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Father Vincent directed me to a motel a little ways north of O&039;Hare It was a national chain, cheap but clean, with rows of doors facing the parking lot I drove around to the back of theIt didn&039;t look like the kind of place someone like Vincent would stay in The priest leftbreak, hurried to the nearest door, and ducked inside as quickly as he could open the lock
I followed him Vincent shut the door behind us, locked it, and then fiddled with the blinds until they closed He nodded at the room&039;s little table and said, "Please, sit down"
I did, and stretched out s Father Vincent pulled open a drawer on the plain dresser, and drew out a file folder, held closed with a wide rubber band He sat down across from me, took off the rubber band, and said, "The Church is interested in recovering soed and said, "Sounds like a job for the police"
"An investigation is under way and I a your police department my full cooperation But - How to phrase this politely" He frowned "History is an able teacher"
"You don&039;t trust the police," I said "Gotcha"
He grimaced "It is only that there have been a nuo police and various underworld figures in the past"
"That&039;s mostly movies now, padre Youhas been over for a while"
"Perhaps," he said "Perhaps not I si within my power to recover the stolen article That includes involving an independent and discreet investigator"
Aha So he didn&039;t trust the police and wantedat a cheap"What do you want me to find for you?"
"A relic," he said
"A what?"
"An artifact, Mister Dresden An antique possessed by the Church for several centuries"
"Oh, that," I said
"Yes The article is fragile and of great age, and we believe that it is not being adequately preserved It is imperative that we recover it as quickly as possible"
"What happened to it?"
"It was stolen three days ago"
"From?"
"The Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in northern Italy"
"Long ways off"
"We believe that the artifact was brought here, to Chicago, to be sold"
"Why?"
He took an eight-by-ten glossy black and white from the folder and passed it toon cobblestones Blood had run into the spaces between the stones, as well as pooling a little on the ground around the body I think it had been a man, but it was hard to tell for certain Whoever it was had been slashed to almost literal ribbons across the face and neck-sharp, neat, straight cuts Professional knife work Yuck
"This anized thieves who call the sanctuaries and cathedrals He was found dead theafter the robbery near a small airfield His briefcase contained several falsified pieces of American identification and plane tickets that would carry him here"
"But no whatsit"
"Ah Exactly" Father Vincent removed another pair of photos These were also black-and-white, but they looked rougher, as if they had been ht and build, dark hair, dark sunglasses
"Surveillance photos?" I asked
He nodded "Interpol Anna Valmont and Francisca Garcia We believe they helped LaRouche with the theft, then murdered him and left the country Interpol received a tip that Valmont had been seen at the airport here"
"Do you knoho the buyer is?"
Vincent shook his head "No But this is the case I want you to find the re Churchmice and recover the artifact"
I frowned, looking at the photos "Yeah That&039;s what they want you to do too"
Vincent blinked at me "What do you mean?"
I shook my head impatiently "Someone Look at this photo LaRouche wasn&039;t murdered there"
Vincent frowned "Why would you say that?"
"Not enough blood I&039;ve seen men ere torn up and bled out There&039;s a hell of a lot more blood" I paused and then said, "Pardon my French"
Father Vincent crossed himself "Why would his body be found there?"
I shrugged "A professional did him Look at the cuts They&039;re ed, because you can&039;t hold aa knife to his face"
Father Vincent pressed one hand to his stoot a corpse found out in the n around his neck that says, &039;The goods are in Chicago&039; Either so to lead you here It&039;s a professional killing Someone meant his corpse to be a clue"
"But ould do such a thing?"