Donatiâs smile was charitable. âGiven your experience at the Vatican, Iâm surprised you would even ask a question like that. Besides, Albanese never would have allowed it. He had his story, and he was sticking to it. He found the Holy Father in the private chapel a few minutes afterten oâclock and carried him without assistance to the bedroom. There, in the presence of three of the Churchâs most powerful cardinals, he set in motion the chain of events that led to a declaration that the throne of St. Peter was empty. All while I was having a late supper with a woman I once loved. If I challenge Albanese, heâll destroy me. And Veronica, too.â
âWhat about a leak to a trusted reporter? There are several thousand camped out in St. Peterâs Square.â
âThis matter is far too serious to be entrusted to a journalist. It needs to be handled by someone skillful and ruthless enough
to find out what really happened. And quickly.â
âSomeone like me?â
Donati made no reply.
âIâm on holiday,â protested Gabriel. âAnd Iâm supposed to be back in Tel Aviv in a week.â
âLeaving you just enough time to find out who killed the Holy Father before the beginning of the conclave. For all intents
and purposes, itâs already begun. Most of the men who will choose the next pope are holed up at the Casa Santa Marta.â The
Domus Sanctae Marthae, or Casa Santa Marta, was the five-story clerical guesthouse at the southern edge of the city-state.
âI can assure you those red-hatted princes arenât talking about the sporting news over dinner each night. It is imperative
we find out who was behind the murder of my master before they file into the Sistine Chapel and the doors are locked behind
them.â
âWith all due respect, Luigi, you have absolutely no proof Lucchesi was murdered.â
âI havenât told you everything I know.â
âNow might be a good time.â
âThe missing letter was addressed to you.â Donati paused. âNow ask me about the Swiss Guard who was on duty outside the papal apartments that night.â
âWhere is he?â
âHe left the Vatican a few hours after the Holy Fatherâs death. No oneâs seen him since.â
8
Ristorante Piperno, Rome
Gabriel was momentarily distracted by the man who wandered into the campo as the waiters were clearing away the first course. He wore dark glasses and a hat and carried a nylon rucksack over one
square shoulder. Gabriel reckoned he was of northern European stock, German or Austrian, perhaps a Scandinavian. He paused
a few meters from their table as if to take his bearingsâlong enough for Gabriel to calculate the length of time it would
take to draw the Beretta lodged against the small of his back. He drew his phone instead and snapped the manâs photograph
as he was leaving the square.
âLetâs start with the letter.â Gabriel returned the phone to his breast pocket. âBut why donât we skip the part where you
claim not to know why Lucchesi was writing it.â
âI donât,â Donati insisted. âBut if I were to guess, it concerned something he found in the Secret Archives.â
LâArchivio Segreto Vaticano, the Vatican Secret Archives, was the central repository for papal documents related to matters
of both religion and state. Located near the Vatican Library in the Belvedere Palace, it contained an estimated fifty-three
miles of shelf space, much of it in fortified underground bunkers. Among its many treasures was Decet Romanum Pontificem , Pope Leo Xâs 1521 papal bull ordering the excommunication of a troublesome German priest and theologian named Martin Luther.
It was also the final resting place of much of the Churchâs dirtiest laundry. Early in Lucchesiâs papacy, Gabriel had worked
with Donati and the Holy Father to release
Tom Clancy, Steve Pieczenik, Jeff Rovin