Shout in the Dark (28 page)

"
Laura Rossetti, Holiness. Canon Angelo Levi's daughter. It
seems she has been in contact with Sartini."

"
Yes, Rossetti. Young Laura Rossetti."

"
It could be excellent news. Laura Rossetti's knowledge and
Sartini's energy may enable us to recover our property."

"
And the good Monsignor Giorgio is behaving himself on the
panel of inquiry?"

Josef
Reinhardt allowed himself a smile. "I think I know how to
keep Monsignor Augusto Giorgio in order."

"
I only wish I had your skills with the senior clergy,
Josef. Perhaps you could give me lessons some time." The Pope
laughed easily, turning as a sister entered the room with a tray.
"I assume you will join me for a coffee."

Reinhardt felt surprised by the
hospitality, for this should have been a short meeting. "Thank you,
Holiness, Coffee would be very welcome."

"
Coffee and prayer, Josef. You must stay long enough for
both. I insist on it. I am becoming increasingly concerned for
young Marco Sartini. You really should give him more of the facts."
The laughter had gone now.

"
Facts?" said Reinhardt. "There are no facts to give. We
have sent him out on a fishing expedition, if you
remember."

The Holy Father nodded. "Ah, the bait." He
frowned. "I think we may be mixing our metaphors. I thought we were
after wolves, not fish."

Reinhardt grinned. "I am looking on this
as a period of initiation. I believe Sartini has a great future
serving the Church."

"
Elijah and Elisha?"

"
Holiness?"

"
I sometimes think you are like the Old Testament prophet
Elijah, looking for the young Elisha to replace him in his old age.
I would dearly love you to pass your mantle on to a successor of
your choosing. But right now I want you to brief Sartini more
thoroughly."

"
Holiness, most people think they can act out a part of
innocence, but rarely can they do it convincingly. For the moment,
Sartini must remain trustful of those around him, and they must
trust him -- for the sake of the relic."

The Pope stayed silent for a moment before
becoming more relaxed. "I bow to your experience, Josef. But I want
you to know that I do so reluctantly. I have been reading the files
you lent me on the three journalists."

Reinhardt watched the Pope raise the bone
china cup to his lips. "Then you are aware, Holiness, that the
Nazis destroyed each of their families."

The Holy Father replaced the cup in its
saucer and carefully dabbed his mouth with a white linen napkin.
"That was in the past, Josef. You seriously believe the three of
them are involved in this affair?"

Reinhardt stirred his coffee slowly.
"Almost certainly. Though not enough to stake my life on
it."

"
Yet you would stake Sartini's life?"

"
A sacred relic is up for grabs, as they say, Holiness. In
the hands of today's fascists it could become an overpowering
attraction for many in the Church."

"
Forces of evil, Josef."

Reinhardt held his cup steady, without
drinking. "I doubt if the top powers in the fascist movement were
involved in the events at TV Roma, and for that reason I believe
Marco Sartini is still our best hope for retrieving the bronze
head. The Lord willing, we can bring about the end of at least one
neo-Nazi group at the same time." He recalled the circle of red and
took a sip of the dark coffee. "If Sartini becomes fully aware of
his role, he will shy away from associating with certain people. At
present he is gaining their confidence. Tomorrow I may be able to
tell you more."

The Pope nodded. "Perhaps I feel just a
little more easy in my mind now. A few days ago you spoke of losing
the rabbit in order to catch the wolf. You were not serious, were
you?"

Josef Reinhardt took a deep breath. He
could not lie.
"Totally
serious, Holiness."

AT ELEVEN-THIRTY, Marco let himself be
jostled out of the congested bus. Outside the ancient church
several tourist coaches were unloading their cargoes of foreign
visitors. Last night had been a disaster. Enjoyable at the time,
but on waking he realized that his darker side had been fed a diet
of hatred.

He pushed two tourists aside and entered
Father Josef's building. He envied these crowds. Life must be so
peaceful for them, transported from place to place. For a moment he
was caught up in a fantasy with Laura -- or was he with Anna? It
was definitely Anna. Waking up together again, getting aboard a
coach and being taken off to a new destination. Away from Rome;
away from the Church.

Father Josef was in the meeting room
standing with his back to the bright window. A hazy silhouette like
a holy shimmer surrounded the black clothing. Marco felt in no mood
for any unusual or interesting visions at this moment. He moved so
as to place himself between his host and the window.

"
I had a terrible time with Laura's friends last night," he
said wearily.

Father Josef sat down and beckoned Marco to
do the same. Seen with the light from the window shining on him, no
longer in visionary form, the old priest looked his usual
down-to-earth self.

"
There were, I imagine, things you heard that did not please
you."

Marco sat heavily in Amendola's
throne-like chair. "Why did Canon Angelo try to sell the relic?" he
demanded angrily. "He wasn't just selling it to anyone, he was
selling it to the neo-Nazis!"

Father Josef waved a thin hand, almost in
the manner of a blessing. "Are there perhaps things about Laura
Rossetti that you wish to share with me?"

Could shrewd old Father Josef have divined
his confused feelings towards Laura? Sister Maria had always seemed
able to read his mind, but surely Father Josef was not blessed with
the spiritual insight of the old nun. Sister Maria's reputed
ability to read minds had kept his thoughts very pure as a growing
boy -- while on Church property at any rate.

"
There's nothing in it," Marco found himself protesting. "I
know Laura's attractive, but I intend to honor my vows of
chastity." Now he had said more than he meant to, more than he had
even admitted to himself.

Father Josef raised his eyebrows. "Oh
dear, I did indeed warn you to be careful, but I did not intend my
warning to cover infatuation. You must most certainly honor your
vows. However, although I cannot condone it, there are perhaps
worse sins than a little passion pausing on its way through your
mind. Consider the hatred and lack of forgiveness in the world,
Marco. I had it in my mind that these were the evils against which
you would be doing battle."

No reprimand there, no lack of sympathy.
Marco started to feel more at ease. Father Josef could so easily
have made him feel foolish for the way he spoke of Laura, but no,
the elderly priest was a person of understanding, a wise man filled
with love. "I'm angry that a canon of the Church could set out to
trick two men, even if they were neo-Fascists. It's almost
theft."

"
But if he wanted the money to repay those families that
suffered in the war under the extreme right, is that a sin,
Marco?"

"
We're talking about a holy relic, Father Josef -- about
Church property!"

Father Josef stood up. "We are all the
Church; but the Church, as you call us, had no wish to possess this
particular relic. Canon Angelo did indeed try to hand it to the
authorities after the war, while it was still covered in white
paint or plaster. Maybe both. I have learned from Monsignor Augusto
Giorgio that it was discredited as being nothing but a mess, and
returned to him immediately. Even in those days, the Monsignor was
concerned to shield the faithful from the Jewish roots of our faith
-- the faith of Abraham as well as the faith of Saint
Paul."

"
The Brothers at Monte Sisto would have known what the relic
was."

"
Ah yes, Monte Sisto. I did some homework last night, while
you were out dining with your friends, young Marco." He broke off
and smiled. "That is not a rebuke. You
are
allowed to enjoy yourself while working for me.
The community at Monte Sisto was never an accepted part of our
Church." Father Josef shook his head. "The Order at Monte Sisto was
considered by many to be nonconformist, though not in the
Protestant sense. Our Brothers there, may the Lord grant their
souls peace, were not well received by us."

"
Laura said that the local priest betrayed them to the
Nazis," said Marco quietly. "Did he?"

"
I am ashamed to say he did. The priest and the villagers
thought they were doing their duty. The Vatican arranged for the
bodies to be reburied after the war. Christians with Christians,
Jews with Jews. I have still to discover where the Brothers' bodies
were taken. I am having the matter investigated."

"
But
you
do not
condemn the Order?"

Father Josef smiled. "Indeed I do not. But
I want to warn you that Monsignor Augusto Giorgio will be calling
here shortly, so please do not mention Monte Sisto when he comes. I
think he is now rather repentant, even embarrassed that he rejected
the relic in nineteen forty-five at the end of World War Two. I
know he returned it to Canon Angelo with some rather ungracious
comments. The name of Monte Sisto is a painful one for him. This is
confidential, of course."

Father Josef glanced behind him, as though
to make sure the room was empty. Only the dark faces in the heavy
frames stared down, silent witnesses to this indiscretion. "Many in
the Vatican are now becoming inclined to the idea that the bronze
head, brought to Saint Peter's by Canon Angelo's father, may truly
have been from the statue seen by Eusebius."

"
Is that why you want me to find it?" Marco could not
believe that the infighting amongst the Vatican staff could be
quite so small-minded. "Do you want to embarrass Monsignor
Giorgio?"

"
Indeed I do not, Marco. I want to stop the neo-Nazis from
promoting a dangerous lie. But if this object is genuine, and I
say
if
, then we
could have a wonderful indication of the visual appearance of Jesus
Christ. It would be considerably more distinct than the image on
the Shroud of Turin that many still believe to be our Lord's
features. There have, of course, been other holy relics allegedly
bearing the imprint of the Savior's passion. Objects like the
Veronica, the sweatcloth from the sixth Station of the
Cross."

Marco rose from Amendola's throne and
walked to the window. The traffic below was as busy as ever. "Why
are we calling it a relic? Part of a statue can't be
holy."

"
An interesting opinion, Marco, but relics are not
necessarily the remains of a holy person. Articles that the saints
touched in their lifetime are often considered to be relics. The
people who made the statue knew our Savior. He healed the woman of
her internal bleeding when she dared reach out and touch his cloak.
Subsequently, according to Eusebius, people were healed when they
touched the statue. The Holy Father shares my opinion that there is
no problem in considering the head of that statue to be a sacred
relic."

Marco felt surprised. Father Josef was
speaking as though he knew something firsthand of the Holy Father's
views.

"
Marco, do you know what the poet Dante said about the
Veronica, when he saw the imprint allegedly left when Christ wiped
his face on the way to the cross? He stood in awe and wrote the
words: 'My Lord Jesus Christ, very God, was this then Your true
semblance?'" Father Josef gave a broad smile as he leaned over,
lowering his voice slightly. "Tell me, Marco, would
you
not like to see that face while
still in this life?"

"
And Canon Angelo tried to sell it! He tried to sell it to
those ... those
maledetti!
Excuse me, Father."

Father Josef spoke softly. "Can we sit in
judgment? He knew what he was selling was just a copy of the real
article. The money was to be reparation for the dreadful suffering
inflicted on the Jews by the Nazis."

"
Laura said the same sort of thing last night. You both
sound as though you hate the Germans," said Marco.

Father Josef sighed. "Then I am sorry.
Germany is the country that gave me birth, and I love my people. My
passport is German. The vast majority of German people today are
totally opposed to a fascist revival. A few years ago I was one of
three million Germans who marched by candlelight as a protest
against the extreme right."

"
So what's the problem?"

"
A shrine -- a so-called Christian shrine -- holds
considerably more attraction than a political creed.
I will just have a
look
. I can hear my
countrymen saying it. Once inside, the seduction would start. Names
taken for a register of those interested in further contact. Danger
indeed, Marco. The insidious lure of mysticism. People are always
drawn by the promise of something new and powerful. Such promises
led many of us astray in the war."