With a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other, Jigen leaned against the door frame. There was a thick velvet rope strung across the doorway, the ubiquitous and universal symbol. Do Not Enter. Keep Out. No Trespassing. Stay Away. He knew all about those kinds of signs. And usually ignored them.
On one side of the door was the palace ballroom. It was attractive enough, if you liked gilt and gaud and pastel cherubs. Jigen looked up at the ornately-painted ceiling. Some people had too much money on their hands. Good thing he and Lupin were around to help them with that.
On the other side of the doorway, the 'Keep Out' side, were several long tables covered with white cloths. Most of them held food. One was covered with desserts, small fiddly things that looked too complicated to eat. Another had a centrepiece carved out of a solid block of ice. It was, not surprisingly, cut to look exactly like a classic round diamond. Fujiko will be thrilled, Jigen thought drily.
There were two swinging doors at the far end of the room, and a curving staircase leading up, but neither held much interest for Jigen. What he really cared about was whether Lupin was somewhere getting caught, or if he'd managed to slip the camera into a suitable location. And was Fujiko with him, or was she even now running to the polizia to turn them in? And in the back of his mind, not receiving much attention, was a third question: where's Alexis?
Jigen took another drag from his cigarette and looked out at the crowded ballroom. He pushed the brim of his hat up a couple of inches with the tip of his thumb and scanned the room for Fujiko's red dress, or Alexis' black sweater/slacks combination. Not finding either, he finished his drink and tapped his ashes into the cut crystal glass.
"Staying out of trouble?" said a voice off to his left. He turned his head to look at Alexis -- the accent gave her away pretty much instantly -- and his mouth fell open in astonishment.
He'd never looked at her -- really looked at her -- until this moment. Yeah, she had black hair and blue eyes, and wore tasteful clothing, even if it was all black. He might have called her pretty, or classy. But tonight, she was beautiful.
Tonight, she wore a high-necked ivory-coloured dress in some kind of silky fabric that hung just the right way on her, skimming her breasts, waist, and hips. When she took a step towards him, the bottom of her full skirt rippled around her ankles.
She reached over and took the half-burned cigarette from his limp fingers. Putting it to her lips, she drew deeply on it. Maybe it was the way she looked tonight, but it was the most sensual thing he'd ever seen, and he had to bite his lip to keep from groaning.
"Thank you!" Alexis said, blowing out a long stream of smoke. She sighed with relief. "That feels so good. It's been hours since I had a chance to breathe, much less have a cigarette." She tilted her head and frowned slightly. "Jigen? What's wrong? My God, I don't have chocolate on my face, do I?" She put a hand to her cheek and rubbed her fingertips against her face.
Jigen retrieved his cigarette from her and took a deep puff. He dropped the butt into his glass and exhaled slowly. "No, you don't have chocolate on your face." He cursed inwardly. He couldn't take his eyes off her.
Alexis' frown deepened. "Then what is it?"
Somehow, he managed to look away. He lowered his hat over his eyes and pulled a fresh cigarette from his breast pocket. "Never mind," he mumbled, trying to focus on lighting the smoke. "You look nice," he offered grudgingly, as the match flared.
Alexis merely smiled. "I see that you couldn't be persuaded not to wear your hat." Jigen grunted, and Alexis laughed lightly. "Well, no matter. It suits you." She reached up and touched his cheek with her fingertips. "Gives you an air of mystery," she murmured, brushing her fingers down the length of his face. He shivered. She ran her fingernails over his beard, then took her hand away. "Where are the others?" she asked, unhooking the red velvet rope.
"I don't know," Jigen said, moving aside to let her through, "and I don't friggin' care. I told you, I ain't gettin' involved."
"Mm." Alexis reached out to take a champagne flute from a passing waiter. Jigen exchanged his empty glass for a fresh tumbler of amber-coloured liquid. He smelled it. It was whiskey. The waiter gave him a dirty look, but moved on without comment.
"So," Alexis said, sipping her drink. "Are you enjoying yourself?"
Jigen shrugged. "Not yet," he replied, taking half the whiskey in one swallow. "Maybe after a few more drinks. After all, if you've seen one friggin' palace, you've pretty much seen 'em all."
Alexis smiled mischievously. "I can show you something that might change your mind about that," she said. Taking one last sip of her drink, she set her glass on a small table. "Come on," she said, relieving Jigen of both his cigarette and his whiskey. The one went into the other, and the heavy crystal tumbler joined the champagne flute on the table. Alexis crooked a finger at him and started climbing the stairs. With an inward shrug, Jigen followed.
The upper floor was one long hallway, punctuated by doors on either side. Alexis moved to one, seemingly at random, and opened it. "In here," she said, entering the room. There was a click, and the lights went up.
It was obviously a bedroom; there was a Florentine four-poster on one wall, and a vanity next to a tall window. The usual bedroom furniture. The walls had been painted like an outdoor pastoral scene: sunshine, fluffy clouds... the works. Jigen raised one eyebrow.
"Cute. Not spectacular, but cute." He looked sidelong at Alexis. "I didn't figure you for a clouds and flowers girl, though," he added snidely.
Alexis laughed. "I'm not," she said, her eyes glinting with mischief. "I prefer the night." She led him to the centre of the room. "Now, close your eyes," she instructed, and waited while he did so. She started to move away from him. "No peeking, now!"
Jigen sighed and decided to humour her. "Okay. Not peeking." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and wished desperately for a cigarette. Tilting his head, he could hear the door whispering along the carpet, but it didn't latch. She'd left it slightly open. There was a soft 'click', and the lights went out. A second 'click' followed, and Jigen could sense Alexis moving behind him. She pressed her back against his, and he squeezed his eyes closed more tightly, trying not to notice the warmth of her body.
"All right," she said in a hushed voice. "Open your eyes."
The room was dark, all right, but there were hundreds of tiny pinpoints of light peeking through the walls and ceiling. By some trick of the moonlight coming in from the window, the room now seemed to be painted to resemble the night sky.
Jigen tilted his head back and whistled softly through his teeth. "Damn," he said.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Alexis said. Jigen glanced at her over his shoulder. Her head was thrown back, and he could just see the line of her throat out of the corner of his eye. "When the staff showed me around the palace after I accepted the job, this was the last room we visited. The whole boring bloody tour was worth it, just for this."
Jigen nodded, and looked up again. He studied the wall and ceiling carefully. "It's friggin' incredible. Lights between the walls?"
"I have no idea." Alexis laughed and moved to the door. "But if you turn one of these switches off, and the other on, you get --" she gestured "-- this." She leaned against the wall, her hands behind her back. "When I first saw this room," she said, "I thought of you." In the darkness of the room, Jigen could not see her blush, but he could hear it in her voice.
"Why?" he asked warily, turning to look at her.
Alexis looked down at the carpet. Jigen could barely make out her next words.
"Because you both take my breath away," she whispered.
Jigen stepped towards her and placed his hands against the wall, just above her shoulders. He looked down at her, his hat low over his eyes. Alexis reached up tentatively and lifted it off his head. For a long moment, she studied his face, lit only by the stars. Finally, she spoke.
"You have beautiful eyes, Daisuke," she said softly. She reached up with her free hand and drew her fingers lightly along the side of his face. "Why do you hide them?"
Jigen chuckled softly and reached down, taking back his well-worn fedora. "You said it yourself, angel," he chuckled. "It makes me look mysterious." He adjusted his hat, tilting it back on his head so she could see his eyes. "Better?"
"Much," Alexis whispered. She clasped her hands lightly behind his neck, and he lowered his mouth to hers.
"Jigen." The door opened a little, and Lupin whispered his name again. Loudly. "Jigen!"
"Damn," Jigen muttered against Alexis' lips. He turned his head to the side, glaring at Lupin as the thief peered into the room. "Fuck off, Lupin," he growled, and turned back to Alexis. Her eyes were half-closed, and Jigen could feel a growing ache in his heart. And slightly lower than his heart.
"Jigen, we gotta get outta here!" Lupin tapped Jigen on the shoulder. "Pops just showed up!"
"What?" Jigen looked sharply at Lupin. Alexis turned her head, too, and raised one eyebrow. "Zenigata? What the hell's he doin' here?"
Lupin gave an exaggerated shrug. "I dunno, but we gotta jet." He looked over his shoulder, down the hallway. "I've planted the camera, so we might as well call it a night." He grinned apologetically at Alexis, who merely gave a half-smile and shook her head.
Jigen swore again. Alexis lifted his hat slightly and pressed her lips gently to his forehead. "It's all right," she said, but her smile was sad. "I should probably check on the kitchen staff." She gracefully ducked out from under Jigen's arms and squeezed through the doorway. She threw him a fleeting glance, full of longing, and then disappeared down the stairs.
Lupin rubbed the back of his neck and gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that, pal." He looked down the hallway again. "Bad timing, eh?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Jigen growled. He pulled his hat down over his eyes. "Let's bounce." The two of them headed towards the stairs. As they reached the bottom step, Alexis came through the swinging doors. Lupin and Jigen both looked towards her, and she smiled weakly.
Lupin shrugged an apology at her from across the room, and the two men stopped dead in their tracks.
"Maybe they're back here..." A familiar voice, coming from just the other side of the red velvet rope.
"Shit," Lupin hissed. He looked back at the swinging doors, at the frowning Alexis. "Do you mind?" he asked. He and Jigen moved towards her.
"It's the kitchen," she said, shrugging helplessly. "There's no way out from there." Zenigata's voice was growing louder, clearer. "Look, just get inside. I'll take care of him."
Lupin and Jigen pushed through the doors just as Zenigata peered past the velvet rope. Such symbols didn't apply to the police, of course. He unhooked it from the doorway and approached Alexis, who was standing outside the kitchen doors looking curiously at the rumpled inspector.
"Yes?" Alexis said, raising one eyebrow.
Inside the bustling kitchen, Lupin and Jigen pressed their backs against the wall next to the door. Several cooks glanced curiously at them. Lupin waved and grinned. Jigen looked over at him.
"The moment of truth," he said, keeping his voice low. "If she's gonna roll over on us, now would be the perfect time."
Lupin snorted softly. "Aren't you cynical," he whispered.
Jigen smirked. "No. Just experienced," he murmured. Over the noise in the kitchen, they could barely hear Alexis' soft voice as she spoke to the Old Man.
"May I help you?" she asked.
Jigen held his breath. Lupin winced, half-expecting the worst.
Zenigata's usual spiel came through the doors, loud and clear.
"Yes, I'm Inspector Zenigata of the ICPO, and I'm hunting down that notorious thief, Lupin the Third." Lupin could practically visualise the inspector, his chin lifted proudly, secure in his superiority.
On the tables-and-desserts-and-ice-sculpture side of the door, Alexis put one hand on her hip. "And?" she said coolly.
Zenigata seemed a bit nonplussed. "Well, I .. I need to take a look in that room." He pointed to the swinging doors.
Alexis turned up her nose slightly. "I'm very sorry," she said, not sounding at all sorry, "but you may not."
In the brightly-lit kitchen, Jigen exhaled. Lupin wiped the back of one hand across his forehead in a gesture of relief.
Outside the kitchen, Zenigata narrowed his eyes, first at Alexis, and then at the doors. The four men behind him looked around the room at the tables full of food. Some of them were drooling.
"Oh, really?" he said, peering over her shoulder. "Just what are you hiding back there, lady?"
Alexis strengthened her accent, effecting just the right blend of haughty and imperious. "That," she said sharply, "is my kitchen, and you'll kindly stay out of it. My chefs are busy preparing tonight's buffet dinner." She tossed her head, her eyes flashing dangerously. "If that will be all," she said, and turned away without waiting for a reply.
"Uh..." Zenigata wallowed for a moment. "But ma'am," he said, his tone more respectful. "Perhaps you didn't hear me. I'm Inspector Zenigata from INTERPOL, and I --"
Alexis whirled on him, poking her finger at his chest. Her accent grew stronger still. "I don't care if you're bloody Queen Elizabeth from Buckingham Palace," she snapped. "You're not going into my kitchen. Especially not looking like that," she added, looking disdainfully at him.
"Like what?" Zenigata asked in a small voice, looking down at himself.
Alexis glared at the inspector. "'Like what?'" she echoed, incredulous. "Have you stood in front of a mirror lately?" She sneered at him. "When's the last time you washed that mac? And ...," she gasped in horror. "Is that a pot noodle on your shirt? And look at your shoes!"
In the kitchen, Lupin clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle a laugh, and Jigen grinned wickedly. She was really doing a number on poor ol' Zenigata.
On the other side of the door, Alexis folded her arms across her chest and turned up her nose. "No," she said firmly. "You are not setting so much as a single foot in my kitchen."
"But ma'am!" Zenigata protested. "I'm looking for a dangerous criminal mastermind!" His eyes widened, and he grinned hopefully. "If I could just have a teensy look..."
Alexis spread her arms, placing one hand on either side of the door frame. "There is nothing in my kitchen, inspector, except food and chefs. Both of which need to remain perfectly sanitary." She looked pointedly at his shirt, and he squirmed uncomfortably under her gaze. "And if you insist on defiling my kitchen with your manky boots and your grotty Mackintosh, I'll call the palace guard." Alexis narrowed her eyes. "Look elsewhere for your little criminal." She lowered her arms and waved dismissively at him.
"Er..." Zenigata stammered. He was clearly out of his depth.
"Out! Out!" Alexis shouted, waving him away with both hands. "Shoo!"
"Er..." Zenigata looked at his men and cleared his throat loudly. "All right, men, this room's clear. Upstairs!" He pointed at the stairs and ran towards them. The handful of officers tromped after him.
Alexis listened for a moment as the doors on the upper floor opened and closed. Zenigata's voice grew more distant. Finally, she opened the swinging doors and peeked in.
"All right, gentlemen, the coast is clear."
Lupin came into view, grinned madly. "That was bloody brilliant," he said, imitating her accent perfectly. "'Grotty Mackintosh'! I'll never get tired of playing this one over in my head." He laughed as the three of them left the kitchen.
Alexis coloured slightly. "I thought it was just a trifle overdone," she said wryly. Jigen shook his head and chuckled. "You really do have some very strange acquaintances, Lupin," she added with a smile.
"All part of the package, my dear," Lupin said, his eyes twinkling. He lifted her hand and kissed it. "Thank you so very much," he said with mock formality. He rushed to the doorway, where the red velvet rope hung limp and sad.
Jigen turned to Alexis. "Yeah, thanks." He touched the brim of his hat with two fingers.
Alexis smiled quietly. "I don't expect I'll have changed your mind about anything," she said drily, "but I'm glad I could help." They both knew what she was talking about. Jigen coloured slightly.
Lupin poked his head beyond the doorway. "All clear, Jigen. Let's go!" He scurried out of the room.
Jigen hesitated, uncertain of the protocol. What did you say when a woman -- an attractive, intelligent woman -- had just hauled your ass out the fire?
Alexis made a move before he could decide. She reached out and touched his arm.
"When will I see you next?" she asked. Her tone was noncommittal. If he wanted to blow her off, now was the perfect time.
Jigen took a deep breath. "Can you make it to the hotel around midnight?" he said at last.
Alexis nodded. "Of course."
"Midnight, then." Jigen reached out to touch her cheek, but Lupin poked his head through the doorway.
"Anytime, Jigen..." he said, looking at his watch. Jigen rolled his eyes and dropped his hand. He smiled over his shoulder at Alexis, and she gave a little wave.
Alexis held her hand up for a moment longer, then dropped it to her side. It was unfortunate that she wouldn't be able to accomplish everything she'd hoped to do here in Italy, but Lupin deserved a certain measure of respect. She sighed and returned to the kitchen to oversee the final stages of the buffet dinner.