The Quest: A Novel

me, though they haven’t. Then I tried the Ministry of War, and some maggiore informed me that the 1935 war in Ethiopia was not his most pressing problem. He did say, however, that he’d make internal inquiries.”
    Purcell thought about all this, then said to Mercado, “Things, I’m sure, move slowly in the Vatican bureaucracy, but you may hear back soon.”
    “What is the date of my letter?”
    Vivian looked at it and said, “Ten November.”
    “Which,” Mercado said, “is less than a week after I arrived in Rome from London, and which is why, as you’ll see in the letter, I didn’t apologize for any delay in reporting this death to whomever I thought were the proper authorities.”
    Purcell reminded him, “You told me you didn’t notify the Vatican.”
    “I lied.” He smiled. “I didn’t like you then.” He added, “Now weare friends and partners in this great adventure and we have sealed our covenant with blood. Well… cheap wine. And we are, as they say, putting all our cards on the table.”
    Purcell thought Henry was still holding a card or two. He asked, “What do you think is actually going on?”
    Mercado drained his gin and tonic and replied, “Well, obviously, something is going on. Someone, perhaps in the Vatican, instructed the Franciscans to post a reply, and further instructed them to say there is no Father Armano.”
    “Why?”
    “Your guess is as good as mine, old man.”
    Vivian said, “The Vatican knows who Father Armano is, and they know what Father Armano was doing in Ethiopia. And now they’re wondering how much we know.”
    “That’s very astute, Vivian. And they will continue to wonder how much we know—what Father Armano’s last words were to us.”
    Again Purcell thought about this. He wasn’t a believer in grand conspiracies or a fan of those who did believe in them. But Father Armano had, in effect, spelled out a Vatican conspiracy to steal the Holy Grail. It would follow, then, that there still existed a conspiracy of silence regarding what seemed to be an ongoing Vatican mission to relieve the Coptic Church of their Holy Grail.
    Vivian asked Mercado, “Will you do any further follow-up?”
    “That would not be a wise thing to do.”
    She nodded.
    Purcell commented, “It would have been wiser for someone in the Vatican to just say, ‘Thank you, we will notify next of kin, and God bless you.’ ”
    Mercado nodded. “That would have been the wise thing for them to do. But I suspect my letter caused some worry and they decided to… what is the expression? Stonewall it.”
    Purcell also pointed out, “Maybe you shouldn’t have sent the letter at all.”
    “I thought about that. About not tipping my hand. But then the job in Rome came up with L’Osservatore Romano, and I thought ahead to writing about this, so I couldn’t very well reveal this storyin an article months or years later without having to explain why I’d kept this information to myself.”
    Purcell suggested, “Your letter to the Vatican may actually be the reason you’re working in and for the Vatican.”
    Mercado looked at Purcell. “Interesting.”
    “And,” Purcell pointed out, “why Vivian and I are now working for the Vatican.”
    “Actually, you’re working for the Vatican newspaper, Frank, but I won’t split hairs with you.”
    Vivian was taking this all in, then said to Mercado, “You did the right thing, Henry, by reporting Father Armano’s death.”
    “Yes, you can never do wrong by doing right.” He suggested, “Let’s put conspiracy aside and think this could be typical bureaucratic indifference, coupled with bad record-keeping in all departments.” He added, “The Italians, like the Germans, would just as soon not be reminded of the 1930s and ’40s.”
    Purcell replied, “That could explain the indifference of the Ministry of War. But not the Vatican.”
    Mercado did not reply.
    Vivian said, “Father Armano was real, and we are going to make sure that his suffering and death are acknowledged by the people who sent him to war.”
    Mercado looked at her, and it seemed to Purcell that Henry was just noticing the change in his former playmate.
    Vivian continued, “We will go to Berini and find his family.”
    “That is the plan,” Mercado agreed, and ordered another round.
    Vivian had two full glasses of red wine in front of her, and Purcell was still working on his last Jack Daniel’s, and he wondered where Henry put all that gin.
    They spoke awhile