An Inside Job

The papal entourage flies to the island of Lampedusa, the embarkation point for Africans fleeing to Europe to escape the unrest of their native countries. Luigi and his group have come to commemorate a disaster a decade earlier in which more than 300 migrants drowned when their boat caught fire. “The shipwreck had occurred less than a kilometer from Lampedusa’s famed Spiaggia dei Conigli, one of the world’s most popular beaches” (339).

A large crowd has gathered to hear the pope speak. He uses the occasion to castigate far-right politicians who stoke fear of immigrants: “Roundups and mass deportations […] were not only inhumane, they were unchristian” (340). The pope says that Jesus would have never remained silent in the face of such cruelty, and Gabriel understands that this is a warning to those in the Vatican who tolerate corruption. Luigi’s reformer stance doesn’t sit well with more traditional members of the clergy, and this is yet another public statement that antagonizes the “princes” of the church.

The next stop is Palermo, Sicily, one of the most dangerous cities in Europe. Gabriel’s vigilance increases when the papal entourage arrives there. The pope is once again met with an adoring crowd. This time, the multitude amounts to more than 300,000 people. After saying mass, he addresses his flock by recalling Christ’s Beatitudes and rebuking those who abuse wealth and power: “Blessed is the oligarch? Blessed is the tyrant? Blessed is the torturer? The oppressor?” (345-46). Those lines aren’t in his copy of the bible. Once again, Luigi makes his reformist stance clear. The Vaticanisti have been sure to take note.

The group returns to the Vatican late that evening, and Luigi invites Gabriel to dine with him. They discuss what to do about Bertoli. The Italian police are determined to bring down the Camorra, and Bertoli’s involvement will be impossible to hide. Luigi says, “It will be a fight to the death, mio amico. And even if I prevail, I will undoubtedly inflict damage on my papacy in the process” (351). Nevertheless, Luigi is determined to avoid a cover-up to save face. When they part for the evening, the pope invites Gabriel to attend the Angelus service the following day before he returns home to Venice.

The next day, Gabriel asks Veronica and Rossetti to accompany him to St. Peter’s Square for the Angelus service. Thousands of people have already gathered to see Pope Luigi read a prayer from an open window in the papal apartments above them.

Unexpectedly, the moment turns chaotic: “He stood there for a long moment, his arms extended over the rapturous throng in the square, seemingly unaware of the fact that someone was shooting at him” (358). Soon, everyone realizes that the pope has been shot in the chest. Veronica tries wrestling the gun away from the assassin down in the square and is also shot. The assassin turns to shoot Gabriel but is shot by Rossetti before he can fire again.

Gabriel and Rossetti rush Veronica to the hospital, where she remains in surgery for hours. Meanwhile, rumors abound that the pope is dead, but Gabriel can’t confirm that this is true. By 9 pm, Veronica is moved out of intensive care to a suite on an upper floor that is usually reserved for the pope’s hospital stays. When Gabriel goes to her room, he finds Luigi kneeling by the side of her bed: “There were two bullet holes in the front of his white cassock. And he was still very much alive” (365). As Gabriel soon learns, Luigi was wearing a bulletproof vest that day. 

Both men believe that Bertoli suggested the assassination plot to the Camorra and that Gabriel was the second intended target. Luigi will not publicly disclose Bertoli’s hand in the affair, but the pope intends to hold the cardinal accountable for fraud and embezzlement. That night, Gabriel and Luigi keep a vigil in Veronica’s room. The following morning, when she regains consciousness, she sees Luigi by her side. After receiving assurances that she will recover, Gabriel leaves for Venice.

Starting the following day, the net closes around the Camorra. The police arrest more than 200 mob operatives. The would-be assassin is captured and is a known Camorra agent. The financiers, Nico Ambrozi and Franco Tedeschi, are both arrested. The pope orders an outside audit of the Vatican’s books, which proves conclusively that fraud has been committed. 

Acting on this information, Luigi fires Bertoli, who is banished to an abbey in the mountains. The press never connects these events to the deaths of Penelope Radcliff, Montefiore, or Ottavio, the security guard. Three weeks after the shooting, Veronica returns to her home to convalesce.

By February, Gabriel has started restoration work on the lost Leonardo at his studio in Venice. When a handful of art experts are called to view the painting before Gabriel begins any major work on it, the verdict is favorable: “There were no dissenting opinions or even equivocation” (375). The Vatican wishes the artwork restored in time to be displayed for the summer tourist season.

In the months that follow, Gabriel’s covert team conducts some clean-up tasks. Ingrid and an associate manage to steal the fake Leonardo from the Russian oligarch’s home before his ex-wife can complete an art inventory of his holdings. General Ferrari continues his round-up of Camorra clan members in the region, setting the organization back for years. As summer approaches, Gabriel is anxious about the quality of his restoration because it will be judged by the entire art world.

Gabriel delivers the finished masterpiece to the Vatican in early summer. After this errand is complete, he calls on Veronica, who has made a complete recovery. They talk about her romance with Luigi decades before he became pope. Even though the two still love each other, Gabriel encourages Veronica to move on with her life. Rossetti has expressed a romantic interest in her, and she might be ready to reciprocate.

A week later, ARTnews carries the complete story of the lost Leonardo, giving Penny Radcliff credit for its discovery. General Ferrari holds a news conference to fill in the gaps regarding the Camorra’s involvement in the theft and all the murders linked to the painting. This lurid publicity stimulates the public demand for tickets when it is announced that the lost Leonardo will soon go on display. 

On the eve of the painting’s public debut, a black-tie private viewing is held for 1,000 special guests, including Gabriel, his family, and his circle of friends in London. The art world receives Gabriel’s restoration favorably, with one critic commenting, “Gabriel Allon had doubtless learned his craft in Leonardo’s busy studio in Milan, along with Boltraffio, Luini, d’Oggiono, and the rest of the Leonardeschi” (386).

Gabriel is also pleased that his son Raphael has finally chosen to join his art class. He speculates that this might be because of Chiara’s influence: “He wondered, not for the first time, why the boy had changed his mind. Surely, he thought, it had been an inside job” (388). The novel ends with this final allusion to the pervasiveness of inside jobs.