Deep and Silent Waters

A silence, then Sebastian said, ‘No, my assistant was there. Valerie Hyde. What are you getting at? Who have you been talking to? You know what it’s like in any organisation – people get jealous, resentful, envious, they jockey for position, they bitch about each other in private. Valerie has her enemies, just as I do. You don’t want to take any gossip too seriously.’

‘I am only interested in hard evidence, Signore, don’t worry.’

‘Have you talked to Valerie?’

‘Not yet. I will do that tomorrow.’

‘Go easy on her. She’s not a happy woman. She’s alone in the world, she has very few friends. Her work is her life.’

‘You like her very much?’ The man watched him closely and Sebastian wondered what his face was betraying to the policeman’s shrewd, clever eyes. He tried to look as blank as Bertelli did, but he hadn’t had the training for it. The policeman gave almost nothing away; his emotions must be in the deep freeze. Sebastian wished his own were.

He said, ‘I’m sorry for her. And I like her – of course, I do, but if you mean more than that, no. There was a time, years ago, when we had a brief fling, but that was all it was. She isn’t my type. Since then, niente, zilch, zero. She works for me. That’s all there is to our relationship. And anyway—’ He broke off.

Bertelli considered him, staring into his eyes. ‘What were you going to say?’

Heavily, Sebastian said, ‘Look, I think I may have to fire her and I feel guilty about it, okay?’

‘Why are you going to fire her?’

Sebastian didn’t want to talk about it: he felt disloyal, discussing Valerie behind her back, but he had opened this can of worms by a slip of the tongue, and he knew Bertelli wasn’t going to let him close it again.

‘She – she’s too … obsessive. She’s on my case day and night. I can’t move without tripping over her. I find it uncomfortable.’

Bertelli listened thoughtfully, scratching his chin. Sebastian sensed that the man knew he had left a good deal unspoken.

‘So, she’s in love with you? When you had this … what did you call it? … fling? What does that mean, I wonder? Just one night, or a little more than that? Hmm? Well, whatever, it meant nothing on your side – but she was more serious? You knew it at the time? That she was in love with you? Or did you realise it later?’

Red in the face now, Sebastian said, ‘Maybe. I don’t know for sure how she feels. Look, it was a long time ago, and it wasn’t even really an affair, just a …’

‘Fling!’ nodded Bertelli. ‘I understand. But she went on working for you afterwards. You say it is years since you slept with her. Why do you suddenly feel you must fire her?’

‘I suppose I feel guilty about her. I’ve come to realise I’m all the life she has and I’ve begun to feel claustrophobic around her.’

‘What sort of woman is she? Beautiful?’

‘No. Too thin for that. She’s energetic, quick in everything she does. Black eyes, dark hair, dresses well, but her face and body are bony, angular. Not very feminine.’

Bertelli smiled. ‘And you like feminine women?’

‘Don’t most men?’ Sebastian looked defiantly at him.

Bertelli shrugged. ‘I suppose. Okay, I’ll have a written statement of what you’ve told us typed up. Read through every word, then, if you accept that the statement is an accurate reflection of what you said, would you sign it at the bottom on the last page?’

‘Are you releasing me?’

‘For the moment, but you must not leave Venice. We may need to talk to you again.’

Urgently, Sebastian asked, ‘Laura … Is she – how is she?’

There was a faint sympathy in the policeman’s eyes now. ‘You are in love with her, aren’t you?’

‘Did I ever deny it? I’ve loved her from the minute I met her.?

??

‘You were still married then, though?’

‘Yes.’ Sebastian’s face was weary. ‘Oh, yes, to the most beautiful woman in the world, Captain Bertelli. Clea was the biggest star in films, and breathtakingly lovely, even at the end.’