CHAPTER 10: Where or When

 

The Chancellor-Royce Abode

 

Delta changed into a white catsuit and sandals and joined Kevin and Karen on the terrace overlooking the intersection. A gondola passed by with the soft lapping of poles in the water, a couple talking over drinks as the gondoleer propelled them in silence. It was late afternoon, the sky turned a cozy orange by the setting sun. The trio conversed over cappuccino.

"I'd have put a bullet in her anyway," Delta said. "I wouldn't have mind wasting 20 cents for the bullet to see her in a pine box."

Karen laughed. "Well, now she's pissed off at both of us. Now, as it stands, the Vatican church's accounts has been frozen, so the monies received from the auction have either been frozen with the accounts or returned to the buyers' accounts. But from what I saw, people had already taken possession of their items."

"And with possession being nine tenths of the law..." Kevin said.

Delta picked up the tiny celphone and opened up her laptop. She connected its modem to the celphone.

"I didn't know they were making phones that small," Karen said.

"They aren't," Delta said. "At least not yet. I got this from a scientist friend of ours--Donovan Lewis."

"Of LewisTech and the Novarro Foundation," Karen remarked. "You keep heavy company--but I forget--you're a scientist also."

"Probably not as often as I should. Being an adrenalin junkie has its drawbacks." Delta finished hooking up the laptop and accessed her bank in Switzerland. A moment later, she had the appropriate account on the screen. "My twenty mil is still there. Hmmmm. You say they froze all of the church's accounts?"

"All of them," Karen said.

"We hae not taken anyone any evidence yet," Kevin said.

"And the only mishap at the auction was a torched painting," Delta added.

"And a dead body," Karen put in. Delta looked at her. "Self defense. One of Van Der Berg's boys."

"I don't doubt it," Delta said. "Still, that's only enough to warrant investigation here. Something else happened in Rome."

"There's only one place to get those answers," Karen said.

Kevin dangled the keys to the hydroplane.

"I just need to get my things. Hopefully Vadnez settled everything with the Rome police."

Delta cocked a brow.

"I had to kill someone there, also," Karen explained. "The bishops' driver."

"Let's see if we can obtain a chemical analysis of the burned painting from the Venice authorities," Delta suggested. "Also, let's start from the top."

"The Cardinal Fallini," Karen said.

Delta disconnected the modem and dialed out on the celphone. "Lars, we'll need you tomorrow morning. Meet us at the Padova airport with the plane ready."