Giovanni got up, went to the window and stared out over the piazza. It was still crowded with people but if the Curial Cardinals had their way he would be a prisoner, forever shut up in his apartments, with the cardinals controlling his every move. They were about to hear some bad news. If it was good enough for John XXIII to go wandering around with his people unannounced, it would be good enough for John XXIV. His thoughts were interrupted by Vittorio’s knock on the door of his office.
‘Cardinal Petroni is here, Holiness.’
‘Ask him to come in, Vittorio,’ Giovanni said quietly.
‘ Certamente, Holiness.’ Vittorio could not remember when he had seen Giovanni so troubled.
‘Holiness, our most heartiest congratulations. We are all delighted.’ Petroni bowed, ever so slightly.
‘I will come straight to the point, Cardinal Petroni. Sit down, please,’ Giovanni said, indicating one of the armchairs around the low coffee table at one end of his office. Giovanni’s tone was icy but controlled.
Petroni sat down, barely concealing his anger at having been ordered to sit down by someone who, until yesterday, had been his subordinate.
‘When I had dinner with Pope John Paul I on his last night here he told me that he had sacked his Secretary of State and that you were going to be relieved of your duties the following morning. One of the reasons, as I’m sure you’re more aware than most, was that for a very long time the Vatican Bank has been involved in criminal activities.’
‘That’s preposterous, Holiness. An utter fabrication.’ There was a wariness in Petroni’s snake-like eyes, as if he had been confronted by a mongoose.
‘I don’t believe so, Cardinal Petroni. Last night, despite the difficulties of getting through to the more remote parts of the Amazon, my secretary tracked down Monsignor Pasquale Garibaldi. I have ordered him back to Rome on promotion to Bishop to commence a thorough investigation into the bank’s past activities. Depending on what his report has to say, I may have to refer the matter to the Italian authorities and La Guardia di Finanza.’
‘That’s entirely unnecessary, Holiness. I can carry out any investigation without the need for bringing Monsignor Garibaldi back from Peru.’ There was an edge of desperation in Petroni’s voice now.
‘Before you posted him to Peru,’ Giovanni continued meaningfully, ‘Monsignor Garibaldi discovered some irregularities in the accounts, including an expenditure of ten million dollars on what Pope John Paul I and I knew to be a copy of the Omega Scroll.’
‘That’s an outrageous allegation!’ Petroni hissed, the colour draining from his face. ‘The pressures of office are already too much for you.’
Giovanni maintained his icy demeanour, determined that this time Petroni would be forced to confront his past.
‘Monsignor Garibaldi also told me that before he left, he took the precaution of photocopying some key documents which he will bring back from Peru.’
Petroni’s mouth opened but no sound came out.
‘Last night I also ordered the Swiss Guards to seal off the Secret Archives. I have ordered a thorough search and I am confident that the little known areas will turn up at least one copy of the Omega Scroll. It may also turn up a copy of the great Isaiah Scroll that was taken from the Hebrew University in an envelope marked with an Omega symbol. If it does, the Israeli police and the CIA will no doubt want to question you about any involvement you may have had in a double murder in Tel-Aviv. If such requests are made we will cooperate fully and you will be made available.’
Giovanni had thought long and hard about confronting Petroni with the rape of Allegra, but that was deniable and unless Allegra wanted to pursue it, he had decided that the other matters provided more than enough evidence for serious criminal charges to be laid.
‘I have also had a disturbing report from Bishop O’Hara. You are no doubt aware he is here in Rome?’ Giovanni raised one eyebrow slightly but there was no response. The Cardinal Secretary of State’s face was now ashen.
‘Father Lonergan, who you would also have known as Father Courtney, is being recalled to Rome and I have asked Bishop O’Hara to oversee an investigation into what involvement the Vatican might have had in his new identity and we will be cooperating fully with the FBI. I am promoting Bishop O’Hara to Cardinal and he will take over as Cardinal Secretary of State, effective immediately. You are dismissed from all your duties.’
Pope John XXIV stood up, moved to his desk and buzzed for Vittorio.
‘Until these investigations are complete, the Swiss Guard have been advised that you are under house arrest and you are not permitted to leave the Vatican. I suggest that for the good of the Holy Church you give serious consideration to resigning from the priesthood. If you don’t, regardless of the outcome of the criminal charges that will undoubtedly be laid against you, I will take steps to have you dismissed. May God have mercy on you for what you have done.’
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
Roma
F ather Vittorio showed ‘the Israeli delegation’ in to Pope John XXIV’s private dining room and a short while later Giovanni arrived with the Papal Physician, Professor Vincenzo Martines.
‘Allegra!’ Throwing Papal protocol to the four winds, Giovanni kissed Allegra enthusiastically on both cheeks. ‘ Benvenuta di nuovo. Welcome again!’
‘David! Patrick! Tom!’ Giovanni gave each of his guests a very informal welcome before introducing them to Professor Martines. Vittorio smiled. If nothing else, this Papacy was going to be fun.
‘And you’ve set up the Omega Scroll,’ Giovanni said, moving over to where the document had been laid out on a long table to one side of the room. ‘That explains why I passed so many Swiss Guards in the corridors,’ he said, winking at Vittorio and accepting a glass of wine from one of the Sisters. ‘Though I guess it’s waited this long, it can wait until after lunch. To old times!’ Giovanni said, his smile filled with warmth now that the distasteful business of the morning was out of the way. ‘They spoil me here,’ he added. ‘From the little I’ve seen already, the wine is superb. And the food,’ Giovanni said, rubbing his stomach ruefully.
‘You’ve never put on an ounce of fat in all the years I’ve known you,’ Allegra chided.
‘Watch this space. This is a twenty kilo appointment!’ he said, winking at Patrick.
Patrick raised his eyes to the ceiling and shrugged. His smile said it all.
After lunch, the small group moved their chairs to the long table.
‘The Omega Scroll,’ David began, ‘was written by Mechalava, a Master from within the community of the Essenes at Qumran. He wrote it during the period 20 AD to 40 AD, and those dates are supported by Allegra’s carbon dating. The dates are very significant.’
Giovanni smiled. He knew what was coming. ‘Encompassing the years during which Jesus would have formed his own philosophy,’ he said, ‘as well as the period of his ministry and crucifixion?’
‘Correct, and as I think you’re already aware, Holiness, the Omega Scroll is in three parts: the Magdalene Numbers; the origin of DNA; and a dire warning for civilisation,’ David continued. ‘As we will see, all three contain connected messages. The Magdalene Numbers come from a literary device known as gematria. Because numbers in languages like Greek and Hebrew are represented by letters rather than figures, the authors of many ancient texts were able to embed hidden meanings that can be obtained only by adding the values of the letters to arrive at the sacred numbers.