Michael Cordy - The Source

'Ross Kelly, Lauren's husband. Are you with Father General Leonardo Torino?'

Fear flickered in the nun's eyes. 'No.'

'Then how do you know Lauren?'

'Through her work. We've never met but I feel I know her because she understands the mind of a man I admire.' She struggled to stand, and Ross helped her to her feet. 'How did this happen to your wife?' she asked. He explained about the intruder in Lauren's office, and the beautiful eyes flickered again. 'Was anything taken?' 'Some cash, jewellery and a video camera, maybe something from her computer. Why?'

'Has anybody else contacted you about Father Orlando's manuscript?'

'What manuscript?'

'The manuscript you know as the Voynich Cipher. You mentioned the Father General. Has he been to see you about the manuscript?'

This was too weird. 'What's going on? What's this about?'

Those striking eyes stared at him, unblinking, assessing. 'I need your help.' She gestured to Lauren. 'And you need mine.' Beneath the brittle calm he detected a fierce desperation now. 'Time is running out. I'm getting weaker and there's much we need to do.'

'We?'

'Yes. You, your wife and I.'

'My wife? What are you talking about? She's-'

Sister Chantal gripped his arm with surprising strength. 'Let me explain. It's important. For all of us. Can we talk somewhere we won't be disturbed? Somewhere private?'

As Ross looked into those disconcerting eyes, every rational instinct told him to ask her politely but firmly to leave. Yet something about her passion and desperation chimed with his own. And what did he have to lose? He made a decision that would change for ever his already shattered life. 'Come with me,' he said.

Later that day As Father General Leonardo Torino stepped out of the limousine and walked up the gravel drive to the Kelly house he felt confident of the outcome. He prided himself on knowing the hearts and minds of men, and his meeting with Ross Kelly in the hospital chapel had gone better than he had hoped.

He rang the doorbell and waited. He heard raised voices, then the door opened. When he saw the guarded expression on the geologist's face, his confidence evaporated. Kelly led him into the kitchen, where Torino saw an elderly nun sitting at the table, an empty coffee cup in front of her. His surprise at her presence was compounded by the fleeting panic he saw in her eyes as Ross introduced them. As he processed this he noticed her slip an opaque plastic bag into the case beside her. 'Good afternoon, Sister.'

'Father General.' She fingered the large crucifix that hung from her neck, then bowed her head and rose from the chair. 'I'm sorry, I'm tired. I must leave.'

Kelly moved towards her and a look passed between them. 'Sister Chantal, let me show you to the lounge. You can rest there while I talk with the Father General.'

Sister Chantal grabbed her small case and cane, and put her arm through his.

Her name further piqued Torino's interest. He was sure he had come across it recently but couldn't remember where. He waited in the kitchen until Kelly returned. 'I'm surprised to find a nun visiting you, a non-believer.'

Kelly frowned. 'As you said, we all need to believe in something.' The frown deepened. 'Tell me, Father General, why are you really interested in my wife's translation of the Voynich?'

'I thought I explained yesterday. It was written by one of our own. We regard the document as ours. We want to complete the translation.'

'Why?'

'Because it's part of our heritage. And it's a puzzle. Which is why your wife wanted to translate it.'

'You told me yesterday that you thought the manuscript was a parable – a simple story.' Kelly was studying him now. 'Is that what you really believe?'

The question bothered Torino. Yesterday the man had trusted him. Today he didn't. What had he been told? He thought of the package the nun had hidden and a frisson of excitement ran through him. What had Kelly seen? 'Of course it's a parable. It can't possibly be true, if that's what you're suggesting. Can it?'

'Tell me about the source you mentioned yesterday. Tell me what you think it is.'

'Why? What do you know about it, Dr Kelly?'

Kelly ignored his question. 'Tell me, Father General, what do you know about a priest called Orlando Falcon?'

Torino hid his thoughts better than most men but he knew his face betrayed him now. Only he knew about Father Orlando Falcon and his link with the Voynich. 'As I told you yesterday, we believe a Jesuit priest wrote the Voynich. And that priest may have been Father Orlando Falcon. What do you know about him?'

Kelly said nothing.

'I assume this has something to do with Sister Chantal's visit. Why don't you tell me what's troubling you? I can be a powerful ally. Like I said yesterday, the Church has resources. If you suspect there's more to the Voynich than you originally thought, it would be in your best interests to share it with us and come under the umbrella of the Church's protection.'

'Protection? From whom? I'm not giving Lauren's notes to anybody until I find out what's going on. I'm beginning to suspect that whoever broke into our house and harmed Lauren wanted her notes – badly.' Kelly was glaring at him now. 'How badly do you want them, Father?'

Torino valued self-control above all things, but at that moment almost lost his. To come so close to possessing what he most desired only to be thwarted was intolerable. Anger and frustration welled within him. 'You think I tried to steal your wife's notes? I don't need them. We have files in the Vatican, Inquisition Archives that will give us all the information we need. I only came here to expedite our translation and help you.'

'To help me? Are you sure you didn't want to use Lauren's notes for your own ends, whatever they may be?'

'Be careful, Dr Kelly. You have no idea what you're getting involved in. I'm offering to share the burden of this perilous knowledge before it's too late. Don't refuse it.'

'Why not? What will you do?'

Torino clenched his jaw and allowed his rage to cool into something harder. It was pointless saying more – he had already said too much. Kelly's mind was made up. What had the mysterious Sister Chantal said to him – or shown him? 'You'll regret this,' he said coldly, left the house, walked across the gravel and stepped into his limousine. As he sat back and considered his options, he suddenly remembered where he had last heard of Sister Chantal. He called his office in Rome and told them to put him through to Father Seamus Dunleavy at the Institute of Miracles. 'That letter from the Ugandan hospice you brought to my attention last week.'

'The spontaneous healing of the two brothers with Aids?'

'Yes. What was the name of the nun who went missing at around the same time?'

'Sister Chantal.' Torino was about to ask another question when Father Seamus continued: 'I don't know if it's relevant, Father General, but the hospice sent us something else linked to the case.'

'What?'

'A wooden box with ornate carvings. The cured boys claim the nun gave it to them.'

'Describe the carvings.'

'I'll take a photo and send it to you.'

As the image appeared on Torino's phone, his mouth dried. It confirmed that Sister Chantal was somehow linked to Orlando Falcon's Garden of God, and could be crucial to finding it. 'Thank you, Father, that's very helpful. Tell me one more thing. How much do we know about the nun, Sister Chantal?'

'Very little.'

'I want you to find out all you can. Who she is, how long she's been in her order, where she comes from – everything.'

As he hung up he knew he had to manage the next stage carefully. If the geologist and the nun did as Torino predicted, they would become invaluable, unwitting pawns. Otherwise Torino would have no choice but to intervene – aggressively.