The Honor of Spies

"When Hitler heard about this--and mind you, Sister, this is what the Papal Nuncio told me, not English or American propaganda--Hitler lost his temper and ordered that Rome--including Vatican City--be razed to the ground and that the entire population of the city be arrested and taken to Germany."

Sister Maria Isabel inhaled audibly.

Clete thought, Is Welner making this up?

Is Hitler actually that nuts?

He saw on Schultz's and O'Sullivan's faces that they were asking themselves the same thing.

No. Jesuits don't lie. They bend the truth a little, but they don't lie.

He looked at Strubel and Niedermeyer and the wives. Their faces were absolutely inscrutable.

As if they--all of them, wives, too--have trained themselves not to let their faces show anything.

"The order was actually issued," Welner went on. "The German commander in Rome--General Albert Kesselring, a Luftwaffe officer who fortunately is a devout Catholic--defied it as well as he could."

How the hell do you defy an order from Hitler "as well as you can"?

"I don't think I understand, Father," Sister Maria Isabel said. "'As well as he could'?"

Neither do I. Thank you, Sister Maria Isabel.

"What General Kesselring did was order the execution of ten Romans for each German soldier killed."

Sister Maria Isabel inhaled audibly again, and this time crossed herself.

"As unspeakable as that sounds, Sister, it was the lesser of two evils. Rome--the Vatican City--was not razed. The Holy Father was not arrested and taken to Germany . . ."

Would they actually have been crazy enough to do that?

Well, yeah. If Hitler was crazy enough to order Rome destroyed, why not arrest the Pope?

". . . but three hundred thirty-five innocent people, Sister," Welner went on, "were taken to the Ardeatine Cave, each shot in the back of the head, and then the mouth of the cave was dynamited."

Sister Maria Isabel again crossed herself and sucked in her breath.

After a moment, Welner went on: "I'm sorry to have interrupted you, Don Cletus, but I thought it was important that Sister Maria Isabel really understand what kind of evil people you're dealing with, and why secrecy is so important."

She nodded.

"As I was saying, Sister," Clete continued, "we decided to get these future leaders out of Germany while they're still alive. And their families. The Germans find nothing wrong with punishing--executing--entire families for what they consider the treason of a father, a brother, or a son."

I know that to be true.

And the sonsofbitches murdered my father and tried twice to kill me.

So why does it sound like a lie? Almost as unbelievable as Hitler ordering them to blow up Saint Peter's?

"And the Church is involved in helping these people, Father?" Sister Maria Isabel asked.

"Our guests have Vatican passports, Sister," Welner said.

She nodded.

I'm not the only liar here, you slick sonofabitch!

Sister Maria Isabel thinks you just told her the Vatican--maybe even the Pope--knows all about this.

Of course, you didn't lie. You just told her they have Vatican passports. That's not a lie.

But you and I know the only reason they have Vatican passports is that you--or maybe some cardinal--made some kind of a deal I haven't been told about with Allen Dulles or Colonel Graham or both to do I don't know what.

What was it General Nervo said about the Pope moving the larger diamonds from the Vatican's safe to here? "Nuns and Jesuit priests aren't often strip-searched by Customs"?

"Well," Claudia Carzino-Cormano said, "that explains those airplanes, doesn't it? I wondered what the real story was about them."

"Well, you'll understand why Cletus couldn't tell you before, Claudia," Welner said.

God, you are good!