‘Imagine that. A government conspiracy. Some things never change.’
‘Actually, they’ve changed quite a bit. Back then, Church and state had virtually no separation. There’s no way of knowing who was responsible for Landa’s freedom or promotion. Was it the King of Spain, the Pope, or some random cardinal? Then again, what do I know? Maybe Landa was totally innocent of all charges.’
Jones scoffed at the notion. ‘Jon, I’m an angry black man. We think everybody’s innocent. But I’m not buying it. The guy burned half the books in Mexico. He was guilty of something.’
Payne laughed at the comment. ‘And as an honorary black man, I tend to agree with you. The guy sounds like scum to me. That being said, Landa’s crimes happened over four hundred years ago. The only thing I care about is his connection to Hamilton.’
‘Which is?’
He shrugged. ‘I have no idea. The document was handwritten in Spanish — with lots of little symbols.’
‘What kind of symbols?’
‘The Maya equivalent of hieroglyphics, whatever they’re called.’
‘I think they’re called glyphs. Mayan glyphs.’
Payne shrugged. ‘If you say so. That isn’t my specialty.’
Jones glanced inside the Hummer. Maria was hard at work on the document and well out of earshot. ‘Unfortunately, it’s not Maria’s specialty, either. I was talking to her on the drive down here, and she’s really confused about her role in all this. I mean really confused. I think that’s why she’s been so short-tempered with us. That, and a few other things.’
‘What other things?’
Jones peeked again to make sure she wasn’t listening. ‘Well, to be perfectly blunt, she’s got some major father issues.’
‘I know. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have dated an old fart like you.’
‘Jon, I’m being serious.’
‘Sorry. Couldn’t resist. I’ll be good from now on.’
Jones took a deep breath. ‘Anyway, you know all about her father, Benito. We dealt with him in Orvieto. That man was old-school crazy. He pampered his sons like princes and treated his wife and daughter like servants. As soon as she showed some backbone, he sent her away to boarding school so he wouldn’t have to deal with her any more.’
‘England, right?’
‘That’s right. A boarding school in England.’
Payne nodded. He hadn’t thought about these things in years, not since Jones had broken up with her. He knew bits and pieces of Maria’s history, but not enough to understand her psyche. Not enough to know what made her tick. It took much longer than a week to learn those types of things, but that was all the time he had spent with her. Granted, it was a particularly brutal week where half the police in Europe were looking for them, but a week nonetheless.
Jones continued. ‘After her mother died, her family cut her off. They didn’t talk to her, or write to her, or invite her home for the holidays. They ignored her, and she ignored them. At least she tried to. But the fact is that her hatred for her father made her stronger. Everything she did was fuelled by her desire to rub it in his face. Her grades, her accolades, even her decision to become an archaeologist was because of him. He assured her that women weren’t cut out for that sort of work, so she did everything in her power to prove him wrong.’
Payne raised an eyebrow. ‘Where are you going with this?’
‘Relax. I’m almost there.’
He sighed. ‘Good. Go on.’
‘Ever since then, she’s been looking for a father figure. Someone who would take her under his wing and mentor her. She had that for a while with her college professor, but he ended up using her for her connections to Benito.’
Payne nodded. ‘Dr Boyd. I remember.’
Jones glanced into the Hummer again. ‘I’m not positive about this, but I think she was hoping that Hamilton would fill that role, at least temporarily. She kept going on and on about his passion for history, and how much of a connection they made during their brief conversation. I know it’s kind of crazy — I mean, she barely knows the guy — but I think that’s messing with her mind. Every time she lets someone into her life, something bad happens.’
‘Did you ask her about it?’
He winced. ‘Are you nuts? She’d kick my ass if I suggested it. Heck, she’d kick my ass twice if she knew I told you about any of this, so please keep it to yourself.’
Payne smiled. ‘Don’t worry. I have no intention of making her mad. The last thing I want to worry about is friendly fire.’
41
Several minutes passed before Maria emerged from the Hummer. When she finally did, she had a strange look on her face, one that was impossible to read because of the wide range of emotions she was experiencing. There were hints of excitement, confusion, determination and anger, as if whatever she’d read had further complicated her outlook on things.
‘What’s wrong?’ Jones asked.
‘Nothing’s wrong,’ she assured them, despite the turmoil in her eyes. ‘It’s just … if this document is correct, then I’m in over my head. Way over my head. I mean, I know some of the basics about Landa, but not nearly enough to confirm these claims.’
‘What claims?’ Payne wondered.
She glanced at him, then lowered her eyes in shame. ‘Claims against the Church.’
Jones, who knew that Maria had been a practising Catholic for her entire life, realized this would be a sensitive topic, especially as her father was embroiled in a scandal at the Vatican at the time of his death. With that in mind, he shook his head to warn Payne. It let him know he needed to tread cautiously or risk Maria’s wrath. Payne nodded in understanding.
‘What type of claims?’ Jones asked softly.
She took a deep breath, then tried to brush it off. ‘Nothing I haven’t seen before. Corruption, greed, hypocrisy. You know, the big three.’
‘Sorry to hear that.’
She shrugged. ‘It’s OK. I mean, it’s not OK, but I’ve seen this crap so many times it barely registers any more. During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the Catholic Church was run by immoral men who used their positions to acquire power, wealth and sex. Not everyone was like that — some priests and bishops were actual saints — but misbehaviour was more common than you’d think. If I had a thousand dollars for every time the Pope got somebody pregnant, I could buy a very nice condo in Rome.’
Payne was tempted to say that a condo in Rome is probably where the popes got most of the women pregnant, but he decided to heed Jones’s warning and hold his tongue.
Jones pointed at the packet in her grasp. She was holding it so tightly her fingertips were turning white. ‘You might want to ease up. A tree died for that document.’
She glanced at her hands and nodded. ‘Sorry. I’m just a little rattled.’
‘Why? What does it say?’
She took another deep breath, trying to calm down. ‘Before I try to explain, what do you know about Landa?’
‘Quite a bit, actually. I was filling Jon in while you worked on the translation.’
Payne rolled his eyes but didn’t contradict the claim. He knew Jones was trying to impress her. ‘That’s right. He told me all about the book burnings and the cruelty and the charges of persecution. It was like having a conversation with an encyclopedia.’
‘Really?’ she said, surprised. ‘That’s great to hear, because I need all the help I can get. Maybe you can fill me in on some things. I’m somewhat hazy on his later years.’
Payne couldn’t help but smile. ‘Yes, David, please enlighten us.’
Jones played it perfectly. ‘Actually, I doubt I’ll be much help to a historian like you. My knowledge of Landa is pretty superficial. You know, the type of stuff you could find on the Internet. I doubt I’ll be able to tell you anything you don’t already know.’