The Geneva Deception by James Twining Page B

known him. ‘ They must be lapping it up.’
    They , she knew, referred to the media, an industry he despised, having been tricked a few years ago into authenticating a forged Etruscan vase by an investigative reporter. He gave a contemptuous wave of his hand towards an imagined TV set in the corner of his room, as if trying to further distance himself from an object he had already demonstrably banished from his life.
    ‘I’ve spent half the day trying to see if there’s anything else that links the two sites or any ofCaravaggio’s other works. Gallo is trying to get me seconded on to the case full time.’
    ‘I’m sorry, Allegra. I didn’t know…I didn’t mean to get you involved in anything like this.’
    She shrugged. It was hard to be angry with him. It was Aurelio after all who, guessing that she would quickly tire of academia, had encouraged her to apply to the art and antiquities unit of the Carabinieri in the first place. He’d only been trying to help.
    ‘I know.’
    ‘Anything to go on?’ he asked hopefully.
    ‘Plenty to go on. Just no idea where to start,’ she sighed. ‘Which reminds me. There’s something I wanted to ask you.’
    ‘Anything, of course.’
    ‘Both victims had what looked like an antique coin in their mouths.’
    ‘To pay Charon,’ Aurelio guessed immediately.
    ‘That’s what I thought. Except it wasn’t a coin. It was a lead disc.’
    ‘Lead?’ Aurelio frowned. ‘That’s unusual.’
    ‘That’s what I thought. I seem to remember reading that Roman forgers used to fake coins by casting them in lead and covering them in gold leaf, but I wondered if there was some other reference to the Classical world that might.’
    ‘Unusual, but not unprecedented,’ he continued, interrupting her. ‘Can you reach that red book down for me.’
    She extricated the book from between the fifteen or so other academic texts he had written and handed it to him. He held it for a few seconds, his eyes closed, fingers resting lightly on the leather cover as if he was reading braille. Then, opening his eyes, he leafed through it, the brain haemorrhage that he’d suffered some fifteen years before betraying itself in his slow and deliberate movements.
    ‘Here,’ he fixed her with a knowing smile, about halfway in.
    ‘Here what?’
    ‘Threatened by the Persian empire, several Greek states came together in the fifth century BC to form a military alliance under the leadership of the Athenians,’ he read. ‘Members had to contribute ships or money, and in return the alliance agreed to protect their territory. Symbolically,’ he paused, Allegra remembering that he used to employ the same theatrical technique in lectures when he was about to make a particularly compelling point. ‘Symbolically, upon joining, representatives of the member states had to throw a piece of metal into the sea.’
    ‘Lead,’ Allegra breathed. He nodded.
    ‘Normally a piece of lead. The alliance was to last until it floated to the surface again.’
    There was a pause, as she reflected on this.
    ‘And you think…?’
    ‘You asked about a link between lead and the Classical world.’ He smiled. ‘Thinking’s your job.’
    ‘What was the name of this alliance?’
    Aurelio pretended to consult the book, although she could tell it was just an excuse for another of his dramatic pauses.
    ‘They called themselves the Delian League.’

NINETEEN
    J. Edgar Hoover Building, FBI headquarters, Washington DC
    18th March - 9.37 a.m.
    The door buzzed open. Tom didn’t bother to look round. He could tell from Ortiz’s shuffling steps and Stokes’s heavier, wider stride, who it was.
    ‘How long are you going to keep me here?’ he demanded angrily.
    ‘A federal agent’s been killed, Mr Kirk,’ Stokes replied icily, no longer even attempting to mask his instinctive hostility. He dragged a chair out from under the table and extravagantly straddled it. ‘So we’re going to keep you here pretty much as long as we