Luis Rocha - The Last Pope

“Good evening. I’d like to place a collect call… My name?… Uh, Greg Saunders,” she said, sounding more like a question than an answer. But the operator completely ignored the feminine voice giving a man’s name, and asked her to wait.

Moments later Sarah could hear a phone ringing, and voices at the other end.

“Greg?”

“Natalie, it’s not Greg. It’s me, Sarah.”

“Sarah?” was the quite surprised response. Natalie, in all the years as her boss, had never heard coolheaded Sarah sounding so distressed.

“Yes, it’s me. I need to ask you a huge favor.”

Sarah explained to her boss and friend, hastily but clearly, and with the succinctness to be expected from a news professional, everything that had happened to her since she’d come back to London.

“You need to go to the police,” Natalie stammered, barely able to fully absorb the story she had just heard.

“No, Natalie, I can’t. I don’t trust anybody out here. I just need a favor. You don’t even have to leave your house. I’m begging you, Natalie. I don’t know who else to ask.”

An uncomfortable silence ensued while Natalie thought this over. Yes, they had always helped each other and, except for the occasional early-morning flare-ups on her part, Sarah was her friend. And one of the best reporters in the world-renowned news service that she headed.

“Of course. What do you need?”

“Thanks, Natalie.”

“Don’t thank me. Tell me what you want before I change my mind.”

“I just need you to tell me where King William IV Square is.”

“That’s all?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll get it for you right now. You want me to call you back, or can you stay on the line?”

“Whichever you prefer. You’re paying for the call.”

“Right. Then don’t hang up.” Sarah heard a chair being dragged. Natalie was now at the keyboard of her computer. “ King William IV Square,” she repeated, more to the keyboard than to Sarah.

“Yes.”

“Wait a second.” One… two… three… four… five seconds went by. “Do you really not know why these people are after you?”

“I don’t have the slightest idea.”

“Let’s see, be ready for this.” Her tone had changed from reporter’s curiosity to information operator’s signal. “Here it is. I mean, isn’t. Under the name King William IV, there are only the gardens in the Crystal Palace district. Ahhh, wait a minute, there’s also a street with that name. It’s between the Strand and Charing Cross Road -that must be it. There’s no King William IV Square.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. You must be mistaken.”

“No, absolutely not. The person who gave me the name did say it would be impossible for me to have heard of that plaza before. But I just assumed it was because it was someplace really out of the way, not because it didn’t exist.”

“But it doesn’t exist. Let me do one more search.”

“It has to be there.”

“Well, if you want, you can ask a cop.”

“No time for jokes, Natalie.”

“Let me see. William IV. Born in 1765. King of the United Kingdom and of Hanover between 1830 and 1837. Son of George III, succeeded his older brother, George IV. Was the penultimate king of the House of Hanover. As king he was called ‘the Navigator.’ He reformed the electoral system, abolished slavery and child labor in the Empire. I’m starting to like this man.”

“Natalie, I don’t need a history lesson. Is there anything else?”

“No. Queen Victoria succeeded him. Let me look in Google.” There was a soft clicking on the keyboard. “Wait a minute-”

“Did you find something?”

“Interesting.”

“What?”

“ King William IV Square. Here it is.”

“Come on, tell me!” Sarah almost shouted, unable to contain her impatience.

“That was the original name of Trafalgar Square.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, without a doubt. Trafalgar Square was King William IV Square.”

“Thanks a million, Natalie. You may have just saved my life.”

“Or not.”

“I’ll be seeing you.”

“Oh, Sarah-” Natalie said just in time.

“Yes?”

“If you get any big scoops, don’t forget me.”

Trafalgar Square was the busiest square in all of London. A place for meeting friends, commemoration, celebration, and national exaltation.

The immense size of the place, the two side fountains, and the enormous Corinthian granite column, 185 feet tall, crowned by the statue of Admiral Nelson, the hero killed in the battle, standing high above Westminster Palace, conferred on Trafalgar Square an enchantment that touched Londoners and tourists alike. Four huge bronze lions-reportedly made from the cannons of the ill-fated French fleet-flanked the column, creating an impression of absolute power. Four pedestals crowned with statues adorned the sides of the square. To the northeast, that of King George IV. To the southeast, the one of General Sir Charles James Napier, conqueror of Pakistan. To the southwest, General Havelock. The fourth pedestal accommodated temporary sculptures because there was never a consensus about whom it should honor. The original intent was for it to hold the statue of King William IV, but lack of public funds thwarted that, and as a result, the king who was supposed to be celebrated was instead completely excluded from the plans that he himself had set in motion.

At this hour of the night there were a lot of people in the square, particularly groups of tourists and a few couples. Nobody looked suspicious to Sarah, but everyone could be a suspect. Cars, limousines, taxis, ambulances, buses, mopeds, and bicycles were in ceaseless movement around the square. In the background rose the Admiralty Arch, built in honor of Queen Victoria, which marked the entrance to the grand avenue leading to Buckingham Palace. To the east were the Saint Martin-in-the-Fields Church, the South Africa House, and the Strand, which linked Westminster with the city. But the street of particular interest here was Charing Cross Road in the Soho district, the most bohemian section of the city of London, where a taxi had just stopped at the corner of Great Newport Street.

Sarah Monteiro stepped out of the taxi. After her phone call, she had gone to Waterloo Station and again put herself in jeopardy by withdrawing 300 pounds at an ATM in order to pay cash for whatever might be needed. Having opted not to put herself directly in the lion’s mouth, she asked the taxi driver to drop her off half a mile from her final destination.

Sarah went around the square to the south, downhill toward Trafalgar through Canada House, cautiously slowing her pace, and occasionally sneaking a glance here and there along the way. She crossed in front of the National Gallery and went a few steps farther, until she reached the central stairway leading to the square. For a few moments she stood watching the square, the fountains, Nelson’s Column, and especially the people. Most important were the people, since they were the danger. She surveyed the facades of the distant buildings in search of sinister eyes. A potential murderer could be anywhere, his gun silently ready to erase her life.

At last Sarah spotted him. A sweeper, one of many around the place with their green-and-yellow fluorescent outfits. He reminded her of the man she’d seen hours before from the window of her flat. There was probably nothing to be afraid of, she thought. This guy wasn’t going to put his hand over his mouth to talk, like the agents in the underground, but he did have a live walkie-talkie like everybody. A sweeper didn’t need a radio transmitter to do his job. No, either that man was the Rafael her father had mentioned, or else… best not to think about it.