word ‘puppy’ occurred several times and by the end Minnie had a rough idea that the stranger had come between Charlie and superior odds, although perhaps not as melodramatically as he described it.
‘Is that what happened?’ she asked Luke in a gentler tone.
‘Something like that. Neither Charlie nor I like seeing a child bullied. Or a puppy,’ he added after a moment.
‘What happened to the child?’
‘Grabbed the puppy and ran. Then there was a bit more fighting, and someone must have called the police.’
‘Well, I’m glad you were there with Charlie, Signor-’
‘Lucio will do,’ he said hastily.
‘But I can’t represent you if I don’t know your name.’
‘I haven’t asked you to represent me.’ Inspiration made him add, ‘I can’t afford a lawyer.’
‘It’ll be my gift, to show my gratitude.’
Luke groaned, mentally imploring heaven to save him from a woman who had an answer to everything!
‘As Charlie says, I can’t just abandon you,’ Minnie went on. ‘But you must be quite frank with me. Where are you living?’
‘Nowhere,’ he said hastily, imagining her mirth if he gave the name of the hotel.
‘Sleeping in the streets?’
‘That’s right.’
‘But it makes my job harder. So does your lack of identity. How come you don’t have an ID card?’
‘I do.’
‘Where?’
‘I left it in the hotel,’ he said before he could stop himself.
‘But you just said you were sleeping in the streets.’
‘I’m not at my best,’ he said, inwardly cursing her alertness. ‘I don’t know what I’m saying.’
‘Signor-whatever your name is, I don’t think you’re as drunk as all that, and I don’t like clients who mess me around. Please tell me the name of your hotel.’
‘The Contini.’
Silence.
She looked him up and down, taking in every scruffy, dishevelled detail.
‘All right, you’re a comedian,’ she said. ‘Very funny. Now, will you please tell me where you’re staying?’
‘I just did. I can’t help it if you don’t believe me.’
‘The most expensive hotel in Rome? Would
‘I didn’t come out looking like this. I left everything behind in case of pickpockets.’ He looked down at his disreputable self. ‘Now I don’t suppose any pickpocket would bother with me.’
‘
He sighed. There was no help for it.
‘Luke Cayman.’
For a moment Minnie didn’t move. She was frowning as though trying to understand something.
‘What did you say?’ she asked at last.
‘Luke Cayman.’
She drummed her fingers. ‘Is that a joke?’
‘Why would you think so?’ he fenced.
‘I thought maybe I’d heard the name before, but perhaps I was mistaken.’
‘No, I don’t think you were,’ he said deliberately.
They regarded each other, each with roughly the same mixture of exasperation and incredulity. Charlie looked blank, understanding nothing.
Suddenly his expression changed and he took a deep breath. In a flash Minnie was at the door, calling for Rico, who came running.
‘You’d better get him out quickly,’ she said.
Rico did so, guiding Charlie down the corridor to where he could be ill in peace.
‘Let’s get this settled,’ Minnie said. ‘I do not believe that you’re Luke Cayman.’
‘Why? Because I don’t fit your preconceived notion? You don’t fit mine, but I’m willing to be tolerant.’
‘You think this is very funny-’
‘Well, no, this isn’t how I’d have chosen to meet you. With a bit of conniving I dare say you could get me locked up for years. Look me in the eye and say you aren’t tempted.’
‘Well, I’m not,’ she snapped. ‘It’s the last thing I want.’
‘Very virtuous of you.’
‘Virtuous, nothing!’ she said, goaded into candour. ‘With you locked up, the Residenza would be in limbo, with no hope of getting anything done. You may be sure I’ll do my best to make you a free man.’
‘I see. If anyone’s going to give me grief, you’d prefer it to be you.’
‘Exactly.’
Charlie returned, looking pale but slightly better, and glanced back and forth between them, sensing strain in the air.
‘We were discussing strategy,’ Minnie said.
‘I’ve decided not to hire you,’ Luke told her. ‘I’d feel safer if you just leave me to my fate.’
‘No,’ Charlie burst out. ‘Minnie’s a good lawyer; she’ll get you out of trouble.’
‘Only because she’s got far more trouble planned for me,’ Luke said with a derisive grin.
‘Please, let’s not be melodramatic,’ Minnie said coolly. ‘I shall treat you exactly as I would any other client.’
‘You see?’ Charlie urged. ‘Honestly, Lucio, she’s the best. They call her the “giant slayer” because she’ll take on anyone and win. You should see the battle she’s preparing for the monster who owns our building.’
‘I can imagine,’ Luke murmured. ‘A monster, eh?’
‘Yes, but she’s says he’s going to die a horrible death,’ Charlie said with relish.
‘Literally, or only legally?’ Luke asked with interest.
‘Whichever seems necessary,’ Minnie said, meeting his eyes.
‘I gather you’ll make that decision at a later date.’
‘I like to keep my options open.’
‘When she’s finished he’ll wish he’d never been born,’ Charlie added.
‘Does this monster have a name?’ Luke asked with interest.
‘No, Minnie just calls him the “devil incarnate”.’
‘Stop talking nonsense, both of you,’ she said severely. ‘I’ve got to work out what we’re going to do. You’ll be in court in a few hours and you can’t go looking like that. Charlie, I’ll send someone down with clean clothes for you. Signor Cayman, you’ll need fresh clothes, too, and your ID card. How do I get them?’
‘I could call the hotel and ask them to arrange it,’ he said reluctantly. ‘But I don’t want them to know I’m here.’
‘You’re right. Can I get into your room?’
‘Yes, I brought the card with me.’ From his back pocket he drew the sliver of plastic that acted like a key at the Contini and handed it to her, giving her the code. ‘It’s on the third floor.’
‘I don’t believe I’m doing this,’ she said, half to him, half to herself.
‘Try to forget that I’m the devil incarnate,’ he said. ‘That should make it easier.’
Charlie looked from one to the other, baffled.
‘You can explain it when I’m gone,’ she told Luke.
Rico opened the door for her. At the last moment she turned to look back at Luke and said, ‘By the way, I didn’t call you the devil incarnate.’
‘Thank you.’
‘I called you “the creature from the black lagoon”. I’ll see you later.’
Heading north, she swung her car on to the Ponte Sisto, the bridge that would take her over the Tiber in the
