“Chocolate.” Stone placed the huge chocolate bar on the table and told him the story.

“Bizarre,” Dino said.

“The story?”

“The chocolate. Why would Casselli want three tons of chocolate?”

“Maybe his minions thought the truck was carrying something more readily marketable.”

“No doubt.”

“Perhaps it would have been more marketable if he had not chosen an honest man to try and sell it to.”

“There’s a thought,” Dino said.

“What thought?”

“Having failed to sell it to the honest baron, maybe he’s looking for a less honest customer.”

Stone got out his phone. “Jim? Dino had a thought. Having failed to unload the chocolate on the baron, maybe he’s looking for another buyer. Perhaps the police would like to know about that. Thank you, Jim.” He put away the phone. “Jim will speak to the police.”

“There’s somewhere I’d like to go,” Dino said.

“Where?”

“The emperor Hadrian’s villa. It’s about an hour from Rome, near Tivoli.”

“I’m game,” Stone said. He called Jim and asked if they could use the car again. After a brief conversation, he hung up. “The car is ours for the day, but he can’t send our bodyguards. They’re out, probably looking for chocolate.”

“Suits me,” Dino said.

“He also recommended a restaurant in Tivoli for lunch. Viv, you want to join us?”

“No, I think I’ll go find Mike Freeman and pretend to work.”

“As you wish.”

—

The GPS in the Fiat knew all. They reached the entrance to the villa in an hour. There, they bought tickets and prepared to walk up a long hill. Dino had a better idea: he went back, flashed his badge, and they opened the gates so that they could drive to the villa.

At the top of the hill, at a visitors’ center, they saw a large model of the villa, which was now an elegant ruin.

“Not bad, for a weekend place,” Dino said. “It would look good in the Hamptons.”

They left the visitors’ center and walked onto the grounds of the villa, past lakes and baths and a theater. “This place is enormous,” Dino said. “I wonder what kind of a staff he needed to keep it running.”

“Slaves, I expect.”

They toured the grounds for two hours, then got into the car, entered the address of the restaurant into the GPS, and followed the directions back into Tivoli. The GPS proceeded to conduct them through impossibly narrow streets, in a large circle. They found themselves back in the town.

“There’s a large parking area over there,” Stone said. “Let’s park there and take a cab to the restaurant.”

They could not find a parking place. Eventually, they drove to the top of a hill near a large arch and found a space where they could abandon the car.

“There,” Stone said. “Jim said it was next to a temple.” He pointed at the restaurant.