Gregg Loomis - The Julian secret

"May I have red wine," or "Where is the men's room?" wasn't going to be of much use.

"Can I help you, sir?"

A young man in a white shirt, tie, and neatly pressed pants had appeared like a genie at Lang's elbow.

''You can if you speak English," Lang said hopefully.

"Of course. What is it you wish?"

Lang grinned. "Your English is very good. Where did you learn it?"

The young man smiled back, a dazzle of white teeth. "P.S. 41 in the Bronx, where I live. I'm visiting my grandparents here, working at the museum, hoping to improve my Italian." He extended his hand. "Enrico Savelli."

Lang shook, almost blurting out a name that wasn't going to match his passport. "Joel Couch. I wanted to see the curator."

Savelli's face screwed up into a question. "He's in the field for the next few days. Might I ask why you want to see him?"

Lang thought fast. "I'm writing an article for the newspaper I work for, an article on forensics in archaeology. Stuff like being able to read old and nearly obliterated inscriptions, ancient manuscripts, stuff like that. Maybe as a fellow American you could arrange…"

Lang had long ago observed that Americans who had nothing in common in their native country took it as a debt of honor to help their fellow citizens abroad. Read a menu you can't decipher? No problem. Give you directions to the embassy? Why don't you let me walk you there? Had your wallet lifted? Here's a few euro to get you to the American Express office. It was a positive facet of the us-against-them syndrome.

Savelli stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Wish you had called or written-",

"Actually, I'm here on vacation, just thought of finding out how one of the world's primo archaeological outfits does it. But if you can't, you can't." Lang turned as though to head for the door.

"Tell you what," Savelli said. "Curator's at Herculaneum, supervising a new dig along what was the waterfront… You are familiar with the city?"

"Destroyed in the same eruption of Vesuvius as Pompeii, about A.D. seventy-nine."

Savelli gave that flash of a smile again, glad to be talking to a reasonably knowledgeable countryman, not one of those American tourists who view Italy as a combination Olive Garden Restaurant and Armani outlet store. "I can call. It's about a three-hour train ride to Naples and a fifty-euro cab trip to the site, if you bargain well. Ask for Dr. Rossi."

Lang did a quick calculation: It would take at least an hour to get to either of Rome's airports, and how long would he have to wait for the next flight to Naples? As is so often the case in Europe, the train was preferable to air travel.

He reached in his pocket and peeled off several bills. "For your trouble."

The mistake became instantly apparent as Savelli frowned and shook his head. "I am not the concierge at your hotel, Mr. Couch."

Lang feigned surprise. "Not for you, of course. A contribution to this museum in payment for your efforts." It was as if the sun had come out from behind storm clouds. "Grazie. A moment and I will write you a receipt."

Lang left considering a common conundrum: Where was the line between a favor and a service for which a gratuity was expected? Like most Americans, he tended to err toward the latter rather than the former.

Whatever the art of tipping, there was something not quite right about the young man leaning against the adjacent building as he talked on a cell phone and smoked.

There was nothing unusual about anything. Italians are perhaps the most accomplished loungers in the world.

Generally, they prop themselves against brick, stucco, or stone with equal insouciance, seeming perfectly comfortable in contorted poses that would send the average American to a chiropractor. Smoking also is common, fear of cancer, heart or respiratory ailments apparently viewed as less than manly. The preferred method being to let the cigarette dangle from the lower lip or be used in the hand as a short pointer to emphasize the gesticulation for which the nationality is famous. Even more ubiquitous than cigarettes are cell phones. An Italian, or at least a Roman, is somehow not complete unless his phone is held to one ear while he manually expresses himself to his unseeing correspondent with gestures. Sometimes this takes place while driving an automobile or motor scooter, frequently with very exciting results.

All of this being true, there was still something about the way the fellow detached himself from the wall, his eyes following Lang, something Lang would have described as not quite passing the smell test. He stopped, ostensibly pantomiming some point while Lang slipped Mr. Couch's credit card into a teller machine. The man had positioned himself where he would not be obvious in watching.

Lang could almost feel his antennae rise and quiver. It had been years since the course in surveillance detection, but its lessons were unforgotten.

Lang dawdled at a news kiosk and his companion actually walked half a block ahead, constantly turning as he continued his animated conversation. The man was following, but not so obviously as to remove all doubt. Lang took a quick survey of his surroundings. There was no handy alley to draw in his tail where Lang might turn on him. Besides, the area was heavily patrolled by the Polizia, a measure to discourage the pickpockets preying on arrivals at the train station. Assaulting someone who had actually done nothing would certainly draw their attention.

Lang took his time at the newsstand. Was he being followed by more than one? Didn't look like it. He could lose the man, simply duck into a store and head for a rear entrance. But if he failed, his shadow would know he had been spotted. Better to keep the follower obvious.

At the station, Lang was certain the man could see the rail ticket he bought was to Naples. The stalker did not board the train.

Lang was confident he was going to meet someone else in three hours or so. He only hoped he could spot him.

Herculaneum

Four hours later

Like any tourist who had ever been subjected to the legal thievery of Italian cabdrivers, Lang had haggled over the fare before getting into the shiny Mercedes. Now the meter showed an extra seventeen euros. The driver, who had spoken good if broken English at the Naples depot, was suddenly unable to remember a word of the language and was reduced to violent head-shaking and Italian invective as Lang tendered the amount agreed upon. The stopped cab was blocking half the narrow street, and the cars behind were expressing displeasure at the delay.

None of this was a first-time experience for Lang. He used the time to survey the surroundings. On the way from the train, Naples's traffic had been far too dense to discern if he had been followed. As a suburb of the city, his destination consisted largely of mid-rise apartments, small shops, and crowded sidewalks. The few strollers who had gathered to watch the altercation would provide perfect cover for anyone who was now following.

Conceding defeat, Lang parted with the euro notes. This time there was no question as to the appropriateness of a tip. Unless he could have handed over a live hand grenade.

The spectators dispersed, but at least one lingered long enough to watch Lang enter through stone portals that led to a path.

The trail ran along a ridge. On the left side was dense vegetation, on the other a yawning hole that grew in size as he descended. Suddenly, he was looking down at a small town, one in which, other than roofs, the buildings, streets, and public spaces were perfectly preserved. He could make out one, two villas whose timeless Mediterranean features are seen today wherever warm sun meets cerulean sea.

Herculaneum had been a seaside resort, the site of vacation homes for wealthy Romans. Unlike Pompeii, Herculaneum had not been smothered in a cloud of fiery volcanic ash. Instead, a single blast of superheated, possibly toxic gas had extinguished every form of life within seconds but, other than charring exposed wooden fittings, had done little damage to the actual buildings, leaving them to be preserved by successive coats of mud that slid with millennia of rain from the surrounding hills. Many of the frescoed walls and elaborate mosaic tiled floors had survived, the colors of their designs as vibrant as the year in which they were last used. For years, archaeologists had marveled at the lack of loss of life, assuming the inhabitants had fled in private ships.