The Confessor

Malone crossed his legs and picked a bit of lint from his trousers. It was a gesture that betrayed anxiety. This pleased Gabriel.
    "Perhaps we should finalize the details of our arrangement before we proceed," Malone said. "I will tell you what I know about Benjamin Stern's murder. In return, you'll grant me an interview. Obviously, I've written about intelligence matters before, and I know the rules. I will do nothing to reveal your true identity, nor will I write anything that will compromise current operations. Do we have a deal?"
    "We do."
    Malone spent a moment gazing up at the recessed lighting, then looked down at Gabriel. "You're right about Benjamin. I was
    working with him on his book. Our partnership was supposed to be confidential. I'm surprised you were able to find me."
    "Why did Benjamin come to you?"
    Malone stood up and walked over to the bookshelves. He removed a volume and handed it to Gabriel, crux vera: the kgb of
    THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
    "Benjamin had something big--something dealing with the Vatican and the war."
    Gabriel held up the book. "Something dealing with Crux Vera?"
    Malone nodded. "Your friend was a brilliant academic, but he didn't know the first thing about investigating a story. He asked me if I would work for him as a consultant and investigator in all matters dealing with Crux Vera. I agreed, and we negotiated compensation. The money was to be paid half in advance and half on completion and acceptance of the manuscript. Needless to say, I only received the first payment."
    "What did he have?"
    "Unfortunately, I wasn't privy to that information. Your friend played things very close to the vest. If I didn't know better, I would have thought he was one of your crowd."
    "What did he want from you?"
    "Access to material I'd gathered while writing the Crux Vera book. Also, he wanted me to try to track down two priests who worked at the Vatican during the war."
    "What were their names?"
    "Monsignors Cesare Felici and Tomaso Manzini."
    "Did you ever find them?"
    "I tried," Malone said. "What I discovered is that they were both missing and presumed dead. And there's something even more interesting than that. The detective from the Rome headquarters of
    the Polizia di Stato who was investigating the cases was removed by his superiors and reassigned."
    "Do you know the investigator's name?"
    "Alessio Rossi. But for God's sake, don't tell him I gave you his name. I have a reputation to protect."
    "If you know so much, why haven't you written anything?"
    "What I have now is a series of murders and disappearances which I believe are linked, yet I haven't a shred of hard evidence conclusively linking them in any way. The last thing I want to do is accuse the Vatican, or someone close to the Vatican, of murder without a damned solid case. Besides, no decent editor would touch it."
    "But you have a theory about who might be behind it."
    "What you have to remember is that we're talking about the Vatican," Malone said. "Men linked to that venerable institution have been involved in intrigues and plots for nearly two millennia. They play the game better than anyone, and in the past, religious fervor and battles over doctrine have induced them to commit the mortal sin of murder. The Church is riddled with secret societies and cliques who might be involved in something like this."
    "Who?" Gabriel repeated.
    Peter Malone flashed a television smile. "In my humble opinion, you hold the answer in your hand."
    Gabriel looked down, crux vera: the kgb of the catholic church.
    Malone left the room, returning a moment later with a bottle of Medoc and a pair of large crystal goblets. He poured two generous measures and handed one to Gabriel. "Do you speak Latin?"
    "Actually, we speak another ancient language."
    Malone grinned at Gabriel over his wineglass and continued on. "Crux Vera is Latin for the True Cross. It is also the name of an ultra-secret order within the Roman Catholic Church, a sort of church within a church. If you look in the Annuario Pontificio, the Vatican yearbook, you'll find no mention of Crux Vera. If you ask the Vatican press office, you will be told that it is a fabrication, a sort of blood libel spread by the enemies of the Church in order to discredit it. But if you ask me, Crux Vera does exist, and I proved it in that book, regardless of what the Vatican says. I believe the tentacles of Crux Vera reach to the highest levels of the Vatican, and that its adherents occupy positions of