Page 16 of The Order

“Or so?”

“Maybe it’s more like two years.”

“I assume you two don’t dine in public.”

“No,” answered Donati. “Only in Veronica’s home.”

Gabriel and Chiara had attended a party there once. It was an art-and-antiquity-filled palazzo near the Villa Borghese. “How often?” he asked.

“Barring a work emergency, every Thursday evening.”

“The first rule of illicit behavior is to avoid a pattern.”

“There is nothingillicitabout Veronica and me having dinner together. The discipline of celibacy does not forbid all contact with women. I simply can’t marry her or—”

“Are you allowed to be in love with her?”

“Strictly speaking, yes.”

Gabriel stared at Donati with reproach. “Why willingly place yourself in such close proximity to temptation?”

“Veronica says I do it for the same reason I used to climb mountains, to see whether I can maintain my footing. To see whether God will reach down and catch me if I fall.”

“I assume she’s discreet.”

“Have you ever met anyone more discreet than Veronica Marchese?”

“And what about your colleagues at the Vatican?” asked Gabriel. “Did anyone know?”

“It is a small place filled with sexually repressed men who love nothing more than to exchange a good piece of gossip.”

“Which is why you find it suspicious that a man with a failing heart died on the one night of the week you weren’t in the Apostolic Palace.”

Donati said nothing.

“Surely there’s more than that.”

“Yes,” said Donati as he plucked another leaf from the artichoke. “Much more.”

7

Ristorante Piperno, Rome

There was, fora start, the phone call from Cardinal Albanese. It arrived nearly two hours after the camerlengo said he had found the Holy Father dead in the private chapel. Albanese claimed to have called Donati several times without receiving an answer. Donati had checked his phone. There were no missed calls.

“Sounds like an open-and-shut case. Next?”

The condition of the papal study, answered Donati. Shutters and curtains closed. A half-drunk cup of tea on the desk. One item missing.

“What was it?”

“A letter. Apersonalletter. Not official.”

“Lucchesi was the recipient?”

“The author.”

“And the contents of the letter?”