For Caroline with thanks for introducing me to Civita di Bagnoregio
Chapter One Foe I have A crook collector Of relics books and bones Visiting Humphrey’s mansion Discovers Sam in ice Recovers from clutch of Battle Ford What I ask 1
Annabel and I are sitting at an outdoor café in the main square in Orvieto Italy I’ve been staring in awe at the ornate entrance to the city’s cathedral cathedral while Annabel scribbles on the back of a napkin It’s a piem she says as if that’s supposed to mean something to me Don’t you mean a poem A piem is a poem written in Pilish Annabel has told me about Pilish so this gives me a clue You mean the language where the number of letters in each word matches the numbers of Pi Exactly Annabel puts on a wicked smile and goes on The language that Greg and I shared when we visited your mom in Canada Annabel hasn’t stopped teasing me ever since we visited the dinosaur dig in Alberta I’d gotten upset that this guy who knew almost as much about the number Pi as she did was hitting on her 2 John Wilson
You’re never going to let me forget that are you I think it’s cute that you were jealous she says Her smile broadens And a little bit dumb that you thought I would dump you for someone like Greg Okay I say Enough about him Let’s see your piem Annabel turns her napkin around so I can read what she’s written I don’t know Pi to thousands of numbers like she does but I’ve learned enough to know that the number of letters in the words of her piem are the same as the beginning of Pi 3 14159265358979323846264 Very clever I agree but it just goes to show how weird you are But you’ve always known about my small obsession with Pi Two things I say One it’s not a small obsession and two we’re sitting in the sun in Italy across the square from a 3 Gold
