Death's Door (32 page)

“Yes, Monsignor,” Zlatko said, rising from his chair. It must have irritated him to have to defer to a mere monsignor. But among the Roman Curia, a monsignor could have the Pope’s ear while a dozen bishops cooled their heels in the palace hallway. “I was concerned for the safety of His Holiness and our neutral status. But I have conversed with these two young men on several occasions, and I believe their intentions are honorable. I would only counsel discretion on their part.” In other words, we’d worked a deal and he had something that would insure my silence.

“Very well, Bishop Zlatko. Thank you. Do not let me keep you from your duties.” Zlatko looked stunned at the dismissal, but recovered quickly. As he passed me, he made eye contact and gave a slight nod toward the door. We’d meet outside.

“Gentlemen, I have unfortunate news,” Montini said after the door had shut behind Zlatko. “I have just spoken with His Holiness. He is much disturbed by the activity of Banda Koch. They invaded the extraterritorial properties at Saint Paul’s Outside the Walls. They took over sixty refugees, Jews, antifascists—anyone without papers.”

“It is terrible,” O’Flaherty said, a touch of belligerence in his voice. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. “What is the Holy Father going to do about it?”

“He feels this may be the first step in a German takeover of the Vatican,” Montini said. He had a pained expression that said he
thought this was wrong, even foolish. “We have heard rumors of a plan by the SS to invade the Vatican and place the Pope under Nazi protection. In Germany, of course. His Holiness believes that the actions against our properties may be the first step in implementing this plan.” Montini sighed, not making eye contact.

“What are you not telling us?” Bruzzone asked.

Montini folded his hands on the table as if in prayer. Then he spoke, so quietly that I had to strain to hear him. “In order to avoid giving the Germans a pretext for invasion, His Holiness has directed that all guests be expelled from Vatican properties outside these walls. It is to be done immediately.”

“That is outrageous!” O’Flaherty barked as he stood. “I don’t believe it.” Bruzzone pulled him back down onto the flowered couch, where he sat, teeth gritted against the anger straining to burst out of him. He struck me as the kind of priest who had to really work at obedience.

“What will you do?” Bruzzone asked.

“I have managed to dissuade the Pontifical Commission from making this their work. If I had not, this would be an official meeting with the cardinals present, instead of a gathering of steadfast friends. And their welcome guests.”

I could feel O’Flaherty exhale. “You are going to throw a monkey wrench into the works, then,” he said.

Montini waved his hand and shrugged, granting the point even if he didn’t understand what a monkey had to do with a wrench. “Do you recall when the commission ordered the Swiss Guard to turn away Allied prisoners entering the piazza?”

“Yes,” O’Flaherty said. “The order was never enforced.”

“And once His Holiness has ignored an order—his or the commission’s—it remains ignored. So leave it to me. No one will be expelled. But it means this is a difficult time to ask the Pope to engage in espionage.”

“Again, Giovanni,” O’Flaherty said. “He did so in 1940. We know much more now about what is happening in these camps. It makes it even more important.”

“Yes, I agree. But in 1940 there were no German divisions in Rome. The SS did not run Italy.”

“Sir, may I speak?” I half rose from the chair. I wasn’t sure of my status here, but I figured I had little to lose.

“Yes,” Montini said, smiling. “Mr. Boyle, is it?”

“Yes sir. I understand how this is a delicate matter, and that timing is important.” I took a deep breath, willing myself to slow down and make sense. “But remember, what Colonel Remke is asking for is simply an acknowledgment that you’ve received the document about the planned coup. He mentioned you by name, Monsignor. Not the Pope.”

“True,” Montini said. “But as an officer of the Secretariat, I speak for the Pope. It would have been different if this colonel had asked Monsignor O’Flaherty to sign such a letter. He could do so, without repercussion. Would that satisfy the colonel?”

“No. He was quite clear about you, given your position here.”

“Monsignor?” Kaz rose and walked toward Montini.

“Please, feel free to speak, Baron Kazimierz.”

“You have seen the Auschwitz Protocol as well?”

“I have. We have heard many reports, but this is the first detailed documentation. It is beyond belief. Shocking.”

“Yes, Monsignor. It would not be espionage, would it, to accept receipt of this report?”

“No. We often receive reports from other parts of occupied Europe. Why?”

“He is onto something, Giovanni,” O’Flaherty said, slapping Kaz on the back, almost sending him reeling. “Listen to the lad, it could save three people from the Germans with no risk at all.”

“Go on,” Montini said.

“You could give us a letter acknowledging receipt of the Auschwitz Protocol. An experienced diplomat such as you could also insert language which the knowledgeable reader would understand referred to another, separate document.”

“Will that work?” Montini asked. “Would it free Sister Justina and the others?”

“It’s better than nothing, Monsignor,” I said. “If you absolutely can’t acknowledge the information about the plot, at least do that. It will give us a chance.”

“I agree,” Bruzzone said. “It may work, and you can sign such a letter without fear of incident. You have drafted letters for His Holiness on this very subject, responding to reports from bishops in Poland.”

“Perhaps,” Montini said. He rose from his seat and approached O’Flaherty and Bruzzone. All pretense of an official meeting was gone. The three men huddled together, conversing in Italian. They had an easy familiarity, their places in the Vatican hierarchy less important now than their common bond as friends and conspirators.

“Do you really think it can work?” Kaz whispered to me.

“It has to,” I said. “That was sharp thinking. It’s a good-faith effort on our part, which has to count for something. I wonder if we should have pressed Montini more, though.”

“If the Pope is nervous about the Germans taking the Vatican, I doubt he would associate himself with any document that would put him in league with the Allies and the anti-Nazi plotters.”

“Gentlemen,” Monsignor Montini said. “I believe I can craft the letter as you suggest. I will work on it today. Meanwhile, Monsignor Bruzzone will deliver both documents to Sir D’Arcy. He can get them to Switzerland, I imagine.”

“I made copies last night,” O’Flaherty said. “We will keep those for when the time is right. I have a priest working on a translation of the Auschwitz Protocol into English. I’ll give you a copy, Billy, when that’s done.”

“This must be kept secret, for the moment,” Montini said to Kaz and me. “I trust the monsignors implicitly. We have worked together many times during this war, to help the unfortunate among us. They are both good men, as you are, I am sure. Can I trust your silence?”

“Yes,” I said. “But I will have to report this to my superiors, once this mission is complete.”

“Of course,” Montini said. “Have you made progress in your investigation?”

“We have,” I said. “As soon as we return with Diana—Sister Justina—I expect we will be very close to finding the killer.”

“Excellent,” Montini said. “We were greatly saddened at the loss of Monsignor Corrigan. The work we do is not without danger.”

“How soon can you have the letter ready?” I hoped he’d say within the hour. All I could think of was Diana crossing that white line.

“Not until later today. I have other pressing duties to attend to. Have Monsignor Bruzzone bring you to my office in the Papal Palace at three o’clock.” So much for my high hopes. One more day, then.

“Grand work, boys,” O’Flaherty said after Montini left us. “That ought to do the trick. Monsignor Bruzzone will get you the letter this afternoon. I must leave you now. We have a bit of a crisis in one of our houses.”

“In Rome?” I asked. “Remke warned you about the Gestapo, remember?”

“And I’m glad he did, boy. That’s why I’ll be disguised so my own mother wouldn’t recognize me.”

“Be careful, Hugh,” Bruzzone said as we filed out of the room. “There’s no disguising your height.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll see you all tonight. Good luck.”

“I shall bring the documents to Sir D’Arcy immediately,” Bruzzone said as we stepped outside. “I will meet you at the German College before three o’clock, to take you to the Palace.”

We stood under an archway in the courtyard, watching the two monsignors dash off in different directions, the collars of their coats turned up against the cold rain. Something that had been said in the fancy yellow room was not sitting right. Maybe I was thinking too much about Diana and was distracted. Or maybe there was something important that had been said. Or not said. I glanced around for Zlatko, but didn’t see him. The covered archway kept out the rain but not the biting cold. Maybe he got cold feet, either kind, and went indoors.

“Billy, is there a reason you didn’t mention your meeting at noon with Remke?”

“No reason to,” I said. “O’Flaherty knows about it. Montini didn’t have enough time to prepare the letter anyway.”

“Is something bothering you? Things went fairly well in there. You should be glad.”

“I should. How come I’m not?”

“Worry,” Kaz said.

“Isn’t that what makes cowards of us all?”

“No. That’s conscience, as Hamlet says.”

I looked around for Zlatko, and thought I caught a glimpse of him as we made for the Hospice Santa Marta. But bishops in black and purple were a dime a dozen around here, and I figured he’d come around with his list of informers sooner rather than later.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

R
EMKE HAD SHOWN
me the south entrance to the Piazza Navona. So I’d studied my map and found the route to the north entrance. I donned extra layers of clothing—scarf, hat, gloves—courtesy of Nini. Mistrust I had enough of already. The rain had turned to a damp mist that felt even colder than the earlier downpours, and I clenched my hands in my pockets as I trudged along the Tiber, checking to make sure I had the safe-conduct pass from Remke close by, along with my Vatican identity papers.

I passed under the looming Castel Sant’Angelo and the huge Hall of Justice, built out of so much heavy white stone that it had created a sinkhole and almost toppled into the Tiber River, according to Nini. She and Kaz worked so hard at being nonchalant around each other that I was certain they were both head over heels. Good for Kaz. He’d suffered more than most, lost more than most, and had cared less for life than most. The princess and the baron. It sounded like a happy ending, but those were in damn short supply these days, and I worried about my own chances for one.

Kaz didn’t have a get-out-of-jail pass, and Koch had his photograph, so he stayed behind to look for Zlatko. If things went smoothly, I’d be back in an hour, and we’d have some pieces of the puzzle in place. Of course, if smooth had been in the cards, I wouldn’t be out in this weather. Head bowed into the wind, I crossed the bridge and took the Via Agonale, which led into the north end of
the square. Neptune stood in a fountain with his trident like a sentry, his gaze fixed on the obelisk where I was headed.

I skirted the left side of the square, mixing in with pedestrians who were walking between the few open restaurants and shops; mainly German officers going in for an early lunch, with a few leather-coated civilians thrown in for good measure. Any of them could have been on the lookout for me. Or just hungry. I did a full circuit of the square and didn’t spot Remke. I arrived back at the Fountain of the Four Rivers, with its Egyptian obelisk, a trophy from another war.

Kaz had told me the four rivers marked the extent of papal authority, back in the days when God’s kingdom was as much of earth as of heaven. Each river was represented by a statute. The Danube, the Rio de la Plata, the Ganges, and the Nile. Kaz had explained that the figure representing the Nile had his robe pulled over his face to symbolize that the source of that river was unknown. The guy was as much in the dark as I was, so it seemed like a good spot to wait.

“Follow me, Lieutenant Boyle,” a voice whispered to me. It wasn’t Remke, but I didn’t get a chance to protest. He headed south out of the piazza, taking a narrow side street, which led to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant, the Piccola Cuccagna. The walls were the familiar rusty red, and the smell of rotting garbage wafted up from the alley. Not one of Rome’s finer attractions, but out of the way and dry. A good choice.

My escort opened the door, and the aroma of warm food from the kitchen made it an even better choice. Remke sat at a corner table, alone, a single glass of red wine at hand.

“What news do you have? Don’t worry about speaking English, we have the restaurant to ourselves.” As he spoke, his men closed the curtains and doused most of the lights. “These officers are all loyal to me and our cause, so you may speak freely.”

“I will get the letter from Montini this afternoon. I met with him this morning, and he agreed to write it.” When you need to lie convincingly, the truth can be convenient. I glanced at Remke’s men,
who gave me approving nods. Nice to have a vote of confidence from the enemy.

“You are certain? You will have it tomorrow?”

“I can have it for you later today. Why don’t we do a switch this afternoon?”

“Impossible. I have generals to brief later, and they all like to talk, and drink. A waste of time, but necessary. Tomorrow will be soon enough. I will have your friends nearby. If you deliver, they will be freed.”

I didn’t inquire as to the alternative. “I will. Have you found Severino Rossi?”

“Yes.” Remke signaled for a glass of wine for me. I took that to be a bad sign.

“I don’t need a drink, Colonel. I need Rossi. Is he alive?”

Remke looked uncomfortable, and I wondered if he were the type who felt he had to deliver on a promise, no matter how hard. He was reminding me more and more of my own Colonel Harding.