. What
he saw was a hessian sack lying by the door to the warehouse, its neck tied up with a heavy rope that was finished in a loop. Zuliani smiled, knowing instantly why Rosso was alone in the building.
He had decided that Perruzzi had not rewarded him sufficiently, and was stealing some of the gold for himself. Rosso also guessed what was going through Zuliani’s mind. He shrugged, and
placed the lantern at his feet.

‘Who’s going to miss a sackful from such a large consignment? You could help yourself too, and forget you ever saw me here. You could dismiss your suspicions about the deaths of the
three men as mere fancy. What do you say?’

Zuliani’s instincts told him the man standing before him wasn’t going to let him leave the warehouse alive, despite what he was saying. But he decided he would go along with him for
the time being, until he could find a moment to get under his guard. And he also had Katie to think of.

‘It’s very tempting – what you are suggesting, Rosso?’

Rosso’s laughter echoed around the warehouse. ‘I knew you were a man after my own heart.’

He put his hands on his hips, in a way he hoped would demonstrate his friendliness. But Zuliani could see it put his right hand closer to the dagger in his belt. Zuliani wondered if he could
draw his own dagger as swiftly as the younger man. But then Rosso was asking him a question.

‘How did you guess it was I who carried out the killings?’

Zuliani pointed at the rings on the hand that was held loosely on Rosso’s hip. They sparkled in the light.