The Memory Trap

'Protection from whom?' was what was exercising Mitchell's mind. And it might be as well to deal with the problem of Mitchell here and now, while he was inhibited by Cuccaro's presence. 'I take it you agree with me?'

'Mmm — yes, of course.' Mitchell gave him an old-fashioned look, but then brightened falsely as he turned to Cuccaro.

'We can perhaps leave Miss Loftus with you, Captain. We should be able to handle the Major between us, I don't doubt

— yes.'

'Not 'we', Dr Mitchell.' Audley shook his head. 'You will both remain here, of course.'

Mitchell opened his mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again. 'My instructons, Dr Audley — '

' My instructions are to meet with Major Richardson, Dr Mitchell.' The only problem was that Mitchell had not been very precise. But Captain Cuccaro's presence could be helpful there, too. 'Where did you say the meeting-place was — ?' He nodded politely to the Captain. 'We appreciate your cooperation in this matter, sir. So there shall be no secrets between us.' He extended the politeness to Mitchell. 'Yes, Dr Mitchell — ?'

Mitchell was ambushed — horse, foot and guns. And there was nothing he could do about it. 'The Villa Jovis.'

'And where is that?' He beamed at Captain Cuccaro co-operatively. 'The Villa San Michele I have heard of, Captain . . . but I am afraid that I am not conversant with the dummy1

geography of Capri ... as, no doubt, both you and Major Richardson are — ?'

Cuccaro, equally ambushed, stared at him for a moment. And then pointed. 'It is on the other — ' he searched for the right word ' — the other mountain, Professore, from San Michele.

It is on Monte Tiberio —'

'Monte Tiberio?' Audley ducked under the awning to follow the line of Cuccaro's finger, to the left. 'And . . . the Villa Jovis

— what is that?'

'It is the palace of Tiberius.'

'Of Tiberius?' All he could see was what looked like a statue on the high point of the peak, above a fringe of trees, with a scatter of white houses below. So, presumably, the old emperor had been reinstated (probably by Mussolini, in his bid to re-establish the Roman Empire?), to look down on his special island. Which was a nice thought: old Wimpy, in his most memorable Latin lessons, had been a great Tiberius-admirer, disdainful of Tacitus and Suetonius as 'mere gossipers' who had libelled a good man in his old age.

'It is a ruin.' Cuccaro was also staring. 'It is ... a maze? How do you say — ? There are many walls, and staircases . . . and arches ... on many levels, on the hillside. A maze?'

'A labyrinth?' All he could see was a hint of a platform among the trees.

'A labyrinth — yes!' Cuccaro welcomed the word. 'And ... it is a long walk up there, by a narrow path between the houses. A dummy1

path not for cars, you understand — ? The cars — the taxis . . . they go only from the Marina Grande to Capri town, below. Then you must walk, between the houses and their gardens to reach the . . . excavations.' He turned to Audley, as though questioning his ability to make such a journey. 'It is a long walk, Professore.'

But maybe that wasn't what he was thinking about at all. And quite rightly, too! Even, in all these new circumstances, quite predictably?

'Well . . . that's good, then.' He nodded from Cuccaro to Mitchell.

'Good?' Mitchell frowned at him. 'How is it 'good', David?'

'Good for a rendezvous.' Audley nodded, pursing his lips.

'Only one way in — one way out . . . that's usually bad. But a long way in — then you can sit down somewhere, and see who's coming. And decide accordingly?' He cocked his head at them both. 'The Major has a bad conscience, maybe? And, although I'm an old colleague —an old friend ... I could be setting him up — for the Guardia di Finanza, if not the Mafia?' He concluded with Mitchell. 'And we trained him —

remember?' He gave Mitchell a thin smile, even as his own personal memories of Richardson increased his own doubts.

'What would you do, if you thought the roof was falling in on you, Dr Mitchell?'

Mitchell stared at him. Because what Mitchell would do in that event was to be somewhere else, far away from trouble and even further away from old friends and colleagues. But dummy1

he couldn't admit that in front of the Italian.

'So Major Richardson will be watching out up there, and waiting.' Audley nodded, home at last. And then nodded towards Monte Tiberio. 'But if I turn up with someone he doesn't know ... if Captain Cuccaro accompanies me, or gives me an escort. . . then, if he has been up to no good all these years, he'll sit tight, wherever he is. And he'll walk off, eventually, when he knows the coast is clear — right?'

'Is that what you really think, David?' Elizabeth unwound suddenly.

'What I really think, Miss Loftus, is that we don't really have any choice in the matter. Because, if I take a long walk, up there . . . with you and Dr Mitchell in attendance, never mind whatever quite unnecessary protection the Italian authorities may have imagined is appropriate ... if that's what we do, then we'll all have wasted our valuable time. Because the Major is waiting for me, and no one else. And I haven't come this far to waste my time, Miss Loftus.'

They all hated that: they were agreed on that. But they also couldn't argue with its logic effectively, in front of each other, without aborting the mission, never mind questioning his authority. Which put them all on the line.