揑 thought Cathars detested wealth and all things of this world??he asked de Foix.
揑 thought priests were to be celibate.?
Fuentes smiled. 揂s did I. Did you have Father Tallard killed??
揟he world enjoys one less predator.?
He took that as a yes. But he wondered, 揅athars do not kill.?
揑 killed no one.?
揧ou just ordered it done. Same thing.?
揘o. It is not.?
揝o then you would say that Pope Innocent III, who ordered the Albigensian Crusade, bears no responsibility for the tens of thousands who died??
De Foix said nothing. But the logic was impeccable.
It was indeed the same thing.
He pointed a finger. 揧ou may have violated the consolamentum.?
揧ou know of our practices??
揑抳e studied Catharism. Of course, I believed it to be in the abstract, that the religion no longer existed. Yet, here I am, face-to-face with a Perfectus. Your salvation from this evil world may now be in jeopardy.?
But he saw that de Foix did not care. All he wanted was the ruin of Gerard Vilamur, and he was willing to risk his soul to get that.
Impressive.
And telling.
揥hy did you choose to sponsor the restoration of the Just Judges reproduction??he asked.
De Foix cast a curious look. 揥hat does that have to do with anything??
揚lease just answer the question.?
Fuentes had to gauge for himself whether the act was intentional or merely a fortuitous event.
揑 thought it would gain me some notoriety. The cost was relatively low and the amount of publicity high.?
揂nother of those things your religion deems evil.?
揥e抳e adjusted.?
He chuckled. 揑 suppose you have. Did you know the original lay beneath the reproduction??
揑 had suspicions.?
揊rom other Cathars??
No reply.
But that was okay. He was convinced that this man knew nothing of the Just Judges?significance. Nothing of Jan van Eyck, Joan of Arc, or the Blessed Virgin.
Nothing of les Vautours.
Just a vengeful opportunist.
Perfect.
Exactly as he抎 hoped.
Bernat was feeling uneasy.
True, these were men of the church, but his kidnapping and their treatment of him seemed more in line with mobsters than prelates. Nothing all that unusual, if history was any teacher. Surely, Cathars from long ago had thought the same thing about an invading army storming the countryside, pillaging and plundering, destroying everything and everyone in its path, all in the name of God.
Cathars had it right.
This world truly was evil. Everything in it tainted by evil. It was a place to escape from, to leave behind. How many times had he come and gone before? How many other lives had he experienced? Impossible to say. He抎 intended for this to be his last since he抎 accepted the consolamentum and was now a Perfectus. But the cardinal could be right. Innocent III was as guilty of murder as every one of the crusaders. No difference. And the same was true for him. He would have to start the consolamentum all over. But he flushed those troubling thoughts from his brain and refocused on the more immediate problem.
揧ou抮e a prince of the church,?he said to Fuentes. 揥hat are you going to do about Vilamur? He抯 a criminal. A disgrace.?
The cardinal faced Vilamur. 揥hat do you say to that, Archbishop??
揑 categorically and explicitly deny everything he says in its entirety.?
揧ou see, Monsieur de Foix, the archbishop maintains that you are a liar.?
揑 have proof.?
揘ot anymore,?one of the other men said. The tall one. 揥e removed all of the files and information on the archbishop that we found in your study. And we found this.?The man displayed the glass vial with Vilamur抯 saliva. He抎 planned on taking it to the DNA laboratory when he returned from Ghent. 揧ou have nothing.?
揂nd I doubt that you have discussed this with anyone, other than the one compatriot,?Fuentes said. 揊riar Rice, what was the name you found on the email??
揂ndre Labelle. He sent the video of the archbishop leaving Father Tallard抯 house, with the body inside. We can only assume he recorded it.?
揙ther than this Monsieur Labelle,?Fuentes said, 揳nd perhaps a few within the Cathars, I doubt anyone else knows anything.?
This man was both perceptive and thorough. What had he stumbled into? What was happening here? Something far more than Vilamur抯 adultery.
揟allard is still dead,?de Foix spit out. 揟here will be an investigation.?
揂ctually,?Fuentes said, 搕here will not. That body has been removed and disposed of, the house thoroughly cleaned. No one will ever see that pedophile again. The authorities will simply think he fled. A warrant will be issued for his arrest, and that will be the end of it. The men you hired to kill him will, of course, never say a word.?