“What about the archivist?”

“I’ll speak to her. Hang on.”

Patrick walked to the archivist’s desk. Raven closed her computer windows in anticipation and logged out of her computer.

The archivist looked over at her and she offered a restrained smile.

“So what’s up?” Patrick asked as they walked down the hall toward the photocopying room.

“I’m still freaked out about the mugging in Santo Spirito.”

Patrick grimaced. “I don’t blame you. Has there been any other trouble?”

“No. But every time I close my eyes I see it.”

Patrick shook his head. “I’m beginning to think the city isn’t as safe as it used to be.”

“You can say that again.”

They continued walking and Patrick looked down at her feet.

“Are you limping?”

“A little. My leg is stiff today.”

“Do you need your cane?”

“I don’t think so.”

Patrick seemed suspicious. “I thought your leg was better.”

“It is.” Raven straightened her leg and set her teeth against the pain.

“Did you ever look at the radiographs of the figure of Mercury from Primavera?”

“Not very closely. Why?”

“It looks like Botticelli changed Mercury’s hair.”

Patrick gave her a puzzled look. “Changed? How?”

“He had short blond hair in the beginning. There’s a ghost underneath the figure.”

“I don’t remember hearing about that.”

“Me, neither. That’s why I saved the files to my flash drive. I wanted to look at them at home.”

“Did you?”

“I expanded them on my laptop, but the quality isn’t that good. Still, you can see the ghost.”

Patrick whistled. “That’s a pretty incredible find. How did everyone miss it?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m looking at it wrong. I need to ask Professor Urbano.”

They entered the photocopying room and closed the door behind them.

Patrick quickly set up his photocopying jobs so they could continue talking.

“How’s life in the archives?”

Raven’s shoulders slumped. “Not that great. Hopefully, Urbano will let me come back on Monday. He said it depended on my replacement.”

“What about Vitali?”

Raven shook her head. “I was his resident gopher this week.”

“I didn’t think Italy had gophers.”

Raven rolled her eyes.

“It does now.”

On the way back to the archives, Patrick and Raven climbed the steps to the second floor and entered the Botticelli room. Patrick wanted a closer look at Primavera.

“I can’t imagine why Botticelli would change the hair. Mercury is supposed to be modeled on Lorenzo, one of the Medici. He had long brown hair.” Patrick stepped closer to the painting.

“Perhaps another patron commissioned the painting, then failed to pay. That kind of thing used to happen all the time.” Raven found herself gravitating to the figure of Zephyr, on the other side of the painting.

“Maybe. I doubt Botticelli would start the painting without a large deposit and a contract. I suppose he could have had a falling-out with whoever commissioned it first.”

Raven nodded.

Neither of them noticed the figure of Ispettor Batelli, who stood at the entrance to the room, watching them.

Chapter Nineteen

When Raven exited the Uffizi after work, she found Bruno waiting for her, handsomely dressed in a gray suit and blue tie.

She was tired and her leg was troubling her. But she pushed everything aside and walked to him, her knapsack on her shoulder and her head held high.

Bruno greeted her with a smile.

His smile faltered as she approached.

Raven traced the scar on her forehead self-consciously before balling her hand into a fist and lowering it. Clearly he’d noticed the change in her appearance. From the looks of it, he was surprised, if not disappointed.

“Hello.” He kissed each of her cheeks and motioned to her scar. “Are you all right?”

“I fell, but I’m okay. How are you?”

“Good. And your cane? Don’t you need it?” His gaze traveled to her legs, fixing momentarily on her scar.

“No.” She shifted her weight awkwardly.

His eyes moved to hers again. “You smell fantastic. Like roses.”

“It’s Jo Malone soap. My sister sends it to me.”

Bruno closed his eyes and inhaled. “It’s tremendous.”

“How’s your grandmother? I haven’t seen her for a while.”

He opened his eyes. “She hasn’t been feeling well. She’s been spending her days in bed and not eating. My mother is with her.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. She’s always been so kind to me. When I first moved into the apartment, she took pity on me and taught me how to cook. If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”

“Thank you.” Bruno gave her a warm look. “What would you say to a drink over at the Gucci Museum before dinner?”

“I’d like that.”

He took her hand in his and they walked across the Piazza Signoria to the Gucci Museum, which boasted an open-air bar under umbrellas. They sat on comfortable banquettes and enjoyed their Prosecco, while Raven told Bruno about her work in the restoration lab.

If Bruno continued to feel disappointed by her appearance, he kept the fact well hidden.

Yet, Raven was uneasy. His lack of regard for her previously, and the way the smile had slipped from his face when she approached, distressed her.

Of course, his reactions held far more weight since she’d admired him from afar, knowing she could never have him. To have caught his attention only to lose it would be painful. Raven subtly began to steel herself against that possibility.

Conversation between the two flowed easily and so it was hours later that they strolled the short distance to Gallery Hotel Art. Its restaurant, Fusion, served the best sushi in the city.

Although Raven had walked by the hotel on many occasions, she’d never been inside. Anticipation made her eager.

That was why she forgot that the building they were entering was the one in which Professor Emerson had sensed what he thought was a ghost.

Over dinner, Bruno was charming and attentive. He didn’t bore her with stories about his work—he was a banker—with Monte dei Paschi di Siena. Nor did he focus on the familiar topic of his grandmother, although he admitted she’d been trying to match them up ever since Raven moved into the building.