Italian Masquerade

Chapter 1: Travel Plans

June's Mansion. December 12, 2005. Monday evening.

The octopus edged ever closer. Its tentacles coiled around Neal's arms in a stranglehold from which there was no escape. He was doomed.

"Having fun?" Mozzie asked, walking into the living room.

Neal surveyed gloomily the piles of tangled Christmas lights encircling him on the floor. "Fun isn't the word I would have chosen."

Mozzie crouched next to him. "June's house is already decorated for Christmas. What are these for?"

"She decided that since her daughter's family will be spending Christmas with her, she'd like to have the staircase banister decorated as well. She told me there were extra lights in the attic. What June neglected to mention was that her three-year-old granddaughter Samantha must have put them away."

Mozzie rubbed his hands. "A veritable Gordian knot. I'll take this clump ... after helping myself to some of June's excellent Bourbon eggnog." He paused. "Lactose-free?"

"Of course."

He proceeded to pour himself a generous amount from the carafe chilling in the ice bucket. "Where is our hostess?"

"She's at the Harlem Jazz Museum board meeting." Neal was glad for the company. He'd put on Christmas music, and June had left a plate of cookies to go with the eggnog, courtesy of Chef Emil, but singing by himself had lost its thrill.

"I thought I'd find you frantically tapping on your laptop. Didn't you tell me your papers are due this week?"

"I decided to take a break from the Impressionists." Neal surveyed the octopus of miniature lights which was once more attempting to devour him. "That may have been a mistake."

"No, it wasn't. You'll fly through the paper after I reenergize your brain cells with Operation Checkmate."

Neal stood up. "I'll require another cookie for that." They were in the final stages of the Clueless con, a conspiracy to keep his dates with Sara a secret from matchmakers Henry and El. Their well-intentioned assistance had not been necessary. Sara provided plenty of sparks without the need for additional help. But since the matchmakers mounted a covert operation, he and Sara decided to make a game of it as well. During the fall months, the cover Neal maintained for a case made it impossible for him to date anyone, at least openly. But that operation was now over, and it was time to wrap up the Clueless con.

Mozzie, Peter, and El were already in the loop, as well as Neal's friends at Columbia and the Arkham Round Table writing group. The final stage of the con—Operation Checkmate—was designed to lead Henry to realize he was being played and give him time to adjust so he could claim victory when Neal and Sara went public. When Sara was transferred to London, the con acquired international dimensions.

"I assume you still want to recreate the scene described in Arkham Files," Mozzie said, dropping a freshly untangled string of lights onto Neal's lap.

"That's essential," he said, wrapping the tamed tentacle around a cardboard tube. "Sara and I invented the con in July. It was her idea to devise a New Year's challenge for Arkham Sara."

"I remember when she suggested it to the Arkham Round Table. I thought it was quite clever. Arkham Neal called Sara a mockingbird because she was a fearless and tireless investigator—"

"—who never stopped pestering him with questions," Neal added, smiling at the memory. When he returned from Los Angeles, Sara employed a psychological technique that rivaled one of Henry's. By focusing on their Arkham counterparts' issues, she made the obstacles they faced in New York seem less daunting.