Tom takes it as a good sign. ‘So? Am I to be deported? Or fed to the lions in St Mark’s Square?’ ‘Worse.’ The major slips into his seat behind the desk. ‘We’re going to throw you to the Italian press.’ ‘The press?’ ‘Fight fire with fire. A full media conference. The brigadier thinks the best way out of this mess is to get the TV, radio and print journalists all together and blow this away in one single session.’ Valentina agrees. ‘It’s a good idea. At least this way we have some control over the garbage they’ll write about you and the investigation.’ Tom can’t hide his shock. ‘I came here to escape the press. If you announce it’s open house, then you’ll have CNN, Fox and TMZ on your doorstep as well as the local vultures.’ ‘Then we need to be quick,’ says Carvalho. ‘Let’s get it done and dusted before the foreign hacks start pleading with their editors for a few days in Venice.’ He looks to Valentina. ‘Can you fix it with our media centre?
