“Do you understand what just happened?” the greasy con man asked. “You got played” I’d stopped at a fuel station10 km south of Pescara to take some headache medicine, and while I dug through my bag to find it, I saw three men who appeared to be playing a shell game along the side of the building. Having zero interest in gambling, I hardly made a note of it. Then, out of nowhere… “Did you drive that Vespa all the way from London?” I looked up to see a well-dressed Italian man in a fine outer coat speaking to me in English. “Yes actually, I did.” “That’s a really long way,” he said. “Yes, it is.” “Do you see what they’re doing over there?” he asked. I said I did, but wasn’t interested at all. He
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