‘Guido,’ Vianello said, voice dead level. ‘I know how it appears and what it sounds like, but it’s the only way to find out what she’s doing with it.’

‘And if she’s been lying to you all, and she ends up going down to the Casinò to lose it all in the slot machines?’ Brunetti demanded.

Vianello surprised him by taking him seriously. ‘Then we can get her barred from the Casinò.’

Brunetti changed his tone and asked, ‘And if she goes in somewhere and comes out without the money? Then what? You and your cousins go in and beat up whoever has the money and take it back?’

‘No,’ Vianello said calmly. ‘Then perhaps we see if there are any more little old ladies going into the same address with cash in their purses.’

Surprise stopped Brunetti from answering immediately, and when he did speak, all he could say was, ‘Oh my, oh my, oh my.’ And then, ‘Is that what you think?’

‘I don’t know what I think,’ Vianello answered. ‘But my aunt is no fool, so whoever is convincing her to give them money — if that’s what’s happening, and she’s not losing it all on the slot machines — is also not a fool, so it’s a fair bet that she’s not the only one involved in this.’

Brunetti pushed himself out of the booth and went over to the counter, where he got two more glasses of mineral water and took them back to Vianello. He set the glasses down and slipped back into his seat.

‘There’s a way we can do it officially,’ Brunetti said.

‘How?’

‘Isn’t Scarpa running the training classes for new officers?’

‘Yes, but I don’t see. .’

‘And one of the things they’re supposed to learn, if they’re not Venetian, is how to follow someone in the city.’

Flawlessly, Vianello picked it up and ran. ‘And since Scarpa isn’t Venetian, he hasn’t got an idea of how to do it.’