Michael White - The Medici secret

Candotti put one meaty arm about the prisoner's shoulder and led him down the leafy lane under the trees.

'I am really grateful,' Giulio gave Candotti a big smile. 'I will soon have the information you need.'

'The problem is,' the Chief of Police replied, 'you seem to have generated… how shall I put it? Rather a lot of bad PR, Giulio. Your idea of grabbing the girl at the apartment was so crude, I had to intervene personally.'

Giulio's fingers pinched the cigarette between his lips. Pulling it away, he tossed it to the ground and crushed it under the toe of his shoe. When he looked up, Candotti was holding a pistol an inch from his forehead. Giulio tensed and took a step back.

'Inefficiency is excusable in many people, Giulio,' Candotti said wearily. 'People can accept it if a pop star turns up late for a show or a painter needs just that little bit longer to finish his masterpiece. But assassins? Well, it doesn't work, does it? Surely you can see that.'

Giulio's mind was racing. No situation was ever irretrievable. He stole a glance towards the vehicles, seeing the two men looking directly at them.

'I would say I'm sorry I have to do this,' the Chief of Police said. 'But I do so hate cliches, don't you? Now, shall I get you on your knees and shoot you through the head or would it be more sporting to let you run and shoot you in the back?'

The gun went off and a large hole was blasted in the middle of Giulio's forehead. 'Or how about I make it a surprise?' Candotti enquired. Pocketing the gun, he picked his way back to the car, trying to avoid splashing mud on his shoes. He was already firing up the engine as the two policemen approached. Candotti let the window down. 'Bury him in the woods,' he said, staring into the cold eyes of the blond ROS officer. Without another word, he sped off down the track, out on to the main road and back to the Most Serene Republic.

Florence, present day By the time they reached the Medici Chapel it was late evening. All the trains from Venice had been booked out until the afternoon and so they had hired a car. What with a visit to Roberto, another trip to pick up some things from Jeffs apartment and another appointment at the police station to obtain clearance to travel to Florence, it was 4 p.m. before they had left Piazzale Roma.

Jack Cartwright met them at the foot of the stairs leading down into the burial chamber. He shook Jeffs hand and gave Edie a contrite look. She rolled her eyes and walked straight into her uncle's old office.

The police had returned everything they had taken away for analysis, but only one of the lab staff, Sonia Stefani, had come back from leave. The computers had been reinstalled, the files checked; everything was as it should be. In fact, it was eerily similar to the way it had been a week earlier, almost as though nothing had happened.

Jack pointed to the ceiling. 'CCTV,' he said. 'The police recommended it and the insurers insisted upon it. Bloody intrusion if you ask me.'

Edie shrugged. 'It's good of you to come back so early,' she said to Sonia. 'It's much appreciated by Jack and me.'

'To be honest, I was bored out of my mind. You've been in Venice?'

'Yes, I needed a little break,' Edie lied. 'This is my friend Jeff, and his daughter, Rose.' They all shook hands.

'So what's been happening?' Edie asked. 'I heard about the TV report of course.' She glanced towards Jack Cartwright who was sitting in a swivel chair at Carlin Mackenzie's old desk.

'You see these here,' Jack said, pointing at an image on his computer screen; bands of colour that looked like a soldier's ribbon bars. 'Only two days ago I obtained some brand new software that allows us to sequence a workable amount of DNA from the tiniest source. This meant I could get a much more accurate lock on the nature of the DNA we extracted from the body thought to be Cosimo. As a comparison, here are samples from four other members of the Medici family.' He punched some keys and several sets of coloured strips appeared beneath the first one.

'You would expect matches in this region.' He moved the cursor along a stretch of coloured blocks. 'But there's nothing.' He looked up at Edie. 'The body we've been studying cannot possibly be a Medici.' 'So who the hell is it?' Jeff asked.

'That I can't tell you. But I've discovered some interesting facts. I compared the sample with the International Hap Map.' 'The what?' Jeff asked.

'Sorry. Since the human genome was mapped a few years back, we now have something called the International HapMap Project, a catalogue of SNPs.' 'Which are?'

'Single nucleotide polymorphisms,' Edie interrupted. 'Tiny amounts of human DNA that vary most commonly from one individual to another; the bits of the genome that contribute to a person having, I don't know, blue eyes, say. Or a hairy back.' 'Or a nose like my mum's,' Rose interjected. Jeff put an arm around her shoulder.

'Whatever,' Cartwright said. 'The point is, I was able to compare the DNA from this body with over three million SNPs in the catalogue and I found that the corpse is that of a man who was born in Scandinavia. As far as we know, Cosimo de' Medici never went within a thousand miles of Scandinavia, ergo the body is definitely not Cosimo's. I suggest it is probably the body of a court servant or a slave.' 'And what about the woman?' Jeff said.

Jack stood up suddenly. 'Are you two ever going to tell me what the hell's going on?' Edie swallowed. 'What makes you…?'

'Edie, why have you rushed back here? How come Jeff is so curious about everything all of a sudden?' He took a deep breath. 'I do read the papers, you know. Four deaths in fewer days. A famous visconte shot, a man who happens to be a friend of yours, Jeff.'

'I'm sorry, Jack,' Edie said. 'It wasn't my plan to keep you in the dark.' She noticed Rose's eyes getting bigger by the minute. 'Nor you,' Jeff said to his daughter.

Edie gave Cartwright the bare bones of the story, leaving out the critical information they had gleaned from the clues.

'And obviously you found something at La Pieta that brought you back here?' Jack said when she had finished. Edie nodded. 'And, clearly, you haven't heard the latest.' 'What do you mean?'

Cartwright paused for a moment, savouring the dramatic reaction his remark had produced. 'The suspected killer has escaped from police custody.' 'What!' Jeff and Edie snapped in unison.

'Only made public this evening, just before you arrived in fact. No trace of him.' 'Dad?' Rose asked querulously.

'Wait a moment, darling,' Jeff said. 'It's all right.' 'What exactly did you find at La Pieta?' Jack Cartwright enquired, grim-faced. 'There was a fresco.' 'I know. The place is full of bloody frescos!'

'There was an image of this chapel. And some writing: SOTTO 400, 1000.' 'What's that supposed to mean?' ' "Under" in Latin,' Edie said. 'I know that,' Jack muttered. 'That's it. I've no idea what the rest means.' Cartwright turned to Jeff. 'And you?'

'I thought it might be a combination or a number code, but…'

'You've obviously been tangled up with this for too long,' Jack said. 'You can't see the wood for the trees. Why mix Latin with modern numbers? 400, 1000? Must be telling you something. Change the 400 and the 1000 to the Roman system and what do you have? CD, M.' 'CD,M…' ' C-o-s-i-m-o D-e M-e-d-i-c-i?'

Jeff and Edie looked at Cartwright as if he had just revealed to them the meaning of life. 'Brilliant, Jack.' Edie broke into a slow smile.

'Under Cosimo de' Medici' Jeff said. 'Hate to spoil the party, but haven't we just come full circle? The artefact you found the night Professor Mackenzie was killed. That was "under" Cosimo de' Medici.' 'Except it wasn't Cosimo.' Jack retorted. 'Oh for Christ's sake!' Edie exclaimed. 'This is ridiculous!'