Arrigo Rinaldi, second in command of the Sbrri secret police of Venezia, was shuffling through some maps and papers on his desk at Sbirri headquarters when he heard someone enter. He looked up to see one of the thugs he had assigned to follow Hugo and the women to Sorrentina.

Glancing at the unfriendly face of the Doge in the grim painting behind his boss's desk, Vito the thug looked very uncertain. "Hello Signor Rinaldi," he said tentatively.

Rinaldi was surprised to see him. "Ah number 49, where in the name of beelzebub's backside have you been?"

Vito coughed and looked around nervously.

"and take off your hat, damn you, show some respect!" Rinaldi added sharply.

Vito whipped his hat off his head and held it in his hand, sheepishly muttering in a low voice "I am here to report Signore..."

Rinaldi cut him off. "Damned right you areyou were supposed to following the merchant and those two doxies"

"We did Signore," Vito answered, "even to their ship and out of the harbor."

"And?"

"We, um ..... well .... ," Vito's gaze wandered and he twirled his hat, nervously.

"Yes?" Rinaldi was growing visibly impatient.

"We were detained, butbut... but all is not lost, Signore!"

"DETAINED?!!" Rinaldi roared. "By whom?"

"Men from Rocca Sorrentina, they surprised us, Signore."

Vito thought that Rinaldi was going to strike him, but he gathered his courage and went on. "They said we were their guests," as his gaze dropped to the floor once again.

The Sbirri officer swore under his breath and shook his head. After a pause he spoke a bit more calmly. "So ...they locked you up?"

"Yes Signore, I have never in my days heard of a guest being locked up like that!"

"Hmph, they probably called it protective custody or something like that. At least that's what I would have done."

Vito chewed on the inside of his lip, waiting for what would come next.

Rinadli sighed. "Did you at least get to see who those people were going to meet?"

"We were not permitted to roam the island .... but I did hear some things."

Rinaldi was about to explode once more, but Vito's last statement prevented the detonation. He was suddenly very interested in what Vito had to say. "Oh? what sort of things did you hear?"

"I heard that the man Dieter and the women made it there safely."

This time, Rinaldi did explode. He slammed his hand on his desk and bellowed, "SAFELY??!!! Do you think I care two busted coppers if they are healthy or not?!!"

Vito winced and cringed but he made up his mind to go on. "There is more ..... if it would please you for me to say?"

"Please me? it would please me if ye choked on your own tongue, you scrofulous sore on society's backside! Didn't you learn anything useful, you wretched lackwit?!

"They have cannons, I heard the guards whispering ..... they thought I didn't hear, but I did!"

The Sbirri officer's expression immediately changed to something more receptive. "Wait...did you say... cannon?"

Vito nodded vigorously. "Yes!! The island has cannons, new cannons ... how many I do not know, but I heard them say it, in hushed tones."

"New cannon? from where?"

"They did not speak of where the cannons came from.But yes, newly delivered cannons,...but not stayingwaiting to go somewhere else....uh...they spoke of revolution,"

"Revolution...hmmmany hint of where they are going?"

"One of the guards whispered 'Vienna,' Signore ......um... it is in Austria, yes? I do not know what they meant, I did not hear the whole part of the conversation."

Rinaldi sighed once again. And then he almost smiled. Not quitebut almost. "Yes, you dolt. It's in Austria. Well, in spite of yourself you seem to have stumbled on to something useful."

This was a great relief to poor Vito. He puffed out his chest and smiled. "The Signore is pleased that we escaped to tell you these things?"

Rinaldi suddenly felt a wave of suspicion. "Tell me...just how did you escape?"

Vito beamed proudly. "The customs officers were to take us to Naples, I think, and they weren't looking after we landed and we ran off into a crowd, Signore."

"Neapolitans? They were taking you to the mainlandand it was on the mainland that they were inattentive and you slipped away??"

Vito nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! We ran away in the confusion in order to keep serving you and the Republic!"

The wheels inside Rinaldi's head were turning over and over, mixing his preconceived notions about southerners with things he wanted to hear. His fears were now allayed. "Yes, yes, the Republic thanks youand I will simply thank God that they put you into the hands of some fellows actually stupider than you two are."

Vito felt like things were looking up. He was in fact starting to wonder if there was any chance of getting paid

Rinaldi was looking thoughtful. Suddenly he gestured to Vito. "Here now, step closer, 49."

The thug cautiously inched closer to the man behind the desk, halfway expecting to be struck with some heavy, blunt object.

But instead of a club, Rinaldi extended some coins, gold ducats, shining in his hand. His voice was calmer than it had been during the entire conversation. "You have done reasonably well, 49. And you show good loyalty in coming back"

But just as Vito began to reach for the money, his boss snatched the coins back, closing his fist around them. "BUT do not make these kinds of mistakes again, you hear?" he snarled.

Rinadli looked Vito dead in the eye as he said this. Vito realized he was a very lucky man. As he nodded humbly, the Boss reached out once more and this time pressed the coins into his hand.

"Thank you! A thousand thanks, Signore!" Vito bowed over and over again. "I shall try to do better, Signore, all for the Sbirri and the Republic!"


Rinadli waved him away. "You will, I'm surenow be off. Go have a drink, but keep your damned mouth shut, and be back here in the morning for a new job...you understand?

Vito backed away slowly, still bowing as he went ..... "Si, Signore!"

As Vito scurried away to find the nearest brothel and a drink, Rinaldi sat at his desk once more and began writing a memorandum:

" My dear Don Cristoforo:

We have received corroborating evidence from a reasonably reliable source that confirms the other information we have received regarding the Conte Foscari's activities. As your Excellency will recall, Gandt had given us more information about another shipment of guns from the previously mentioned foundry. That proved correct and we did find the cannon which were being shipped at the time and place Gandt had directed us to. We now have been told by one of the operatives under my supervision that the guns are in fact being shipped by an indirect path through southern ports, and are ultimately destined for rebels in the Austrian empire, just as Gandt had reported.

So it appears that we now can safely conclude that the secretive business being engaged in by the Conte Foscari is not so much involvement with freemasons, but instead is in support of rebels in Austrian territory, most likely Hungary. As your excellency so wisely directed, we shall permit these activities to proceed, as they will in effect serve only to confound our less than friendly neighbors to the north. It also indicates that we can indeed trust Gandt and allow him a little longer leash. As you suggested, he seems to be the perfect agent to gather information on the other arms that the Conte is reportedly shipping from Roma, as he seems to be known and trusted by those involved. And if something bad happens to him, it is no skin off our noses. I shall, with your permission, prepare the papers for him to leave the city and proceed on our behalf to Roma"

~