Day of Confession - Allan Folsom [164]
Because of what Father Daniel had learned, Palestrina ordered him killed; but even before that, to keep leverage over Marsciano, Jacov Farel had set Father Daniel up, planting evidence to make it look as if he was the assassin of the cardinal vicar. And later, when Palestrina suspected Father Daniel was still alive, it was very probably he, through Farel, who had okayed the murder of Pio; because immediately afterward, they had taken Harry away and tortured him, trying to make him tell where Father Daniel was.
“That was when the video was made, when you asked your brother to give himself up,” Roscani said quietly.
Harry nodded. “I was still in shock from the torture, I was told what to say over a headset.”
For a long time Roscani did nothing, simply sat and studied the American.
“Why?” he said, finally.
Harry hesitated. “—Because there’s something else,” he said. “Another part of Marsciano’s confession…”
“What other part?” Roscani suddenly leaned forward.
“—It has to do with the disaster in China.”
“China?” Roscani tilted his head as if he didn’t get it. “You mean the mass deaths?”
“Yes…”
“What does that have to do with what’s happened here?”
This was the beat Harry was looking for. As much as Danny loved and cared for Marsciano, it was crazy to think that he and Danny and Elena alone could free him. But with Roscani’s help they might have a chance. Moreover—the emotional part of it aside—the truth was, Cardinal Marsciano was the only one whose testimony could vindicate Danny and Elena and him. It was the reason Harry was here, why he had taken the chance and called Roscani.
“Whatever I said, Ispettore Capo, would only be hearsay and therefore useless…. And, as a priest, my brother can say nothing at all…. It’s Marsciano who knows everything…”
Roscani sat back abruptly, pulling a crushed cigarette pack from his jacket. “So, we ask Cardinal Marsciano, he tells us on the record what, before, he would say only in confession, and everything is resolved.”
“—Maybe, yes,” Harry said. “His situation is a great deal different than it was.”
“You’re speaking for him?” Roscani said quickly. “You’re saying he will talk to us. He will name names and give us facts.”
“No, I’m not speaking for him. I’m only saying that he knows and we don’t…. And won’t, unless we get him out of there and give him the chance.”
Roscani sat back. His suit was wrinkled and he needed a shave. He was still a young man but looked tired and older than he had the first time he and Harry had met.
“Gruppo Cardinale police blanket the country,” he said softly. “Your photograph is on television and in the newspapers. A substantial reward offered for your arrest. How did you manage to get from Rome to Lake Como… and back?”
“Dressed as I am now, as a priest…. Your country has a great reverence for the clergy. Especially if they are Catholic.”
“You had help.”
“Some people were kind, yes…”
Roscani looked at the crumpled pack of cigarettes in his hand, then slowly crushed it and held it in his tightened fist.
“Let me tell you a truth, Mr. Addison…. All the evidence is against you and your brother…. Even if I said I believed you, who else do you think would?” He gestured toward the front. “Scala? Castelletti? The Italian court? The people of Vatican City?”
Harry kept his eyes on the policeman, knowing that to do anything else would make it seem as if he were lying.
“Let me tell you a truth, Roscani. Something only I would know because I was there…. The afternoon Pio was killed I was called from my hotel by Farel. His driver took me to the country, near where the bus exploded. Pio was there. There was a scorched gun some boys had found. Farel wanted me to see it. Insinuated it had belonged to my brother. It was more pressure on me to tell Farel where Danny was…. The trouble was, at that time I didn’t even know if he was alive let alone where he was…”
“Where is the gun now?” Roscani asked.
“You don’t have it?” Harry was surprised.
“No.”
“It was in an evidence bag in the trunk of Pio’s car