CHAPTER IX

Homecoming

Joe and the gang were relieved when Frank returned safely from his tussle atop Castel Sant'Angelo, even if they remained concerned over the kidnapping of Dr. Jones. From a series of photographs Frank confirmed the identities of his assailants. Italian police informed Cardinal Geraci and the group the thugs were low-level operatives for an American businessman, Alduous Drollinger.

Tony Prito and Phil Cohen exchanged glances. "Frank, Joe," Tony interrupted. "The carabinieri officer, Tomasone, was referencing this Drollinger during the drive to the Vatican."

"What did he say?" Joe asked with earnest.

"Something about boots on the ground. Maybe this is what he meant?" Tony offered.

"Either way, not only is there an informant from the carabinieri, but also within the church, Eminence," Frank said gravely.

"I've felt something awry for some time now," Cardinal Geraci admitted.

"Something's nagging at me," Callie spoke up.

"What's that?" Chet asked.

"Why would SPECTRE even need to break into the Sistine Chapel?"

"You're right," Joe said, fingers clicking. "It's as if they learned about the secret code left by Michelangelo and tried to decipher it themselves."

"When they couldn't," Biff added. "They sent Tomasone and the black cassock man in with us to try to learn more."

"So why would they need to know the Armenia clue?" Iola queried.

For a minute nobody spoke. Then, slowly, Frank said, "Eminence, might we be able to have access to the Secret Archives?"

Cardinal Geraci raised an eyebrow. "It's something of course not granted to everyone. But seeing you are the sons of Fenton Hardy, I'm sure we can make an exception."

"What are we looking for?" Tony Prito asked.

"We need to know the story of the Shroud like the back of our hand," Frank said grimly.

"I have another request," Chet piped up. "I hear the food in Italy is pretty good? Might we sample some of the best delicatessens, Eminence?"

The group laughed. After a hearty meal of chicken carbonara, fresh bread, and salad, Cardinal Geraci and guard Denys Randazzo escorted the Bayporters to the Vatican Secret Archives.

Over the next several hours, the group had full access to the trove of information on the Shroud. Cardinal Geraci ensured snacks and water were continually brought to the group. Frank eventually asked for a portable chalk board to be wheeled into the study area.

Iola drew up the timeline of the Shroud's journey as it became clear to the group. "Assuming its authenticity," Biff read aloud, "It left Jerusalem to Edessa, modern-day Turkey."

Iola wrote the cities down on the board. "But in those days," Phil said, "Edessa was known to be in the Armenian Highlands."

"Hence the clue of Michelangelo's coded message," Callie mentioned.

"It remained in Edessa for a long time," Joe reported. "Even falling under protection of the Muslims, who recognized its importance to Christians."

Through its research the group determined the path the Shroud took from Edessa was to Constantinople, the sumptuous capital of Eastern Christendom. "At the time of the Crusades and the sack of Constantinople," Chet stated, "the Shroud disappeared, believed to be protected," he looked up from his notes.

"Yes?" Iola asked impatiently at the board.

"Protected by the Templar Knights!" The group whistled. "Then it went to France."

"In 1464, the Shroud becomes the property of the House of Savoy," Frank commented.

"Who still owns it today, technically," Joe added.

The brothers nodded in unison.

"Finally in 1578 the Shroud is moved to Turin," Phil noted.

"Where it stayed until World War II," Chet sat back in his chair. "Until Doctor Jones and his father transported the Shroud to the Benedictine Monastery in Naples before SPECTRE stole it a few years later."

"Naples!" Tony Prito's eyes widened. "Where in Naples?" The Prito family was from Naples, and Tony even named his motor boat back in Bayport the Napoli.

The group scoured their notes for the name of the Benedictine monastery. Cardinal Geraci was brought in and asked the question. "It's never been officially documented for security reasons," Geraci said. "But it's the St. Patricia monastery."

"St. Patricia," Tony muttered to himself. "Eminence, I might be mistaken, but I believe my great uncle is a monk there!" Some skeptical mutters came from the group. "Seriously! Maybe he was present when SPECTRE seized the Shroud! I know he's been there forever."

"It might be a wild goose chase, but it would be worth investigating how the Shroud was taken," Joe postulated. "Maybe your great-uncle remembers something."

"How long would it take to get to Naples?" Frank asked the cardinal.

"I can get you there within a couple of hours," Geraci said, gesturing to Denys Randazzo.

A private plane transported the group south of Rome to Naples, on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. There was little time to admire the landscape, however, as the group bartered with a taxi to transport everyone to the St. Patricia Monastery, located just outside the city. Flying down Traversa Monterusciello, bouncing up and down in the cab, the group arrive at the tranquil monastery in the late afternoon.

Cardinal Geraci introduced the group to Abbot Andrew. Indeed, Tony's great-uncle, Alberto, was among the aged monks in residence. When Frank and Joe inquired about the Shroud, Abbot Andrew's face clouded.

"I'm not sure I understand?" he asked sternly. Frank, Joe and the cardinal noticed the change expression within the Abbot.

"We understand it was stolen from here at the end of the war."

"That's right," Andrew said. "I was just a young friar at the time. I saw it all happen. Armed men storm in and demanded the turnover of the Shroud we were holding in our reliquary chapel. Friars were murdered, you know."

Phil Cohen and Chet stood off to the side. "Something fishy's askew," Chet muttered. Phil did a double take at the strange expression before adding, "Indeed."

Tony, after visiting with his great-uncle in the parlor area, waved over those who could see him. Callie and Biff trotted over. "Say, I think we've just found something."

"What do you mean?" Callie asked.

"My uncle spoke to me," Tony began. "But this is a cloistered monastery."

"Cloistered?" Biff asked.

"Means they don't talk, don't leave. They just harvest the fields and pray, basically. But my great-uncle spoke to me. Turns out they're only allowed to speak on Sundays."

"Well, what did he say?"

"There's an underground chamber through the winery. Something very important is down there."

"I'll get the others," Callie promptly said.

Pulling Frank and Joe away from conversing with Abbot Andrew, they brought the Hardys and others up to speed. "That abbot sure doesn't want to talk about the Shroud," Joe noted.

"Chet and Callie, stay here with the cardinal and abbot. Let's see what Tony's great-uncle means by underground chamber."

Chet and Callie hung back. "Where are your friends?" the abbot asked suspiciously. Chet and Callie innocently shrugged their shoulders.

Tony led the group to the underground chantry and produced keys given him by Brother Alberto. They walked into the antechamber, a simple round room built out of stone. In the middle was a casket.

"Who's b-buried in there?" Phil Cohen asked tentatively.

"Whoever it is, my great-uncle wants us to have a look," Tony said.

With Biff's help, Frank and Joe hoisted open the sarcophagus's opening. Everyone peered over the opening. Joe shone a flashlight inside.

There was a collective gasp. The Bayporters were staring at the actual Shroud of Turin!