The Thief Lord

Scipio meanders home and finds a police boat moored at his father’s house. He opens the door and sees two police officers coming down the stairs with Hornet. His father sees Scipio and assures the police he had nothing to do with the children in the Stella. The police ask if Hornet recognizes Scipio, and she shakes her head. She has refused to talk since they found her. The maid found Scipio’s bed empty at midnight and called the doctor away from his reception; then, police showed up with information about a gang of kids in the Stella. The doctor demands to know why Scipio ran away. Scipio claims he wanted to see the snow. The policemen drag Hornet down the stairs; she whispers to Scipio that Bo is with his aunt before the police take her out the door.

Scipio tries to figure out what happened at the Stella as the doctor questions his whereabouts again; Scipio claims he chased after a cat. Dottor Massimo decides the maid will lock Scipio’s door in the future. Scipio asks his father to take pity on Hornet, and his father tells him to go to bed. Scipio starts crying. He begs his father to help, but his father closes his door as Scipio cries.

Victor is cold, hungry, and tired from following a mark when he arrives home to find Prosper pointing his own gun at him. Mosca tells him Bo and Hornet disappeared and that Prosper thinks Victor told the police. Victor takes the gun from Prosper and says he gave his word he wouldn’t inform on the children. Inside, Victor brews coffee as the boys tell their story. Victor is upset that Ida took them to the Isola Segreta. Mosca shows him the money, which Victor can tell is counterfeit. The boys are upset.

Victor presses his blinking answering machine. Esther’s voice tells him they found Bo with the help of an old lady who saw the poster. The police took his girl companion, but Bo hasn’t revealed Prosper’s whereabouts. She tells Victor to come by the Sandwirth for his fee. Victor tells the boys about the reward posters as Prosper despairs over losing Bo. Mosca tells Prosper where the Sandwirth is and asks Victor to find Hornet. Victor asks for Hornet’s real name, which Mosca and Riccio don’t know. Prosper says “Caterina Grimani” is written in her books. Victor tries to comfort the distraught boy, who only wants to be alone. Riccio tells Prosper they can go to Ida, who told them she would help. Prosper leaves.

Riccio rings the bell at Ida’s house and tells the skeptical housekeeper that he, Victor (with Bo’s kittens in his pockets), and Mosca are there to see Ida. She leaves for a moment before waving them inside. Victor likes Ida immediately, although he disapproves of her taking the children on the water. Mosca explains what happened, and Ida is shocked. Victor starts to lecture Ida about the island trip, but Riccio interrupts him, saying Victor found Hornet at the Merciful Sisters. Ida agrees to help Hornet and invites the children to stay with her. Victor says they can’t take Bo from his legal guardian, but they should keep an eye on Prosper. Riccio promises to bring Prosper back. Ida tells Mosca to inform Scipio of what happened and where they’re staying. Ida can get Hornet out of the orphanage because she has connections. Victor is afraid to go with her because he mistook a nun for a disguised criminal once. Ida suggests a disguise, and Victor is pleased to see her collection of false beards.

Hornet lies in her bed at the orphanage and pictures her home: the Star-Theater with Mosca, Riccio, Scipio, Prosper, and Bo. Hornet wonders how the others are doing. Her stomach grumbles because she hasn’t eaten anything since the police brought her to the orphanage. The other children are in the dining hall, but Hornet is staring into the courtyard. She sees two adults with a sister and assumes they are adopting a baby rather than an older child. Hornet hasn’t told the nuns her real name because she has terrible parents and doesn’t want to return to them.

The door opens: It’s the sister Hornet saw outside, and she calls Hornet by her real name, Caterina. She scolds Hornet for not talking about her godmother, who has helped the orphanage. Hornet is confused until she sees Ida and hugs her. Hornet recognizes Victor under his disguise, but Ida introduces him as her lawyer and tells the nun that Hornet has run away from her parents’ quarrels three times already. Ida promises to take Hornet in until her parents’ divorce. The sister agrees because of Ida’s generous donations. Victor, Ida, and Hornet walk through the gates, and Hornet immediately runs and spits in the canal, grateful to be free. She asks about the others. Victor tells her Mosca is at Ida’s, Bo is with his aunt, and Riccio is looking for Prosper.

A relieved Riccio finds Prosper in front of Hotel Sandwirth. Prosper followed Bo and his relatives all day. They bought new clothes for Bo, got him a haircut, and took him to different cafés, where Bo refused to eat. Bo tried to run away once, but his uncle caught him. Riccio tries to drag Prosper to Ida’s, but Prosper refuses to budge. Riccio thinks the porters will eventually recognize him and call the police, but Prosper says nothing matters. Riccio tells him that Ida and Victor got Hornet from the orphanage. Prosper is glad Hornet is safe and agrees to see her as long as he can come back to the hotel in the morning. Prosper despairs about rescuing Bo from his aunt and uncle. As the sun sets, Riccio considers robbing the tourists who are watching the view, but Prosper pulls him along, saying Ida won’t let him stay with her if he gets caught stealing.