Question: What does an obsessive gunsmith take to a picnic on the grass? Answer: cold bottles of Frascati and Asprinio, five grams of pecorino, 100 grams of prosciutto, a jar of small black olives, two oranges, a thermos of sweet black coffee, a loaf of coarse bread, and a specially crafted high-powered rifle.
For a practice run to test the high-powered Socimi rifle he has refitted, Edmund drives to the uninhabited hills above the small Italian town where he lives. He has decided to mix business with pleasure and packed two rucksacks: one with the rifle and ammunition and the other with food and wine.
Edmund packs a wicker picnic basket at a second picnic with the woman assassin, the rifle buyer. He jokes that as they sit, they “might have been part players from A Room with a View.”
While hefting the rifle, the buyer chitchats about muzzle velocity and noise suppression before wandering off for target practice. Finished, she says without guile, “I shall require the rounds and the weapon at the end of next week. In the meantime, would you please tighten the adjusting screws on the sight. They are too loose. And lengthen the stock by three centimeters,” she says.
Returning to the picnic cloth, Edmund unpacks while they casually discuss the fizzy quality of the Asprinio wine. Leaving, the buyer thanks Edmund for a lovely day and suggests he must picnic with his mistress, Clara. He does.
At his picnic with Clara, they sip Moet et Chandon and eat prosciutto, bread, olives, and melon. When Clara asks Edmund, “Do you make love in the water?” He answers, “I have not.” Of course, that’s what happens.
Featured Image: Anton Corbijn. The American (2010)
See Martin Booth. A Very Private Gentleman. London Picador, 1991; Anton Corbijn. The American (2010). The screenplay by Rowan Joffe is based on Martin Booth’s A Very Private Gentleman.
See Martin Booth, Martin. A Very Private Gentleman. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2004. Also Picnicsonfil.org.