Julia Navarro - The Brotherhood Of The Holy Shroud

'All right, boss, it was just a joke."

"Ana Jimenez is a determined, intelligent woman- I'd take her seriously if I were you."

"The e-mail she sent her brother is full of interesting ideas. I wouldn't mind talking to her," Sofia interjected.

"I won't say no, Sofia, but we need to be careful with what we tell her."

"I wonder what she's doing with Padre Yves," Sofia mused.

"She's smart," Marco answered. 'As I said-we'll have to be careful."

The elderly man hung up the telephone and let his eyes wander to the scene outside the window for a few seconds. The English countryside glowed emerald-green in the warm sunshine.

His companions waited expectantly for him to speak.

"He'll be released within the month. The parole board has formally taken up the parole request."

"That's why Addaio has gone to Germany and, according to our informant, will be crossing into Italy. Mendib has become his biggest immediate problem," said the Italian.

"Do you suppose he'll kill him?" the gentleman with the French accent asked.

"Addaio can't let the police follow Mendib home or lead them to any of their other contacts. Because even if Mendib doesn't approach them, he could reveal their presence without intending to. Addaio has realized that it's a trap, and he's come to prevent the obvious outcome," replied the former military man.

"Where will they eliminate him?" the Frenchman wanted to know.

"In the jail, of course," said the Italian. "It's the safest place. There will be a small scandal but nothing more."

"So what do you gentlemen propose?" the elderly man asked.

"It will be best for everyone if Addaio solves our problem," said the Italian.

"What arrangements have you made if Mendib manages to leave the prison alive?" asked the old man.

"Our brothers will try to prevent the police from following him," replied the Italian.

"It is not enough that our brothers try; they cannot fail." The leader's voice was as stern as thunder.

"They will succeed," the Italian replied. "I hope within the next few hours to learn all the details of the operation."

"All right, we have come to the central issue in this matter-there can be only one conclusion: We must divert the carabinieri from Mendib, or…"

The elderly man did not finish his sentence. The others nodded, almost in unison; they knew that with respect to Mendib, their interests coincided with Addaio's. They could not allow the mute to become a Trojan horse and bring the community under scrutiny.

A light knock at the door, preceding a liveried servant's entrance into the room, served to bring the early-morning meeting to an end.

"The guests have begun to dress for the hunt, sir. They will be coming down soon."

"Very well."

One by one, the seven men, dressed for the day's hunt, left the library and entered a warm dining room, where breakfast awaited them. A few minutes later, an elderly aristocrat accompanied by his wife entered the room.

"Heavens, I thought we were the early birds, but you see, Charles, that our friends have risen even earlier than we have."

"Early birds indeed, out to get the worm. No doubt taking advantage of the morning to talk business," huffed the husband.

The French gentleman assured them that they wanted nothing more than to get started. More guests continued to drift into the dining room, until at last there were thirty people standing or milling about. There was a good deal of animated conversation.

The elderly man looked at them resignedly. He hated hunting, as did his colleague-brethren, but he could not stand off from such a very English diversion. The members of the royal family adored this sport, and they had asked him, as on so many occasions in the past, to organize an event on his splendid estate. And there they were.

Sofia had spent most of the morning with the cardinal. She hadn't seen Padre Yves; another priest had showed her into His Eminence's office.

The prelate was happy with the finished repair work and remodeling. He had special praise for Umberto D'Alaqua, who had personally interceded to increase the number of workers on the job, at no additional cost to the cathedral, and to ensure that the work was completed sooner than estimated.

Under the supervision of Dr. Bolard, the shroud had been returned to the Guarini Chapel, to its silver display-case. But neither Sofia nor Marco had called the cardinal to update him on the progress of their investigation, and he subtly let her know he was not pleased. Sofia apologized, and she managed to win her way back into his good graces by giving him a broad, undetailed outline of where they were with their work. On Marco's instruction, she gently urged him to take even greater safety precautions than usual now that the shroud was back in the cathedral and she advised him of Marco's search for possible entry points from the tunnels beneath the city.

"You say that Signor Valoni is looking for an underground tunnel that leads to the cathedral? But that's absurd. Your team asked Padre Yves to review our archives, and I believe he sent you a detailed report on the history of the cathedral. Nowhere does it indicate that there is a tunnel or secret passage."

"But that doesn't mean there isn't one."

"Or that there is. Don't believe all the fantastic stories written about cathedrals."

"Your Eminence, I'm a historian. I don't generally deal in fantastic stories."

"I know, I know, dottoressa; I apologize. I admire and respect the work you and your team do. It was not my intention to offend you, I assure you."

"I'm sure of that, Your Eminence, but I want to assure you, too, that history is not just what's written down. We don't know everything that happened in the past, much less the intentions of the people who lived in it."

When Sofia returned to the hotel she ran into Ana Jimenez in the lobby. She had the feeling the reporter had been waiting for her.

"Dottoressa Galloni…"

"How are you?"

"Fine, thank you. Do you remember me?"

"Of course. You're our friend Santiago Jimenez's sister."

"Do you know what I'm doing in Turin?"

"Investigating the fires in the cathedral."

"I know your boss isn't too happy about that."

"That's only natural, don't you think? You wouldn't like it much if the police started meddling in your work"

"No, I wouldn't, and I'd try my best to give them the slip. But this is different. I know I may seem naive, but I really believe I can help you, and I want you to know you can trust me. My brother is everything to me-I'd never do anything to get him in trouble, or even give him a headache, for that matter. It's true that I'd like to write a story on this-I'm dying to cover it. But I won't. I swear to you I won't write a line until you and your team have closed the investigation, until the case has been solved."

'Ana, this isn't about trusting you or not. You have to understand that the department can't let you into its investigative team just because'-because you're honest and trustworthy and have an interest in the case. Surely you understand that?" Sofia responded.

"But we can work in parallel. I can tell you what I'm finding out, and you do the same with me."

'Ana, this is an official investigation."

"I know, I know…"

Sofia was struck by the urgency in the young woman's expression. "Why is this so important to you?" she asked.

"I don't know if I can explain. The truth is, I never cared about the shroud at all or paid any attention to any of the things that happened in the cathedral. But my brother took me to dinner at your boss's house under the impression it was just another dinner-a few friends over, that sort of thing-and it turned out that Signor Valoni wanted Santiago and another man, John Barry, to give him their opinion of the fire. They talked all night, speculating, you know, and I was hooked. There's so much there-layers and layers of history, intrigue-"