There was a knock at the door and he figured this was the interview part so he answered and offered a smile.

"Mr. Arnold Wainright?"

"Yes."

"Good evening. You are sharing this room, no?"

"Yes."

"And where is Miss Lawrence?"

The two policemen filled the space and he couldn't see past them but he could see the difference in the uniforms and he wondered if that mattered to him.

"Shopping." He smiled again and shrugged. "You know women." He hoped to hell she didn't come climbing in through a window or something before he could call her.

The older of the two policemen uttered a string of words that Arny said all sounded like 'gullible' to him. The policeman's eyes darted to his superior and a small crack appeared on his lips.

"The Capo della Polizia would like to see your passport, please."

After a perusal accompanied by a huge frown, the passport was returned and Arny was asked several questions about his whereabouts, when he checked in, did he hear anything unusual and then instructed to stay in the suite until notified. As soon as the door closed he was on the phone.

"Arny, what is it?"

"Cops. Something has happened on this floor, a killing according to the desk clerk, and they are securing the floor until further notice. I can't leave and you sure can't come back right now. I told them you were shopping."

" Who was killed?"

"No idea but it was just two doors down."

"I'll call you back in a minute."

Gretta worked her way back to the edge of the roof and took out her monocular lens, searching the windows at the rear of the Hotel Ala. The activity in one room drew her attention and she focused the lens in time to see a pair of white suited men carrying a body bag past the window and then she lost sight of them. Something about the whole scene stirred her gut and she took out her cell and dialed the hotel desk. In fluent Italian, Gretta finagled the name of the guest who was registered the room and left the flustered clerk with the feeling he'd done something patriotic.

"Arny, we have big trouble."

"That's what I just told you. None of these escapades of yours─"

"The dead guy is Allen Lockhart."

"Are you joking? He was here?"

"It's Allen, Arny, I knew he was in this hotel, that's why I chose it so we could speak with him, and that means that Bishop is eliminating any and all participants who have become redundant."

"Oh how politically correct, Gretta. Why don't you just say the bastard is killing anybody in his way? And thanks for keeping me in the loop."

"Okay."

Arny paced about the room, one hand massaging his hair. "What is that, okay? What do we do? What do you do?"

"I'll have to make another visit to Bishop only this time not just to spy."

"Gretta this could get really serious. If it comes out that we know Allen and why we're over here... Jesus, I can see my career swirling down the drain."

"There's no reason anyone should find that out."

"Gretta they'll check him out back home and find out who he is and where he worked. All they have to do is the same for anyone else on this floor and they'll find out I was his bloody boss."

"That's not a crime, Arny but I know what you mean; it could get awkward. I won't be able to do this business with Bishop as fast as I hoped. Sit tight and buzz me if anything comes up. We may have to do this in the morning in daylight. I should be able to come back from shopping now without raising any alarms, right?"

"Whatever. Just hurry... and for God's sake be careful."

Jeffrey gave Helen a gentle shake and wakened her with a finger over his lips. He pointed to his watch and then the door, shrugging.

"Do you think they've gone?" Helen whispered nervously.

"Not a chance but they might be out having breakfast. They seem to enjoy their meals in spite of this situation."

"Should we knock on the door?"

"No but I'll test the handle." He stood and walked quietly to the door, placing a steady hand on the knob and turning it. Nothing. It was locked. He shook his head and returned to sit beside her. "I guess we just wait." Helen started to sob and he wrapped an arm about her, cooing calming words into her ear

Gretta squatted behind the ventilator again and watched as Bishop entertained the large man for breakfast on the balcony. Her legs were sore and her body was entertaining a number of aches from her all night vigil. The sun was casting golden reflections across the canal and onto the windows of some of the structures along the bank. She was almost in the act of making the leap across the alley to the Gritti Palace rooftop when the man had arrived and she had to scramble back to cover. Snatches of their conversation could be heard from her hiding place and she was able to put together the fact that he was one of the men that had kidnapped the Glimbs and they were discussing something about their disposal.

She needed to find out their location and if she stayed on the roof she might lose them when they left. She dialed Arny's phone and hunkered down behind the ventilator.

"Gretta? Are you okay? Christ you never came back! You never answered your phone. You stayed up there all night?"

"I learned that the rooftop was the favourite place for employees to have a smoke and to enjoy long rendezvous; I couldn't leave or answer the phone."

"Jesus, Gretta. We are so lucky the cops didn't come back yet."

"Listen, I'm sitting behind an exhaust ventilator watching Bishop Gravestone drink a morning scotch in the dawn on his very spiffy balcony. He has a goon on his balcony eating breakfast. I'm betting he's is one of the men that took Jeffrey. I don't want to lose him if he leaves before I get back off this roof. You go down and sit in the piazza, have a coffee or something and watch for a large guy in a golf shirt and dark trousers. He's tall and balding. If I'm not back in time, follow him and keep me posted."

"What if he takes a boat?"

"You take one too."

"Oh right, I jump into a gondola and shout, follow that taxi."

"I thought you'd be smarter than to jump into a gondola, Arny. Just do this okay. It's just in case I'm not back down in time."

She hung up and peered back at the balcony. The man was standing and Bishop was waving a finger at him.

"Crap." She scurried across the roof and prepared to jump back across to the Ala Hotel. A door opened on the roof top and a young man in a service uniform came out. He set down a large satchel, took out a cigarette and slid down the wall to a sitting position. She almost heard the sigh as he blew out a large cloud of smoke. She crept back to peek over at Bishop's and saw that the balcony was empty. She saw the fire escape on the back of his building and thought if she could get over to his balcony she could go straight down the fire escape to the street.

She waited a few minutes and when no one came back out, she climbed over the dividing wall, scampered across the edge of the suite wall and stepped over another short wall onto the balcony. Silence. She dashed to the fire escape, climbed onto the metal stairs and hurried down as quickly as she could without noise, legs burning from squatting so long.