"I'm sure you're right. But you're the one making those claims. We're investigating the cause or causes of the fires. When we've concluded our investigation we'll send our report to our superiors, and they will make it public if they believe what we've found is of public interest."

"I'm not asking you to betray your boss."

'Ana, I understand what you're asking me, and the answer is no. I'm sorry."

Ana bit her lip in disappointment and got up from the table without finishing her cappuccino.

"Well, what're you gonna do?" She shrugged, then smiled. 'Anyway, if I discover something, is it all right if I call you?"

"Sure, call whenever you like."

The young woman smiled again and strode purposefully from the hotel cafe. Sofia wondered where she was headed. Her cell phone rang, and when she heard the voice of Padre Yves she almost laughed out loud.

"We were just talking about you," she said.

"Who?"

'Ana Jimenez and I."

"Oh! The reporter. She's charming, and very sharp, eh? She's investigating the fires in the cathedral, just like you, it seems. She told me that your boss, Marco, is a friend of her brother, Spain's representative to Europol in Italy."

"That's right. Santiago Jimenez is a friend of Marco and all of us. He's a good person and a total professional."

"Yes, yes, so it appears. But the reason for my call, Dottoressa Galloni, is that the cardinal asked me to phone you. He'd like to invite you and Signor Valoni to a reception."

'A reception?"

"Yes, for a committee of Catholic scientists that comes to Turin periodically to examine the shroud. They make sure it's maintained in good condition. Dr. Bolard is their chairman. Whenever they come, the cardinal has a reception for them-not too many people, thirty or forty at the most-and he'd like you to come. Signor Valoni had mentioned that he'd like to meet these scientists, and now the opportunity has presented itself."

"And I'm invited too?"

"Yes, of course, dottoressa, His Eminence expressly asked that you be invited. Day after tomorrow, at the cardinal's residence, at seven. We are also expecting a number of businessmen who work with us in maintaining the cathedral, the mayor, representatives of the regional government, and perhaps Monsignor Aubry, aide to the interim Vatican Under-Secretary of State, and His Eminence Cardinal Visier, in charge of Vatican finance."

'All right, padre. Thank you very much for the invitation."

"Our pleasure, Dottoressa Galloni."

Marco was in a foul mood. He'd spent most of the day in the tunnels under Turin. The archaeological logs showed that some of them had been made in the first centuries a.d. Many of them dated back to the sixteenth century, others to the eighteenth, and there were even some that Mussolini had widened along certain stretches. Going through them was hard, treacherous work. There was a whole other Turin under the ground-in fact, several Turins: the old territory of the city-state conquered by Rome; the Turin besieged by Hannibal; the Turin invaded by the Lombards; and then finally the city that came under the rule of the House of Savoy. It was a place in which history and fantasy intermingled constantly, at every footstep.

Comandante Colombaria had been patient and helpful-to a point. That point came when Marco tried to persuade him to venture down a tunnel in bad condition or to tear down part of a wall to see whether there was a passage hidden behind it that led in some other direction.

"My orders are to guide you through the tunnels, Signor Valoni, and I won't endanger your life or my men's unnecessarily by going down tunnels that aren't on the maps or that could collapse. And I'm not authorized to break through the walls. I'm sorry," the comandante said stiffly.

But the one who was sorry was Marco, who by the end of the day had the feeling he'd made the trip through the underground tunnels of Turin for nothing.

Giuseppe tried to provide some perspective, without much success. "Oh, come on, get over it, Marco. Comandante Colombaria was right. He was just following orders. It would've been crazy to start hammering away at the walls like coal miners, for God's sake."

Sofia's attempt didn't fare much better. "Marco, what you want to do is only possible if the Ministry of Culture, working with the Turin Archaeological Council, puts a team of archaeologists and technicians at your disposal to excavate more tunnels. But you can't expect to just walk in and hammer away wherever you have a hunch there might be a hidden tunnel. I mean, it's not going to happen. You're not being logical."

"If we don't try we'll never know whether there's something there or not," he fumed.

"So talk to the minister and-"

"One of these days the minister is going to tell me where to stuff my hunches. He's getting a little tired of me and the shroud case."

"Well, I've got some news that might cheer you up," Sofia ventured. "The cardinal has invited us to a reception day after tomorrow."

'A reception? And who's 'us'?"

"Us is you and me. Padre Yves called me. That committee of scientists in charge of keeping the shroud in good shape is in Turin, and the cardinal always has a reception for them. Every important figure in the city associated with the cathedral will be there. Apparently you showed some interest in meeting these scientists, so he's invited you."

"I'm really not in the mood for parties. I'd rather talk to them under other circumstances-like, I don't know, in the cathedral, while they're examining the shroud. We never got anywhere running down the names and organizations on the lists the cardinal supplied. But this is what there is, eh? So we'll go. I'll send my suit out to be ironed. And you, Giuseppe, what've you got?"

"The chief here hasn't got enough men-or any men, really-for the team we need. He said he'd do what he can when the time comes. I spoke to Europol like you told me, and they should be able to help us out with two or three men. So you'll have to talk to Rome for the others."

"I don't want men from Rome. I'd rather keep it within the team. Which of ours can come?"

"The department is snowed under, boss," Giuseppe said. "There's just nobody available, unless somebody stops what they're doing, if they can, and you bring them in when the operation gets going."

"That's what I'd rather do. I'd feel better with our own people on the tail. We'll take what the carabinieri here can give us, and then the rest of us will play cop for a while."

"I thought that's what we were," Giuseppe said sarcastically.

"You and I are, but Sofia's not, or Antonino, or Minerva."

"You mean they're going to tail the guy?"

"We're all going to do whatever it takes, is that clear?"

"Clear as a bell, chief, clear as a bell. So, if that's it, I'm supposed to have dinner with a friend of mine in the carabinieri, a good guy who's willing to help us out He'll be here in like half an hour. Maybe you guys could have a drink with us before we leave?"

"Sure, count me in," said Sofia.

"All right," said Marco, "I'll go up and shower and be back down. What're your plans, dottoressa?"

"I don't have any-if you want, you and I can have dinner around here."

"Great. Maybe that'll improve my mood."