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“Well, I don’t think they’d do anything except throw me out of the temple. What ifyouget caught?”
He said it so lightly, so casually, it was possible to think he didn’t realize what a heavy question it was. But Pietro thought Cody had a pretty good idea that the stakes were high, though he didn’t know why. “I imagine I would have a lot of questions to answer,” Pietro replied.
“Might be worth it, though.”
“Might be.” Pietro thought it over. “Yes. Definitely worth it. If you’ll take me, I want to go.”
“Sure. When?”
“I don’t suppose you have the key with you tonight? So we can go before I lose my nerve.”
For an answer, Cody reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring hung with a truly remarkable collection of keys. He flipped through them rapidly, frowned over one especially ornate example, but then shook his head. “I’m afraid not. But I could bring it tomorrow.”
Pietro was momentarily distracted from his main purpose. “What,” he said, “are you doing with all of those? I feel certain they were not obtained legally.”
Cody was laughing again. “We-elll . . . some of them were. Clients who hire me to make regular deliveries often give me keys to their homes or offices. But in other cases—” He shrugged. “It happens all the time. People flag me down and give me a package and say, ‘The gate is unlocked’ or ‘Someone will be at home to let you in.’ And the gateisn’tunlocked and no oneisat home, and I can either waste half a day going back to the client for new instructions, or I simply take care of the situation with the tools I have. No harm done.”
“Do you make a replica of every key you’ve ever had in your possession?”
“Well, I do, but I probably don’t have to. There are four pretty basic skeleton keys, and if you have them, you can get in most everywhere you need to.”
“‘Four quarters, four bridges, four keys, four hearts,’” Pietro recited.
Cody just looked at him. “What?”
Pietro sighed and cast his eyes toward the ceiling. “No one reads the classics any more,” he said plaintively. Then, more briskly, “It’s a line from Alecita Kissidell’s masterpiece about the city of Corcannon.”
He could see Cody trying to figure it out. “I get the four bridges. I guess the four quarters are the loops of the Quatrefoil?”
“Yes, or the four quadrants of the city—the author wasn’t specific.”
“What are the keys supposed to be?”
“Love of people, love of knowledge, love of nature, and love of god.”
Cody looked unconvinced. “Well, maybe. And the hearts?”
“The four main characters of the book.”
“Huh.”
“But we stray from our primary topic!” Pietro said. “Which is what kind of key a person might need to get inside the temple.”
“A skeleton won’t do it,” Cody answered. “For that you need the real thing. Or a really good copy.”
“Which you have.”
“Which I have.”
Pietro took a deep breath. “Well, I’m free tomorrow if you are, but I’m new at criminal activity,” he said. “Is it better to go in boldly during the day, when anyone might see us, or try to sneak in at night?”
“Daytime, I think,” Cody said. “There are a lot more people around, but no one’s paying attention. At night, you justlookguilty, even if you’re not.”
“All right then. Should we meet at the temple tomorrow—say, around three?”
“Sounds good.”
Pietro put his hand to his heart. “I’m actually terrified.”
