Exodus (A Tom Fox Enovella) by Tom Fox

Author:Tom Fox [Fox, Tom]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2016-03-10T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Six

7.14 a.m.

‘What do you have in mind?’ Molinaro asked Bruno Nencini, as the guard grabbed his own umbrella and stepped out of the makeshift station. The rain immediately started to rattle over the extended fabric.

‘As far as I know,’ Bruno answered, ‘whoever broke in and … did all this’ – he motioned towards the general chaos surrounding the entrance of the museums – ‘knew enough to disable all the CCTV feeds inside. And do it well. But the Apostolic Palace runs on a separate system. If your man was inside, as you suspect he might have been, the footage there should catch him.’

‘You have access to the CCTV feeds of the Palace?’ Molinaro asked. There was surprise on his wet features.

‘Of course not.’ Bruno paused long enough to flash a grin at the older man. ‘At least not officially. Those are all under the control of the Swiss Guard.’

‘I sense a “but”.’

‘But,’ Bruno continued, regaining his step and leading Molinaro away from the main entrance, ‘there’s a common control interface for all the camera networks in Vatican City. And if someone should know how to … tamper with the interface a bit, well, he might be able to see things he doesn’t technically have proper access to.’

Molinaro clasped his eighty-year-old hand on the shoulder of the post-retiree guard. No words were needed to convey that the two old men were pleased with the little secrets passing between them. Bruno Nencini had clearly learned a few more skills during his days in the Polizia di Stato than his current job as a door porter let on.

‘How many angles do you have covered?’ Molinaro asked a few minutes later, as Bruno sat himself down at the CCTV feed control desk in a room nestled into a building further inside the Vatican City walls. The room was marked ‘Digital Archives: Access Only’, but Nencini had a key that worked. Molinaro didn’t ask after the hows or whys.

‘The CCTV network inside the Apostolic Palace is extensive,’ Bruno answered. ‘Outside of private offices, you’d be hard pressed to find a square centimetre in the Holy See that isn’t covered and recorded twenty-four hours a day.’

‘Then the task is going to be narrowing it down.’

‘You said that this friend of yours … what’s he called?’

‘Alexander Trecchio.’

‘You said Mr Trecchio had access to a specific office?’

‘The rooms formerly assigned to his uncle, Cardinal Rinaldo Trecchio,’ Molinaro answered.

Bruno worked quickly at the modified keyboard that controlled the small data centre, and Carlo noticed that he was capable at the controls.

‘We’re good,’ the guard announced eventually. ‘The directory lists that as room 77A, and the data recorders for that corridor haven’t been touched.’

‘Splendid. Can you look inside?’

The other man was shaking his head. ‘Cardinals’ quarters are always free from interior surveillance. Bit of privileged privacy with the rank, I suppose. But we should be able to get a good view of the door and the hallways just outside it.’ He tapped at the keypad. ‘How far back do you want me to look?’

Molinaro quickly paced through the timeline of the night.

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