Chapter 25 Chapter 23 UACV Headquarters

"Don't trust Anthony, he's a killer." Paula looked up from Karoski's file in front of her, her eyes puffy.She only slept for a few hours before dawn and returned to the office.It's not the way she's always done things.Paula liked to enjoy a long breakfast before walking to work, and at night she looked like a warrior.It was Pontello who made her what she is, "You let the glorious Roman morning slip away from you," as Pondello would have said, had he been around.Now, at her desk, she had no particular fondness for Roman mornings out of respect for her friends.Looking out of the window from where she sat, the morning light was indeed very beautiful: the sun was treading leisurely on the Roman hills, and the light stayed on every building and eaves, as if celebrating the immortal artistic charm of this immortal city.

Every day the lines and colors make the city so beautiful that the sun seems to be knocking on the door, hoping to be allowed in.But if anyone came into Paula's office without knocking, and uttered nervous words, it was Dante.The deputy chief detective arrived half an hour earlier than the agreed time, holding a rhubarb envelope in his hand, and his mouth full of vicious words. "Dante, have you had too much to drink?" "No. I told you he was a killer. Remember when I told you not to trust him? His name set off in my head. I remembered something, something I knew before. So I did a little research .You think he's just a soldier?"

Paula drank the cold coffee, Dante's words made her confused. "Is he not a soldier?" "Of course he is, he's a chaplain. But, he's not serving in the Air Force, he's a CIA." "CIA? You're kidding." "No, Paula. You can't underestimate this Anthony. Listen to me: He was born in 1951 into a very wealthy family. His father owned a pharmaceutical company or something. He went to Princeton Psychology, he graduated with honors at the age of 20." "Magna cum laude, that's the highest level. Then he lied to me. He said he wasn't a very bright student."

"He lied about more than that. He didn't get his college degree. He seemed to have a serious disagreement with his father, and in 1971 he enlisted as a volunteer in the Vietnam War. He spent five months training at a base in Virginia, then was sent to Vietnam for 10 months with the rank of lieutenant." "Is the lieutenant too young for him?" "Are you kidding me? A volunteer with a college degree? They probably want him to be a general too! I don't know what went through his head in those years, but he didn't choose to go back to America after the war. He went to West Germany A seminary, ordained a priest in 1977. Then he wandered around the world: Cambodia, Afghanistan, Romania... We know he also went to China but then he tried to escape."

"These don't mean that he is the CIA." "Here, Paula," Dante said, showing Paula the photographs, mostly in black and white.In the photos, Paula saw a very curious young Anthony gradually losing his hair. The last few pictures look like this: Anthony sitting on top of a pile of sandbags, wearing a lieutenant's epaulets, and beside him are Soldier.Another shows Antony in the hospital next to a smiling soldier, and another shows Antony receiving the sacrament from the Pope on the day of his ordination.That pope is not Paul VI.There is another picture of Anthony on the long runway, with the plane behind him, wearing the uniform of the clergy, surrounded by young soldiers.

"When did this start?" Dante looked at his notebook. "1977. He was ordained a priest and returned to Germany. Served as chaplain at Spenderland Air Force Base." "The story behind is right." "Almost, but not all. A report that is not in the file says: 'John Anthony Fowler, son of Max and Daphne, U.S. Air Force lieutenant, was promoted, paid Also made the cut.' This was in East Germany. Just after the 'Cold War' ended." Paula shrugged. She still didn't see anything. "Wait a minute, Paula, it's not over. Like I said before, he's wandering around. In 1983, he disappeared for a few months. The last thing we know about him is this: He was a priest in office."

Paula's heart began to sink.When a soldier disappears in Virginia for months, there's only one place to go: CIA headquarters in Langley. "Go on, Dante." "Anthony reappeared in 1984. Brief stay in Boston. His parents were killed in a car accident in July. He went to testify in a legal will. There he had lawyers distribute all the property in his name to Several charities. He signed the necessary documents and left. According to his lawyer, his parents left him property and a pharmaceutical factory worth more than $8 million.” Paula gasped and whistled out of tune.

"That's a lot of money. It was even more valuable in 1984." "Yeah, he got it all. It's a pity you didn't know him then, eh, Paula?" "What do you want to say?" "Nothing, nothing. Well, let me end this crazy story. Anthony went to Mexico and from there to Honduras. He was appointed as the presiding priest at the El Aguacate military base with the rank of major, and that is from the From then on, he became a killer." Paula froze as she looked at the next set of photos.It was a row of corpses, piled in a very ordinary dusty grave.The workers with pitchforks wore masks, but they couldn't hide the fear on their faces.The exhumed bodies had rotted in the sun, men, women, and children.

"My God, what is this all about?" "How much do you know about history? I'm pretty bad myself. I had to look it up on the Internet. At this time a revolution broke out in Nicaragua and Sandinista. The counter-revolution was called the Nicaraguan Opposition, trying to restrain and limit the power of the government. At that time, the United States The Reagan administration privately supported opposition guerrillas who were more properly called terrorists. Who do you think is the special envoy of the U.S. government to Honduras?" Paula began to connect these things in her head at full speed.

"It's John Negroponte." "You're right! He's the founder of the El Aguacate air base, right on the Nicaraguan border, where they trained thousands of guerrillas for the Nicaraguan opposition. According to the Washington Post, El Aguacate is a 'secret detention and torture center, more like a concentration camp than a military base in a democracy'. These lovely pictures I'm showing you were taken 10 years ago, of men, women and children, all of whom were Buried in these unnamed cemeteries, and there are likely many more uncounted, there are over 300 bodies in those mountains."

"God, unbelievable." Even so, Paula was still trying to put Anthony on the right track. "But you still haven't explained anything!" "There he is. He's the priest of the torture camp. For God's sake! Who do you say was the last to see these people before they were killed? How could he not be there!" Paula looked at Dante without saying a word. "Well, detective, do you want to know more? Here are the documents in the envelope. A report from the office of the Holy See, who was sent to Rome in 1993, on the murder of 37 nuns seven years earlier. Confessions, they escaped from Nicaragua, arrived in El Aguacate, they were raped, then put on a helicopter, and finally shot. What a feast for the nuns! During this time he was also confirmed to have been with 12 The fundamental reason he is charged with the disappearance of a catholic missionary is that he knew what was going on, but he never protested these ugly human rights violations. Anyway, he is guilty, like driving himself Same with the helicopters that transport the nuns. There are some things he really knows how to do, like fly a plane." "Then how did the Holy See decide in the end?" "Well, there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute him, and he brushed the boundaries and left the CIA automatically. I'm sure of that, because he disappeared for a long time before showing up at St. Matthews." Paula stared at the picture for a long time. "Dante, I want to ask you a very serious question. As a citizen of the Vatican, would you say that the Holy See is a careless organization?" "Won't." "Can it be said that it remains independent?" Dante nodded reluctantly.He knew now what Paula meant. "Think about it all. The strictest unit in the Vatican couldn't find evidence of Anthony's guilt, and you came to my office and yelled that he was a killer, suggesting that I don't believe him at all?" Dante jumped, furious.He approaches Paula's table. "Listen to me, beauty. Don't think I didn't see the way you looked at him. Because of the current situation, we are obliged to catch this murderer under his guidance, but I don't want you to have anything against him Think. You've lost your partner, and I don't want that Yankee to cover me when I'm face to face with Karowski. Or you'll know what he's up to. From all the evidence, he's completely faithful to the In his own country, he will definitely stand by the United States when things come to an end." Paula stood up and calmly slapped Dante twice in the face. "Crack!"Accurately hit Dante's face, it was a heavy blow that made people's ears ring.Standing there, Dante didn't expect that he was shocked and angry, he was greatly insulted, and he didn't know how to react for a while.He was stunned, his mouth was wide open, his face was hot. "You should listen to me, Dante, the three of us had to come together to investigate this cracked case because your church didn't want the light to shine on a man who raped children and then secretly castrated them. , a murderer who is still killing cardinals who will be elected as the new Pope in ten days. This is why Pontillo was killed. I remind you that it is you who asked us for help. Your institution seems More capable of investigating what's going on in the jungles of the third world, those skills are more reliable, but helpless against a sexual pervert who has repeatedly escaped justice in the past ten years under the full supervision of a democratic country. Therefore, put Take your dirty glass off my desk before I think you're doing it out of jealousy for Anthony. And, you don't come back to work with that attitude. Got it?" Dante took a deep breath, it took him a long time to calm himself down, and he turned around.Anthony happened to walk in at this time, and Dante was furious, and threw the photo in Anthony's face.He walked out angrily, forgetting to slam the door. After Dante left, Paula felt better, for two reasons: first, she did something she had thought about for a long time but never dared to do, and second, it was done in private and no one saw it. .Had it been seen, or had happened in the street, Dante would never have let it go in public, not even men.There are ways to remedy and restore at least a semblance of harmony now.Paula glanced at Anthony out of the corner of his eye. He stood at the door without moving, staring at the scattered photos, a little confused. Paula sat down, took a sip of coffee, and without looking up at Karowski's material, said, "I think you need to explain to me, Father."