light on the roof. Traffic instantly slowed on the busy road to allow him to pull out.
De Luca turned off the blue light and reached out and removed it from the Lancia’s roof as they approached the mesh gates to the airfield. The gates were locked as De Luca had expected them to be. He stopped the Lancia on the small, dirt, pull off area and looked around.
“There’s nothing here,” Ferrara said.
De Luca shook his head.
“It’s been derelict and up for sale for years,” De Luca noticed the heavy chain and padlock on the gate, “That’s new though,” he said pointing out of the windscreen. He opened the driver’s door and got out of the car slowly. He examined the heavy, brass padlock attached to the chain.
“Definitely new,” he said. He looked through the gates, “There are tyre marks on the grass. More than one vehicle and recent.”
De Luca bent forward with his knees far apart and cupped his hands between his legs.
“Come on.”
“What sir?”
“You’re going over the fence. I’ll give you a boost.”
Ferrara scrabbled over the gate and dropped down onto the soft grass on the other side. De Luca reached into his pocket and withdrew a leatherman tool and tossed it over the fence. Ferrara caught it.
“You’ll find pliers on that. Cut some of those clips and let me in.”
Ferrara cut through the clips holding the mesh panels taut. When he had done four he took handfuls of the mesh and lifted up the fence with all his might. De Luca was now able to scramble under the fence. He stood upright and brushed dirt from his palms.
“Good work,” he said patting Ferrara on the back, “Now let’s have a look around.”
They searched around the buildings. De Luca spotted another tyre track in some mud which appeared to match those Ferrara had already photographed.
“Photograph this,” the inspector said, “See if it’s a match.”
Ferrara took a shot from every angle.
“Send that through to Ezio as well. Tell him to get back to us ASAP and find out who is the agent for this site. I want to know who has been in and out of here recently. Someone bought a new padlock for that gate.”
De Luca left Ferrara to make his phone call while he explored the upstairs of the main building. He found the door to the main building heavily fortified. He went back downstairs. His assistant had just finished on the phone.
“The door upstairs has a new lock as well.”
“The Centauro letting agency is dealing with this site.”
“Do we have their details?”
“Ezio is looking into them as we speak.”
“Very well. We may need to pay them a visit. Now let’s check out that hangar.”
The main hangar was empty. In the corner against the wall was a large dustbin and a brush. De Luca tipped the dustbin up and emptied it’s contents onto the floor. He bent down and sifted through the rubbish with his pen, then stood up.
“Nothing.”
He glanced around the hangar. Then conceded that there were no more clues. They were just crawling back under the fence when De Luca’s mobile began ringing in his pocket. He looked at the caller display. It was Sonnenburg.
“Commandant,” De Luca said answering the phone.
“Cesare that police car you’re looking for has turned up.”
De Luca turned to look at Ferrara.
“Where?”
“Here. At the Vatican.”
CHAPTER TEN
Natalie, Dennis, Hutchinson and their guide Luigi Alberto all squeezed through the airport style scanners and into St Peter’s square to join the hundreds of tourists already there. They had spent the morning exploring ancient Rome and had left, in what was Alberto’s opinion, the best for last. Natalie smiled and pointed. They all turned to see the basilica of St Peter’s church towering above the square.
“Now that is a sight,” Hutchinson said, “I’ve always wanted to see it.”
“Vatican city is an independent state created by the Lateran treaty of 11 Feb 1929 which was signed by Pope Pius XI, the holy see and the Italian government. It covers an area of 108 acres on the hill west of the Tiber river. It is separated from the rest of Rome by high walls on all sides except at the Piazza of St Peter. Over one thousand people live within these walls. The Vatican issues its own coins, postage stamps and has its own postal service. The head of state is his holiness Pope Benedict XVI. He is the 265 Pope of the Roman catholic church. He has full legislative and judicial powers with freedom under the Lateran