Page 43 of The Order

“How long have you been in the country?”

“A few hours.”

“I don’t suppose you arrived on a valid passport?”

“Define valid.”

Bittel sighed before inquiring as to the reason for Gabriel’s call.

“I’d like you to place a Swiss citizen under protective surveillance.”

“How unusual. What’s the Swiss citizen’s name?”

Gabriel told him, then recited her address and place of work.

“Is she an ISIS terrorist? A Russian assassin?”

“No, Bittel. She’s a painter.”

“Anyone in particular you’re worried about?”

“I’ll send you a composite. But whatever you do, don’t give the job to that kid who watched my back in Bern a couple of years ago.”

“He’s one of my best men.”

“He’s also a former Swiss Guard.”

“Does this have something to do with Florence?”

“Why do you ask?”

“The Polizia di Stato just released the name of the victim in that shooting last night. He was a Swiss Guard. Come to think of it, he was from Rechthalten, too.”

Gabriel killed the connection and checked the website ofCorriere della Sera, Italy’s premier newspaper. Donati went straight to the Twitter feed of the Vatican Press Office. There was a briefbollettino, five minutes old. It expressed the Holy See’s shock andsorrow over the senseless and random act of gun violence that had claimed the life of Lance Corporal Niklaus Janson of the Pontifical Swiss Guard. It made no mention of the fact that Janson was on duty outside the papal apartments the night of the Holy Father’s death. Nor did it explain why he was in Florence while his comrades were working overtime in preparation for the conclave.

“It’s a masterpiece of curial doublespeak,” said Donati. “On its face, the statement is entirely accurate. But the lies of omission are glaring. Clearly, Cardinal Albanese has no intention of allowing Niklaus’s murder to delay the opening of the conclave.”

“Perhaps we can convince him to see the error of his ways.”

“With what? A tawdry tale of sex and secretive religious orders, told by a woman who was bitter over the dissolution of her engagement to a handsome young Swiss Guard?”

“You don’t believe her story?”

“I believe every word of it. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s pure hearsay, or that every element can be denied.”

“Except for this.” Gabriel displayed the envelope. The high-quality cream-colored envelope embossed with the private papal armorial of His Holiness Pope Paul VII. “Do you really expect me to believe you didn’t know what was in this letter?”

“I didn’t.”

Gabriel removed the three sheets of stationery from the envelope. The letter had been composed in pale blue ink. The salutation was informal. First name only.Dear Gabriel...There were no preliminaries or pleasantries.

While researching in the Vatican Secret Archives, I came upon a most remarkable book...

The book, he continued, had been given to him by a member of the Archives staff, without the knowledge of theprefetto. It was stored in what was known as thecollezione, a secret archive within the Secret Archives, located on the lower level of the Manuscript Depository. The material in thecollezionewas highly sensitive. Some of the books and files were political and administrative in nature. Others were doctrinal. None were referenced in the one thousand directories and catalogues housed in the Index Room. Indeed, nowhere within the Archives was there a written inventory of the material. The knowledge was passed down through the centuries verbally,prefettotoprefetto.

The letter did not identify the book in question, only that it had been suppressed by the Church during the Middle Ages and had circulated secretly until the Renaissance, when it was finally hunted out of existence. The copy contained in the Secret Archives was thought to be the last. The Holy Father had concluded it was authentic and accurate in its depiction of an important historical event. It was his intention to place the book in Gabriel’s hands at the earliest possible date. Gabriel would be free to do with it as he pleased. His Holiness asked only that he treat the material with the utmost sensitivity. The book would ignite a global sensation. Its unveiling would have to be carefully managed. Otherwise, the Holy Father warned, it would be dismissed as a hoax.

The letter was unfinished. The final sentence was a fragment, the last word incomplete.Archi...Gabriel reckoned the Holy Father had been interrupted midsentence by the appearance of his killer. Donati did not disagree. His prime suspect was Cardinal Camerlengo Domenico Albanese,prefettoof the VaticanSecret Archives. Gabriel politely informed Donati that he was mistaken.