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the woman with a nod and studied the return address before tearing open the envelope. After reading the contents of the letter, his face broke into a wide smile. The paper he had written last year on a new and experimental technique that had been introduced to treat the mentally ill and the apparent beneficial results of the procedure known as leucotomy had been noticed, and by the right people. The letter officially acknowledged his appointment as head surgeon at the newly constructed psychiatric facility on the nearby island of Poveglia.
    He left, telling his patients in the adjoining waiting room he’d be back shortly, and hurried out of the building toward his house, wanting to share his good news with Serafina. He would tell her to prepare the children and be ready in her finest dress on his return home from the office this evening. They would be dining out tonight. News such as he had just received most definitely called for a celebration.

Chapter 5
    Venice, Italy
    Present Day
    At half-past two that afternoon, Venice time, the Alitalia jet bearing Anna toward her destination began its descent to Marco Polo International Airport. The day was clear, and the aerial view of Venice spectacular. Anna’s excitement mounted as she looked out the window to see the sparkling Adriatic, the Venetian lagoon and the instantly recognizable landmarks of San Marco and the Grand Canal. She’d been en route for the past thirteen hours, but had managed to get in several hours’ sleep on the plane to Rome. The unsettled feeling of the previous day had disappeared, replaced by the excitement of knowing she was about to embark on one of the most important steps in her career.
    Although she’d traveled to Italy several times, she’d only been to Venice once before, with her father after her mother had passed away. Only five or six years old at the time, she remembered very little of it. If time permitted, she hoped to take in some of the architectural splendors of the Renaissance city during her visit.
    Once the plane landed, she didn’t have long to wait for her baggage. After placing her luggage in a cart, she walked a few yards to the shuttle bus that would take her to the boat pier. At the dock, she opted to take a water taxi to the hotel, even though the driver quoted a fare of a hundred euros. The public vaporetto cost only twenty-five euros, but would entail a longer walk with her luggage. Within five minutes, her bags were loaded into the water taxi and she stepped onto the polished wooden boat with six other passengers. With its leather-upholstered cabin and open-air seating in the stern, Anna realized these boats were probably the equivalent of a limousine on land.
    Mesmerized by the stunning view of the canal and the ancient facades of the structures rising out of the water on either side of her, the boat ride to her hotel ended all too soon for Anna. Before she knew it, the water taxi had pulled up before the Hotel Gritti Palace on the Grand Canal, the accommodation arranged for her by Falcone, and she disembarked.
    Anna had to marvel at the VIP treatment afforded to her by Falcone and his company as she entered the lobby of the world-class hotel. She had looked the hotel up online, but the pictures did not do it justice. The structure, she knew, had been the palace of a doge in the sixteenth century, a place that had once welcomed kings and queens. Anna stepped across the thick Persian carpet to a massive and elaborately carved registration desk to check in. When she gave her name, the concierge turned to the wall of pigeon-holes behind the desk and removed a sealed envelope from one of the slots, which he handed to her. “A message for you, Signorina .”
    Anna opened the envelope and read the note contained within:
Dear Ms. LaServa,
     
Welcome to Venice. It would be my pleasure to join you at the hotel for dinner this evening, at eight o’clock if that is agreeable. I am anxious to meet you and look forward to our