Seizure

twelve

3:45 P.M., Monday, February 25, 2002

“What on Earth?” Stephanie questioned. She was standing in the doorway to their room. Daniel peered over her shoulder.

“What’s the matter?” Daniel asked.

“There are flowers on the bureau,” Stephanie said. “Who in God’s name would be sending us flowers?”

“Butler?”

“He doesn’t know we’re here in Turin, unless you emailed him.”

“I didn’t email him,” Daniel said, as if it were totally out of the realm of possibility. “But with his intelligence connections, maybe he knows. After having me investigated, I wouldn’t put it past him. Or maybe Monsignor Mansoni communicated that the sample had been delivered.”

Stephanie walked over to the arrangement and opened the envelope. “Oh, for goodness sake. It’s just the hotel management.”

“That’s nice,” Daniel said indifferently. He went into the bathroom to use the toilet.

Stephanie moved over to her suitcase that was perched on the luggage stand. She had a pair of walking shoes tucked along the left side. Lifting up the unlatched top to the bag, she hesitated. A linen shirt she had painstakingly packed back in Boston was mildly amiss, with its edge folded over. With her finger, she righted the fold. As she feared, a crease remained, even after she tried to smooth it out with the palm of her hand. Mumbling one of her private vulgarities to herself, she started to reach for the walking shoes when her eye caught an article of lingerie, which was also slightly disarranged and which she had packed with equal care.

Stephanie righted herself and stared down at her open suitcase. “Daniel! Come in here!”

With the sound of the toilet flushing in the background, Daniel’s face appeared in the bathroom doorway. He was holding a towel. “What’s up?” he questioned with raised eyebrows. He could tell from the sound of her voice that she was mildly perturbed.

“Someone has been in our room!”

“We already knew that when we saw the flowers.”

“Come over here!”

Daniel slung the towel over his shoulder as he walked over to stand next to Stephanie. He followed her pointing finger and looked down at her open suitcase.

“Someone has been in my bag,” Stephanie said.

“How can you tell?”

Stephanie explained.

“Those are pretty subtle changes,” Daniel said. He patted her patronizingly on her back. “You’ve been in your bag yourself before we went out. Are you sure you’re not having a minor attack of paranoia, thanks to the Cambridge break-in?”

“Someone has been in my bag!” Stephanie repeated heatedly. She pushed his hand away. With her jet lag and being overtired, she felt instantly frustrated that Daniel was being so dismissive. “Look in your suitcase!”

Rolling his eyes, Daniel opened his unlatched bag on the stand next to Stephanie’s. “Okay, I’m looking in mine,” he reported.

“Anything amiss?”

Daniel shrugged. He was far from the world’s neatest packer, and he had rummaged in his bag earlier when retrieving clean underwear. All at once, he froze, then slowly raised his eyes to Stephanie’s. “My God! There is something missing!”

“What?” Stephanie clutched Daniel’s arm as she looked into his bag.

“Somebody took my vial of plutonium!”

Stephanie swatted Daniel’s shoulder. He responded by protecting himself in an exaggerated fashion from further blows, which never came.

“I’m being serious,” Stephanie complained stridently. Returning to her own bag, she picked up her hairbrush and brandished it. “Here’s something else! When we left on our outing, this brush was directly on top of my clothes, not lying in the suitcase’s gutter. I remember because I thought about taking it back into the bathroom. I’m telling you: Someone has been in my bag!”

“All right! All right!” Daniel soothed. “Take it easy!”

Stephanie reached into her bag’s side pocket and pulled out a zippered velvet pouch. She opened it and peered inside. “At least my jewelry is okay, including the little bit of cash that I keep in here. It’s a good thing I didn’t bring anything truly valuable.”

“Maybe housekeeping had to move the bags?” Daniel suggested.

“Give me a break!” Stephanie responded, as if Daniel’s suggestion was preposterous. Her eyes wandered around the room until they came to rest on the desk. “My room key is gone! I left it on the blotter.”

“Are you sure?”

“Don’t you remember we talked about it before we left, whether we needed two keys?”

“Vaguely.”

Stephanie strode into the bathroom. Daniel’s eyes roamed the room. He couldn’t decide if Stephanie’s paranoia was worth indulging, since he was aware she was still upset about the intruder in Cambridge. He knew that hotel people such as housekeeping, minibar stockers, room-service personnel, and bellmen were in and out of rooms all the time. Maybe one of them had poked their hands into her bag. For some people, it might be a huge temptation.

“Someone has also been in my cosmetics bag,” Stephanie called from the bathroom.

Daniel walked to the door and stood on the threshold. “Is anything missing?”

“No, nothing is missing!” Stephanie answered irritably.

“Hey, don’t get mad at me!”

Stephanie straightened up, shut her eyes, and took a deep breath. She nodded a few times. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m not mad at you, just frustrated you’re not as upset about this as I.”

“If we were missing something, it would be different.”

Stephanie closed the cover of her makeup bag. She stepped over to Daniel and put her arms around him. He enveloped her similarly.

“It upsets me when people paw through my belongings, especially after what happened the day before we left.”

“That’s entirely understandable,” Daniel said.

“It is curious nothing is missing, like the cash. That makes this episode exactly like the one in Cambridge, although having it happen here is more confusing. At least there we could postulate industrial espionage, even if it’s unlikely. What could someone be looking for here if not valuables and cash?”

“The only thing I can think of is the shroud sample.”

Stephanie leaned away from Daniel so she could see up into his face. “Why would someone be looking for that?”

“Beats me. It’s just the only thing we have that’s unique.”

“But presumably the only person who knows we have it is the man who gave it to us.” Stephanie’s brows were knitted together as if she was troubled anew.

“Calm down! I don’t think anyone was looking for the shroud sample. I was just thinking out loud. But as long as we are talking about it, where is it?”

“It’s still in my shoulder bag,” Stephanie said.

“Get it! Let’s have another look!” Daniel thought it best to steer the subject away from a possible intruder.

They retreated back to the middle of the room. Stephanie picked up her bag from where she’d tossed it on the bed. She took out the silver case and opened it. Daniel gingerly lifted out the glassine envelope and held it up to the diffused light coming from the windows. Backlit, the mat of linen fibers was distinct, although its color was still indeterminate. “My gosh!” Daniel said with a shake of his head. “It is truly amazing to think that there is even the slightest chance this contains the blood of arguably the most famous person to have trod this Earth, and that’s not even addressing the divine aspect.”

Stephanie put the silver case down on the desk and took the envelope. Stepping over to the window, she too held it up to the light. Shielding the slanting rays of the sun from her eyes with her free hand, she used the pale but direct white light to examine the envelope. Now even the fibers’ red ocher color could be appreciated. “It looks like blood,” she said. “You know, it must be my Catholic background mysteriously reasserting itself, because I have a strong intuition it is the blood of Jesus Christ.”

Although Father Michael Maloney could not see Stephanie D’Agostino, he was so close he could hear her breathe. He was terrified his own heartbeat pounding in his temples would give him away or, if not that, then the sound of drops of perspiration dripping from his face and falling to splatter against the floor. She was mere inches away.

In utter desperation when he’d heard the key thrust into the door, he’d dashed behind the drapes. It had been a reflex act. In retrospect, going behind the curtains was an embarrassment in and of itself, as if he were some common thief. He should have stood his ground, accepted his fate at being caught, and taken full responsibility for his actions. He understood the best defense was an offense, and in the present situation, to justify his actions he should have used his indignation about these people’s true identities and the upcoming unauthorized testing of the shroud that they were obviously planning.

Unfortunately, his fight-or-flight reaction had been overwhelming, particularly on the flight side, such that when he’d come to his senses he was already hiding, and once hiding, it was too late to play the indignation card. Now all he could do was hope and pray he’d not be discovered.

At first he thought all was lost with Stephanie’s exclamation the moment the door opened. He imagined that he’d either been seen or at the very least the curtain’s movement had been apparent. It had been a relief beyond words when he realized it had been the flower arrangement that had caught her attention.

Then he had to endure Stephanie’s discovery of his ineptness at searching her suitcase and the fact that he’d taken her key from the desk. That was when his pulse began to rise again after having slowed a degree from the initial shock. He feared she would start searching the room, which would mean he’d be immediately discovered. The embarrassment and consequences of such an event were too horrible to contemplate. What had begun as a way of ensuring his future career was now threatening to have the absolute opposite effect.

“What we think about the shroud is not important,” Daniel said. “It’s just what Butler thinks that matters.”

“I’m not sure I agree with you entirely,” Stephanie responded. “But that’s a discussion for another day.”

Michael stiffened as Stephanie brushed against the drapes. Thankfully, they were heavy Italian brocade, and she apparently did not notice that she had also touched Michael’s arm through the fabric. Another adrenaline rush coursed through Michael’s body, resulting in more perspiration. To him, the sound of the intermittent drops of sweat splattering against the floor were as loud as pebbles dropping on a drum. He never imagined he could perspire so profusely, especially when he wasn’t even all that hot.

“What should I do with the sample?” Stephanie asked, as she moved away.

“Give it to me,” Daniel replied from someplace in the room.

Michael allowed himself to take a deep breath, and he relaxed a degree. He had himself pressed up against the wall as flat as he could be, to minimize the bulge his body made in the drape. He heard more sounds he could not identify, along with what he guessed was the silver casing snapping shut.

“You know, we could change rooms,” Daniel said. “Or even hotels if you want.”

“What do you think we should do?”

“I think we should just stay put. There are multiple keys for every room in every hotel. Tonight when we sleep, we’ll be sure to use the dead bolt.”

Michael heard the heavy click of the security lock being activated on the door to the hall.

“That’s a lock and a half,” Daniel commented. “What do you say? I don’t want you to feel nervous. There’s no need.”

Michael heard the door to the hall shake.

“I guess the lock’s all right,” Stephanie said. “It seems secure.”

“With that dead bolt thrown, no one would be able to come through that door without us knowing it. They’d have to use a battering ram.”

“Okay,” Stephanie said. “Let’s just stay here. It is only one night, and a short one at that, since you have us flying out to London at five after seven. What an ungodly hour. By the way: How come we’re going through Paris?”

“There was no choice. British Airways apparently doesn’t serve Turin. It was either Air France to Paris or Lufthansa to Frankfurt. I figured it was better not to backtrack.”

“It seems ridiculous not to have a direct flight to London, of all places. I mean, Turin is one of the major industrial cities of Italy.”

“What can I say?” Daniel questioned with a shrug. “But for now, how about you getting your walking shoes and whatever else you want so we can get back to our sightseeing.”

“Oh, please do!” Michael pleaded silently.

“I’ve had a change of heart,” Stephanie said, to Michael’s immediate chagrin. “What about staying in until we go out to dinner? It’s already after four, and it will be dark soon. As little as you slept last night, you must be exhausted.”

“I am tired,” Daniel admitted.

“Let’s take off our clothes and get in bed. I’ll even give you a little back rub, and we’ll see what else happens, depending on how tired you are. What do you say?”

Daniel laughed. “I’ve never heard a better idea in my life. To be honest, I wasn’t all that interested in the sightseeing. I was doing it more for your benefit.”

“Well, that’s no longer necessary, my dear!”

Michael cringed as he heard sounds of disrobing, giggles, and endearments. He feared one of them would come to close the drapes, but that didn’t happen. He heard the sounds the bed made, as bodies settled into it. He heard the sound of lotion being squeezed from a bottle and even the sound of flesh against slippery flesh. There was the murmur of contentment from Daniel, as his massage progressed.

“All right,” Daniel said finally. “Now it’s your turn.” The bed complained as bodies shifted.

Time dragged. Michael’s muscles began to ache, particularly in his legs. Fearing he might get a cramp, which he knew would surely give him away, he shifted his weight, then held his breath in case his movement was noticed. Thankfully, it wasn’t, but the pain came back within minutes. Yet worse than the physical discomfort was the torture of hearing the sounds of intimacy between a man and a woman leading to the rhythmic and unmistakable noise of actual lovemaking. Michael was being forced by circumstance to be an auditory voyeur, and despite his attempts at silently reciting by rote selections from his breviary, he found himself titillated to mock his vows of celibacy.

After a few moans of pleasure, the room fell silent for a few minutes. Then there were whispers Michael could not make out, followed by laughter and giggles. Finally, to Michael’s relief, the couple went into the bathroom. He could tell by the muffled sounds of their voices over the sound of the shower.

Michael allowed himself to rotate his head, flex his stiff shoulders, raise his arms, and even walk briefly in place. After less than a minute, he returned to his frozen position, unsure when one of the couple would choose to return to the room proper. He didn’t have long to wait and soon heard one of them at the suitcases.

Unfortunately for Michael, it took Stephanie and Daniel another three quarters of an hour to dress, don their coats, and find their remaining room key before they finally left for dinner. At first, the silence seemed deafening, as he strained to hear any noises that would suggest they were returning for some forgotten item. Five minutes crept by. Finally, Michael warily reached around the edge of the drape and slowly drew it aside, revealing progressively more of the now-darkened room. The couple had left the light on in the bathroom, and it spilled out into the room to puddle alongside the bed.

Michael eyed the door to the hall and tried to estimate how quickly he could get to it, through it, and get it closed behind himself. It wouldn’t take long, but it made him nervous he’d be completely exposed before putting some distance between himself and room 408. At this point, being caught would be significantly more problematic than when Stephanie and Daniel had first come home.

As Michael tried to build his courage to leave the relative safety of the drapes, his eyes roamed around the room. A glint off a shining object on the bureau next to the flower arrangement caught his eye. He blinked, not believing what he was looking at. “Praise be to God!” he whispered. It was the silver case.

Marveling at his luck after all, Michael took a deep breath and emerged from his hiding place. For another second he hesitated, listening before rushing to the bureau, snapping up the silver case, slipping it into his pocket, and dashing out the door. To his relief, the corridor was empty. He quickly moved away from room 408, afraid to look back and terrified someone would accost him. It wasn’t until he reached the elevators that he allowed himself to glance back down the hallway. It was still empty.

A few minutes later, Michael passed through the hotel’s revolving door and stepped out into the night. Never had the chill of a midwinter evening felt so good against his flushed face. He walked quickly away from the door, each step a bit more buoyant than the previous. With his right hand thrust into his jacket pocket, clutching the silver case as a reminder of what he’d been able to accomplish, an exhilaration spread through him not unlike the euphoria of absolution he’d occasionally felt after particularly difficult visits as a supplicant to the confessional. It was as if the stressful trials and tribulations of resaving his Savior’s blood sample had made the experience that much more poignant.

Michael took a taxi from the hotel’s cabstand and gave the address of the Chancery of the Archdiocese to the driver. He sat back and tried to relax. He looked at his watch. It was almost six-thirty. He’d been caught behind the couple’s curtain for more than two hours! But it was a nightmare with a happy ending, as evidenced by the cold feel of the silver case in his pocket.

Michael closed his eyes and reveled in thinking about the best time to call James Cardinal O’Rourke to explain the unfortunate development concerning the identities of the so-called couriers, followed by the problem’s ultimate resolution. Now that he was safe, he found himself smiling at what he’d had to endure. Hiding behind drapes in a hotel room while the couple made love was so preposterous as to defy belief. In some ways, he wished he could tell the cardinal, but he knew he couldn’t. The only person he would ultimately tell would be his confessor, and even that was not going to be easy.

Knowing the cardinal’s schedule, Michael thought it best to wait until ten-thirty P.M. Italian time to make the call. It was during the predinner hour that the cardinal was the most accessible. During the call, what Michael was going to enjoy particularly was implying rather than directly telling the cardinal that it had been he who had by his own ingenuity single-handedly salvaged what could have been an embarrassment for the church in general and the cardinal in particular.

By the time the taxi pulled up in front of the chancery, Michael felt almost back to normal. Although his pulse was still rapid, he was no longer perspiring, and his breathing was entirely regular. The only problem was that his shirt and underclothes were damp from the ordeal, making him feel chilled.

Michael first went to see Valerio Garibaldi, whom he had befriended back when he’d attended the North American College in Rome, but he was informed that his friend had left the building on an official errand. Michael then walked down to Luigi Mansoni’s office. He knocked on the open door, and the monsignor motioned for him to come in and sit down. The cleric was on the phone. He quickly terminated the call and directed his full attention to Michael. Switching from Italian to English, he asked how Michael had fared. From his unblinking stare, it was apparent he was intensely interested.

“Quite well, considering,” Michael said obliquely.

“Considering what?”

“Considering what I had to go through.” Triumphantly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the embossed silver case. Carefully, he placed it on Luigi’s desk before pushing it toward the monsignor. He sat back with a self-satisfied smile on his thin face.

Luigi’s eyebrows arched. He reached out, carefully lifted the case, and held it between both his palms. “I’m surprised they were willing to give it up,” he said. “They seemed like two very passionate people.”

“Your assessment is more accurate than you know,” Michael said. “But they are not yet aware that they have surrendered the sample back to the church. And to be honest, I did not so much as talk with them.”

A slight smile dimpled Luigi’s puffy face. “I’m thinking perhaps I shouldn’t ask how you have managed to get it.”

“You shouldn’t,” Michael advised.

“Well, then, that’s how we will proceed. For my part, I will merely return the sample to Professor Ballasari, and that will be it.” Luigi released the latch and lifted the case’s cover. He then started while staring into its bare innards. After a few quick glances back and forth between Michael and the case, he said: “I’m confused. The sample is not in here!”

“No! Don’t say that!” Michael sat bolt upright.

“I’m afraid I must,” Luigi responded. He turned the empty case around and held it up so Michael could see.

“Oh, no!” Michael cried. He grabbed his head with both hands and slumped forward until his elbows rested on his knees. “I don’t believe it!”

“They must have removed the sample.”

“Obviously,” Michael responded, as he exhaled. He sounded depressed.

“You are distraught.”

“More than you would guess.”

“Certainly all is not lost. Perhaps now you should approach the Americans directly and demand the sample’s return.”

Michael rubbed his face forcibly and then exhaled. He looked at Luigi. “I don’t think that is an option, not after what I did to get the empty case. And even if I did, your assessment of their character is most likely correct. They would refuse. My sense is that they have a specific plan for the sample, to which they are committed.”

“Do you know when they are leaving?”

“Tomorrow morning at five after seven on Air France. They are flying to London via Paris.”

“Well, there is another option,” Luigi said, tenting his fingers. “There is a sure way to get the sample back. I happen to be related on my mother’s side of the family to a gentleman by the name of Carlo Ricciardi. He is a first cousin. He also happens to be the Soprintendente Archeologico del Piedmonte, meaning the regional director, of NPPA, which stands for Nucleo Protezione Patrimonio Artistico e Archeologico.”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

“It is not surprising, since their activities are mostly carried out sub rosa, but they are a special corps of the carabinieri responsible for the safety of Italy’s vast treasure of historical monuments and objects, which certainly includes the Shroud of Turin, despite the Holy See being its rightful owner. If I were to call Carlo, he would have no trouble retrieving the sample.”

“What would you say? I mean, you gave the Americans the sample; it’s not like they stole it. In fact, since you gave it to them in a public place, an enterprising Italian lawyer could probably even produce a witness.”

“I would not suggest the sample was stolen. I would merely say that the sample had been obtained under false pretenses, which apparently is the case. But more importantly, I would state that no authorization had been given for the sample to be taken out of Italy. In fact, I would add that removal of the sample from Italy had been strictly forbidden, and yet I had information the Americans were planning to do so tomorrow morning.”

“And these archeological police would have the authority to confiscate it.”

“Most definitely! They are a very powerful and independent agency. To give you an example, a number of years ago your then President Reagan asked the then Italian president if the recently found ancient bronzes pulled from the sea off Reggio di Calabria could be brought to the Los Angeles Olympics as the game’s icons. The Italian president agreed, but the regional Soprintendente Archeologico said no, and the statues stayed in Italy.”

“Okay, I’m impressed,” Michael said. “Does the agency have its own uniformed enforcement division?”

“They have their own plainclothes ispettori, or inspectors, but for general enforcement they use either uniformed carabinieri or Guardia di Finanza officers. At the airport, it would probably be the Guardia di Finanza, although if they are acting under Carlo’s specific orders, the carabinieri most likely would participate as well.”

“If you make the call, what will happen to the Americans?”

“Tomorrow morning, when they check in for their international flight, they will be arrested, jailed, and eventually tried. In Italy, charges of this nature are considered very serious. But they would not be tried right away. Such cases move slowly. But, the sample will be returned to us straightaway, and the problem will be solved.”

“Make the call!” Michael said simply. He was disappointed, but all was not lost. Obviously, he would not be able to take credit for solving the problem with the shroud sample single-handedly. On the other hand, he could still make sure the cardinal knew he had been an indispensable participant.

A contented belch rumbled from the pit of Daniel’s stomach to emerge between his puffed-up cheeks. His hand clasped his face in a halfhearted attempt to conceal his impish smile.

Stephanie cast him one of what she considered her most scornful looks. She never thought it was funny when he gave vent to his mischievously juvenile side.

Daniel laughed. “Hey, relax. We had a great dinner and a great bottle of Barolo. Let’s not ruin it!”

“I’ll relax after I check out our room,” Stephanie said. “I think I have the right to be on edge after someone pawed through my belongings earlier.”

Daniel keyed the door and pushed it open. Stephanie stepped over the threshold and let her eyes wander. Daniel started to go past her into the room. She held him back with her arm.

“I’ve got to use the bathroom,” Daniel complained.

“We had visitors!”

“Oh! How can you tell?”

Stephanie pointed toward the bureau. “The silver case is gone.”

“Gone it is,” Daniel said. “I guess you were right all along.”

“Of course I was right,” Stephanie responded. She walked over and put her hand on the bureau where the silver case had been, as if she didn’t believe it was gone. “But so were you. They must have been after the shroud sample.”

“Well, I have to give you full credit for your idea of taking the sample out and leaving the case behind.”

“Thank you,” Stephanie said. “But first, let’s make sure it wasn’t just that they thought the case was something valuable.” She went over to her suitcase and again checked her jewelry case. Everything was still in it, including the cash.

Daniel did the same. The jewelry, cash, and traveler’s checks were all accounted for. He straightened up. “What do you want to do?” he asked.

“Get out of Italy. Never in a million years did I ever think I’d feel that way.” Stephanie collapsed on the bed, coat and all, and stared up at the multicolored glass chandelier.

“I’m talking about tonight.”

“You mean whether to change hotels or rooms?”

“Exactly.”

“Let’s just stay here and use the dead bolt.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Daniel said as he stepped out of his pants. Holding them by the cuffs, he arranged them to preserve the creases. “I cannot wait to climb into bed,” he added, as he eyed Stephanie, sprawled out on her back. He then went to the closet and hung up his trousers. Holding on to the jamb, he stepped out of his loafers.

“It would be a humongous effort to move, and I’m bushed,” Stephanie said. With great effort, she got back on her feet and shook off her coat. “Besides, I’m not confident whoever has been plaguing us wouldn’t be able to find us wherever we went. Let’s just not leave this room until we’re ready to leave the hotel.” She pushed past Daniel and hung up her coat.

“Fine by me,” Daniel said, as he unbuttoned his shirt. “In the morning, we can even skip trying to have something to eat here at the hotel. Instead, we can grab a bite of breakfast at one of those coffee bars at the airport. They all seem to have a selection of pastries. The concierge said we should be there around six, which means we are going to have to get up pretty damn early, even if we don’t try to eat before leaving.”

“Excellent idea,” Stephanie said. “I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to getting to the airport, checking in, and getting on that plane.”