Chapter 54 Chapter 52: Paola Di Candi's Apartment
Paula fell behind, and silence hung over the room like a dark cloud.Anthony looked around, rubbing his hand over his cheek, shocked.
"Why am I so confused? He killed because someone told him to. Jesus Christ, what about those messages and killing rituals?"
"If you think about it, none of that actually makes sense. 'I forgive you your sins', written first on the ground, then on the victim's chest, hands very cleanly washed, tongue cut out: almost identical to what the Sicilian underworld does , those people are putting money where the victim’s mouth is.”
"That's a gang kill ritual, which means the victim talks too much, right?"
"That's right. At first I thought that Karloski was punishing these cardinals because they committed crimes. He might have offended him or tarnished their dignity as priests. But the clues in these materials can't be put together. , I think this may be its particularity, maybe someone else planned him to complete it."
"But what's the point of killing them in this way? Why not just get rid of them?"
"The dismemberment case is nothing more than a bungled cover-up for the brutal truth: there are people who want to see them dead. Look at this."
Paula pointed to the lamp on her desk.The light was shining on Kaloski's data, forming a cylindrical shape, and the room was very dark, and those places that were not illuminated by the light were in shadow.
"Now I get it, they force us to see what they want us to see. Well, then who's going to do that?"
"The crucial question of who is the real criminal is to understand who has the most to gain from it? A serial killer would go out of his way to erase that question because he was doing it for his own pleasure. His motive was the corpse itself. But in this case, his motive is his mission. If he wanted to harness his obsession and his hatred of the cardinals at will, if he had those emotions, he might choose to commit crimes at other times, when the cardinals are more It's easy to find, kill them when there is no such strict protection. Why now? What's the difference?"
"Because someone is trying to influence the election."
"Then you ask yourself now, who is going to influence the election? To know the answer, you need to know the circumstances of these few people who were killed. This is the key."
"These cardinals are preeminent figures of the Church, they are very influential people."
"There is a simple connection between the victims and our mission is to find that connection."
Anthony got up and walked up and down the room, his hands folded behind his back.
"Pola, I get the feeling that someone is trying to exclude some electoral candidates this way. There is one thread that we've completely missed. And that's that Kaloski had a complete plastic surgery, just like Angelo showed us. It is a very expensive operation and requires a long recovery period. If the operation is successful, you must be careful about revealing your identity and ensuring your anonymity. This will cost at least 100,000 US dollars. For a poor priest like Kaloski It’s impossible to say. It’s not easy to get into Italy, let alone the cost here. We didn’t pay attention to these issues before, but now they are the key.”
"These also add further credence to my theory that there is a mastermind who has been directing the assassination."
"yes."
"Father, I don't know much about the Catholic Church, and I don't know how they work. Tell me, what do these three murdered cardinals have in common?"
Anthony thought carefully.
"What brings them together, and if they disappear, what is the obvious consequence? They're all free-thinking people. They're all, how should I put it, free wings in the Holy Spirit. If you ask me five full Those who wholeheartedly support the public discussion of the Second Vatican Council, these three should be on the list."
"I need a more detailed explanation."
"Okay. In 1958, John XXIII came to the throne. At that time, everyone knew that the church was going to be reformed. John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council, calling bishops from all over the world to Rome to discuss the status of the church. 2,000 bishops responded to his call. John XXIII died before the meeting was over, but his successor, Paul VI, finished his work. Regrettably, the Reformation of the Church was far from To be what John XXIII originally wanted it to be."
"what do you mean?"
"A lot has changed within the church. Probably the biggest sign of the 20th century. You don't remember it because you were young. But until the end of the 60s, women in the Catholic Church were not allowed to smoke or go out in public. Those who wear trousers on occasion. These are sins. These are only small examples. It can be said that the reformation is huge, but it is not enough. John XXIII expected to open the doors of the church to all the living Holy Spirit, but it was just Opened a small corner, Paul VI is a very conservative pope, and his successor, John Paul I, only took office for a month. Then there is John Paul II, who is a religious pope who is very tough on the media and also Very witty, of course he did a lot of good for humanity, but he was also extremely conservative in his day-to-day church politics."
"So the greatest reformation of the church is yet to come?"
"There is still a lot of work to be done, really. When they announced the results of the Second Vatican Council, many conservatives in the church were almost on their hands. The meeting still has a lot of enemies, people who people think are not Catholic will Go straight to hell, women can't vote, and some other things are worse. This time, an ordinary priest wants to give them a powerful ideal pope, a pope who dares to open the church to the world. And this ideal character There is no doubt that it is Cardinal Potigny, he is the core of the liberals. Of course, he will never get the votes of those ultra-conservatives. Unlike Cardinal Robaya, he is an ordinary person but very talented, Cardoso Cardinals have similar backgrounds, they all speak for the poor."
"But now they're all dead."
Anthony's face darkened.
"Pola, what I'm going to tell you now, I hope you'll keep it a secret at all times. I've staked my life, and yours. Believe me, I'm terrified right now. This lead I try not to touch it or take care of it." Anthony paused and took a breath. "Have you heard of 'Holy Alliance'?"
Stories of espionage and murder filled Paula's mind again, as they had when they visited Albert.She had always suspected that their story was as bizarre as the kind told by alcoholics, but at this moment, the man sitting in her room, his background is so unusual, it seems that one more dimension of time and space is needed to see through him .
"That's the Vatican's secret society, or so they say. A spy ring with a bunch of secret agents who won't hesitate to kill. An old tale used to scare fresh cops. Nobody Believe it."
"Officer Paula, now you can take the story of the Holy Alliance seriously because it exists. It has existed for four hundred years and it is the arm of the Vatican on a mission that even the Pope doesn't know about."
"It's hard for me to believe that."
"The motto of the Holy Alliance is: Cross and Sword."
In Paula's mind, Dante pointed at the female reporter Andrea at the Raphael Hotel.Those were the words he had used then to ask Anthony for help.Now Paula understood what Anthony was going to tell him.
"Oh God, so you both are..."
"I was a long time ago. I served two countries, my country and my religious country. Then I had to give up one."
"what's going on?"
"I can't tell you, so you don't have to ask."
Paula didn't want to push too hard.All she heard now were words from the dark side of Anthony's heart, like a cold iron hook that sank into his soul, and she suspected that there was still a large space deep in Anthony's heart that no one could enter.
"Now I understand why Dante hates you so much. It has something to do with your life, doesn't it?"
Anthony said nothing.Paula had to make a quick decision because they had limited time.She couldn't let these things get sidetracked.She listened to the voice in her heart that told her that she was in love with Anthony, every part of him, his dry warm hands and the closeness of his soul.She wanted to get rid of everything else, to give him a child's bright smile, and she also knew that what she wanted was actually impossible: there was deep pain in his heart, like an ocean, and it had been stored for a long, long time.The identity of a priest is also an insurmountable wall.Anyone who wanted to approach him had to go around his sea of anguish, and many drowned.She realizes that she herself will never be his lover, but she also knows that if someone wants to hurt her, Anthony will draw a knife to help.
"It's all right, Father, I trust you," Paula whispered. "Go on, please."
Anthony sat down and began to tell a long and thrilling historical story.
"This organization was founded in 1566, and in those dark years, Pope Saint Pius V was used by some of the rising Unionists and heretics. As the leader of the censorship, he was tough, ruthless, and a realist. At that time the attitude of the Vatican was more local than it is now, and now they prefer their own power. The Holy League is used to train young priests and some people outside the church with strong faith and trustworthiness. Their mission is to protect the independence and conduct of the Vatican state The church of the spiritual home. The number of the organization varies with the ages. By the 19th century there were several thousand members. Some of them were just informers, dreamers and slobs. Others, about 500 or so, were the elite: the saints The right-hand man of Pope Marco. This group of agents is distributed all over the world and can execute orders quickly and accurately. If necessary, they will invest in a revolution, infiltrate influential businesses, and create important information to influence and change a war. They Or keep silent and quiet, or hide and camouflage, or do extreme things, or kill. Every member of San Marco is well-trained and knows how to use weapons and tactics. At first there were number control, secret codes, camouflage, and Hand-to-hand combat training. They can cut a grape in half with a knife in 15 steps. A member of the Holy League can speak four national languages, and he can kill a cow by himself and throw the cow into a completely clean well, deflecting the responsibility skillfully to his enemies. They would train for many years in a monastery on a small island in the Mediterranean, the location I won't tell you. In the early 20th century, during 'World War II', these were consecrated The people Marco trained were almost uprooted and ceased to exist. The bloody cleansing of an era, many people died, some of them left a famous name, and some of them lived in infamy."
Anthony stopped for a sip of coffee.The room grew darker, and fear gripped Paula.She sat on the opposite chair, clutching the back of the chair tightly, and listened to Anthony continue.
"In 1958, Pope John XXIII took office at the Vatican, deciding that the time of the Holy Alliance was over and that their services were no longer needed. In the middle of the 'Cold War', he dissolved the links between the various informants, and if not through his Allied personnel could not take any action. This has been the case for four years. By 1959, only 12 members of the 25 remained, and a few continued to work. The Pope ordered them to return to Rome, and they were secretly trained. The place burned, it was in a mysterious fire in 1960. The head of San Marco, the leader of the Holy League, died in a car accident."
"Who is he?"
"I can't say. It's not that I don't want to, it's that I don't know. The identity of the chairman of the alliance will always be a mystery. He can be anyone: a bishop, or a cardinal, or just an outsider, or an ordinary priest. But it must A man over 45 years old. That's all. From 1566 until today, only one leader's name has been found, that is Father Sokodo, he is an Italian, originally from Spain, he fought Napoleon with his life, these The information is only known to a very small circle.”
"If they're using the methods you describe to carry out their mission, it's not surprising that the Vatican doesn't recognize the existence of such an organization."
"That's one of the reasons John XXIII wanted to dismantle the organization. He said that murder is not an act of justice, even in the name of God. I agree with him. I know that the Holy League is fighting against Hitler's Nazis." There have been some big sorties, where they saved hundreds of lives in one attack. But there were also infighting, gangs of a few, with total freedom to do some horrible things. I don't want to talk about them now, Especially now that it's late."
Anthony waved a hand as if to drive away some ghosts.For a person like him, the purpose of his actions is almost supernatural. Now that he is doing this kind of action, it can only show that the fact that those people are doing is very disturbing to the nerves.Paula thought she had heard enough of these historical stories.
"Stop talking, just tell me what I should know?"
Anthony smiled gratefully.
"But that, I think you can also imagine, wasn't the end of the Holy Alliance. Paul VI's accession to the throne in St. Peter's in 1963 created the most worrisome situation in history. Humanity came close to starting a nuclear war .A few months later, Kennedy was killed. He was the first Catholic president. When Paul VI heard the news, he ordered the Holy League to resume work. Although the spy network had been eliminated at that time, the "San Marco" Hands' re-established it. Twelve members were recalled to Rome in 1958 and seven resumed work in 1963. One of them was put in charge of re-establishing the organization and training new agents. The work took 15 years, but they managed to train 30 core agents. Some of these men were completely inexperienced at first, and some were recruited from other secret service groups."
"Just like you, a double agent."
"Actually they considered me as a back-up spy. Something that worked with two related organizations, but the first one went undetected, and the second one covered each mission. My job was to use what I knew to go to the To save lives is not to kill people. Almost every time they give me a mission to save people, save priests who are in dangerous places."
"Almost all tasks."
Anthony nodded.
"We had one operation that was complicated and turned some things around. I quit the day I found out. They didn't let me go, so I'm here today. I thought I was going to be a player for the rest of my life. Psychiatrist, see where my patients can take me."
"Dante is from that organization, isn't he?"
"Yes, that was after I quit, and there was some crisis. I heard that there was a shortage of personnel, and all personnel were not around, and it was difficult to call them when there were missions. Only Dante was available at that time, and he also No qualms, in fact, he's perfectly suited for the job, if I guess right."
"So Serling is the leader?"
Anthony looked straight ahead, calmly.After a minute Paula knew he wouldn't answer her and asked him another question.
"But why did the Holy Alliance make such a mess of this?"
"The world is changing. The idea of democracy has taken root in the hearts of people all over the world. I am talking about some old stubborn people in the senate in those areas. The Holy Alliance needs a pope who can fully support them or they will disappear. But there are divisions within the alliance, which may Some liberal cardinals want to dismantle this secret society, perhaps for everyone's benefit."
"Take them out of the historical picture, and the threat is gone."
"But doing so requires increased security. If the cardinals just die, there will be a lot of problems. The Holy Alliance can't make this look like an accident, but if you make certain things look certain..."
"A killer in disguise. Gosh, this disgusts me, I'm so glad I'm so far away from the church."
Anthony came to her, knelt down in front of the chair, and took Paula's hands.
"Don't think so. Behind this church are the bricks you see painted with blood. There is another church, unseen but eternal, with its flag flying to heaven. This church is standing in the faith of millions In the hearts of those who love Jesus and His Word. He will rise from the ashes and fill the world. The gates of hell will not rule."
Paula looked at the priest with mocking eyes.
"Do you really believe this?"
"I really do, Paula."
Both stood up, and he kissed Paula lightly, slowly and gently, and Paula accepted him, including the trauma in her heart.Her pain and struggle melted into Anthony's pain, and this complex emotion stayed there, and it also stayed in the night in the cabin, and finally they found the joy of this fusion...
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