Nothing Ventured

The Alitalia flight landed at Da Vinci airport a few minutes behind schedule. The first thing William saw as he descended the aircraft steps was Lieutenant Monti waiting by the side of an unmarked car.

William introduced Hawksby to Monti, who saluted, opened the back door and waited for them both to climb in. Hawksby was surprised that the lieutenant was unshaven and his breath stank of garlic, but he didn’t comment.

‘No passport control, no customs?’ asked William.

‘If it had been just you, William,’ said Monti, ‘I would have met you in the arrivals hall, but when my comandante heard that Commander Hawksby would be accompanying you, he ordered me to pull out all the stops. I hope that’s the appropriate English expression?’

‘Spot on,’ said William. ‘The meaning derives from an organist pulling out the stops of his instrument to increase the volume.’

‘Thank you, constable,’ said Hawksby. ‘Most interesting.’

‘It’s not a long journey to Civitavecchia,’ said Monti, as they sped off. ‘But we need to be there well ahead of Carter and Grant. They’re booked into the Grand Hotel – grand in name only.’

‘And where are we staying?’ asked Hawksby.

‘I’m afraid your hotel is even less grand. But it does have the advantage of being on the quayside, so I’ve booked you a room overlooking the port.’

‘And William?’

‘He will be with me at all times. The harbourmaster informed me that Carter has chartered a small, fully equipped shallow search and recovery vessel for seven days. It’s ideally suited for expeditions in search of seabed treasure.’

‘Why seven days,’ asked William, ‘when they will be taking on board what they’re looking for?’

‘It’s just for show,’ Monti explained, ‘although we can’t be sure how many of the crew are in on the scam. But we assume the captain and the two divers must be.’

‘So do we just sit in Civitavecchia and wait for them to return before we arrest them?’

‘Certainly not,’ said Monti. ‘I’ve signed us both on as deckhands. They clearly want as many innocent onlookers as possible to witness their remarkable discovery.’

‘But my Italian isn’t that good,’ William reminded him.

‘I know,’ said Monti, ‘so once we’re on board, leave the talking to me. And I ought to warn you, these can be choppy waters.’

‘And I ought to warn you,’ said William, ‘I’m not a good sailor.’

12.21 GMT

‘Any questions?’ asked Jackie when she’d come to the end of her briefing.

A hand shot up. ‘Which of the two teams is more likely to be needed?’

‘We won’t know until the last moment. There are two exits from the house, here and here, where the buses will be hidden,’ said Jackie, pointing to the map. ‘But we have no way of knowing which one they’ll take. If for any reason we don’t manage to intercept them, we’ve got a helicopter on standby.’

‘I should stress,’ interjected Lamont, ‘that while you’re waiting, you can’t listen to the radio, or even chat among yourselves, because the slightest sound will alert them. Just be sure you’re not the idiot who frightens them off.’

‘What sort of vehicle are you expecting them to

be in, sir?’

‘Because of the size of the painting they plan to steal,’ said Lamont, ‘it’s likely to be a large van. They know exactly what they’re looking for, and you can be sure they’ll have worked out their escape route to the inch. Which is why we need so many of you surrounding the target.’

‘Are they likely to be armed?’

‘We think that’s unlikely,’ said Lamont. ‘You can get life for armed robbery, while for burglary you rarely get more than six years. But just to be on the safe side, we’ll have a small squad of armed police in place, but well hidden.’

‘Any intel on when they might strike?’ asked a young constable.

‘Not before six, and it won’t be after midnight,’ said Lamont without further explanation. A long silence followed.