Professor Montessori was personally overseeing everything to do with the pontiff’s meals. He came into the kitchen several times throughout the day and accompanied the nuns who carried the meal tray to the pontiff’s apartment. He also spoke with Lorenza about the dishes she was preparing, making sure they were served as soon as they were ready. He also made sure that Jack accurately recorded exact portion sizes and their weight every time a dish was taken to the pontiff.

  It was already quite late in the afternoon when Montessori swept into the kitchen with a big smile on his face. He walked up to Lorenza and Jack at the workbench. ‘I have good news,’ he said. ‘His Holiness seems to be improving!’

  ‘So soon?’ asked Lorenza, adjusting her apron.

  ‘It’s remarkable, but Professor Delacroix didn’t seem surprised. She said if this was to work at all, improvements would become apparent very quickly.’

  ‘Let’s hope it continues,’ said Lorenza.

  ‘His Holiness’s appetite has returned and he is enjoying the dishes. He is also sleeping better and there are other signs as well ...’

  ‘That’s great,’ said Jack and pointed to a large pot simmering on the stove. ‘So you think this is working?’

  ‘Too early to tell for sure, but the signs are definitely encouraging. I haven’t seen His Holiness so animated and in such good spirits for a long time. The pain in his abdomen seems to have eased too, and the fever has gone.’

  ‘The bowel inflammation?’ asked Jack.

  ‘Looks that way. In fact, he asked for another portion of the dish we served for lunch,’ said Montessori, obviously delighted. ‘Another good sign.’

  ‘Hunkar Begendi,’ said Lorenza. ‘It’s not called the “Sultan’s Delight” for nothing. We have plenty left.’

  ‘If you could prepare a small portion now, I’ll take it to His Holiness.’

  ‘No problem.’

  An hour later, Cardinal Borromeo came into the kitchen. Everyone stopped working and watched. To see the Dean of the College of Cardinals visit the kitchen was unheard of.

  ‘You already heard the good news, I believe,’ said the cardinal, walking up to Lorenza’s workbench.

  ‘We have, Eminence,’ said Lorenza and wiped her hands on her apron. ‘Very encouraging.’

  ‘Professor Delacroix certainly seems to think so. I just spoke to her a moment ago.’ The cardinal turned to Jack. ‘Your notes are excellent by the way, she said.’

  ‘Good to hear.’

  ‘His Holiness has a request,’ said the cardinal, lowering his voice.

  ‘Oh? Something to do with the dishes?’ asked Lorenza, frowning.

  ‘No, to do with the chef preparing them.’

  ‘Oh ...’

  ‘He would like to meet you.’

  Lorenza looked alarmed. ‘When?’ she asked.

  ‘Right now. Please, come with me.’

  Lorenza and Jack followed the cardinal through a maze of corridors to the papal apartments. Two Swiss Guards in full regalia stood in front of the pontiff’s bedroom, their colourful uniforms lit up like beacons as shafts of afternoon sunlight reached through the windows like fingers of gold.

  The cardinal stopped in front of the tall double doors. ‘Wait here, please,’ he said, then knocked and entered. He returned moments later.

  ‘I will take you inside now and introduce you,’ he said to Lorenza. ‘His Holiness would like to see you alone.’ The cardinal looked at Jack and shrugged.

  ‘Alone?’ said Lorenza, barely able to speak, a wave of panic washing over her. She looked pleadingly at the cardinal.

  ‘There is nothing to worry about, trust me. You are about to meet an extraordinary man. Just be yourself; come.’

  ‘Good luck,’ whispered Jack as Lorenza walked past him, her eyes locked on the cardinal as he opened the door. Lorenza didn’t reply and Jack wasn’t sure if she had heard him.

  Jack walked over to the windows and looked down into St Peter’s Square, teeming with the faithful who had just attended mass in the basilica.

  The cardinal joined him a short while later. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘but His Holiness ...’

  ‘I understand.’

  ‘He definitely wants to meet you, but another time.’

  ‘No problem.’

  ‘She’s an exceptional young woman.’

  ‘She certainly is that, and she’s been through a lot lately.’

  ‘I know,’ said the cardinal, ‘and so does His Holiness.’

  After the door had closed behind her, Lorenza stood perfectly still, unsure of what to do next. The windows were open and bright sunlight filled the sparsely furnished room, illuminating the magnificent paintings covering almost every wall. Apart from a single bed and a chair facing the door, a French antique desk by the window and a beautifully carved prie-dieu – a kneeler – at the foot of the bed, the large room was almost empty. However, the presence of the frail-looking man lying motionless in the bed with his eyes closed, seemed to fill the bedchamber.

  He’s asleep, thought Lorenza, listening to her own heartbeat pounding in her ears. Suddenly, the pope opened his eyes and looked at her. It was a look Lorenza would never forget. Someone was looking into her soul.

  ‘Please, come closer where I can see you,’ said the pope, his voice sounding distant but gentle, and pointed to a chair next to his bed. As Lorenza walked over to the chair, little did she know that the next fifteen minutes would transform her life.

  Jack and the cardinal were chatting by the window when Jack noticed something out of the corner of his eye: the door to the pontiff’s bedroom was opening slowly. ‘Ah, here she comes,’ he said, and turned towards the door.

  For a moment, Lorenza stood motionless in the doorway, tears in her eyes, gazing at something in the distance only she could see. Then slowly, she closed the door behind her and looked around.

  Jack walked over to her. ‘How did it go?’ he asked.

  ‘Hold me, Jack,’ whispered Lorenza, shaking all over.

  Jack put his arms around her and held her tight.

  ‘Could we please go into St Peters?’ asked Lorenza.

  ‘What, now?’

  ‘Yes please.’

  The cardinal, who had overheard the exchange, turned to one of the Swiss Guards and said something in Italian. The guard nodded and walked over to Jack.

  ‘He will take you into the basilica,’ said the cardinal, smiling. ‘He knows a good shortcut.’

  Jack and Lorenza entered the basilica through a side door close to the high altar where the pope had recently collapsed. Lorenza stopped and looked at the stunning columns of St Peter’s Baldachin directly under the huge dome. Bernini’s masterpiece – an inspired blend of sculpture and architecture –stood directly above St Peter’s tomb. The stunning structure reaching towards Michelangelo’s breathtaking dome was a visual link between the basilica’s enormous size and the human scale of the papal altar beneath the canopy.

  ‘Amazing, isn’t it?’ said Jack, looking up into the dome.

  The basilica was almost empty by now as most of the faithful had left after the service.

  ‘Give me a moment, please,’ said Lorenza, her voice quivering with emotion, and then she walked ahead into one of the side chapels. She stopped by a small wrought-iron stand full of flickering candles. Slowly, she lit two candles of her own, crossed herself and then walked up to the altar and knelt to pray.

  Jack stood in the shadows, watching. Strangely moved, his mind began to wander, taking him back to a mission station in outback Australia where as a boy he had spent a few months during a drought too awful to remember.

  It all began with Brother Francis and that note, he thought, his mind racing back thirty years. ‘If you follow my instructions, you will find all the answers, and a lot more ...’ Was he right about that! Jack shook his head as he remembered opening the grave in the little cemetery in Berchtesgaden on Christmas Eve many years later, and finding Brother Francis’s diary hidden under the tombstone. And in a way, that had just been the beginning. And then came the Imperial Crypt in Vienna and the discovery of the two paintings hidden in the sarcophagus. Incredible!

  For a while, Jack watched Lorenza, head bowed and obviously deep in prayer, kneeling at the altar. Then his mind returned to the painting and how its restoration had uncovered the writing on the book – al-Qanun – which was at the very centre of the drama unfolding at the moment.

  Jack shook his head. Those breadcrumbs of destiny, again, he thought.

  Cardinal Borromeo walked up to Jack from behind. ‘I thought I’d find you here,’ he said quietly

  Jack turned around, startled, and smiled. He pointed to Lorenza kneeling in front of the altar. ‘Meeting His Holiness seems to have affected her deeply.’

  ‘Not surprising. His Holiness has that effect ...’

  For a while the two men stood in silence, watching Lorenza.

  ‘I can see God’s hand in all this,’ said the cardinal. ‘All the threads are coming together in unexpected ways. I firmly believe now His Holiness will pull through.’

  ‘I call it following the breadcrumbs of destiny.’

  ‘Perhaps we are talking about the same thing?’ suggested the cardinal.

  Then Lorenza crossed herself again and stood up. As she came closer, Jack noticed something remarkable: an expression of inner peace he hadn’t seen before, and a radiating glow coming from somewhere deep within.

  ‘I’ll wait for you at the side entrance over there and take you back when you’re ready,’ said the cardinal and withdrew.

  ‘Are you going to tell me what happened when you met?’

  ‘His Holiness took away my grief.’

  ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘Mum and Antonio ... I was with them, just now. Right here. The wound has healed. I’m no longer grieving!’

  ‘How did he …?’

  ‘He showed me the way.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘Love and faith.’

  ‘Ah.’ Jack nodded.

  Lorenza took him by the hand. ‘Don’t look like a doubting Thomas,’ she said. ‘We have work to do! Let’s go back to the kitchen.’

  Jack noticed a new confidence and purpose in Lorenza’s step as they followed the cardinal across a courtyard and then up some stairs.

  ‘More Hunkar Begendi,’ said Lorenza, putting on her apron. ‘It seems to have become His Holiness’s delight as well. He said as much.’

  ‘Is that what you were talking about?’ asked Jack, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. ‘Food?’

  ‘There was a bit of that,’ said Lorenza cheerfully.

  ‘Anything else?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Care to tell me?’

  ‘Later perhaps. But for now, let’s cook! We are all instruments of God.’

  ‘We are?’

  ‘Even an incorrigible rascal like you, Jack Rogan; trust me. Where’s your notebook?’

  ‘You’ve been around Tristan and Katerina for far too long.’

  ‘Could be. Come on, let’s get stuck into it!’

  ‘Yes, chef!’

  Three months later

  Cardinal O’Brien’s residence; Sydney

  Despite her heavy, relentless workload, Alexandra made sure she was home in time to get ready for dinner. Since the Ethics Committee had cleared the path for the groundbreaking CRISPR trials in Australia, she realised the medical research fraternity in every corner of the globe was watching. If successful, this was a game changer. To Alexandra, however, it was much more than that. It was her friend and mentor’s legacy: Professor K’s final quest.

  Not everyone approved, and many were sceptical. The pressure was therefore enormous, and Alexandra and her team had virtually worked around the clock for weeks to make sure there were no mistakes.

  For the first time, CRISPR was being trialled on humans – real patients – at St Luke’s Hospital directly next door to the Gordon. The Gordon and St Luke’s had collaborated many times before, but never on something so revolutionary and controversial. CRISPR was definitely a world-first and would not have been possible without the support of the Catholic Church and the personal intervention of Cardinal O’Brien in the all-important ethics debate that had brought Alexandra’s research almost to a standstill the year before.

  The dinner had been arranged by Cardinal O’Brien to celebrate not only the pope’s extraordinary recovery, but his highly acclaimed United Nations address in New York and his inspirational speech in the US Congress a few days later that had made headlines around the world. When the pope spoke, the world listened. However, due to the pope’s illness, none of that could have gone ahead without Alexandra’s groundbreaking research, medical advice and guidance.

  Jack had just flown in from New York and was also getting ready. ‘Lucky it still fits,’ he said, adjusting his belt. ‘I haven’t worn this suit in years.’

  ‘Let me have a look,’ said Alexandra, smiling. ‘Wrong tie.’ She walked over to Jack’s wardrobe and opened the sliding doors. ‘Six ties? Is that it? You and your clothes! There’s virtually nothing in here. Try this one.’

  ‘You know I don’t wear this kind of stuff …’

  ‘Come on, Jack, not even you can turn up at the cardinal’s dinner party in jeans and a tee-shirt.

  ‘Suppose so …’

  ‘Get on with it, or we’ll be late!’

  Alexandra and Jack were the first to arrive. Father Connor welcomed them at the front door and escorted them to the terrace next to the dining room for pre-dinner drinks. The cardinal was already there, talking to Mrs Kelly about the seating arrangements.

  ‘I’m glad you could prise yourself away from your research, Professor Delacroix, albeit for just one night,’ said the cardinal, a sparkle in his eyes. ‘And thank you for travelling halfway around the world, Mr Rogan. I understand you came back to Sydney just to be with us this evening?’

  Jack waved dismissively and took a sip of his gin and tonic. ‘Couldn’t miss this, Eminence,’ he said, and took a bow.

  Looking excited, but a little awkward, Ayah and Vimal arrived moments later. It wasn’t often that two young research scientists were invited to a private dinner with their world-famous Nobel laureate boss, an acclaimed international writer, and a cardinal.

  ‘Now that you are all here,’ began the cardinal, looking at Alexandra, ‘allow me to start by congratulating you on this marvellous article.’ The cardinal held up a copy of Science, the peer-reviewed academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  ‘Your Eminence is full of surprises,’ said Alexandra. ‘This only came out last week. You are more up-to-date than most of my colleagues.’

  The cardinal smiled, acknowledging the compliment.

  ‘Ah, the illustrious Science magazine,’ said Jack. ‘The Holy Grail of science journals. It’s every researcher’s dream to one day have an article feature in its hallowed pages.’

  ‘True,’ said Alexandra.

  ‘Did you know it was founded in 1880 with financial support from none other than Thomas Edison, and later Alexander Graham Bell?’

  ‘I didn’t know that,’ interjected Vimal.

  ‘It has a chequered history. Due to lack of support it stopped publishing in 1882. It was resurrected a year later, but was soon in financial difficulties again and was eventually sold to a psychologist – James McKeen Cattell – for five hundred dollars.’

  ‘You seem to know a lot about this,’ said Father Connor. ‘But then I shouldn’t be surprised … you seem to know a lot about, well, a lot.’

  ‘I did a series of articles about the journal’s history as a young journo in Brisbane,’ said Jack, laughing. ‘One of my first assignments. I thought it was the short straw at the time. Little did I know then …’

  ‘We have an almost complete set here in the library,’ said the cardinal. ‘I often pick up one of the early copies. Fascinating, I can tell you. Did you know there are articles in there by Albert Einstein about gravitational lensing, and Edwin Hubble about spiral nebulae? They have changed the way we see our world.

  ‘And an article on fruit fly genetics by Thomas Hunt Morgan,’ Alexandra added, ‘which has changed the way we look at genetics.’

  ‘And now an article by Dr Alexandra Delacroix: “Is POMAX 16 the new KALM 30?” No doubt this is going to change something too?’ asked the cardinal.

  ‘Perhaps. Especially if we are successful with the new drug …’

  ‘Osdabio,’ interjected Ayah.

  ‘POMAX 16 and Osdabio? What’s all this about?’ asked Jack.

  ‘You should read the article, Mr Rogan,’ said the cardinal. ‘I can lend it to you.’

  ‘Why not hear it from the horse’s mouth instead?’ came Jack’s riposte.

  ‘Vimal, could you please help Mr Rogan here?’ said Alexandra, and please, keep it simple.’

  ‘Thanks. You mean Science for Dummies?’ said Jack.

  Alexandra gave Jack a coquettish look and shrugged.

  ‘You will remember we recently discovered a new, previously unknown gene in His Holiness’s genome,’ began Vimal.

  ‘Another “hidden gene”, I think you called it,’ said the cardinal.

  ‘Correct; POMAX 16. A gene related to Professor K’s KALM 30 gene that appears to block the action of the IL-10 brake system, allowing the “go signal” CD86 to stimulate autoimmunity,’ said Alexandra.

  ‘In the beginning, we called it the Holy Gene,’ interjected Vimal, ‘but thought that may not be such a good idea in the long run …’

  ‘In the lab we still do,’ said Ayah, smiling.

  Alexandra held up her hand. ‘All right, guys,’ she said, trying to keep the conversation on track. ‘Enter Osman da Baggio and his notes … Osman described this devastating inflammatory bowel disease in great detail and claimed to have successfully treated it with food; a diet.’

  ‘The dishes we prepared for His Holiness,’ said Jack. ‘I was there with Lorenza … we called it the Ottoman diet.’

 

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