Page 39 of The Medici Return

“I’m afraid so. Booby-trapped with a dye pack. Somebody went to a lot of trouble.”

He found his phone and showed them the images. “Those were sent to the Swiss Guard hours ago.”

Richter faced Stamm. “Ascolani mentioned there were pictures.”

“The Swiss Guard is keeping him informed,” Stamm said. “Like the chickens telling the fox everything that’s happening in the coop. But it is hard for them to accept that he is no friend of theirs.”

“Who is Ascolani?” Cotton asked.

“The current Vatican secretary of state,” Richter said, “and head of the Entity. A bit of a megalomaniac. He thinks he possesses capabilities and strengths exceeding those of all others. He and I have never cared for each other.”

“So you’re a known enemy to him?”

Richter nodded. “He’s always been resentful of my relationship with the pope. Who apparently has now turned on me.”

“We cannot be harsh on the pope,” Stamm said. “He’s an absolute ruler, blessed with a stamp of infallibility, unhampered by any checks and balances. He lives and works within a protective bubble, one the secretary of state can greatly influence. Our current pontiff is not the most learned of men. Spiritual? Yes. Devoted? Absolutely. But he is ignorant of politics.” Stamm motioned toward Richter. “Tell him about the pledge.”

And he listened as the cardinal explained what Eric Casaburi, an Italian politician, had revealed. When Richter finished, he asked, “Is it real?”

“Oh, yes,” Stamm said. “Most real. I learned during my timewith the Entity that there are many things the church would prefer to remain lost and forgotten. Part of my job was to make sure they stayed gone. This is one of those things, though I can understand how it became a non-concern. The pledge was supposedly given around 1512. The Medici died out in 1743. During their existence no one came forward to claim the debt. Then, after 1743, the royal Medici were gone.”

“So Casaburi has to be a real Medici heir?” Cotton asked.

“Correct. But Casaburi is no fool. He would not bring forth this claim unless he can prove that he is legitimate. Today, DNA testing would be irrefutable.”

He’d seen his share of the incredible. And probably Stamm had too. So this could not be taken lightly. He studied the spymaster, imagining what this man had been privy to. Certainly the intelligence resources of the Vatican were not comparable in funding or cutting-edge technology to those of the CIA or the SVR, but what was lacking in money was more than made up for in human resources. The Entity had eyes and ears everywhere, and it would be a fatal mistake to underestimate its reach and capabilities. The fabled Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal once observed thatthe best and most effective espionage service in the world belonged to the Vatican.

“I think we have a two-front problem,” Stamm said. “The first involves the discrediting of Jason. Why is this happening? Who will benefit from that? The second is the ambition of Eric Casaburi and his National Freedom Party.” Stamm raised two fingers and moved them closer, then apart. “Two parallel issues. About to converge.”

“To what end?” Richter asked.

Stamm lowered his hands. “That is what you two must discover.”

He decided to level with Stamm and told them both about what had happened in Cologne and on the train. Stephanie had left the decision on that openness to him.

“That is troublesome,” Stamm said. “Those murders seem targeted at whatever is happening to Jason. I am sorry, old friend, butyou have been selected as the patsy. I would assume your death was next on the list.”

“My thought exactly,” Cotton said.

“But luck favors the fortunate,” Stamm said. “And Eric Casaburi may have revealed something far more powerful than anything Cardinal Ascolani imagined. Make no mistake, he will go after that pledge.”

“But where?” Richter asked.

“It does not exist within the Vatican,” Stamm said. “Of that I am sure. But there is one other place where it may be.”

He and Richter listened as Stamm told them about the Dominican friar Miguel Ghislieri who, in 1551, was promoted to head of the Inquisition. He was eventually banished from Rome and barely escaped with his life, taking refuge in a monastery. There he stayed for six years until January 7, 1566, when Ghislieri was elected pope.

“He chose the name Pius V,” Stamm said. “It was he who started the Entity, empowering it from the beginning with an autonomy that still exists today. During my tenure that freedom was used with caution. My fear is that Ascolani has modified that restraint.”

Cotton was beginning to connect the dots. “You’re afraid he will use the Pledge of Christ for his own benefit.”

“It would be a powerful weapon. The sacred promise of a pope, in writing, upon the name of the Lord. The church could only deny that to its own detriment. He would want to find and destroy the pledge. An act the other cardinals might find important enough to elevate him to pope.”

“Now it makes sense,” Richter muttered.

Stamm appraised the younger cardinal with oily eyes. “I was wondering if you knew.”

Richter nodded.

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