Matt nodded. The lines ran though the mottled brain like fine spaghetti.
"This fracture, it is bad." Bernetti indicated a pale shape the size of a large coin on the film.
Matt leaned forward. It was grotesque to think that this skull with the large eye sockets was Zoé. He could see the fracture clearly as a craze of black lines. "So what are you going to do?"
"I drill in here." Bernetti indicated a rotating action with his hands.
Matt felt his stomach jump.
The Italian surgeon smiled. "You leave it to me, Signor Rider, but I make you no promise. It is bad. Very bad. But if your girlfriend she know about Nurse Corbin's death, we make sure she recover. Then she tell us everything she know."
"I'm trusting you," said Matt. He had to admit that Bernetti had really come up trumps once Kappa had removed himself from the scene. He turned away from the film on the light box. The inside of Zoé's head looked just too gruesome.
A nurse entered the room and asked if she could assist. Bernetti spoke to her in his flawed English. "I get ready now. The anesthetist, he is coming. We have to be quick. In half an hour we start the operation. That is good, eh?"
"How long will it take?" asked Matt, feeling sidelined.
"I cannot possibly say, Signor Rider. The bleeding, it has started again inside the brain. But maybe I limit the damage."
"Limit the damage?" Matt felt sick. It ought to be plain black or white: either Zoé recovered, or she didn't. The possibility of a halfway stage was ... If only Zoé's parents had been at home, they could have been here within three or four hours. He'd not met them yet, and this was hardly a suitable meeting place, but in the circumstances they would have something in common to cling to.
"Your friend is on life support, but I cannot start until the anesthetist is ready. You go. You rest now, Signor Rider. The nurses, they take you to a room. When you wake, perhaps your girlfriend she will be ... fine."
Matt found Bernetti's thin smile disturbing. He couldn't even think of sleep. Not with Zoé lying in the emergency room. The Archbishop was still in a coma but at least he was holding on. Zoé might not be so lucky.
"Has anyone signed the consent form, Signor Rider?"
The consent form to give the surgeon a free hand. Dr. Kappa, the killer of Leanne Corbin, had told him he didn't need such a form. Kappa had done the world a service by ending his own life.
"Dr. Kappa couldn't contact Zoé's family, so he was going ahead anyway." He looked the Italian in the eyes. "You really are going to save her?"
"Signor Rider, I see what I can do. But ... maybe I have to switch off the signorina's life support machine. We see."
Chapter Forty-Seven
Clinic of the Little Sisters of Tourvillon
MATT SAT in an armchair in the upstairs waiting room, hardly aware that the Mother Superior was with him. Zoé's operation must have started by now. The waiting was killing him. Was Dr. Bernetti wasting time, or was the operation even more complicated than everyone originally thought?
It was no good trying to take a look. Bernetti had made it plain no one was getting into the operating room without his permission. Major Louviers even posted a GIGN man outside the door to make sure the surgeon's orders were obeyed. Now, whether he shut his eyes or kept them open, all Matt could think of was Zoé's shaved head covered in bright orange paint.
And the tubes.
The tube in her arm. The tubes to her nose, her mouth, the sound of the ventilator. The ghastly sucking noises. The whole machinery blowing and pumping, the complex process fooling Zoé's body into thinking that her heart and brain were still in control.
"Monsieur Rider, you do not look well."
Matt looked up abruptly to see the Mother Superior holding her rosary, passing the beads slowly between her fingers. "I could do with one of Sister Angela's reassuring visions," he told her.
"You must not place too much store in tales of visions, monsieur."
"It gave Sister Angela tranquility. She's ... well, she seems very peaceful."
"Sister Angela learned how to be at rest in Rome. She had a traumatic adolescence. It was good for her to get away and live with the Order in Rome. It is the only place she has known apart from the area around Tourvillon."
"So where did Sister Angela learn English?"
The Mother Superior sounded surprised. "English, monsieur? Sister Angela spoke to you in English? Impossible."
The sight of Zoé on the trolley faded. "Sister Angela must be able to speak English."
"No, monsieur. Perhaps a word here and there. Our order has always spoken French. That is why Dr. Kappa no longer wanted the Sisters to work in the clinic."
"But Sister Angela told me she overheard Dr. Kappa on the phone. He was going to kill the Pope, she said."
"Sister Angela said that? I expect she heard him speaking French."
"Would you have believed her if she'd told you?" He felt in no mood for a fight and said the words without emotion. But something seemed wrong. "She overheard the surgeon speaking on the phone in English. No, she said he was speaking his own language." He leapt to his feet. "Hell! Excuse me."
"I do not understand, monsieur."
"Sister Angela said the surgeon was speaking his own language. You're saying she only understands French and Italian. There aren't any French surgeons here. But there is an Italian. Bernetti."
"You must take no notice of anything Sister Angela says."
"I've just told Bernetti that Zoé saw Leanne's records on the computer. He says he wants her to recover so she can tell us about it. That's the last thing he wants. I'm going to see Louviers again, and you can come with me. Bernetti is planning to switch off Zoé's life support!"
*
LOUVIERS SOUNDED unimpressed when he heard Matt's theory. "Reverend Mother, I asked you to keep Monsieur Rider out of the way. You have disappointed me."
She looked offended. Matt stared in astonishment. Even GIGN captains ought to show this tall woman some awe, but her response was out of character.
"Major Louviers," she said apologetically, "this young man has misled me. I am sorry to have wasted your time."
Matt had heard enough. "Dr. Bernetti killed Leanne Corbin and he wants to kill the Pope. Now he's going to kill my girlfriend."
"Monsieur!" Louviers was on his feet. "First you tell me it is Dr. Kappa. Now it is Dr. Bernetti. Who will it be next?"
"Sister Angela heard him talking on the phone."
"Sister Angela?" The tone said enough. Louviers glanced at the Mother Superior and raised his eyes as though to suggest that both the Sister and Matt were crazy. Whatever Sister Angela had or had not seen in 1934, had marked her for life as untrustworthy. "I have to go through these before the civil authorities arrive." He pointed to the pile of bloodstained papers from Kappa's room. "Some of the contents are too sensitive for the wrong people to see."
Matt felt helpless. Maybe Alain could get up here and tell Louviers about Leanne's discoveries. Zoé had seen something on the computer that pointed to the guilty party. Quickly he told Louviers about the icons, and how Leanne Corbin had asked him to investigate the clinic.
"So," Matt concluded, "are you going to stop Bernetti operating on my girlfriend?"
"Show me the evidence, Monsieur Rider. Show me these CDs, the biopsy samples."
"I can't. I sent them all to England."
"Pah!" Louviers shook his head firmly and opened his hands in a gesture of resignation. "Monsieur, I am here to ensure the Holy Father is unharmed. I ask you for evidence but you can show me nothing. Every second we delay the surgeon, is a moment lost for your friend's chances of recovery. You understand, monsieur?"
Matt turned away. "I'll go and rest."
Like hell he would. He had the phone card ready in his pocket.
The Mother Superior got up. "I will go with Monsieur Rider. I think he is in need of counseling."
It was a genuine offer, Matt could sense it. Somehow he managed to get on with this woma
n where other mortals failed.
Louviers wagged a finger at the Mother Superior. "Stay with him and keep him away from the operating room. The senior personnel are under arrest, including Monsieur Wilcox."
"What's the charge," asked Matt.
"The charge, monsieur? How about gross medical misconduct?"
"Sounds good."
"It will do while we investigate further. Reverend Mother, think yourself lucky the Sisters are not being interrogated." The passing threat was probably nothing more than an act of bravado brought on by the fact that the Mother Superior was already leaving the room.
"Now everyone can get out of here." The dismissive wave of Louviers' hand brought a red tint to the Mother Superior's olive skin.
Matt felt frustrated. As the door closed he said, "I still think Bernetti is going to kill Zoé."
The reply from the Mother Superior was unexpected. "I did not want the Major to know my thoughts, but I believe you are right, monsieur. Quick, we will go down to the operating room and try to stop Dr. Bernetti."
Chapter Forty-Eight
Clinic of the Little Sisters of Tourvillon
MATT FOUND the way to the operating room blocked by one of Louviers' men holding an MP5 submachine gun. He kicked out past the guard, smashing his foot against the door. "Open up!"
The guard used the butt of the gun to hit Matt to one side. "Dr. Bernetti is in there," he retorted. "All outside contact is forbidden."
"I'm the patient's friend."
"Major Louviers says entry is absolutely prohibited."
As Matt got to his feet he looked carefully at the heavy doors. Even without the armed guard to stop him they were not going to give way easily.
"We will go." The Mother Superior caught hold of Matt's arm "We must not put too much faith in something Sister Angela said, monsieur. Sister Angela is a lovely member of our little community, but she may not always be reliable. I tell you this in the greatest confidence of course."
The woman seemed to have thrown in the towel rather easily. She'd done the same in front of Major Louviers, but on that occasion it had clearly been an act. Perhaps she was being devious again.
Louviers' man watched suspiciously but did nothing. Matt lowered his voice as they walked away from the double doors. "Leanne Corbin thought that there was something bad going on here."
"I did not want to say it in front of the Major, but I believe Dr. Kappa has been raising huge funds for his secret organization. I should have told the Archbishop of my suspicions."
"Why didn't you?"
"I was afraid he might cancel the visit of the Holy Father. It is the first time a Vicar of Christ has come to our humble site. I was wrong not to say anything. Very wrong."
"I need to look at the computer records."
"MedicStat. If we can find a terminal perhaps I can get the program to run. I sometimes help out here." This tall woman in white appeared remarkably down-to-earth. She raised a finger. "If Monsieur Wilcox is under arrest, we can safely use his room. What do you want to see?"
"Zoé turned up something suspicious in Leanne Corbin's records in the MedicStat program."
The Mother Superior no longer sounded so sure. "It may not be ethical. I know how to use the program, but I certainly do not have authority to read any of the confidential files."
Matt dared put a hand on the white shoulder. "You worry too much."
Twenty seconds later they opened the door to Maxwell's spacious office where the computer was already up and running. The monitor glowed with a screensaver of a large bird swooping over the Avignon countryside. But did a non-worldly woman really have a clue how one of these things worked?
"Are you sure you know how to get into the patients' records?"
"Sometimes I have helped in the office using MedicStat for ordering medical supplies. It is simple to work with, monsieur. See?"
Slender fingers typed expertly on the keys.
The Mother Superior's eyes sparkled. "We have a computer at the Convent. I write stories and music for our devotions. You appear surprised that I know how to use such a device."
He shook his head. "Perhaps a little."
The menu flashed on the screen. "What are we looking for, monsieur?"
"I want everything you can find on Leanne Corbin."
"I know the code." The screen changed. "There, monsieur."
Matt leaned forward. These were details of Leanne's training and previous employment. If Zoé had turned up nothing more interesting than this while waiting for Kappa to come, she would not have got so excited. So what had she noticed?
"You want me to go to the next page, monsieur?" The Mother Superior in her white habit looked out of place at the sharp end of modern technology.
"Go on." Matt held his breath.
"Ah, you see, here are the details of poor Leanne's death. I think perhaps this is confidential."
"It's all confidential. That's why we're looking."
The Mother Superior seemed shocked at this response. "You cannot expect me to condone the examination of personal information."
"We're only having a quick look." He'd not expected such a moral attitude. This woman was too upright to be mixed up in PI work. Any moment now she'd decide to log off.
"There!" He touched the screen and swore in French. "Bernetti told Alain Corbin that Dr. Kappa took Leanne into intensive care. He didn't, Bernetti did it himself. See? Kappa wasn't even present according to these records. Merde!"
The obscenity failed to bring a trace of redness to the Mother Superior's dark cheeks. "I have often thought that the man conceals guilt. Will Major Louviers believe us now?"
Matt considered their position. At least it was "us". Louviers seemed to have his mind set on one course only -- protecting the Pope no matter what happened to anyone else. He could hardly be blamed for that. "I'm going to phone Alain Corbin."
"I do not think we should remain in this office, monsieur."
Matt tried not to smile. "I do this sort of thing for a living." He picked up the phone. "Go on down to the operating room. Please."
"I will shut the door behind me. You make me feel almost ... almost like a rebellious convent girl again, monsieur." The Mother Superior walked slowly and thoughtfully from the room. She was probably still fretting about the ethics of looking at someone's personal records.
The Corbins' phone rang for a long time, the tone jabbing its monotonous beep into his ear. "Come on, Alain, come on!"
"Oui?"
"Alain, this is Matt Rider. Zoé has had a serious accident. I want you to think back to when Leanne brought back the papers and CDs."
"She found them in the corridor." Alain sounded as though he had been asleep. "She was going to search someone's room, but then she died."
"Was it Dr. Bernetti's room?"
Even over the phone Matt imagined he could see the bushy moustache and the shrug of the huge shoulders. "It is not important."
"Alain, it's very important. Do you still have anything she brought home? Anything?"
Again the hesitation. "I thought I had burned the lot, but this evening I found some lists of saints names, and accounts in U.S. dollars. I will burn them if you like. I do not want Leanne's name dragged through the dirt for theft."
"No, Alain, listen!" Matt felt panicky; afraid the Frenchman would put the phone down and not answer it again. "Kappa's dead. I think Bernetti did it. And I think Bernetti killed Leanne."
"Why do you say such a thing?"
"Bernetti asked you if Leanne brought anything home. I can't discuss it now, but I want you to bring those papers here."
Alain sounded uncertain. "Tonight?"
"Yes, tonight. Bernetti is going to operate on Zoé. Remember how he caught her looking at the computer? We need evidence before anyone will believe us."
"Bernetti would not dare kill Zoé. The police will find out."
"A surgeon could kill anyone during an operation, especially if it's a difficult one. Bring those papers and come t
o..."
"Yes?"
There were still problems. "The GIGN have got this site covered -- and they're good. Too good. They'll not let you through the gate."
"Maybe my brother will know what to do."
"That's it. Use your brother's clothes. Dress as a priest. Say you've come to give Zoé the last rites. Say anything as long as it gets you through the gates."
"But I have no car."
"Then call a taxi. This is urgent. Bernetti has been with Zoé for a long time, and he's locked the doors to the operating room."
Alain sounded much more coherent now. "I will come, mon ami. I will do my best for Leanne, and for Zoé."
Matt replaced the phone. Bernetti had probably killed Kappa, certainly poisoned Archbishop Valdieri, and poisoned Leanne with something deadly while in intensive care. This man now had Zoé's life in his hands.
*
LOUVIERS REPLACED the handset. Using his radio he called up his man on the gate. "Paul? In about thirty minutes, you'll be getting a visit from a priest. He'll be in a taxi. The instant he arrives I want him brought to me at the clinic front desk. Okay?"
"Right, Major."
"He'll have some papers with him. I want them as well, and no slip-ups."
"Leave it to me, Major."
Louviers switched off the radio. Dress as a priest? There was no doubt about it, for a private investigator that Englishman was smart.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Clinic of the Little Sisters of Tourvillon
MATT LOOKED at his watch. He couldn't afford to wait for Alain. Maybe Bernetti was already drilling into Zoé's skull. Through the office window he could see the landing-lights of a helicopter sweep over the ground behind the clinic. What on earth did the patients think about such antics at this time of night?
"Monsieur Rider." The Mother Superior made him jump as she came back into Wilcox's room.
"Any luck?"
"The guard will not let me in, monsieur. And the nurses with Doctor Bernetti will not help. They say there are serious complications with the operation."
Matt caught her by the arm. "I'm going to smash the door in." He'd broken down a few doors in his time.
"Be careful, Monsieur Rider, the guard has a gun. I will go with you. Maybe I can help."
That was all he needed -- the Mother Superior trying to take on the GIGN. The guard looked at them warily from the end of the long corridor, where he stood in front of the double doors leading to the operating room.