Margery came over and took his arm. "I was going through it," she
said, suddenly anxious for the everyday. "Mostly it was business
correspondence, official papers, that sort of thing. But there's one
file in Italian. Maybe you can tell me what it means." The phone
buzzed. "Shut up, God damn it!"
Kintyre sat down, taking out a cigarette for himself. He did not quite
like reading a dead man's mail. But doubtless it had to be done. "I'll
make some more coffee," said Margery. She went out to the kitchen;
his eyes shifted in her direction and he felt the animal pleasure of
watching her walk. It was possible--once more, after a decent interval?
Then he realized that the lilt within him was because he would be
seeing Corinna.
He bent his attention to the file. Sloppy in many other respects, Bruce
had been meticulous here. If it was likely to have any future value at
all, he typed his own letter, making a carbon for himself, and kept the
reply, folded. The section indexed _Luigi Lombardi_ held at least a
year's worth of mail.
Luigi. Oh, yes, the uncle in the secret service, amateur scholar--hoy,
there! L. L., of course. Kintyre felt chagrined. So much for that
mystery. Bruce had only been noting those sections where he would be
making an acknowledgment of his uncle's help.
Kintyre began leafing through. No point in reading every word about
Aunt Sofia's arthritis or Cousin Giovanni's marriage. But there were
pages, where Luigi described exactly what he had looked into for Bruce,
that had not yet been transcribed. Those should be preserved, they were
essential to the completion of the thesis.
Nothing else had occurred to Kintyre than that it would be finished and
published, under Bruce's name.
Yes. Here was that reference to the Milanese archives. It concluded:
"... would like to look through the libraries and store-rooms of
the older aristocratic homes in this neighborhood. Quite possibly a
contemporary reference exists, in a letter or diary. But the time and
the introductions are not available to a poor policeman. Why do you not
ask your rich American friend Clayton to have it done?"
Bruce's reply was grateful, but forebore to answer that faintly
sarcastic question. Uncle Luigi took it up next time. Kintyre
remembered the man, how he tried hard to be fair but was unable to
refrain from cracks about Americans. It was only natural, if you were
the patriot of a poor country: a form of self-defense.
"... Not another Medici. Do you seriously believe he cares about these
old books? It is his particular camouflage, to get him among people of
breeding who can be useful. His real friends are a coarser sort, if
indeed he has any friends except his bank accounts."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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