The Celtic Conspiracy (32 page)

That morning, she had received a call from Ms. Copendale, who reported worriedly that someone had thrown a red paint bomb at the façade of Ronald’s house. Just to be on the safe side, Jennifer had called the police in Dublin, who immediately promised to patrol the area on a regular basis and, if necessary, to put a police presence in place to protect the house.

Ronald had told everyone that morning that the European media had run a brief report stating that Ryan was dead, which had caused a powerful reaction in the
Vatican. This kind of misdirection was right up Ronald’s alley.

As these and other thoughts flashed through her mind, the justices started to take their seats. Ronald was the last one to enter the hall. As he had warned her, he didn’t even glance in her direction. With two hammers of the gavel, the marshal opened the session.

“The honorable chief justice and the associate justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! All persons having business before the honorable Supreme Court of the United States are admonished to draw near and give their attention, for the court is now sitting. God save the United States and this honorable court.”

Jennifer stepped up to the lectern. She could feel her heart beating in her throat, making it nearly impossible for her to speak.
God save the United States, yes
, she thought,
but please not the Vatican
.

Ronald began to speak. “We are hearing today the urgent petition of the Boston district attorney and the attorney Jennifer Wilson in the case of United States citizen Thomas Ryan vs. the Vatican. I am giving the floor to attorney Jennifer Wilson.”

Jennifer took one more deep breath. She would need it. A hearing in the Supreme Court was more like a cross examination, and in this case she had to be ready for anything that might throw her for a loop. “Mr. Chief Justice, if it pleases the court, we are making a motion for a new trial in the case before the district court in Boston, since
we are able to prove that members of the Vatican have not only stolen internationally relevant cultural artifacts—”

Justice Copter interrupted her. “Hasn’t the petitioner himself attempted to seize these artifacts without consent and as a foreigner?”

“Two other participants in the retrieval had made the site known to the Austrian Foreign Ministry on the same evening before the attack took place,” Jennifer responded. “The communication has been documented. The two witnesses confirm that they found the cave with Thomas Ryan and were the first to open it.”

Jennifer presented the confirmation from Austria to the justices, made an elegant turn back to the lectern, and continued more confidently. “In addition, the commando attempted the deliberate murder of petitioner Thomas Ryan. After he had been struck down—”

Justice Faster tried to intervene. “How do you intend—”

“—the cave was set on fire,” Jennifer said, pushing through. “The petitioner was left in the burning cave and was only able to save himself through a combination of luck and the help of witnesses who happened to be present.”

“I asked how do you intend to prove this, especially in the absence of the petitioner?”

“The petitioner is currently in a private clinic and will be brought to the United States within the next three days. Immediately after his rescue, he made contact with the present witnesses and members of the
expedition, who were on their way to Vienna with some of the artifacts.”

“Is the petitioner able to identify his attacker or attackers?” Justice Faster asked.

“We only know that he saw one of the attackers wore a ring of the St. Pius X Brotherhood. Most of the men were hooded. He was able to tear the hood off one of them before he was struck down.”

* * *

Salvoni slumped down. She couldn’t have invented that. He had just been too slow with Ryan. He looked at Lambert’s shocked expression. Salvoni had left out this detail for obvious reasons, and he could see that it was making Lambert nervous as well.

* * *

Ronald spoke next. “How do you come by the assertion that the Vatican could have been behind this? And if that were the case, why would they take such a drastic course of action?”

“Well, that is the nature of the beast, Mr. Chief Justice. As you have been able to hear from various media sources lately, this find is not only the greatest sensation since the discovery of the Qumran scrolls, it also relates to the direct charges by contemporary witnesses, the Celtic Druids, which prove that the history of the founding
of the Church has been falsified and covered up to the present day.”

“That is not the subject of the proceedings,” Justice Morburg said.

“Your Honor, I am only attempting to answer the question of the chief justice. The contents of the parchments almost exactly correspond with the charges of the most renowned Church critics of our time. In addition, it has been internationally recognized that humanity itself, as a subject of international law, has claim to historical truth. The Vatican, or at least members of the Vatican in this case, attempted to impede the disclosure of historical truth using violence and—”

Justice Faster interrupted again. “How can you substantiate that claim?”

“With the statements of the witnesses present here today and with evidence for which we need a bit more time, which they apparently did not have in Boston.”

“To the best of my knowledge, the Druids are nothing more than a myth,” Faster said sharply. “Please!”

Jennifer could feel herself rapidly coming into her own. She had the upper hand. Most of the justices were clearly impressed, otherwise she would have been bombarded with far more interposed questions. As she turned to the side, she looked straight into Lambert’s pale and cold face. Apparently he hadn’t counted on her tenaciousness.

“Did the Boston court have these expert opinions and the other facts at their disposal?” Justice Johnson asked.

“Yes, Your Honor. In addition, it has been established that one of the scrolls comes from a direct ancestor of the petitioner. This was proven by way of a forensic examination of a family tree that has been in the possession of the Ryan family for centuries.”

Johnson scowled. “That’s completely impossible.”

“No, Your Honor, it has been scientifically proven by this independent expert.” Jennifer again handed a certificate to the justices. “Thomas Ryan, along with the members of eight other Irish families, are descendants of the Druids who built this library, which...” Jennifer pulled up, thinking about MacClary telling her not to give everything away. She would say only as much as she had to today to clear the hurdle of the first hearing. “...which substantiates the petitioner’s claim to these cultural artifacts. Thomas Ryan, Your Honor, by his own admission, has this scroll with him.”

“That means that we need to wait until the petitioner gets to Washington,” Ronald said.

Jennifer could see how MacClary’s plan was falling into place. The Vatican would feel as though they were safe until the point at which Ryan and MacClary’s trump card arrived for the showdown in Washington.

“Yes, Mr. Chief Justice.”

“Thank you, Ms. Wilson. I will turn over the floor to attorney Roy Watson.”

“Mr. Chief Justice,” Watson said, “I have been charged with the defense of the Vatican, but to be honest, I am not sure what I should be defending. The charges are not only
completely unfounded, but they are also, in light of the damage they have already caused, reprehensible.”

“Leave the assessment to the court, Mr. Watson, and continue,” Justice Courtney said.

“I am in any case astonished that no one is aware of the following facts. Not only is, or rather
was
, the petitioner wanted in Europe as a terrorist, but he was also found dead two days ago in Austria.”

Justice Winster leaned forward. “Excuse me?”

“This is according to this news report, Your Honor. In addition, the St. Pius X Brotherhood performs no function within the Vatican. They operate as an autonomous entity. That means that even if the attack were to be substantiated as being carried out by the St. Pius X Brotherhood, neither the Vatican nor the Holy See can be held responsible for it. We move to halt the proceedings.”

Ronald turned to Jennifer. “Ms. Wilson, do have any explanation for this?”

“Mr. Chief Justice, that is not possible. I just spoke with Thomas Ryan this morning. We are sure that the matter can be cleared up quickly, as well as the suspicion that Thomas Ryan is a terrorist,” Jennifer said. That was the point she had been waiting for. Now the hearing would need to be interrupted, and they would have gained valuable time to await Ryan’s arrival.

MacClary looked at the other justices, who seemed at a bit of a loss. He spoke quietly with them, out of the earshot of others. Then he turned back to the public in the hall.

“This hearing is adjourned. The next hearing will take place the day after tomorrow at twelve o’clock noon.”

The marshal’s gavel ended the theater for the day, leaving everyone staring at each other in surprise. No one had expected such an abrupt end to the day’s proceedings.

Jennifer took a deep breath. She had survived the first round, but the ice she was walking on was very, very thin.

* * *

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Lambert barked at Salvoni as the two rode back to their hotel.

“What are you talking about?”

“Why didn’t you tell me whose face Thomas Ryan saw? And how could anyone be so unbelievably stupid as to wear a ring like that in an operation like this?”

Salvoni was crumbling inside. He was a man who had always taken responsibility for his actions. He could no longer find any justification for his chain of embarrassing mistakes. “Cardinal, I will take personal responsibility. We have to make sure that the Holy See—”

“I know, Salvoni, I never doubted that you would. But I’m afraid it will be difficult to contain the damage. They won’t let go. The Church critics, the atheists, the nihilists—they’ll all—”

Lambert’s cell phone interrupted them. “Yes?”

Lambert rolled his eyes as Salvoni watched him for some reaction. “Very well. Have it handed over to the US ambassador. We’ll bring everything here to a close. I’m
staying until the end of the hearing in Washington. Yes, I’ll let him know.”

Lambert hung up and took a deep breath.

“The Holy Father thanks you for your willingness to take full responsibility for the events. I’ll make sure that you are tried in front of an Italian court. We will do everything we can to make sure that you are treated as well as possible.”

Salvoni had been awaiting this fate. “Thank you, Cardinal. I hope that this takes care of everything.”

“Your Thomas Ryan really is alive. The justice seems to have used the same tricks we have, Salvoni.”

“I suspected as much, but I let myself be swayed by my hope that God would protect me from this burden. Now I see that it’s too late.”

Lambert nodded, an expression approximating compassion on his face. “Later today, the Holy See will be lodging a complaint with the United Nations about the hearing, stating that international treaties were violated.”

The driver turned the radio on.

“...was interrupted after the attorney for the petitioner was able to make a credible argument that the case in Boston should not have been suspended prematurely on formal grounds. As was recently announced, the first violent altercation between demonstrators and the police took place in front of the United States Embassy in Switzerland. One member of the embassy staff suffered a severe blow from a stone thrown by the demonstrators and has since succumbed to his injuries. Switzerland and eight other nations have summoned their ambassadors to the United
States today to return home and demanded an end to the hearing. They have stated that the attempt of one nation to condemn another impinges on international law. The White House issued a statement confirming that they will not intervene in the work of the judiciary and that the hearing is only intended to clarify whether the Vatican itself or only individuals were involved in the events in Austria. If the charges are not substantiated, the proceedings will be immediately suspended, according to White House spokesman Steve Thomson.”

“Turn that off,” Lambert ordered the driver.

Shane and Deborah had driven back to the hotel after lunch. Jennifer had gone to lie down for a bit. She was exhausted, but she knew there was no chance of getting any sleep.

She felt too dependent on MacClary’s strategizing. What if his dubious source didn’t even exist? Had he just invented this so-called trump card to keep them all on board, in the hope that there would be enough evidence when Ryan finally got here? Restless, she got up again and went into the spacious living room of the hotel suite.

“...never experienced anything like it,” Adam was saying to Deborah. “When the justices ended the session, I looked at MacClary’s face, at Lambert’s, at everyone’s. Everything seemed like it was suddenly going in slow motion, and I could feel everyone’s presence. It was as if I were observing everything from far, far away, and everything I saw was horrible.”