MASTRO TITTA, THE HANGMAN
Mastro Titta, the hangman who kills Eleonora's young lover, was in real life a stickler about his work. He left behind a notebook full of observations about the 516 death sentences he carried out, with the recorded names of the victims, the crimes they were accused of, and the method used to put them to death.
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...“And here he comes now, Mr. Freeman,
look to your left at the heftiest man in your field of vision. That’s Mastro
Titta, the executioner, crossing the square on that wagon. We’d best follow
along—the guillotine is set up two blocks from here. Titta’s an umbrella-maker,
you know. Apparently, he usually offers the condemned man a sniff of tobacco
beforehand. My man-servant tells me that Titta lives over near St. Peter’s. He’s under the protection of the Papal
guards there. He only crosses the Tiber when there’s an execution on. Too dangerous
for him here otherwise.”
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..."And if he
finds you he gets a fat
reward. But to do that he has to capture you…and kill you and
your friend…and
this when you two already have the treasure in hand. Eleonora,
on the other
hand, is to be delivered live to Pius IX.”
“Just the Pope? Not Mastro Titta?” retorted Eleonora. |
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