Chapter 9 Chapter 7 UACV Headquarters

"Let me see what we have." "Two cardinals were murdered in a very brutal way." In the lab's conference room, Paula and Pontillo drank coffee and ate sandwiches.Although the room is modern, the interior is painted gray and looks depressing.The only brightly colored place is that there are hundreds of photos piled up on a huge table in the center, all of which were taken at the crime scene. Evidence collected.This is all they have so far.They were now waiting for Dante to bring back some other evidence from the scene of the first murder. "Well, Pontillo, let's begin with Robaya, what do you know about him?"

"He lives and works in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. He arrived on an Argentinian flight on Sunday morning. His ticket was bought a few weeks ago, and the date of his return flight was undetermined. The flight was not confirmed until Saturday afternoon because Jet lag, I think it was about after the Pope died." "A round-trip ticket?" "It's just a one-way trip." "Weird. Either he didn't plan it or he had high expectations for this election meeting. Pontillo, I'm not very religious. But did you hear something, that Robaya will be chosen as the next How likely is it to be Pope?"

"Not very big. I read some reports about him a week ago. I think in La Stampa they thought he was quite competent but not the favourite. Anyway, you know the Italian The means of the media: They just show due respect to these cardinals. I have read a lot about Cardinal Potigny, and he is more likely." Pontillo is a typical family man with impeccable honesty.As far as Paula knew him, he was a good husband and father, and he went to mass every Sunday and never missed it.He also invited Paula to his house from time to time, which made Paula always find different excuses to decline.Some of Paula's excuses were plausible, and some were forced, but none of them could hold up.Pontillo knew that belief did not occupy a very important position in Paula's heart, and that was because this position was taken away by her father ten years ago.

"Something confuses me, Pontillo. What we should know is what troubling connection the murderer has with these cardinals, what is his motive. Is it because he knows what these bishops stand for, or is it because he is a Seminary students, or he's not all into it, or he just hates the red hats they wear." "Their red caps are called 'Carpe Roses.'" "Thanks for making it clear. I doubt there's anything that connects the two victims to him. More important than the hats they're wearing. Because basically we're not going to investigate that way unless we can uncover a real lead like A person can speak on behalf of authority. This should be Dante's job, and he should open this door for us. Then we can enter the top of the regional senate. When I say high, I mean the real high."

"It's not easy." "Let's see. But for now, let's analyze what we know. In the first place, Robaya should have died elsewhere, not in the church." "Very little blood. He must have been killed elsewhere." "Obviously the murderer wants to have complete control over the victim for quite some time, which must be in an isolated place, where no one knows, where he can deal with the dead body. So we can speculate that he needs the victim to have a lot of trust in him, so that Then the victim would have access to the place designated by the murderer. From there he moved the victim's body to the Church of Santa Maria, apparently for a reason."

"How did that get to the church?" "I spoke to the parish priest. When he went to sleep, the whole church was like a drum. Do you remember, when the police came, he needed to open the door for them. But there was still a door, very small, leading to the The hallway, that's where the murderer might have taken the victim. Have we checked?" "The lock on the door is intact, it's a new lock. It's impossible for the murderer to get in there. Even if the door is active, I can't imagine how the murderer got in there." "reason?" "Do you know how many people there are on the main street of Concorde Avenue? There are even more people in the back streets. They are all coming to the Pope's funeral, my God! They are blocking traffic in the street, and a murderer is holding a car in his hand. dead body, tell me how he made his way through the crowd?"

Paula thought about it. Maybe the crowd was a good cover for the murderer, but even so, how did he open the door? "Pontillo, let's make how he got into the church our top priority. Tomorrow we'll talk to the parish priest. What's his name?" "Francisco Toma, a Carmelite," Pontillo wrote down in his notebook as he spoke. "Yes, that's him. On the other hand we have some creepy details: a message on the door, a severed hand on the canvas. And the contents of these bags, here we go." Pontillo began to read a list, and Paula wrote on the report with a ballpoint pen.In this ultra-modern office, they're still using those 20th-century forms.

"Evidence 1. The priest's shawl, a rectangular embroidered cloth - worn by Catholic priests during the confessional - was found dangling from the mouth of the deceased, soaked in blood. Blood type was the same as the deceased. DNA analysis under way .” It was a brown object they couldn't make out in the dim light of the church. DNA analysis takes at least two days, and this is because the Violent Crime Analysis Department has the most advanced equipment in the world.Paula couldn't help laughing every time she watched the American TV series "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation". It would be great if the evidence analysis could be as fast as it is shown on TV.

"Evidence 2, white canvas. The source is unknown. Material: Cotton. Stained with blood, a very small piece, the hands of the deceased were placed on it. The blood type is the same as the deceased. DNA analysis is in progress." Paula hesitated. "One question, Robayra's name is spelled Robayra, 'ay', not 'i'?" "It's 'ay,' I'm sure." "Okay, please continue." "Evidence 3. A piece of crumpled paper, about 1 inch x 1.5 inches in size, was found in the left eye socket of the deceased. The type, material, weight and percentage of chlorine contained in the paper are all under analysis. On the paper is written by hand with a ballpoint pen :

"MT16." "MT16," Paula repeated, "is it an address?" "The paper was found crumpled up and covered in blood. It was evidently left by the murderer. It may have been stuffed in the dead man's eye as a punishment or to leave this for us... as if he intended to tell us how investigation." "Or mock us for being blind." "It's a murderer's way of entertaining himself. The first message was in Italy. Maybe that's why Troy put you in charge of this case, Paula. It's not a case that ordinary detectives can encounter. It requires a lot of creative ability."

Paula considered Ponteiro's words.If what he said was true, the risk factor this time would be even higher.The murderer was taunting and toying the police with such skill that it would be difficult to catch his tracks if he did not make mistakes.Of course he'll show up soon, but right now the morgue has no clue. "Okay, let's see, which streets have those two letters?" “Viale del muro torto.” "Impossible. It's a street leading into the park. It has no street number, Pontillo." "Neither is Monte Tarpeo in that case, because that street runs through the gardens of the Conservative Palace." "What about Monte Testaccio?" "Near Cork Gortestaccio. That might be." "Wait a minute," Paula pulled out her phone and dialed a number, which was the number of the police station. "Is it the reference room? Oh, hello Swa, check for me if there is number 16 in Monte Carlo Testaccio Street ? Bring us another street map, to the conference room, thanks!" While they waited for the map, Pontillo continued to register the evidence. "Now this is the last piece, evidence four: a crumpled piece of paper. 1 inch by 1 inch. Found in the right eye socket of the deceased. The appearance is the same as that found in the left eye. The composition of this paper is also under investigation. Here On a piece of paper, 'undeviginti' was handwritten in ballpoint pen, and there was an arrow." "Undeviginti, damn it. It's a password." Paula took a breath. "I hope that the first dead body does not have such a message. Because the body has been burned to ashes." "I think now we have to take a break." "Excellent, Pontillo, do you really not tell me what undeviginti is? Then I can rest?" "Your Latin is a step backward, Paula. The word means nineteen." "Then what does the arrow mean?" At this time, an assistant in the reference room walked into the conference room with a street map of Rome. "Here's the map, Director. I checked the number you told me. There is no number 16 on that street. The residential area on that street only goes up to number 14." "Thanks Sva. Do me another favor: stay here and check with us all the streets in Rome that have the letter MT. I know it's a bit blind, but we have to look for clues like this." "Hope you're a psychologist who's smarter than a fortune teller, Dr. Paula. You should check the Bible." The three raised their heads and turned to the door of the conference room.A priest stood at the door.He was dressed like all the priests on the street, tall, thin, strong, and visibly bald.He looked to be in his fifties, angular and even hard, obviously watching too many sunrises outside every morning.Paula's first feeling was that he was more of a warrior than a priest. "Who are you? What do you need? This is a special zone. Please leave immediately," Pondiro said. "I'm Father Anthony Fowler. I'm here to help you." He spoke Italian well, but couldn't hide his accent. "This is the police station, you entered without permission. If you want to help us, you better find a church and pray for our souls!" Pontillo walked towards the intruder, intending to drive him away.Paula had turned away to study the photographs on the table and ignored them.Anthony continued, "That's a line from the Bible, or rather from the New Testament." "What is it?" said Pontillo in amazement. Paula looked up at Anthony, "Can you explain?" "MT16 is the sixteenth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. What is his other message?" Pontello looked a little annoyed. "Listen, Paula. You don't really trust this guy, do you?" "We're listening." Anthony walked into the conference room.He carried a black leather case under his arm and put it on the table. "It is well known that the Christian New Testament has four Gospels, the books of evangelism, namely: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. In biblical references, the abbreviation for Matthew is MT, followed by The numbers above are the chapter numbers of each chapter. The numbers below that represent the verses in that chapter." "The murderer left this behind." Paula took out evidence No. 4, wrapped it in plastic sheeting, and handed it to Anthony.The priest looked carefully, and he didn't seem to see anything, and he wasn't bothered by the blood on it.He just looked it over and said, "19. So true." Pontillo almost cried out. "Will you tell us the truth now, or will we wait, Father?" "'Et tibi dabo claves regni coelorum,' Anthony recited in Italian, 'Et quodcumque ligaveris super terram, erit legatum et in coelis; et quodcumque solver is superterram, erit solutum et in coelis.' Here, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.) Matthew 16:19. That is to say, Jesus identified the disciple Peter as one of the many leader, reward him with authority in the kingdom of Christ." "Holy Virgin Mary!" cried Paula. "Think about what's going to happen here, gentlemen, and I think you should be worried, very worried." "Damn it, did that insane murderer ask you to warn us? But it doesn't sound like much to me," said Pontello. "You don't understand, my friend. The murderer was not some tramp who suddenly went mad. He was a cruel man, clear-headed and intelligent, and sometimes very contradictory. Take my word for it." "Well, it sounds like you know a lot about him and his motives, Father." Pontello laughed. "I know more than that, gentlemen. I know who he is."

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