A/N: A huge thank you to max2013, Caranath, Guest, Jackie, ILoveMom, catlover1033, zenfrodo, Lady Emily, Leya, Vinsmouse, Stork Hardy, and Guest for their reviews! You guys rock! Time to go shopping with Joe. Thanks to those reading!

Chapter 21

Forty-five minutes later, Kathy had dragged Joe through every boutique and shop open for business in the tiny resort town. They were now at what Joe had warned her was the last stop. It was a small, pricey, clothing store near their hotel. Kathy was in the changing room, trying on what Joe thought was probably another hundred or so outfits.

He wandered to the window in the front of the boutique that overlooked the town square. A large, spectacular fountain formed the center of a plaza-like area, with benches surrounding it. Even though the water was turned off due to the freezing temperatures, people still milled around in the noonday sunshine.

Joe was gazing at the crowd, when he noticed Simone approaching one of the benches. She exchanged glances with a man seated there, yet she continued to stroll past him.

That's interesting, Joe thought, watching as she walked around the perimeter of the fountain. The man, who had his back to Joe, stood, caught Simone's eye again, and then wandered off through the crowd near the edge of the town square.

Simone hurried over to the bench where he'd been sitting, bent down and picked up what appeared to be a paperback novel. That was weird.

Joe looked in the direction where the man had disappeared, but he was nowhere to be found. Simone slipped the book into her purse and strode off toward the hotel. While Joe was trying to figure it all out, Kathy came bouncing out of the dressing room.

"Oh, Joe, I found the most gorgeous sweater. It's absolutely heavenly. I have to have it."

"Great," he replied, hardly even hearing what she'd said. "Hey Kathy, does Simone know anyone in this town? Besides anyone with us, I mean?"

Kathy shrugged as she handed the salesclerk behind the counter an armful of clothing, then began to spin a turnstile of earrings on a table display. "I don't know. She hasn't said anything."

"Where is she from?"

Kathy held up a dangly pair of silver hoops to her ears. "Um, somewhere in France. Why?"

"And what exactly does she do for your father? What's her job title?"

Kathy pursed her lips. "I guess she manages his European properties. We have an apartment in Paris and another house in Italy. Why are you asking about Simone?"

"I'm a detective. It's what I do."

And Simone's behavior looked all kinds of suspicious to him. The expression on her face when she went to pick up the book had been one of guilt…like she was afraid she was doing something not quite on the level. And that made Joe's radar go off.

Kathy obviously needed help pulling off her stalker scheme. Maybe Simone was behind it, and the guy she met was the one doing all the dirty work. The one who'd ransacked the room and made the phone calls. It was worth looking into.

Kathy turned her attention to the salesgirl and gestured toward Joe. "Can you just have these sent over to the St. Sylvie Hotel? I think he already has enough packages to carry."

"Of course, Mademoiselle," the girl murmured, grabbing a pen to take down Kathy's room number.

OOOoooOOO

Nancy looked at Frank, barely able to contain her excitement. "We made a huge assumption about why these artifacts were taken and I think we're wrong."

"Explain," Frank said.

"Well, we thought that these items were stolen because someone wanted them either for their monetary worth, their own personal art collection, or to resell on the black market, right?" Nancy scanned the eyes of her friends.

"Isn't that natural?" Bess asked. "I mean, the jewels on that monstrance alone put its value upwards of two million dollars. And that's a conservative estimate. Right?" She looked at Emily.

"I'd say so. That's the market value for some of the gems, but when taken as an entire artifact, it could command an even higher price."

"But what if that wasn't the reason it was stolen?" Nancy persisted. Because she knew now that it wasn't. They'd missed the most obvious motivation for taking a religious artifact by reducing the statue and the monstrance to their monetary value.

"You mean someone took it for another reason?" Frank asked.

"Yes." Nancy nodded vigorously. "The legends surrounding these two pieces are amazing. Father Bertrand told us the pilgrims believe that the monstrance actually descended from heaven. And we all read the history of the miracles the pilgrims have attributed to the Madonna statue."

Emily cocked her head. "So you think whoever took these was motivated by religion and the power they believe is inherent in these artifacts?"

"I do," Nancy said. "We weren't getting anywhere trying to find a trail through legitimate museum connections or art dealers, because there wasn't one. I think we need to start investigating the religious significance of these pieces a little more, and figure out who might want them for that reason."

Nancy felt confident that once they began looking more closely in that direction, things would start falling into place. And she didn't want to waste any more time sitting around talking about it.

Frank reached over and squeezed her hand. "I think you're probably right. While I'm sure the statue is valuable, I don't think that's why it was stolen either. There are other artifacts in the monastery that are worth more money, aren't there, Em?"

"Definitely. Lots of them. And they're more accessible, too."

"So what now?" Bess asked.

"We need to go back to the cathedral and start digging around some more," Nancy said, pushing back her chair to stand. She turned to Frank. "Will you come with me?"

"I'm not letting you go alone."

Nancy rolled her eyes, then leaned in and kissed him affectionately. "I'm starting to like this protective nature of yours."

He stood and hugged her close. "Good. Because I'm not changing it."

Nancy smiled against his chest. Being taken care of was really starting to grow on her. What she would have considered a chauvinistic comment from Frank a year ago, now sounded sweet and endearing. Or, as her friend George said, she was starting to lose the giant chip on her shoulder where men were concerned. Or at least where this man was concerned.

"Can I come, too?" Emily asked. "I'd like to go over some of the books in the library again. Besides, I really don't want to be here when Kathy and Joe get back from their shopping trip."

Frank chuckled. "Of course you can. That's half the reason I'm going."

Nancy slapped him playfully. "And here I was convinced that you were only interested in my well-being."

"You know I am, babe. But if I can get out of watching another display by 'Her Majesty', I'm all for it."

"I'll stay," Bess said, popping a grape from the fruit bowl on the table into her mouth. "She makes me laugh. Well, let me correct that. Watching Joe try to squirm away from her makes me laugh."

"You have a cruel streak, Bess. You know that?" Frank said, a broad smile on his face.

Bess arched an eyebrow and popped another grape into her mouth for a reply.

"Tell Joe we'll be a few hours," Nancy said. "Maybe we'll be back for dinner."

"Or maybe not," Emily whispered.

Nancy knew that Emily's patience with Kathy had come to an end. And she didn't blame her one bit.

"Or maybe not," she echoed.

OOOoooOOO

Bess looked up as the door to the suite opened and Kathy breezed in with Joe behind her. At least Bess thought it was Joe. She couldn't really tell, because he was almost covered in packages and large bags of what appeared to be clothing.

"You can bring those into my room," Kathy ordered with a wave of her hand.

"I can bring them right here," Joe said, unceremoniously dumping everything onto one of the living room couches.

"Joe," Kathy squealed. "Don't! You might wrinkle something."

He gave her a look, then turned in Bess's direction. She smiled at the exasperated expression on his face.

"Have fun shopping?" she asked brightly.

"Not quite as much fun as if I'd gotten a root canal," he muttered. "Where is everyone?"

"Hmm, well, Tammy and Lauren went skiing. Louis went out for lunch. Simone just came back from running her errands, and everyone else went over to the monastery."

Joe looked at Bess questioningly.

"Nancy felt like they'd been approaching the case all wrong," Bess explained. "She thinks that the artifacts were taken for religious reasons and not for monetary gain."

"Swell, so the person doing this is some sort of religious fanatic?"

Bess shrugged her shoulders. "I guess. We'll see what they find out later. Nancy thought they'd be back for dinner."

"Is Frank with them?"

"Yes." She gave him a meaningful look, knowing that Joe was really asking about Emily. "Don't worry, okay?"

He nodded, then glanced at Kathy who was rummaging through her purchases. He turned back to Bess. "Did you say Simone is here?"

"Yeah, she got back a little while after everyone left for the monastery."

"How'd she seem?"

"Fine," Bess said. "She's been in her room ever since."

Joe moved closer to Bess. "Do you think you could distract Kathy for a while? I need to check on some things."

"Sure. I'll just ask to see what she bought."

"Half this town. That's what she bought," Joe grumbled as he headed for his room.

Bess laughed and went over to the couch exclaiming over a sweater Kathy held up for her to see.

OOOoooOOO

Nancy burst through the door of the monastery library with Frank and Emily right behind her. A clearly startled Guillaume looked up from some books he was re-shelving.

"Quel est erroné?"

Nancy hurried over to him and grabbed his arm. "We need your help. We have to look up the origins of these artifacts again. We think we might have missed something. Can you help us?"

She noticed he was staring at her blankly, and once again Nancy regretted not paying more attention in her high school French classes.

Emily stepped forward and translated Nancy's request. Guillaume nodded and headed for the bookshelves.

OOOoooOOO

Joe unlocked his suitcase and removed his notes on the case. He sat on the edge of the bed and began going over what he'd written.

Picking up a pen, he turned to a blank sheet of paper in the legal pad and wrote Simone's initials across the top. She'd been a puzzle to him since they'd first arrived. She'd never been very friendly…to the point that Joe wondered if she resented his presence.

Could she really be the one helping Kathy with her stalking scheme? Simone had been present when both notes they'd gotten in the suite were received. She'd also been in the suite right before it was trashed.

Maybe this was all some big scheme to blackmail the senator, and Kathy was just a pawn in it.

He made a few notations on what he'd observed in the plaza, including a description of the man she appeared to be communicating with. He only wished he could have seen more than the back of the guy's head.

He heard an additional voice in the living room and picking up his notebook, cracked opened his bedroom door and peeked through. He watched as Simone approached the bar and poured herself a drink. She seemed to take no notice of Bess or Kathy, as she hurriedly took a healthy swallow of brandy.

Hmm, she looked like she needed that. She was upset about something.

Now all he had to do was figure out what was bothering her. And if it had anything to do with his case.

OOOoooOOO

Emily was seated in the library trying to translate a Latin letter written in sixteen twenty-two by a Catholic bishop. It mentioned the Madonna statue, and she thought there might be some value in it, but she was having a hard time with it. The handwriting itself was almost indecipherable. She leaned back in her chair and was rubbing her eyes when Frank spoke up.

"I think I may have found something," he said, turning the page of a book on the history of the cathedral.

"What?" Nancy asked, leaning eagerly over his shoulder.

"Well, we already know that the monstrance and the statue originally belonged to another cathedral, right?"

"Yes, in France," Emily agreed. "They were removed after a fire, weren't they?"

"Yes, and then they were apparently both stolen by robbers when they were being transported back to that cathedral. Or what was left of it," Frank said.

Now that, Emily didn't know.

"Stolen?" Nancy asked.

"Yes, apparently the statue was traveling in a type of religious caravan back to its original home. Sort of a pilgrimage in reverse," Frank said. "Anyway, people were giving gold and coins to the caravan to help rebuild the cathedral, and that's what the thieves were really after. But during the robbery, they grabbed the statue and the monstrance as well."

"So you're saying, they took the coins and gold the pilgrims donated, and then said, 'What the heck, we might as well take these, too?'" Nancy asked.

"Pretty much." Frank read more of the article. "Apparently the first cathedral where the artifacts were kept was considered miraculously consecrated by St. Peter, so the legend goes, and the monstrance and the Madonna statue were to remain there always as a testament to the holiness of the edifice."

"Refresh my memory. Why weren't they returned?" Emily asked. Because most churches and cathedrals were very proprietary about their artifacts. It wasn't customary to just remove them to another city. Especially when they were essentially stolen goods.

"Hang on." Frank turned the page. "Um, the statue and monstrance were eventually found discarded by the side of a road. I guess the thieves found them more of a liability than a prize. Anyway, they were returned to church officials, but the pope at the time refused to rebuild the original cathedral because of political problems in the region. This cathedral was constructed instead, and the pope ordered the artifacts placed here when it was completed."

Emily pursed her lips. "Frank, what year was this?"

He flipped through the book some more. "Looks like around thirteen eighty-nine or thirteen ninety."

"Well, that explains a lot." Emily let her chair thud forward.

"What do you mean?" Nancy asked.

"The Western Schism. At that point in time the Catholic Church had two popes. One in Rome, and one in France…in Avignon. I'd be willing to bet that these artifacts were returned to the Roman pope, who then refused to give them back to any church in France."

Emily sighed in frustration. Getting politics, money and church officials all mixed up together could definitely muddy the waters as far as ownership of the artifacts went. It happened with artwork from this time period as well. And it would make this more difficult to get to the bottom of, since many records of that kind were often sealed by the church. Nobody wanted bad things about their history exposed, and the Catholic Church was no exception.

Frank nodded. "I'd forgotten about all of that. It makes sense though. These artifacts became the pawns in a power struggle. One that the Roman church apparently won."

Emily turned as she felt Guillaume touch her on the arm. He looked incredibly confused. Emily explained what she'd just said in French, and as she finished, his eyes grew wide and he jumped up from the table. He spoke in a flurry of French and it was Nancy and Frank's turn to look puzzled.

"What did he say?" Nancy demanded.

"He said he read an article in the newspaper two days ago." Emily's eyes met Nancy's. "It reported that a local group from the town where the artifacts originated is petitioning for the burned cathedral to be rebuilt."

OOOoooOOO

Joe continued to observe Simone through the crack in his bedroom door. She swallowed the last of the brandy in her glass and straightened her shoulders.

"I need to run another errand," she announced to the girls.

Kathy waved her hand dismissively. "Fine."

"Don't leave the suite," Simone ordered her.

Kathy rolled her eyes. "I won't. Unless Joe is with me."

Simone nodded, hastily pulled on her navy wool coat she'd left draped over the back of a wing chair in the living room, and slipped out the door of the suite.

Joe waited a moment, then entered the living room quietly. Kathy and Bess were gathering up her new purchases and heading into Kathy's room.

Joe paused until they were safely inside, then hurried across the living room to the hallway leading to Simone's room.

He opened her bedroom door and stepped inside, closing it softly behind him. He noticed her tote bag lying on the floor next to the bed, and knelt down beside it. Careful not to disturb its position, he slid his hand in and grabbed the paperback novel she'd picked up off the park bench. It appeared to be an ordinary novel, but it was written in French.

As Joe leafed through it, he noticed that certain letters on each page had been underlined. A message? He tucked the book into his shirt and hurried back to his room.

Grabbing the legal pad, he started at the beginning and began writing down each underlined letter as he encountered it. He sighed. I hope she's gone for a while. This could take a long time.

OOOoooOOO

"Someone wants the cathedral rebuilt?" Nancy exclaimed. "Who?"

Because this could be the key to everything. Especially if her theory was right and the statue and monstrance were taken for a religious reason and not a monetary one.

Emily questioned Guillaume further, then turned to Frank and Nancy.

"I guess a local group of townspeople who feel that their town has suffered the displeasure of God because they allowed the artifacts to be taken from them. They're being spurred on by a splinter group of the church. People who believe the church has become too modern and has abandoned its original tenets and mission. Sedevacantists. They reject the Vatican and its teachings and feel that the papal seat is vacant."

While Nancy was pondering this, Emily stood and gasped. "Ombrellino! Why didn't I think of this before?"

"What?" Frank asked.

Emily turned to Guillaume and said something in French. He nodded and ran over to a bookcase, grabbing a volume off the shelf. He opened it to a page of full colored emblems.

Nancy stood and moved behind Guillaume, peering over his shoulder. She'd never seen the symbols before, but her eyes widened when she realized they all contained a gold and silver key crossed over one another with a red ribbon between them. They looked exactly like the keys that opened the ancient altar gate. The one Frank found today was silver, but Father Bertrand's had been gold.

"What are these?" she whispered.

"It's the papal emblem. They're the keys of St. Peter. They designate papal authority and the power to act for God on earth," Emily explained.

She pointed to an emblem on the page with the keys at the bottom, but unlike the other symbols, this one did not have three gold crowns above it. It had a striped thing that Nancy thought looked exactly like a circus tent.

"The ombrellino, or umbraculum," Emily said. "This is the papal symbol during a sede vacante, when the church is between popes, and the papal seat is empty. It's also the symbol used by groups of Catholics who believe the current pope is not truly the pope."

"That's who's behind all this," Frank said. "We need to find out who is spearheading the drive to rebuild the original cathedral, and I'm betting we'll find out who stole the artifacts."

Guillaume placed his hand gently on Emily's arm and said something else. Emily nodded as she turned to Frank and Nancy. "He's going to get the article. He thinks the paper is in Father Bertrand's office."

Nancy paced back and forth as Guillaume left the library. "If this is a local radical type group, they aren't going to have any problem just taking the statue and the monstrance, since they think they're only returning what they feel is rightfully theirs to begin with."

She paused. "I wonder if this hasn't appeared in some other paper. Where are the newspapers kept, Emily?"

"Over there." She stood and walked to a bookcase with newspapers filed on the shelves by their various languages. "Which ones were you interested in?"

"All of them," Nancy said, as she approached her and bent down to check the shelves.

OOO

As the girls began pulling out the papers, Frank looked up in response to a scraping sound he heard on the second floor balcony above them. He saw a marble statue teetering at the edge of the wrought iron railing. As he stood, it toppled over the edge, heading straight toward Nancy and Emily.

OOOoooOOO

Joe was still copying underlined words and letters from Simone's paperback book as rapidly as he could, when he heard someone fumbling with the front door of the suite. Damn it.

He shoved the book under his shirt and exited his room as quickly as possible. Flying through the still empty living room, he entered Simone's room. He slid the novel back into her tote bag and as he turned to leave the room, Simone entered.

"What do you think you're doing in here?"