Chapter 4.
The Plan.
The night hours trickled by. At last, when streaks of dawn pierced the sky with pinkish hues, Cardinal Fratelli stood before the great window in his bedroom, watching the sun climb from behind the hills.
Silently, Ernesto’s dark figure lingered. His dreary eyelids drooped and he tiredly paced back and forth. Slowly, he turned to walk away. Abruptly, Fratelli cried out,
“Ernesto, don’t you leave me. We must talk about this.”
His hand eagerly beckoned.
“I’ve been standing right here about half an hour and now, all of sudden, you need me?” Ernesto quipped.
Fratelli sunk into his chair, collapsing dramatically. He mused a moment, then began:
“This is awful- very awful… I can’t believe you consider Father Adreo capable of murder. He is so shy and cautious, always mindful. How could you?”
“I don’t think Adreo killed anyone,” Ernesto replied, “But I swore an oath to perform my duties as constable unto the greatest ability and that means abiding by the city’s laws and orderly seeking justice. I don’t like it either but Adreo is accountable here and must be examined…”
“But he is entirely innocent!”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I know.”
Ernesto’s sudden snicker came out more like a hiss. His tired mouth couldn’t properly make the sound. Nor could his eyes convey the exact exasperation he felt. However, Fratelli must have possessed greater vexation for he emotively stroked the jeweled cross around his neck and mumbled. Not understanding, not entirely caring, Ernesto turned around.
“Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going home…”
“Wait!”
Ernesto looked back to see Fratelli leaping from his chair, almost knocking his leg against it in an excited scramble to stand. He stumbled forth and exclaimed: “By the grace of God, I will prove him guiltless!”
“And how will you go about that?” Ernesto asked, incredulous.
“Easily: by use of my God-given reason. There must be something amiss, some detail you overlooked…”
“So says the high churchman to the seasoned law-officer?”
“You think I am jesting.”
“No, I think you are over-tired and coming up with fanciful ideas. Angelo, Your Eminence, leave this situation to us. I promise I’ll try to clear Father Adreo…”
“Let me help you.”
Ernesto withdrew, tiptoed across the room and began to quietly open the door when Fratelli loudly slammed it shut with one arm. He then backed against it.
“I won’t allow you to leave until you accept my help,” he cautiously whispered, as if everyone in the house wasn’t already rudely awakened.
“You stubborn, stubborn cardinal!”
“…We are brothers,” Fratelli said.
His warm, amber eyes shone plaintively, almost youthfully. There was something so familiar in that stare, Ernesto nearly forgot that he spent his whole childhood without once seeing it.
“Okay…okay” he whined, “Just stop looking at me like that. It’s beneath you.”
Fratelli hastily reclaimed his dignity then folded his arms and shuffled away. Sorely tired, he didn’t mind when Ernesto exited and left him pondering alone in the dark. Sitting in his chair, lost amidst circling thoughts, he fell asleep.
Feeling a sharp nudge, Fratelli awoke. He shook the cluttered thoughts from his head, blinked tiredly and glanced up at Dina. Her light-blue, cotton dress glowed in late afternoon sun. Wryly, she smiled and let him stand.
“I had the most-terrible night, the worst in all my life…except perhaps that one night when I fell down the stairs…” Fratelli mumbled.
“Yes, I know,” she answered, “I heard everything.”
“Dina, you eavesdropped?”
“Of course I did…Forgive me, Your Eminence, I was worried.”
He sighed. Let me worry about myself, he silently thought.
YOU ARE READING
The Cardinal and The Constable
HumorCardinal Fratelli's misadventures continue in this third comedy novella. Things seem to settle down, Michele and Ernesto grow into family life and an old friend comes from London to visit. However, just when everything seems peaceful, a murder is co...
