The Caravaggio Conspiracy by Walter Ellis

between two papacies my father’s primary, indeed sole loyalty, is to the College of Cardinals.’
    ‘But there are hundreds of cardinals, from all over the world, most of whom he’s never met. How can he be loyal to all of them?’
    ‘It’s an institutional loyalty, stupid. It works through the Camerlengo.’
    ‘Cardinal Bosani?’
    ‘Yes, but …’
    ‘And what if the Camerlengo is pursuing his own agenda?’
    Maya bristled. ‘Don’t be ridiculous!’
    Dempsey’s eyes darted round the tables next to them, where various combinations of Italians and lesser races were enjoying their lunch. ‘Keep your voice down,’ he said. ‘Don’t you know, the Curia’s agents are everywhere?’
    This stopped her in her tracks. Then she caught the look in his eyes and the tension dissolved in a flash. ‘Oh!’ she said. ‘I get it. You are making fun of me.’
    ‘Maybe I am and maybe I’m not,’ he said. ‘It’s just that my uncle has got the crazy idea that Cardinal Bosani wants a pro-European, anti-Muslim Pope. He thinks there’s a faction in the Curia out to provoke a confrontation with Islam.’
    ‘What on earth for?’ She looked dubious.
    ‘A Catholic revival, I suppose. Just what we need in these troubled times.’
    Maya leaned in, sensing the antipathy. ‘Bosani is not my favourite cardinal. He’s a smooth-talking bully with an over-inflated sense of his own importance. But he’s not a madman. No one who wanted war in Europe could ever earn the confidence of two popes. The idea that he could rig the vote in favour of his own candidate is preposterous. For a start, it ignores the fact that most of the cardinals due here next week have all sorts of ideas about who would do the best job. Take it from me, all Cardinal Bosani wants is a pope who stands up for the faith in troubled times. Is that so too much to ask?’
    ‘I suppose not,’ said Dempsey, appearing to accept the logic of her argument. ‘I think maybe my uncle’s just a bit on edge because there aren’t any Jesuits in the race. Even so, if you hear anything, you might let me know … just to put his mind at rest.’
    ‘He sounds a bit paranoid, if you don’t mind my saying so.’
    ‘Aren’t they all?’ he said. ‘More to the point, are you still on for a film tonight? Only, Rome’s full of tourists and I’d need to book in advance.’
    She looked at him and her face softened. He was a hard man to say no to. ‘I’m not sure if the Irish and the Swiss were ever made to get along,’ she said. ‘But I’ll give it a go … for now. Call it an experiment.’
    ‘Excellent,’ he said. ‘I’ll pick you up at seven-thirty. Dress informal.’

9 *
    Conclave minus 14
     
    Dempsey had never even heard of the Galleria Doria Pamphilj until his uncle gave him a free ticket courtesy of the Rome tourist office.
    ‘Take my word for it,’ O’Malley said. ‘There’s no finer gallery in Rome. What’s more, this is no ordinary ticket. It grants you admission for an hour after the gallery has officially closed, so you should have the place almost to yourself. A rare privilege.’
    ‘Do you get upgraded on flights home as well?’ Dempsey asked, impressed despite himself.
    ‘Matter of fact, I do,’ the Father General replied. ‘But don’t tell anyone.’
    Next day, Dempsey spent eight straight hours in the National Library on the Viale Castro Pretorio, researching material for his PhD. It turned out to be a rather one-sided quest. While there were hundreds of letters and documents relating to Garibaldi and King Victor Emmanuel, the papers of Pope Pius IX were mostly locked away in the Vatican Library. He did, though, find one quotation from Pius – the last pontiff to reign as sovereign of the Papal States – that struck him as relevant to present-day tensions in Italy. The Jews, His Holiness said in a speech in 1871, were ‘dogs’, and there were too many of these ‘dogs’ in Rome. ‘We hear them howling in the streets. They disturb