via Condotti

Chapter One.

As Helge Grum turned the corner into Via Condotti in the dusk, a military band came down the street playing The Merry Widow in such a crazy, whirling time that it sounded like wild bugle calls.

The small, dark soldiers rushed past in the cold afternoon, more like a Roman cohort intent on attacking barbarian hosts than peaceful men returning to their barracks for supper.

That was perhaps the cause of their haste, Helge thought, smiling to himself.