The Venice conspiracy

CHAPTER 51

Present Day The Secret Archives, Vatican City Alfredo Giordano was by no means amazed that Tom Shaman begged him to make one trip – just one trip – into the musty vaults of the secret archives.

What did surprise him was that he agreed to do it.

He was persuaded by the indisputable fact that, although the archives are these days supposed to be more private than secret, should the Carabinieri make a viewing request then they could easily get tied up in Vatican red tape until Judgement Day.

And so Alfie finds himself heading to the entrance to the archives, adjacent to the Vatican Museum through the Porta di S. Anna in via di Porta Angelica. He steps out of the warm sunlight into the cool corridors with fear crawling up his throat. When his duplicity is discovered – for he realises that, even if he succeeds today, he is going to have to confess his actions – he knows he'll be severely punished, maybe even suspended.

Fortunately for Alfie, he is no stranger to the endless miles of passageways and rooms, or to some of the staff working there. As a general librarian he regularly mixes with the archivists, delivering new documents and books into their care, and he can even boast a passing acquaintance with the Archivist Emeritus, Cardinal Mark van Berkel.

As he nears the point of no return he focuses once more on the main problem he faces. Even those who can get into the archive still face horrendous restrictions, the main one being that even authorised visitors are not permitted to browse the shelves in search of what they want, and no one is allowed to take any materials away. In other words, Alfie has to know exactly which book or document he wants – and he doesn't – and then he has to wait for someone to get it for him.

Clutching a Vatican notebook and some index files from the general library of the Holy See, he approaches a young, scaly-skinned, trout-eyed helper at the busy reception desk. 'I am Father Alfredo, I have come from the main library and need to check a document.'

Father Trout-eyes floats his fingers over a computer keyboard. 'Do you have a reference number?'

Alfie tips his notebook and flicks through a few pages, then swings it round for his colleague to copy.

The computer clacks away. The archivist squints at the screen and can't find anything. 'Let me try another search. What exactly is it?'

'It's Etruscan, a document suggesting an old artefact may have influenced some early church altar designs.'

Father Trout gives up a 'humph' and clacks some more. 'Sorry, I can't find anything. When did you send it through?'

And so for half an hour Alfie works the system, grinding the archivist down. Then, judging his moment, he slaps a hand on the counter like a man who's reached the end of his tether. 'This isn't good enough,' he protests loudly. 'I need to see the Cardinal. It's outrageous that this material should be lost.'

The archivist looks shocked. He painfully reaches for an internal directory.

'Wait!' says Alfie, trying to look exasperated but reasonable. 'I don't want to get anyone in trouble, especially not you or me. Let me talk to the archivist stacking that particular section – if I describe it to him, I'm sure he'll find it.' Alfie points at the computer. 'Sometimes those things let us down.'

And so five minutes later Alfie is beyond the barriers, heading past the ranks of shelves that house papal accounts, charity contributions, diplomatic exchanges with foreign governments and a myriad other mysteries.

He has no intention of meeting his new archivist friend, Father Carlo. Instead he finds the place where they should meet and slides behind a pillar. Within minutes a thin young priest appears and anxiously paces around. He's very diligent, and stays a long time before finally giving up and heading off through a heavy side door leading back to his work station. Alfie tags along, just a few paces behind.

It soon becomes apparent that Carlo's section is as long as a city street: a seemingly endless corridor lined with black metal ceiling-to-floor shelves on either side.

The good news is that Alfie's found the right section, gained entry to it, has very little chance of being spotted and a good cover story if he is challenged.

The bad news is that he doesn't even know where to begin searching.