Chapter 29: Demons
"I've reviewed the autopsy reports," Agnes said through the Farnsworth, conferenced in with Jean-Luc back at the Warehouse and Rios and the rest of the agents currently driving into Philadelphia for a case. "I've confirmed there were no anomalies to explain the deaths."
Four deaths, in total. Two were found dead in their homes, the other two still alive but in comas and put on life support before dying a day later. And there were no health conditions or medical explanations, which garnered the attention of the Warehouse.
"The holograms have searched through the victims' records," Jean-Luc put in. "All of them were in Rome, Italy a month ago at the same time, but there's no indication they knew each other."
"What were they doing there?" Rios asked.
"It appears just traveling."
"If we have to split up, can I go to Rome this time?" Soji asked from the backseat.
"Have there been any similar deaths in Italy?" Raffi asked next.
"Not that we've found," Picard replied.
"All the victims are here in Philadelphia; the artifact must be here," she concluded.
"Yeah, but what are the odds they're all connected to Rome?" Soji pressed.
"Hold on," Jean-Luc said. There was a moment of silence before he came back. "We've just identified another person who was in Rome at the same time."
"We?" a muffled voice muttered.
"He's still alive," Jean-Luc went on.
Rios could practically hear the eye roll over the speaker. Picard gave them the address for Carl Delaney, which Raffi plugged into the GPS, and they made their way there. It was early evening, so if their potential victim worked a day job, he should be home… But there was no answer when they rang his bell. Rios knocked on the door loudly and waited. Still nothing.
"I think that's his car on the street," Soji said, having looked up his file on the short drive.
"Hang on," Raffi said, going still. "You hear that?"
Rios angled his ear toward the door and strained to listen. A faint, garbled scream sounded from somewhere inside.
Raffi's eyes widened as she heard it too, and they both drew their Teslas as Rios backed up and then kicked the door in. The Warehouse agents burst inside where the screams immediately gained more volume. They were coming from a back bedroom. Rios and Raffi led the charge down the hall and into the room where they found Carl Delaney tied to the metal frame of a bed…and a priest standing over him uttering words in what sounded like Latin.
"What the hell," Raffi blurted.
The priest faltered in his ritual.
"Help me!" Carl Delaney begged.
"Back up," Rios ordered, gesturing with his Tesla.
"You must not interfere," the priest rejoined sharply. "This man is plagued by demons and must be exorcised."
Said man screamed again and raged against the leather cords binding his wrists. Raffi pulled out her phone to call for paramedics, then tucked her Tesla away so she could untie Carl.
"I must be allowed to finish!" the priest demanded.
Rios placed himself in front of the priest and bodily pushed him backward without laying hands on him. He shot Soji and Elnor a pointed look to check the priest's "exorcism kit." The two younger agents snapped on their purple gloves and began going through the vials of holy water and ornate crosses, but after completing a search of the bag, they shook their heads in the negative. No artifact. And Carl wasn't comatose like the other victims had been found, though he was obviously severely stressed by being tied up in his own home and put through an exorcism. By the deep red marks on his wrists, he had been straining against those cords for hours.
Paramedics and local law enforcement arrived. Carl was quickly put on a gurney and removed while Rios gave a statement to the cops about what they'd found and that they'd had reasonable cause to enter the residence. The priest, meanwhile, stood austerely with his hands folded in front of him, saying nothing.
"Father…?" one of the cops started.
"Silvano," the priest replied. "And this is a misunderstanding."
"Were you or were you not trying to perform an exorcism on this man?" Rios asked.
"I was, as is God's will."
Another uniformed officer came over. "I just spoke with one of the EMTs. The victim has taser marks on the back of his neck. Would have incapacitated him."
"I take it Mr. Delaney didn't consent to this exorcism," the lead cop said.
"The Devil never does."
The officer shook his head. "Father Silvano, you are under arrest for unlawful detainment."
"Look inside my wallet," Father Silvano replied as the second officer moved forward to handcuff him.
Rios was closer to the bag, so he rifled through it for said wallet until he found what looked like official papers. "Father Silvano from Vatican City," he read, trailing off in dismay at a very key phrase. "He has diplomatic immunity."
Father Silvano looked smug as the cop instructed for him to be released.
"Wait, you're letting him go?" Soji blurted. "He almost killed that guy!"
"He has diplomatic immunity," Rios replied tightly.
Father Silvano picked up his exorcism kit, took back his papers, and calmly walked past them all and out the door.
Soji spluttered. "You can't be serious."
"Diplomatic immunity means he's untouchable," Raffi said, equally annoyed by this development. "Let's go."
"Thank you, officers," Rios said on their way out. They'd be stuck with the paperwork on this one.
"Unbelievable," Soji was still muttering.
"So," Rios said at the car. "No sign of an artifact."
Elnor shook his head. "And the other victims were not found conscious, so Mr. Delaney doesn't look like he's a victim. Not of the artifact, anyway."
"Yeah, but his connection to the other victims can't be a coincidence," Raffi said. "And that priest? I think we should ask Agnes if an exorcism could have caused the other deaths. The paramedics were talking about severe dehydration and erratic vitals when they took Carl away." She pulled out her phone to make that call.
"Then, is this not a case of an artifact, but what the priest said, demons?" Elnor queried.
Rios and Raffi shared a look.
"I doubt it," Raffi replied, turning away to talk into her phone.
"But we didn't find an artifact. Or could it be a delayed effect from something they came into contact with in Italy?"
"A month's delay is a really long time," Rios pointed out. "Did you detect any lies?"
"No. Father Silvano was telling the truth. Or, what he believed was the truth."
"Which is demons," Soji said, sounding equally skeptical of the notion.
Raffi hung up and turned back to them. "Okay, Agnes said it's possible extreme duress could stop the heart. She's going to come down to the morgue tomorrow and do some tests on the victims' clothing to see if there's traces of holy water."
"So now you think the priest is behind all of this?" Soji asked.
Raffi shrugged. "Maybe."
"But what good is that if the law can't touch him?"
"We'll figure out something," Rios answered. It was complicated, but if a priest was going around murdering unsuspecting men, they were going to stop him, diplomatic immunity or not.
After spending the night in a motel, the Warehouse agents got to work again the following morning, first by checking in with the Warehouse. The holo squad, at least, was able to work through the night without rest.
"We did find something," Emil reported. "While all four—now five—of our victims were in Rome, a priest from the Vatican died mysteriously. The Internet is rife with conspiracy theories around it."
"Okay," Raffi said. "That's a connection between the victims and the Church. But is there any evidence these guys were involved? I thought they didn't know each other?"
"Not that we've found," Emil confirmed. "But since when does conspiracy need kernels of truth to survive? In any case, you should also know that the priest who died was a good friend of Father Silvano."
"So he might be taking revenge on the people he believes are responsible," Rios said.
"How did he even link them all if we can't?" Soji asked. "Aside from simply being in town?"
"Who knows. The man also believes they're possessed by demons. Any little thing could have cemented the idea in his head."
"So he's crazy."
Rios angled a kind look at her. "That's what everyone thought about you seeing your dead sister. Maybe what he believes are demons is actually an artifact."
Soji shut up at that.
"Or demons are real?" Elnor put out there.
Emil scoffed over the Farnsworth. "Hardly."
Rios hung up on the hologram.
"What do we do now?" Elnor asked next. "Is this a case of an artifact or not? And if it's not, is it really our case?"
"If Father Silvano is directly responsible for these mens' deaths, via an artifact or not, we can't let him get away with it," Rios answered.
"There's still that whole diplomatic immunity thing," Soji reminded them.
"We'll deal with that eventually." Rios grabbed his jacket and slipped it on. "In the meantime, it's time for some old-fashioned FBI investigative work. Starting with having a chat with Father Silvano again."
They found what hotel the priest was registered at and headed over. The man answered after a few knocks, his expression turning stern upon seeing them.
"Does this country not respect diplomatic immunity?" he asked tartly.
"We just have a few questions," Rios replied. "We learned of Father Giovanni's death in Rome."
"What of it?"
"He was a close friend of yours, yes? Our condolences."
"You said you have questions, not statements."
"There's talk that he was murdered," Raffi put in. "Nothing's been verified, but given all these events, do you have reason to believe Carl Delaney or any other American was responsible?"
"You seek a confession, but it will do you no good," Father Silvano replied. "In any case, my work is almost done."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Raffi asked.
"That my work is that of God, and yours is of the devil."
"Protecting the innocent isn't the devil's work," Rios said.
"It is when those people aren't innocent," Father Silvano rejoined. "Now I ask you to leave before I'm forced to take this up with your superiors."
Rios's lips thinned, but they nevertheless backed off and retreated back to the SUV.
"I'm having the hospital put a guard on Carl's room," Raffi said, pulling out her phone.
"I couldn't get a read on Father Silvano," Elnor spoke up. "He didn't say an outright lie."
"He's behind all of it," Rios replied.
Elnor frowned. "How do you know?"
"After being an FBI agent as long as I have, you develop a sense for these things."
Raffi nodded in agreement between giving instructions over the phone. "Okay, security is putting a guard on Carl. You want to set up at the hospital or here?"
"Here. I want to know everywhere this guy goes," Rios answered and climbed into the SUV.
Soji and Elnor climbed into the backseat. "What are we doing?" Soji asked.
"Stake out. Welcome to the most tedious part of being an FBI agent."
They settled in for a long watch, taking turns making bathroom runs and getting food and coffee.
"This is tedious," Elnor sighed after four hours.
"Yeah," Soji echoed. "Why are we bothering?"
"He said his work was almost done," Raffi replied. "Which means he plans to finish the job with Carl."
"But we still can't arrest him if he does," Elnor said in confusion.
"No, but if we catch him in the act again, we establish a pattern and might be able to convince the Vatican to recall him and exact their own disciplinary measures," Rios answered.
Soji huffed. "That's not justice."
"No," Raffi agreed. "But it might be all we get."
Father Silvano didn't leave his hotel until after dark. No doubt to attempt to conceal his movements, but the agents were ready. He stepped outside with his black bag and set off down the street. Rios waited a few moments before starting the engine and following. Father Silvano was on foot, which made tailing him in a vehicle more difficult, since they had to keep a slow speed but not get noticed. Then the priest slipped down an alley and disappeared.
"Damn it!" Rios slammed his palm against the steering wheel.
"Let's get to the hospital," Raffi said.
Her Farnsworth chimed with an incoming call.
"We found another person!" Enoch exclaimed when she answered. "We missed him at first because after Rome he traveled to several other places before returning to his native Philadelphia."
"Are you sure?" Raffi said urgently.
"Yes!"
Enoch gave them the man's address, and Rios did a u-turn to head for it. With Carl under guard at the hospital, there was no way Father Silvano was going to get near him long enough to conduct a full exorcism. So if his work wasn't done, then maybe he was going after one last victim.
The SUV screeched to a stop in front of a darkened house and the agents jumped out to rush inside. Screams led them to the living room where a sixth victim was tied spreadeagled on the underside of an upside down coffee table. And Father Silvano was practically shouting his Latin litany.
"Hey!" Rios yelled.
Father Silvano whirled, eyes flashing. He spun and picked up a candle, which he threw at Rios's head. Rios ducked as the priest took off, then gave chase. He pursued Father Silvano out the back door, through the yard, and out into the empty street.
"Stop!" Rios shouted, gaining on him.
Father Silvano abruptly pulled up short and twisted around. In one hand, he held up a lighter and flicked the tab. Something stabbed Rios in the center of his sternum like grappling hooks. He staggered to a stop with a ragged gasp, his body going rigid. A strange aura began to glow around his eyes, washing out his vision in blue. The stabbing sensation came again, digging deeper and ripping and tearing. He couldn't breathe, couldn't scream, as something fundamental inside him was torn asunder.
