‘That is not my understanding of the situation,’ said the captain. ‘The professor from Florence verified an example of the coins as genuine, and as a result the Italian Naval Office has officially declared them treasure trove. It was well reported in the Italian press. And the good news, commander, is that Lieutenant Monti pulled off a bit of a coup for this department.’
‘What form did this coup take?’ asked Hawksby, trying to remain calm.
‘Following several days of tough negotiations, the Italian Naval Office agreed on a valuation of the rest of the coins that was well below the amount proposed by M
r Carter’s representative.’
‘How much?’ spat out Hawksby.
‘Six hundred thousand pounds, of which the Italian government only had to pay out three hundred thousand. So Lieutenant Monti’s skilful negotiations saved the government some fifty thousand pounds.’
‘One coin?’ whispered William, breaking the commander’s orders.
‘Lieutenant Monti sent only one coin to be examined by the professor?’ asked Hawksby.
‘Yes,’ said the captain. ‘The remainder were kept under lock and key in Rome. Monti considered it would be pointless and unnecessarily risky to send the entire casket to Florence.’ Lamont scribbled a few words on a scrap of paper and passed it to Hawksby.
‘You said Lieutenant Monti is no longer with you . . .’
‘That is correct, commander. He recently took early retirement.’
‘But when I last spoke to him, he mentioned the possibility of promotion.’
‘Yes, it was all very sudden,’ said Captain Loretti. ‘It seems his mother is suffering from cancer, and he felt that as her only child he ought to resign and return home to look after her. Quite a sacrifice, because, you’re correct, he was just about to be promoted to captain and made head of the department.’
Where is he? wrote William.
‘Is there any way I can get in touch with him?’ asked Hawksby.
‘We have a forwarding address in Sicily where I think his family comes from.’
Lamont threw his arms in the air. ‘I should have been born in Italy,’ he muttered as William wrote down another suggestion for the Hawk to consider.
‘One more question, if I may,’ said Hawksby. ‘Can I ask who conducted the negotiations on behalf of Carter?’
‘One moment please, commander, while I check.’
William wrote down a name and waited for the captain to confirm it.
‘Ah yes, here it is,’ said Loretti. ‘A lawyer from Lincoln’s Inn, in London. A Mr Booth Watson QC.’
‘Thank you, captain,’ said Hawksby, trying not to sound exasperated.
‘My pleasure, commander. It is always a privilege to work alongside our colleagues in the Metropolitan Police.’
Hawksby slammed the phone down as Lamont repeated the same four-letter word again and again.
‘Why don’t we go ahead and arrest Carter anyway?’ said William calmly.
‘And break off any relationship we still have with the Italian police? No, I don’t think that would please the politicians in either country.’
‘So there’s absolutely nothing we can do about it?’ asked William.
‘Except shoot Miles Faulkner, and hope there’s a bullet left over for Booth Watson,’ said Lamont.
‘Calm down, Bruce, we have no proof that Faulkner is involved. Let’s take a deep breath and move on.’
‘Whatever you say, boss,’ said Lamont, ‘but there was one more question I would have liked you to ask.’ Hawksby indulged him with a nod. ‘How many people who work in the Italian Naval Office also took early retirement?’ he said before storming out of the room.