Rhyme added, “And a CCTV at a nearby hotel had malfunctioned.”

“As they will do.”

“Yes, you’re right: The evidence at Natalia’s isn’t helpful. But what we discovered at Garry’s is. The footprint at the scene.”

Spiro’s eyes now revealed curiosity. He read. “Small man size, or woman’s. And it was a woman who called to report that Garry was seen adulterating Frieda’s wine.”

“Ercole collected soil from where the perp walked. It’s being analyzed now. By Beatrice. That might be helpful.” Rhyme added, “It might have been the actual rapist. But it might have been someone just wishing to get him into trouble—the woman who called. Garry’s lawyer told us that he was quite the ladies’ man. A player, you know?”

“I know.”

“And maybe didn’t treat them the way they would like to have been treated. There’s a woman in Florence who might—”

Spiro said, “Valentina Morelli. Yes. I am trying to locate her myself.”

Silence for a moment. Then Spiro’s face took on an expression that said: Against my better judgment. “Allora, Capitano Rhyme. I will pursue this aspect of the investigation. And will temporarily put on hold my complaint against you and Forestry Officer Benelli for misuse of police facilities and interference with procedures. Temporarily.”

He took a cheroot from his breast pocket and lifted it to his nose, smelled the dark tube, then replaced it.

“My reaction to your presence, you might have perceived, was perhaps out of proportion to your, if I may, crime. You came here at great risk to your personal safety—one in your condition cannot have an easy time traveling. There are dangers.”

“That’s true for everyone.”

He continued without comment, “And there is no guarantee that even if the Composer is captured you would be successful in your attempt to extradite him back to America. Remember—”

“The Wolf Tits Rule.”

“Indeed. But here you came anyway in pursuit of your quarry.” He tilted his head. “In pursuit of the truth. And I resisted at every turn.”

A pause as Spiro regarded the Composer evidence pads. Slowly he said, “There was a reason for my resistance. A personal reason, which is, by its very definition, unacceptable in our endeavors.”

Rhyme said nothing. He was pleased for any chance to continue to pursue the two cases—not to mention pleased to remain out of an Italian prison—so he let the man talk.

The prosecutor said, “The answer goes back a long time—to the days of the Second World War, when your country and mine were sworn enemies…” Spiro’s voice softened. “…and yet were not.”

Chapter 43

You will not have heard of the Esercito Cobelligerante Italiano.”

“No,” Rhyme told Spiro.

“The Italian Co-Belligerent Army. A complex name for a simple concept. Another fact most Americans do not know: Italy and the Allies were antagonists only at the start of the war. Both sides signed an armistice in nineteen forty-three, ending their hostilities long before Germany fell. True, some fascist soldiers fought on, in league with the Nazis, but our king and prime minister joined with the Americans and British and fought against the Germans. The Co-Belligerent Army was the Italian wing of the Allies.