Then she heard something odd: the sound of hooves on stone. She peered over a rock and saw an old man picking his way along the path on the cliff face, leading a donkey, which was heavily laden. As he passed slowly toward the house she saw that the donkey was carrying groceries, and she managed to swipe two apples and a banana before he had passed her. She retreated to her hiding place and had the banana for breakfast. The apples would have to do for breakfast and lunch.

Then she heard a woman’s voice shrieking, “Gone! The girl is gone!” People in the house rushed about talking loudly, then it got quiet again.

—

Casselli sat in the living room, going over a list. “I make it fifty-eight, with wives and girlfriends,” he said to his secretary.

“Only the man Klaucke, from Germany, did not respond,” she said. “Everyone else accepted.”

“We have the caterer from Rome, correct?”

“Yes, Don Leonardo. And the musicians, a quartet of jazz.”

“Good.”

A man entered the room carefully. “Don Leonardo,” he said, “there has been an incident.”

“What sort of incident?”

“The girl is gone.”

“Gone? Gone where?”

“No one knows, Don Leonardo. When she was taken her breakfast, she wasn’t there. The door was locked, as usual,” he lied.

“Have you searched the house?”

“Yes, Don Leonardo, every room, closet, and corner. She is not here.”

“How could she get out of the house?”

“The only irregularity we have discovered is that the key to the rear door to the deck is missing. It was hanging on a hook in the hallway. But we have a spare key.”

“You think she got out the rear door?”

“It’s possible, Don Leonardo. I myself have walked the path to the village both ways, and she is nowhere to be found. It’s possible that she may have slipped on the path in the dark and fallen into the ravine, but we cannot see a body anywhere.”

“Take the elevator down and search the parking area. She would have fallen there, likely.”

“Yes, Don Leonardo,” and he beat a retreat.

Strangely, Casselli felt relieved that the girl was out of his house. He hadn’t known what to do with her.

The man was back in fifteen minutes. “There is no sign of the girl anywhere near the road.”

“Could she have climbed down the rock face to the parking area?”

“In the dark? Impossible, I think. I believe she must have got to the village or beyond, though I would not wish to attempt the path in the night, without an electric torch.”

“She could go to the police, but they would call here, wouldn’t they?”

“Of course, Don Leonardo. They are in your pocket. Do you have further instructions for me?”

“No, no, get out.”