The Robber Princess

Chapter 12. With Whom He Does Not Suspect

Chapter 12

Twenty-four hours before calling Brickelstein at Interpol Headquarters, Regina was still wracking her brain. Magnús had made it clear that she and Angelica would have to leave that day but Regina was at a loss for where to go next. After the close calls with Marcelo and Mischa, she was afraid to approach any more Marcelistas for refuge. The compromising of either of them alone would jeopardize the secrecy on which the organization so heavily depended, but the fall of both of them could bring down the entire group. If Brickelstein knew who and where the other members were-and Folkering's appearance at Rybikovo signified that he probably did know-then they all could be arrested soon.

As usual, Magnús's outside-the-box reasoning furnished a solution to Regina's problem. "If you cannot find refuge with someone whom your pursuer suspects," he said, "then you must find refuge with whom he does not suspect." His pronouncement struck Regina as condescending, bordering on insulting-which was not unusual-but his logic was inescapable and Regina was forced to admit that he was absolutely right-which was very usual.

"The one person," Magnús continued, "who is best able to keep you well hidden, and whom your pursuers will least expect, is Signore Filiberto Nardini."

Regina was stunned at the suggestion. Filiberto Nardini was also the one person most dead to her and the other Marcelistas after that fiasco at the Musée Rodin and its nearly fatal blow to the organization.

"You must put aside your prejudicial antipathy toward Signore Nardini," admonished Magnús. "You need his help and he can help you, and as Hippocrates so well put it, 'desperate times call for desperate measures.'"

"But why would he be willing to help me at all?" protested Regina. "Berto isn't just a non-Marcelista but an ex-Marcelista. He was expelled. Why shouldn't he just slam the door in my face and let me be extradited?"

Without a word, Magnús ambled over to a table and selected a laptop computer from a dozen open ones. He sat down and typed as briskly as a virtuoso pianist sliding his fingers over the keyboard, finishing with a flourishingly assertive Control-P-Enter. Regina heard a laser printer somewhere across the cavern spring into action. Magnús disappeared for a moment then returned carrying an envelope with a letter sealed inside it.

"Have Signore Nardini read this letter when you first see him," instructed Magnús. "I predict that upon doing so, he will be most willing to provide aid and comfort to you and your sister." There was no point in belaboring the point further. All of Regina's objections had been obliterated by Magnús's utilitarian logic.

Filiberto Nardini lived in Rome in a modest urban villa off the Piazza Navona-probably somewhat more modest since his expulsion. If Filiberto were financially distressed, Regina thought, then perhaps she could make it worth his while to take her in. Moreover, Rome seemed like a good place for Regina and Angelica to try out their new disguises of each other-in case they failed, they were better off in a country where they knew the language well (Italian was official in Rochevaux alongside French).

So, Rome it would be. But before taking off, Regina also thought it prudent to make new passports of herself and Angelica, disguised as each other.

"Another identity?" protested Angelica. "I was just getting used to the first one."

"In this business you have to learn to be several different people, and switch from one to another instantly."

"So now we're going to be Italian?"

"Never assume you can pass as a native in a foreign language, not even Italian. We'll be French, from Nice. Wealthy playgirls jetting down to take in some Italian opera."