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1 Victor's New Clients

It was autumn in Venice when Victor first heard of Prosper and Bo The canals, gleaold But the as blowing ice-cold air fro Even the air in the alleyways tasted of snow, and only the wings of the carved angels and dragons high up on the rooftops felt any real warmth from the pale sun

The house in which Victor lived and worked stood close to a canal; so close, in fact, that the water lapped against its walls At night, he so into the waves, and that the sea would wash away the causeway that Venice clings to, breaking the thin thread that binds the city to Italy's oon away too, sing everything -- the houses, the bridges, the churches, the palaces, and the people who had built so boldly on its surface

For the ti, however, the city still stood firainst hisand looked out through the dusty glass Surely no other place on earth was more proud of its beauty than Venice, and as he watched its spires and do to outshine one another Whistling a tune, Victor turned away froe uise, he thought, as the sun warht this new treasure only the previous day: an enormous mustache, so dark and bushy that it would havewalrus extremely jealous He stuck it carefully under his nose and stood on his toes to ht, and becarossed in his reflection that he only heard the footsteps on the stairs when they stopped outside his door

Clients Blast! Why were they bothering him now of all times?

With a deep sigh he sat behind his desk He heard voices whispering outside his door They were probably adht, a handsoold letters

VICTOR GETZ

PRIVATE DETECTIVE

INVESTIGATIONS OF ANY KIND

It ritten in three languages -- after all, he often had clients fron was a knocker -- a lion's head with a brass ring in its

What are they waiting for? he thought, tapping his fingers on the armrest of his chair "Avanti!" He called out, "Come in!"

The door opened A man and a woman stepped into Victor's office, which also doubled as his living roo in the cacti, the beard andwith Victor's caps, hats and wigs, the huge street ed lion that served as a paperweight on Victor's desk

"Do you speak English?" asked the woh her Italian sounded quite fluent

"Of course!" Victor answered, gesturing toward the chairs in front of his desk "English is ue What can I do for you?"

They both sat down hesitantly The man folded his arms and looked rather sullen, the woman stared at Victor's walrus mustache

"Oh, that's just for ca the mustache from his lip "Quite a necessity inlost or stolen, any pet run away?"