The Lost Twins chapter 42 - Venice

With its brilliantly baby-pink façade rising majestically above the Grand Canal, Ca'Sagredo, a 14th-century noble residence turned five-star hotel, was hard to miss. Athena and the twins arrived early in the mid-morning by vaporetto, stepping off at the hotel's very own stop and continuing into the marble entrance with its grand staircase, ornate chandeliers and museum-worthy antiques. An entrance, which had welcomed distinguished Venetian nobility for centuries.

"You gotta be kidding," Artemis was hissing as soon as they entered through the decorative doors. "Must cost a fortune staying here."
"Sure thing," Athena replied with a grin. "I wanted something better this time than that joint in Kiev. And now, when we don't need to hide, I thought we'd better go all the way for it."
"I can definitely not afford it," Artemis protested.
"Well, see it as an advance on the payment for joining our father's business."
"That Circle of Twelve thing?"
"Exactly," Athena nodded her head. Artemis made a face at that but said nothing.

The next moment Athena was walking through the sumptuous reception area and up to the check-in desk, where she caught the eyes of the receptionist, a small-statured and thin man with back-slicked raven black hair streaked with gray and dressed in a smart royal blue uniform with gleaning brass buttons.
"Buona Siera Signora," said the receptionist as soon as she was within ears.
"Buona Siera, I have a reservation in the name of Minerva Hanizzi," Athena said confidently and in perfect Italian. "Tree persons."
"Of course, Signora Hanizzi," discretely he checked through the reservations on his screen and then he was beaming when he saw the rooms she had booked. "We have pleasure in offering you the 'Royal Suite', I hope you will enjoy."
"I will," Athena noted that he had that mischievous look in his eye as she received their keys.

Apollo, coming right behind her was buoyed by his surroundings and began to look forward to eating in the five star restaurants.
"This place is only some fifteen minutes from the Saint Marc's place," he informed.
"Well, I'm certain we'll get the time to do some sight-seeing later," Athena replied. "But I suggest business first."
"I didn't expect anything else with you," Apollo responded, as he received his room key. "But can we at least have a lavish dinner tonight," he suggested.

"Then I can recommend you L'Alcova," the receptionist cut in as he handed them all a small leaflet each as well. "That's the ground-floor restaurant overlooking the Grand Canal, and it serves up dishes with ingredients from Venice's own lagoon."
"Thank you for the tip," Athena beamed before turning to her brother again. "How about it?"
"Sounds great," Apollo replied and Artemis made up an agreeing sound.
"So it's set then. But first of all I would like us to go over to the mainland and our rented car, and to take a short drive up to the Unicorn Headquarter. Just to check it out, before we begin making plans."

"Why don't you girls go?" Apollo suggested as they started following the bell boy over to the elevators. "I've made a plan to meet an old acquaintance of my mother later today. Dottore Renzo Verdandi. He's the kind of business-man who knows everything worth knowing about other business people here in this area."
"A mobster?" Artemis lifted her brow.
"He calls himself an investor," Apollo replied, trying to sound curt and sombre, but he was grinning with his eyes, and Athena couldn't help feeling her lips twist at the obvious metaphrase.

The Royal suite was well accommodated and the view over the Canal Grande was superb. They could follow everything going on upon that busy waterway. Their luggage had arrived earlier and was already unpacked when they was shown into the suite. Strangely the bell boy just bowed politely and left them in the opulent room. As the door closed, Athena walked through the sitting room and into the bedroom area. The rooms were a great representation of Old World elegance, offering such ornate touches as plush dressing areas, gilded headboards and antique furnishings. Like Venice itself it had an unmistakable air of romance. The decor was elegant without being stuffy, ancient but full of luxurious upgrades. In short, Venice for the modern traveler.

"I can get used to this," Artemis voice was heard. She had already stepped out on the ornate stone balcony to take in the very same Grand Canal views the Sagredos themselves once saw.
"You better do, sis," Apollo was laughing from the other end of the room. "You know they have a marble bathroom, with a tub large enough for swimming competitions in here."

***********

The vibrant city of Venice always brought out the romantic in Apollo. With a slight smile pulling at his full lips, he drank in the Saint Marcus place as if it was a stage setting, with its mingle of tourists from all over the world, the other Italians and the inhibitors, the latter easy to spot as they strode with purpose rather than awe across the world famous plaza. And beyond that was the water line where yachts, vaporetis and speed boats rubbed shoulders with the renowned gondolas.

Down at a café by the waterfront, Apollo spotted Il Dottore Renzo Verdandi by a small table beneath a light red sunshade. Punctual as always, an unusual habit for an Italian! As he approached the Dottore, Apollo took in the man and his history at a single glance, his thin, grey and wavy hair, his horn rimmed spectacles, which were probably older than Apollo himself, and his pear-like rondour which spoke of a delight in food and beverage, a more expected Italian habit.

Verdandi was smoking a large Cuban cigar, and he appeared to be daydreaming, however his craggy face lit up as Apollo approached. He instantly recognized Apollo as a fellow Italian in this city with too many visitors.
"Signore Dottore?" Apollo asked, and the man shook his hand, it was strong and dry.
"That should be me," the doctor in economics looked up. "And you should be Apollo Coeus? Daughter of the mysterious La Leto herself."

"That is true," Apollo confirmed with a gentle nod of his head.
"Sit down then, caro fratello! And speak of your matter, as I understand, the information you seek is something an old scholar like myself can help you with, and I'm more than pleased to be of aid." His accent revealed him to be from Modena, 'The Capital of Engines', home of the illustrious cars Ferrari, De Tomaso, Lamborghini, Pagani and Maserati.

Complyingly, Apollo pulled out the ornate iron char and sat down while Verdandi called over a waiter. Apollo was ordering a double espresso and the professor desired an ice tea and then they made small talk while they waited for their drinks. Recalling the information he had received from his mother, Apollo confirmed in his own mind how this man fitted his profile perfectly. He would have been a wonderful university professor and a worthy mentor for his students, probably the scatterbrained absentminded personality would have imparted more facts on life than they would have got from their entire time in education.

A ship sounded its horn, and unavoidably they and the other guests directed their gaze and conversations toward the exotic scene unfolding on the bay outside, as a huge American River Queen boat came rolling towards the harbour, a long way from Mississippi, however proudly flying its star-spangled flags among so many others with so many other colours. Slowly, the conversational buzz restarted between the guests and Apollo lent forward. "Tell me about Unicorn Industries!" he enquired softly.

Pausing slightly, Verdandi took another drag on his cigar, he slowly exhaled and gently blew a cloud of smoke into the scented air.
"Unicorn," he repeated thoughtfully. "Now, that's good old money gone bad."
"Please enlighten me," Apollo asked while the waiter turned up with their beverages and promptly swept off the table before putting the things down. With the order followed a small tray of bon-bons, and Apollo almost smirked at the gesture, since a coffee here cost about three times as much as a ditto in one of the alleys and more than ten times as much as on the mainland.

"Yes, Unicorn industries. Founded in 1838 by the Tiniaris an old Firenze family of medics, with provenience harking back to the Medici's themselves. A pharmacy chain from the beginning, but then going into production of medicines and medical supplies at the turn of the previous century. Opening production plants all over northern Italy, and getting a boost with the Spanish flu and then with the world wars. In 1950 the company was bought by a Vasco Francesconi, mostly known for his long involvement with the Fiat group. His Swedish wife Ylva was connected to life science industries in her homeland, and it's believed that it was her influence that made Francesconi acquiring the Unicorn group."

Sweden, Apollo thought as he drank of his coffee. One of the Unicorn plants was located in Sweden, more exactly in the city of Solna north of the capital Stockholm. Pieces were starting to fall together, forming a fascinating picture.

"When Vasco retired in the late 70ies, the company helm was taken over by his oldest daughter Irma. She was married to Dr Ethan Chandler, later known for being the lead scientist behind one of the better inhibitor drugs against HIV and AIDS. Now, Irma and Ethan Chandler began investing a large amount of the turn-around in new and sometimes daring research, connecting Nobel Laureates to the company, people believing that they were on the track to hormones that would elongate the human life span. Back in the 1983 there was an article published by a woman named Adriana Pirovano in one of the more renowned medical scientific magazines. Pirovano told that she and her colleagues had managed to elongate the life span of mice more than ten times. One old mouse, named Utnapishtim after the immortal Jew, was said to have lived for 15 years."

"Amazing, did they reach something of value," Apollo asked, wondering if this might have had some kind of connection with his father's research into immortality.
"Unfortunately not, because just two years later, Adriana Pirovano crashed with her Lamborghini in the Dolomites mountains. The same night their laboratory went up in flames. Complete with long-living mice. Very little was possible to salvage, almost the complete research was lost, and the progress came to a halt. The talk of the town had it that these items were connected and blaming all from competing companies to the UN."

"The UN?" Apollo leaned forwards in consternation.
"Yes, the organization should supposedly be afraid of the implications of humans living for centuries, and how that would affect the world population. Make of it what you will, son of Leto," the old professor challenged him. "That part of the Unicorn company never really recovered after that setback, and it was disbudded and sold to a Swiss life science company in the 1991, and Unicorn concentrated upon producing reliable shelf warmers like ulcer cures and headache pills."  

"However recently Unicorn became the victim of a hostile takeover. Very hostile, as the rumours in the back alleys have it." Renzo hesitated before becoming animated as he passionately recounted his involvement in the current issue. "And it was in such a capacity that I was recently asked to review the rationale behind a transaction and some subsequent dodgy dealings."

Apollo wanted to laugh at the uptight terminology.
"Can you give me some details?"
"Certainly," Renzo paused, but recognized Apollo's desire to expand further. "As requested, I looked over the books, read the minutes, checked the e-mails and concluded it would have been foolishness for individual partners to consider selling at the time they did. And since this sale business started, two of the original partners have died. One of them being Ethan Chandler's nephew Vitali Coletti."

"Doesn't sound like coincidences to me, Dottore."
"In Italy no," Verdandi shook his head. "Here, there's no such thing as coincidences. This is an old country you know, a world where every breath, every lifted eye brow is incited with meaning. Nothing left to arbitrariness."
"You think the company is now being used for the wrong purpose?"
"Yes I do, Unicorn is not a company we should be investing in."
"Thanks for the advice," Apollo had instantly picked up on the word 'we'. "So is anyone else out there asking questions?"

Now, Renzo Verdandi became guarded again, he looked directly into Apollo's scrutinizing sapphire eyes, and then he knew that this was a gentleman who he could trust. He dropped the 'Capulet' act and sat forward lowering his voice.
"In a nutshell, fratello, yes. Members have floated from group to group over the years in an attempt to obtain or wield more power. But this time it just feels so much different than ever before."
"Who do you suspect?"
"From my investigations with the company, and if I were a betting man I'd put my money and yours on a certain Eugene Chermount."

Bingo! Apollo thought.

"Where can I find him?"
"Here, tomorrow."
"In Venice?"
"There is a party at the high profiled Night Club Tiniatello. Hosted by a certain Giancarlo Serreti. Have your multi-talented mother fix yourself an invitation, and then give me a call. I can direct you to him."

"Giancarlo Serreti, that name rings Camorra with me. What's his connection to Eugene Chermount?"
"You see," Renzo nodded his head. "Chermount is the man who took over the Unicorn. And he's believed to have had help by the Camorra to acquire this. Giancarlo Serreti is generally known to work for the Don Nicola Biancetto. However he's on 'loan' to Chermount for an indefinite time. Because right now Chermount has become one of the most powerful movers in Northern Italy."

"What's in it for Biancetto?" Apollo wanted to know.
"Revenge," Verdandi finished his cigar and stubbed it out in the ash tray. "Biancetto had some business destroyed by the southern Italian 'Ndrangheta back in '12. And Chermount has promised him means to pay back with."

Promises, which he has no intent to keep, Apollo said to himself without uttering it out loud. Which meant that they had to get to Chermount before Biancetto did, since the mobster was not the kind who played the tidy game, and if he went after Chermount, then he would leave nothing but devastation behind, nothing for the Olympians to retrieve. This was getting even more complicated, he thought, and he was glad he was not in this on his own but together with his sharp minded sister Athena and his vigilant twin Artemis.