Eco: Foucalt's Pendulum by eco foucault (ebook smartphone .txt) 📕

is available. I just returned it." I lookedaround and saw Inspector De Angelis.

And he recognizedme¡Xtoo quickly, I thought, since I had seen him in circumstancesthat for me were exceptional, whereas he had met me in the courseof a routine inquiry. Also, in the Ardenti days I had had a wispybeard and longer hair. What a sharp eye!

Had he been keeping meunder surveillance since my return to Italy? Or was he simply goodat faces? Policemen had to master the science of observation,memorize features, names...

"Signor Casaubon! We'rereading the same books!"

I held out my hand.""It's Dr. Casaubon now. Has been for a while. Maybe I'll take thepolice entrance exam, as you advised me that morning. Then I'll beable to get the books first."

"All you have to do isbe here first," he said. "But the book's returned now, and you cancollect it. Let me buy you a coffee meanwhile."

The invitation made meuncomfortable, but I couldn't say no. We sat in a neighborhoodcafe. He asked me how I happened to be interested in the mission ofIndia, and I was tempted to ask him how he happened to beinterested in it, but I decided first to deflect his suspicion. Itold him that in my spare time I was continuing my study of theTemplars. According to Eschen-bach, the Templars left Europe andwent to India, some believe to the kingdom of Agarttha. Now it washis turn. "But tell me," I asked, "why did you take out thebook?"

"Oh, you know how thesethings go," he replied. "Ever since you suggested that book on theTemplars to me, I've been reading up on the subject. I don't haveto tell you that after the Templars, the next logical step isAgarttha." Touche. Then he said: "I was joking. I took the bookbecause..." He hesitated. "The fact is, when I'm off duty, I liketo browse in libraries. It keeps me from turning into a robot, amechanical cop. You could probably express the idea moreelegantly...But tell me about yourself."

I gave a performance: anautobiographical summary, down to the wonderful adventure ofmetals.

He asked me: "In thatpublishing firm, and in the one next door, aren't you doing bookson the occult sciences?"

How did he know aboutManutius? From information gathered years before, when he waskeeping an eye on Belbo? Or was he still on the Ardenticase?

"With characters likeColonel Ardenti turning up constantly at Garamond, and withManutius there to handle them," I said, "Signer Garamond decidedthat was rich soil, worth tilling. If you look for such types, youcan find them by the carload."

"But Ardentidisappeared. I hope the others don't."

"They haven't yet,though I almost wish they would. However, satisfy my curiosity,Inspector. I imagine in your job people disappear, or worse, everyday. Do you devote so much time to all of them?"

He looked at me withamusement. "What makes you think I'm still devoting time to ColonelArdenti?"

All right, he wasgambling, had raised the ante, and it was up to me now to call hisbluff if I had the courage, make him show his cards. What was thereto lose? "Come, Inspector," I said, "you know everything aboutGaramond and Manutius, and you were looking for a book onAgarttha..."

"You mean Ardenti spoketo you about Agarttha?"

Touche again. Yes,Ardenti had spoken to us about Agarttha, too, as far as I couldremember. But I parried: "No, only about the Templars."

"I see," he said. Thenhe added: "You mustn't think we follow a case until it's solved.That only happens on television. Being a cop is like being adentist: a patient comes in, you give him a little of the olddrill, prescribe something, he comes back in two weeks, and in themeantime you deal with a hundred other patients. A case like thecolonel's can remain in the active file maybe for ten years, andthen, while you're in the middle of a different case, taking someconfession, there's a hint, a clue, and, wham!, a short circuit inthe brain, you get an idea¡Xor else you don't, and that'sit."

"And what did you findrecently that brought on a short circuit?"

"An indiscreet question,don't you think? But there are no mysteries, believe me. Thecolonel came up again by chance. We were keeping an eye on acharacter, for quite different reasons, and found he was spendingtime at the Picatrix Club. You've heard of it?..."

"I know the magazine,not the club. What goes on there?"

"Nothing, nothing atall. People a bit loony, maybe, but well behaved. Then I rememberedthat Ardenti used to go there¡Xa cop's talent consists entirely ofremembering things, a name, a face, even after ten years have goneby. And so I began wondering what was happening at Garamond. That'sall."

"What does the PicatrixClub have to do with your political squad?"

"Perhaps it's theimpertinence of a clear conscience, but you seem tremendouslycurious."

"You're the one whoinvited me for coffee."

"True, and both of usare off duty. See here: if you look at the world in a certain way,everything is connected to everything else." A nice hermeticphilosopheme, I thought. He immediately added: "I'm not saying thatthose people are connected with politics, but...There was a timewhen we went looking for the Red Brigades in squats and the BlackBrigades in martial arts clubs; nowadays the opposite could betrue. We live in a strange world. My job, I assure you, was easierten years ago. Today, even among ideologies, there's noconsistency. There are times when I think of switching tonarcotics. There, at least you can rely on a heroin pusher to pushheroin."

There was a pause¡Xhewas hesitating, I think. Then, from his pocket, he produced anotebook the size of a missal. "Look, Casaubon, you see somestrange people as part of your job. You go to the library and lookup even stranger books. Help me. What do you know aboutsynarchy?"

"Now you're embarrassingme. Almost nothing. I heard it mentioned in connection withSaint-Yves; that's all."

"What are they sayingabout it, around?"

"If they're sayinganything, I haven't heard. To be frank, it sounds like fascism tome."

"Actually, many of itstheses were picked up by Action Francaise. If that were the wholestory, I'd be okay. I find a group that talks about synarchy and Ican give it a political color. But in my reading, I've learned thatin 1929 a certain Vivian