The next step was the drive against Italy during the wee hours.
There was going to be fewer guards. Attention would be directed to something else than the security of the museum during the evening. Night Rounds was going to be easy to maneuver. The mobilization after the alarm was going to be manageable.
The plan was simple, it was going to be easy to take the Four-Leaf Clover from its pedestal.
*
”Watch this.”
Ludwig directed the image of the cathedral so that August would see.
”How is this façade different from other churches in Florence and Rome, and almost all of Italy for that matter?”
August put his index finger to his mouth. Shook his head.
Ludwig continued.
”Although it´s a Tuscan style, it's not Baroque, not Renaissance and not Romanesque. This is nothing more than a Gothic style on this facade and it is extremely rare in Italy, even if it exists in some places in an Italian style.”
”Out with it, Ludwig.”
”My point is that Giorgio Vasari, he was the Renaissance painter and biographer who coined the term Gothic art. I remember it from my first semester in the history of the university. Even if you do not think about it, it´s initially a rather derogatory term. Gothic art, meant Vasari, was such that came from the German and the forests in the north. Possibly from France also. But above all Gothic meant something that was unpleasant, unclassical and particularly barbaric. As was with the Goths who invaded the Roman Empire in the 400's.”
”So you mean to say that Barbarian house is Siena Cathedral? That´s a very strange name for a church.”
”If that´s the case. But there are some things I don´t understand”, said Ludwig, more enthusiastic than he thought he would be.
But I knew him, he was just happy to be himself again, although he realized that it would only be for a few measly minutes.
Ludwig continued.
”Look at the line that says Listen to the conversation between the law-giver and the receiver. Then insert the most common symbols in the Four-Leaf Clover. The conversation is probably some sort of expression that is in the Siena Cathedral, but then it says the you should insert something, which is probably a code, in something called the Four-Leaf Clover, that I don´t understand. What is the Four-Leaf Clover? Is it the same thing as Victoria wrote about in her notes, that about Caravaggio and the light?”
”Yes, Ludwig, it's the same Four-Leaf Clover as Victoria writes about. But we have a problem there. It seems that we need the Four-Leaf Clover to continue this search. The question is if Victoria had found out where the Four-Leaf Clover is.”
”Have you any idea where it might be?”
”No, and in fact I have not the faintest idea. It was meant to have been taken out of Rome with Thoth´s Brotherhood´s corpus and these pamphlets but something happened along the way. It is believed that it was stolen. It´s not listed in any probate, auction list or anything written since the 1600s.”
”It seems that Victoria, despite your failure when you were looking for the Theatre many years ago, finally found out where it was. She writes about the Four-Leaf Clover in her diary.”
August remembered the penultimate note on 14 December. He said.
”I see no other possibility than that we go to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna tomorrow and talk to Loretta. Hopefully she knows something about the whole thing.”
Ludwig shuddered. He hadn´t had any thought that his work would lead him away from the castle and his hideout. He wasn´t very keen on strutting around in big cities like Vienna, even though he was as late as the day before only wanted in Sweden.
He dared not even think about what would happen if August found out his secret.
August continued.
”It would be easier for me if you came with.”
August looked kindly on Ludwig, as he asked a question he thought Ludwig would appreciate.
”Do you want to go to Vienna?”
Ludwig quickly realized that August would think it was strange if he did not accept the proposal. He understood that in August's eyes, he had no reason not to do it.
In order not to seem suspicious Ludwig accepted the proposal reluctantly. He thought that they would soon be back at the castle.
*
Vienna
May 15
Gruppeninspektor Alexander Wagner solved9 a ticket to the Belvedere Palace in the middle of Vienna. With heavy steps he went to the hall with Egon Schiele paintings.
When a couple got up from a bench he sat down and stared straight ahead. Some visitors whispered next to him.
They saw the resemblance between him and a self-portrait of the artist.
Wagner saw a painting by Egon Schiele: The Death and the Maiden.
The woman embraced Death. Death kissed her on the hair and held a hand to her head.
Death had dark, square eyes that were as empty as the eyes of a mannequin staring out the window of a deserted street.
23
Rome
Year 1599
The General Inquisitor Bellarmine looked at the crowd that formed outside Castel Sant'Angelo near the Tiber River and Ponte Sant'Angelo. Under his arm he had his notebook Theatrum Diabolus. If he had known that it would help Ludwig a few hundred years later, he had probably burned it on his deathbed, his quest was personal and he did not want to leave it to someone else.
Bellarmine still held a thumb on the page where he just completed the painting of Mount Sinai, where Thoth and Moses met, as if he still wanted to feel the scene.
Some in the crowd recognized him. They shouted with their hand in front of their mouth that he should release the Nolan. According to them, Giordano Bruno was dangerous. Only God knew what he would do if he was imprisoned for a long time. The General Inquisitor´s boldness was not desired, especially not now, when Rome was in the condition it was.
In the castle he met Francesco Pulzone, a Dominican from the Inquisition, who was to read out the charges against the Nolan. While one of the guards unlocked the door to the cell Francesco whispered.
”Something tells me that the Nolan will not ask for mercy.”
Francesco Pulzone had no idea how right he was, more than he probably wanted.
You never forgot the first time you saw the Nolan. It had Bellarmine´s allies in Paris and London all said.
His cell was ample but without windows. It was quickly filled by a half-dozen guards, Francesco and Bellarmine. A sudden discomfort affected everyone who walked into the cell. They felt weak. It felt like a snake coiled under the skin on them.
Giordano Bruno sat motionless on his haunches in the middle of the cell. He had a dark cap on and a hood over his head. The arms were tied behind his back. The legs were tied with strings tight across his skin. The head was directed to the stone floor.
Francesco read out the charges.
”Giordano Bruno of Nola. You are accused by the Holy Inquisition of the following serious crimes. You have blasphemed the Trinity, transubstantiation, saints’ works and relics, the sinlessness of Christ ...”
When Francesco pronounced sinlessness the Nolan began to move his head up from the floor. It was as if an Indian whistled up the cobra out of the basket. Francesco fell silent.
Everyone in the cell followed him.
The prisoner towered over the bunch. Exposed his face.
Francesco and Bellarmine gaped.
The guards looked at Giordano Bruno with horror. The prisoner fixed them with his gaze. He had black eyes that were close to the eyebrows. They saw a crouching tiger, a hidden dragon.
Francesco squeezed out the words. ”Giordano Bruno of Nola. How do you plead to these accusations?”
There was silence for several minutes. The men fidgeted. They had a hard time not thinking about the Nolan´s allegedly diabolical power drawn from the depths of the mysterious Theatre. Not after that face. The snake wriggled forward. Became greater under the skin on them.
; The Nolan took a deep breath. When he breathed out all the candles flickered in the room; then some extinguished. He leaned forward.
The hood fell over his head. The Nolan lay down on the floor. Uttered not a word.
All but Bellarmine ran out of the cell. The General Inquisitor stood with an amazed gaze. Without thinking about how dangerous it was, he approached the prisoner. Smelled him. Looked at his arms, hands and feet. Listened to his breath.
He suddenly felt strong, for a moment, he felt that it was he who was the snake-charmer that had lulled the cobra. Bellarmine would soon learn how wrong he was.
Faint cries from the crowd outside penetrated the cell.
They screamed about the dangerous beast. Bellarmine was convinced. In the Theatre. He felt envy struck over him. Warm waves washing over his chest. In the Theatre.
The Nolan had met God in the Theatre.
Bellarmine heard the warning shouts in the backhead10. All clerics, all lay people, all who had encountered the Nolan. They said he should be wary of the Nolan. But Bellarmine was determined and stubborn. There was no turning back now. He was going to the Theatre at all costs. He would meet God and discover the secret of Creation.
24
The Castle Ruotkerspurch, Riegersburg
June 14
Ludwig had woken up several times during the night, nervous about what would happen in Vienna. I remember that he always had a hard time sleeping when his routine the next day would be broken by any means. But it had gotten better in recent years, until his life was turned upside down last January.
In the morning August and Ludwig went down the hill from the castle with a light pack. Ludwig had been requested by August to bring both laptop and camera, just in case they needed it. The driver had brought around the car.
While they went to Vienna Ludwig thought how he would ask for his salary. During the night, he had realized how dangerous it was to go to Vienna. It was time to change the hiding place, the castle had been perfect but now it was time to move on.
A few hours later they were in Vienna. The car stopped outside the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Babenbergerstrasse. They went out and waited in one of the museum's many halls. A stressed Loretta met up.
She was in her forties. She was Italian-German, since long the women in her family were brunettes which she was. She had glasses and an old trouser suit that had faded slightly in color. August presented Ludwig as one his employees. They went to her office. Although Loretta was stressed, it was easy to see that she liked August.
Loretta sat behind her desk. Ludwig and August sat in armchairs opposite. August and Loretta looked at each other as one look at each other when an old mutual friend has passed away. No words were needed. The sorrow was there to share. Eventually August turned away and took up his notebook.
”I wonder if you can help me, Loretta”, said August in English so that Ludwig would understand.
He pushed the book to her. Beat up the right side.
”Can you read these diary entries that Victoria wrote?”
Loretta put it in front of him. Read for a minute. Looked up tearfully.
August said.
”I am particularly interested in the last entry. The first sentence.”
January 9
Despite Loretta´s warnings - could it really be them? I must try, it is soon the summer solstice.
”To my knowledge, we know no other Loretta than you, Loretta. Why did you warn her?”
Loretta shook her head.
”I don´t know.”
”Think now, Loretta.”
”The only thing I can think of was that I did on a few occasions say that we had had some attempted theft of the Sapphire Box of Edfu and it happened that it went around some shady people here at the museum.”
”Who were they?”
”That said, it was just general warnings, I would not call it warnings really. Not more than asking someone to drive carefully or call someone when you're on your way home through a dark park. The shady people were someone that the guards had noticed but it turned out that there was never any reason to suspect anything.”
August got back the notebook. Said after a while.
”Did you see her much the last time, Loretta?”
Loretta suddenly felt uncomfortable in her chair. She stood up to take coffee from a coffee maker next to her desk. Unable to meet August's gaze. Didn´t want to trespass Victoria's confidence.
”Why do you ask?” She said with her back against August.
Loretta had great difficulties to lie. Especially to her friends. Loretta turned around.
”Did you meet her or not?”
”Yes, she spent some time here at the museum.”
”What was she doing here?”
”But August, what are you looking for?”
August's eyes narrowed. He did not raise his voice, but lowered it slightly. The words were sharp.
”What I am looking for? My wife of 40 years has been murdered. The only person on this earth I ever loved. Do I need to explain it to you?”
August's words cut to the heart of Loretta. She didn´t want to lie to him. Were unable to hold back. She knew, just like many others had experienced through the years, he was too sharp to not understand that she was hiding something.
”Okay, okay, August. I apologize. She was here to study the Sapphire Box.”
”Why?”
”She thought the Sapphire Box was the Four-Leaf Clover.”
August's suspicions were confirmed.
”She was looking therefore for the Theatre.”
Loretta nodded.
”But why ... after all this long time. Why didn´t she tell me?”
”August”, Loretta reached out to take August's hand. He let her. ”This is really hard to say but”, Loretta sniffled. Her voice trembled, ”but Victoria was sick. Very sick.”
”What?”
”Victoria didn´t think want me to say anything, but about a year ago, she was told that she had a very serious form of cancer. She was dying. She didn´t have much time left.”
August released Loretta's hand.
”In pure desperation, I suppose, but, yes, she had decided that if she could just get to the Theatre, well, you know the myths August as well as anyone else.”
August was silent. Even though she was dead, he got depressed that she had a terminal illness. He felt helpless.
”That´s why she couldn´t say to you that she was looking for the Theatre. Victoria told me she had practiced several times to break it to you but then she had been forced to reveal her illness to you. How hard she tried, she didn´t have the heart to do it. She knew you would suffer so much, she was not able to expose you to it.”
A colleague knocked on the door. Loretta was short in the call. Told him to close the door behind him.
When her colleague left August said.
”You don´t think her death had something to do with her examining the Sapphire Box?”
”No, not really. That said, the suspicions we had against those who were here at the same time turned out to be baseless.”
”Do you think Victoria was right, that the Sapphire Box of Edfu is the old Four-Leaf Clover?”
”I don´t know but she seemed very confident when I spoke to her about it.”
August changed his tone. He spoke clearly. Stared into Loretta's eyes. The corners of his mouth dropped.
”I want to examine it, Loretta.”
”It´s impossible, August.”
”Nothing is impossible, Loretta. Especially not when the impossible is behind a booth that you can unlock.”
Loretta shook her head firmly.
”No, August. Even before we had the attempted theft in recent times was the granting of research of the Sapphire Box extremely restrictive because of its value and age, you know.”
”You're the damn curator, Loretta.”
”It would look really bad, August. I don´t see the point either. I'm so ter
ribly sorry, August, but it is absolutely impossible.”
”Name your price.”
Loretta looked injured.
”August. Stop it.”
Loretta knew very well how stubborn August could be.
”1 million, 2, 100 million. For me it doesn´t make any difference, Loretta.”
”August, you know I would grant you this for free if I could. No money in the world is worth more than the friendship that exists between me and Victoria and you. But I simply can´t.”
August knew it was the end. Loretta looked at him and said.
”Drop the Theatre, August. Even though Victoria tried and I understand that you want to follow in her footsteps. It will be impossible to find it and if you're unlikely to do it, it is far from certain that all its great myths are true.”
August replied low.
”If Victoria felt that she had good reason to look for it and believe in it all, as we once did in our youth, then so have I. Fuck me if I wouldn´t try.”
”I'm certainly can´t know how you feel. I know only that I lost my closest friend. But I beg you, don´t do anything stupid, August.”
August didn´t answer.
Loretta stood up.
”It's terrible to leave you like this now but unfortunately I have to go and prepare myself. I'm holding a small soiree tonight, together with Tate Britain. A lecture on Turner. If you´re here in Vienna tonight, you might want to come?”
After some reflection August said yes for the both of them. Loretta gave time, place, attire. They said goodbye.
After the conversation with Loretta August wasn´t the same again, at least not in terms of the past few days. He was short in tone and jittery. He took Ludwig's arm and pushed him forward as if he thought he was going to struggle.
”Ludwig, follow me here. We are going to the Egyptian collection on the first floor.”
Ludwig nodded. He had understood from the armchair.
They went down to the entrance and into the halls of the great Egyptian collection. They walked through the rooms and saw human mummies, animal mummies, ancient coins and clay pots. There were images of Egypt's many gods, Osiris, Isis, Horus, Ra.