Page 61 of The Venice Murders

‘We must take her, Luigi say. She will tell. But Signor Fabbri not happy when I come. He scared I am here.’

‘So he should be,’ Flora declared. ‘How despicable! All of them. Despicable men!’

‘Anche lui è un amico. He is friend also.’ Filomena was philosophical. ‘He help Enrico. But Luigi is very bad man.’

‘And that’s putting it mildly,’ Jack said quietly. ‘Filomena, we have to escape and get help for you, but there is only one small window in this room and it has bars.’

‘You have room by canal?’

‘Well, yes, but?—’

‘Maybe a door for boats.’

‘You mean to deliver goods?’

‘Sì. Always. Maybe they no use it now.’

Jack cast his eyes around the room. At first sight, it didn’t appear true of this building. But when a beam of light filtered through the window – the sun was on its slow journey to sunset – a shadow fell on the wall beside the window. A shadow that, if he looked closely, showed a faint outline. A rectangular shape. The outline of a door? Could this have been an entrance to the canal?

‘I think therewasa door here,’ he said slowly. ‘But it’s been plastered over.’

‘Non forte?’

‘Not strong? It’s possible the plaster is weak if Fabbri thought he might need it in the future.’

‘You try,’ Filomena suggested.

Jumping down from the chair, he took it with him and walked over to what, on closer inspection, was a definite outline. An experimental thwack of the chair splintered the plaster. Several more blows had further chunks falling to the floor.

‘I think it’s working,’ Flora said, looking up at the grille and hoping Filomena could hear and understand.

Over and over, Jack pounded the chair against the wall, after each blow listening for any sounds above. Flora worked alongside, tearing down whatever loose plaster she could find, her hands soon scarred and bleeding. It wasn’t long, however, before first the legs and then the back of the chair came adrift, leaving Jack to wrap his jacket around the seat, all that was now left, in an attempt to muffle the sound. They had been hammering at the wall for at least ten minutes, and it was now a race to find an escape route before anyone above stairs realised what was happening. It was possible that Tasca and his confederates were in another part of the building – probable, he thought, otherwise they would surely have appeared by now.

A last piece of plaster was torn down and a handle in the shape of an iron ring sat glistening in a beam of light.

‘Filomena was right,’ Flora said. ‘The door to the canal is still there.’

But when Jack attempted to turn the ring, there was no movement. He tried again, putting his remaining strength behind it, but the iron ring remained obdurate. Dare they make more noise by pounding the door’s wooden planks with the now sorry-looking chair seat? They stood for a moment, waiting in silence. Still no sound from above but…

‘I’ll try a shoulder,’ Jack said. ‘It will be quieter.’

And it was, though what damage it was doing to his body, he didn’t like to think. On the third heave, there was a creaking, a movement, a slight gap appearing at the top of the door. He grabbed the iron handle once more and thrust with as much force as he could and, slowly and painfully, the door ground open.

‘We’ve found the door,’ Flora turned to say to the grille, hoping again that Filomena could hear. A muffled ‘Sì’ came back.

Directly ahead were three stone steps, ridged with green slime, and beyond them the waters of the canal. The door was low, making it necessary to stoop to reach the steps.

‘What now?’ Flora asked. In the frantic activity of smashing their way through the plaster and finding the door, it was clear she hadn’t thought this far ahead.

‘Now we swim.’

It seemed so obvious, but so impossible. ‘I can’t swim, you know that. I’ll have to stay, but you must go. You can get help.’

‘I’m not leaving you here.’ Jack was adamant. ‘Anything could happen in the time it will take me to persuade the police to come. If, indeed, I can. We’ll manage – I’ll do the swimming and tow you alongside.’

‘No, Jack, I can’t do it!’ She shrank back, staring at the dark expanse ahead, and there was terror in her eyes. ‘There’s no way I can get into that water.’

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