Donati nodded his head slowly in agreement. “And that, of course, would explain why someone at the Vatican helped the thieves to steal it.”
“Is there a suspect?”
Donati sighed heavily. “Antonio Calvesi.”
“The chief conservator? Impossible, Holiness.”
“General Ferrari led me to believe an arrest is imminent. I asked him to wait until I return from Palermo.”
Bertoli closed the transport case and engaged the locks.
“May I ask what you’re doing, Matteo?”
“I’m going to take the painting back to the museum.”
“The painting will remain in my apartment until such time as we can announce its discovery.”
“But it isn’t safe here.”
“If the painting isn’t safe here, Cardinal Bertoli, then neither am I.” Donati lit another cigarette. “Shall we review the itinerary for tomorrow’s trip?”
***
The trip would be only a few hours in duration, but it was a logistical nightmare, with two flights, two helicopter rides, and a brief sea voyage aboard a Coast Guard patrol boat. Archbishop Cordero of Palermo anticipated a crowd of two hundred thousand pilgrims at the open-air mass. Donati had rejected several drafts of his homily, and the hasty rewrite that Cardinal Bertoli handed him now was Curial mush. Not for the first time, he planned to speak extemporaneously.
“The Vatican Security Office believes there are no threats beyond the usual,” said Bertoli. “Nevertheless I would implore His Holiness to use the bulletproof popemobile for the procession to the cathedral.”
“I shall not process through the streets of Palermo like a goldfish in a bowl. I must have physical contact with my flock.”
“Palermo is a dangerous city, Holiness.”
“Not for me, it isn’t.”
With that, the cardinal moved on to other Curial matters, including an appointment to the Council for Justice and Peace and a gathering storm at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
“What is it now?” asked Donati wearily.
“Cardinal Byrne.”
A retired archbishop emeritus from the American Midwest and a conservative thorn in Donati’s side. “I’ve made it abundantly clear to Cardinal Byrne that he is no longer permitted to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass.”
“He believes he’s being persecuted.”
“And I believe that champions of the Latin rite like Cardinal Byrne are exploiting the issue in order to oppose me.”
“He has supporters inside the Holy Office.”
“So do I, Eminence. And if it’s a showdown he wants, he shall have one.”
It was on that contentious note that Cardinal Bertoli, after a final glance at the art transport case lying on the coffee table, gathered his papers and took his leave. Donati and Father Keegan repaired to the sitting room windows, which gave them an overhead view of the cardinal’s departure. His Eminence had a phone to his ear.
“Who do you suppose he’s calling?” asked Donati.
Father Keegan’s phone pinged with an incoming text message. “He’s talking to Nico Ambrosi, Holiness.”
“About what?”
Another text message landed on Father Keegan’s phone. “He was wondering whether Nico was free for dinner this evening.”
