public address by Cardinal Fouquet, the Camerlengo. I’ll call you later.’ He flipped his phone shut.
Dulac’s taxi approached the Vatican’s Sant’Anna entrance, and Dulac saw the thousands of faithful already milling about the Square in anxious expectation. At the far end, atop the steps leading to the Basilica, Swiss Guards had formed a line to prevent access.
Dulac showed his pass to the guard at the entrance, and made his way to Legnano’s office.
‘Buongiorno, Mr Dulac,’ said Legnano as Dulac entered and nodded to the assembled prelates, Colonel Romer and Inspector Guadagni.
‘Any news from the armed forces?’ Dulac asked Guadagni.
‘Nothing, except a suspicious radio transcript overheard by a Rome weather station. We’re trying to trace it,’ said Guadagni.
‘What did it say?’ asked Dulac.
‘The voice said: “Tout va bien, Alpha phase now complete.”’
‘Monsignori, gentlemen, may I have your attention,’ said Legnano, a deep furrow on his brow and lines of stress along his cheeks and mouth. ‘Since we’ve been forced to go public, we have convened the press conference for 2 p.m. at the Old Study Room. Cardinal Sforza and his people are working on the press release now.’ He turned to the two inspectors. ‘Gentlemen, I ask that you join us for the conference.’
‘Of course, your Eminence,’ said Dulac. Guadagni nodded.
‘Fine,’ continued Legnano. ‘I will chair the meeting and direct questions , as appropriate. I need not remind you that we must be truthful, but reserved. If you don’t know the answer, don’t speculate. I will read the opening statement. Are there any questions? None. We’ll convene at the Old Study Room, at 1.50 p.m.’
As the prelates started to disperse, Romer took Dulac aside and handed him an envelope. ‘It’s the people stream report on the Vatican’s personnel in the Pope’s immediate entourage, during the twenty-four hours preceding the abduction.’
‘Has Guadagni seen it?’ said Dulac, opening the envelope and taking out the thick report.
‘Yes,’ Romer said dryly.
‘Colonel, why don’t you save me wading through all this and give me a quick summary,’ said Dulac, pushing the report back into the envelope.
‘Very well. As far as we can find out, only four persons had access to the water supply between the time the bottle was opened and poured into the glass: the two Swiss Guards, Cardinal Signorelli, and sister Vincenza.’
‘That doesn’t get us very far.’
‘Except for one thing.’
‘Yes?’
‘There is a permanent video camera taping the Swiss Guards during their rotation on guard. There is no sign of them, or anyone else for that matter, coming close to the tray at any time.’
‘Which suggests, if it’s the bottled water that was tampered with, it was done before that?’
‘Yes.’
‘And of course you don’t have a report on the tap water.’
‘Not yet.’
‘By the way, Colonel, where were you during that period?’
‘I knew you would ask. It’s in the report, page thirteen.’ Romer turned briskly and walked away.
Not since Pope Pius VII in 1809, had a Pope been abducted. The world’s police forces were now reacting, inundating the Vatican’ssecurity services with offers to access their data banks, alert functions, search and rescue teams, crisis management teams, forensics labs, and research centers. The overwhelmed Secretariat of the Vatican had urgently requested the help of Rome’s main police station, the Questura Centrale di Roma, to help sort out, prioritize, and redirect the huge volume of incoming calls. An otherwise divided world seemed to be galvanizing its efforts in a desperate search to find Pope Clement XXI, preferably alive.
From his previous visit to the Vatican, Dulac remembered that the Old Study Room stood out as somewhat of an anomaly amidst the customary opulence of the Vatican’s richly decorated halls and rooms. Its bare columns supporting undecorated vaulted
Dulac’s taxi approached the Vatican’s Sant’Anna entrance, and Dulac saw the thousands of faithful already milling about the Square in anxious expectation. At the far end, atop the steps leading to the Basilica, Swiss Guards had formed a line to prevent access.
Dulac showed his pass to the guard at the entrance, and made his way to Legnano’s office.
‘Buongiorno, Mr Dulac,’ said Legnano as Dulac entered and nodded to the assembled prelates, Colonel Romer and Inspector Guadagni.
‘Any news from the armed forces?’ Dulac asked Guadagni.
‘Nothing, except a suspicious radio transcript overheard by a Rome weather station. We’re trying to trace it,’ said Guadagni.
‘What did it say?’ asked Dulac.
‘The voice said: “Tout va bien, Alpha phase now complete.”’
‘Monsignori, gentlemen, may I have your attention,’ said Legnano, a deep furrow on his brow and lines of stress along his cheeks and mouth. ‘Since we’ve been forced to go public, we have convened the press conference for 2 p.m. at the Old Study Room. Cardinal Sforza and his people are working on the press release now.’ He turned to the two inspectors. ‘Gentlemen, I ask that you join us for the conference.’
‘Of course, your Eminence,’ said Dulac. Guadagni nodded.
‘Fine,’ continued Legnano. ‘I will chair the meeting and direct questions , as appropriate. I need not remind you that we must be truthful, but reserved. If you don’t know the answer, don’t speculate. I will read the opening statement. Are there any questions? None. We’ll convene at the Old Study Room, at 1.50 p.m.’
As the prelates started to disperse, Romer took Dulac aside and handed him an envelope. ‘It’s the people stream report on the Vatican’s personnel in the Pope’s immediate entourage, during the twenty-four hours preceding the abduction.’
‘Has Guadagni seen it?’ said Dulac, opening the envelope and taking out the thick report.
‘Yes,’ Romer said dryly.
‘Colonel, why don’t you save me wading through all this and give me a quick summary,’ said Dulac, pushing the report back into the envelope.
‘Very well. As far as we can find out, only four persons had access to the water supply between the time the bottle was opened and poured into the glass: the two Swiss Guards, Cardinal Signorelli, and sister Vincenza.’
‘That doesn’t get us very far.’
‘Except for one thing.’
‘Yes?’
‘There is a permanent video camera taping the Swiss Guards during their rotation on guard. There is no sign of them, or anyone else for that matter, coming close to the tray at any time.’
‘Which suggests, if it’s the bottled water that was tampered with, it was done before that?’
‘Yes.’
‘And of course you don’t have a report on the tap water.’
‘Not yet.’
‘By the way, Colonel, where were you during that period?’
‘I knew you would ask. It’s in the report, page thirteen.’ Romer turned briskly and walked away.
Not since Pope Pius VII in 1809, had a Pope been abducted. The world’s police forces were now reacting, inundating the Vatican’ssecurity services with offers to access their data banks, alert functions, search and rescue teams, crisis management teams, forensics labs, and research centers. The overwhelmed Secretariat of the Vatican had urgently requested the help of Rome’s main police station, the Questura Centrale di Roma, to help sort out, prioritize, and redirect the huge volume of incoming calls. An otherwise divided world seemed to be galvanizing its efforts in a desperate search to find Pope Clement XXI, preferably alive.
From his previous visit to the Vatican, Dulac remembered that the Old Study Room stood out as somewhat of an anomaly amidst the customary opulence of the Vatican’s richly decorated halls and rooms. Its bare columns supporting undecorated vaulted
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