front of the church and pulled up under a tree. A carabinieri Alfa Romeo was parked ahead also under the trees. Dennis and Bauer got out of the Lancia and headed towards them.
“Stay behind me,” Bauer said unclipping his gun holster on his belt and resting his hand on his gun.
Dennis could see the officers moving about inside the car. One of them suddenly glanced in the door mirror and saw the Austrian and the journalist approaching. Both doors on the police car opened and two uniformed officers stepped out.
“Can we help you?”
Bauer released his grip on his gun and showed them his I.D.
“They’ve been trying to radio you from the Vatican,” he said, “They said they’d lost contact with you. Do you have a problem with your radios?”
The two officers looked guiltily at each other. Dennis peered into the police car. There was a small portable television on the seat. On the nine inch screen were three men in suits in front of an empty stadium talking. Dennis reached in and took the television out and showed it to Bauer.
“Tonight’s game?” Dennis asked.
Bauer frowned at them.
“We turned the car radio down to hear the commentary,” one of the officers said.
“And your lapel radios?”
“Switched off,” the other officer replied.
“What are your names?”
“Officer’s Bossano and Angelo sir. Will you be reporting this matter?”
“Probably.”
For the first time since arriving Bauer now looked at the church. He noted the large double doors were closed.
“Is the church closed?” he asked the carabinieri officers.
“Yes inspector,” Bossano replied.
“When was this?”
“Possibly half an hour ago Inspector.”
“You saw it close. The doors were open before then?”
“Oh yes. Like I said it was about thirty minutes ago.”
Bossano looked at his colleague for approval. Angelo nodded.
“The priests closed the doors when, presumably, the last visitors left.”
Bauer looked at his watch. It was just after seven o’clock.
“What time does it usually close?”
“Usually at seven thirty.”
Bauer showed him his watch.
“Yes sir but sometimes the church does and has closed suddenly and without warning before. All churches in Rome have been known to do this.”
Bauer was concentrating on the church still.
“And you definitely saw the priests close the doors?”
“Yes sir.”
Bauer continued watching the church for another minute.
“Well it does appear to be quiet.”
“Yes Inspector.”
“Have you noticed anything else unusual?”
“No.”
“How long has that Hummer been parked there?” Dennis asked.
“I beg your pardon signori.”
They all turned to look in the direction Dennis was pointing.
“At the far end of the church near the wall there is a black Hummer. How long has it been there?”
“I don’t know signori.”
“You didn’t notice it arrive?” Bauer intervened.
“No.”
“It’s definitely not a car a priest would drive,” Dennis said.
“You. What was your name again?” Bauer pointed at the quieter of the two policemen.
“Antonio Angelo Inspector.”
“Angelo you stay here. Bossano you come with us. Mr Dennis stay at the back please. We’ll check that Hummer out and have a quick look around the church before we disturb the priests.”
They’d only gone a few paces when Bauer turned back.
“And Angelo….”
“Yes sir?”
“Turn that television off.”
It took them less than a minute to reach the Hummer. Reluctant to set off any alarms Dennis peered into the blacked out windows. They were too dark to see anything inside. Dennis saw a small torch on Bossano’s belt.
“Can I use that?”
Bossano clicked it on and handed it over. Dennis shone the torch in the windows but the beam of light only reflected back. Dennis put the slender torch between his teeth, pressed one hand against the driver’s side door and pulled gently on the door handle. It was locked.
“Excuse me,” Bossano said making Dennis look around.
“This vehicle has a proximity locking device that is not activated by a normal key. The owner will have a smart key with a transducer that unlocks the vehicle when the device is anywhere within two metres of the car. As you can see there is no door lock on this vehicle.”
“Dennis shone the torch again just to convince himself. He circled the vehicle slowly while the other two watched. The radio on Bossano’s lapel suddenly crackled into life. A split second later they heard the distant sound of an explosion. They all turned their attention towards the Vatican two and a half miles across Rome. A ball of orange fire was ascending into the darkening sky. It slowly changed into a black cloud.
“Inspector they’re saying it was a car bomb somewhere near the Vatican..”
Bauer nodded.
They all looked towards the church as the sound of muffled machine gun chatter came from within.