Black Cathedral

St. Wolfgang in Austria, but his parents moved to Dresden when he was a child. His family was very strictly Catholic and he entered the Seminary when he was in his late teens. He progressed quickly and by the time he was twenty-five he’d joined the Jesuits, and within five years he’d risen to the position of spiritual coadjutor. These are members of the Society of Jesus who take a special vow of obedience to the Pope.

‘Benedict sent him on a secret mission to Kulsay, to stop the rot, in what ever way he saw fit, on the strict understanding that, to all intents and purposes, he would be working alone, under the radar so there could be no fallout detrimental to the Vatican. He picked the right man for the job. Meyer was a devout Catholic and a purveyor of what’s commonly known today as muscular Christianity. He had a reputation for total ruthlessness, and wasn’t shy of violence if he believed that violence would get the Catholic faith across to unbelievers.

‘Meyer assembled a small team of mercenaries to go with him to Kulsay. These were men he’d used before and whom he trusted implicitly. They in turn were loyal to him, and him alone.

‘The first time he went across to Kulsay he went by himself. He had a meeting with Pious Prime. The two men detested each other on sight.’

‘What about deMarco?’ Jane said. She was absorbed in the story, sitting forward in her seat as if afraid to miss a single word.

‘DeMarco stayed out of the way, at least during the initial meeting. But Meyer made it clear to Prime that he would return to the island, and on his next visit deMarco would meet him face-to-face or suffer, as he put it, dire consequences.’

‘And did he?’ Jane said. ‘Meet with deMarco, I mean.’

Bayliss smiled. ‘Oh yes, they met.’

‘What happened?’

‘He went across to Kulsay with two of his men who were essentially acting as his bodyguards. He not only met deMarco but also six others that he called his High Council. The Council included Pious Prime, which didn’t sit well with The German. Several years later Meyer’s journal was unearthed and in it he claimed that on that day he’d met the Devil’s Disciples and Satan himself, in the guise of Alphonse deMarco. From what I remember he wrote, “He pretends to be a man, but in fact he is Lucifer in corporeal form. With God at my side I will send him back to Hades where he belongs.”’

‘They didn’t get on then,’ John McKinley said with a wry smile.

Bayliss shook his head. ‘Among other things he offered deMarco and the others life everlasting through the grace of God. DeMarco told him he had life everlasting already, and that it had nothing to do with the grace of God. That blasphemy was enough for Meyer. He was a proud man and a fanatical Catholic and was not prepared to sit there and listen to such heresy. He went back to the mainland, gathered the rest of his troops and sent them across to Kulsay with the instructions to eradicate deMarco and his followers.’

‘Eradicate them?’ Jane said.

‘Muscular Christianity, as I said. As far as The German was concerned he was ridding the world of heretics and blasphemers. That was justification enough.’ Bayliss reached down and lifted his mug, put it to his lips then realized it was empty. Seconds later Kirby was at his side with the coffeepot, refilling the mug, her attitude towards him apparently softening by the moment.

‘Did Meyer go back over with his men?’ McKinley asked.

‘Good God, no,’ Bayliss said. ‘The man was ruthless but he was no fool. He stayed on the mainland; distancing himself and the Church from imminent slaughter. He remained there for a week, every day expecting to hear that the mission had been successful. He heard nothing. Finally, on the eighth day, he went across to the island.’

‘What did he find?’ Jane said.

‘He went, expecting to find carnage. What he found was even more chilling. Of deMarco and his followers there was no sign at all. They had, to all intents and purposes, vanished into thin air. The house was deserted, as was the rest of the island.’

‘And his own men?’ Carter said. ‘The mercenaries?’

‘He found the bodies of two of them. The rest had gone. The first he found at deMarco’s house. He was sitting in a chair with his throat cut. He was holding a knife and it appeared he’d taken his own life.’

‘And the second?’

Bayliss smiled, but it was humorless, a rictus more than a sign of pleasure. ‘Meyer found the other man on the grounds of the house, embedded in a tree.’

‘What?’ Carter said.

‘Just his face, chest and knees were visible. The rest of him was in the tree. Meyer described it in his journal. According to him there was no way of telling where the flesh of the man stopped and the bark of the tree began; they had merged into one.’

Jane and Carter exchanged looks. No one in the room said a word. Bayliss continued.

‘Meyer returned to Rome. On the one hand the mission had been a success. DeMarco and his followers had been neutralized, so they were no longer a thorn in Pope Benedict’s side. But the mission raised more questions than it answered. Where had deMarco and his people gone? Would they one day reappear to cause more trouble? What had happened to the rest of the mercenaries? Had they all been killed, or had they joined with deMarco? And as for the man in the tree…well that was clearly the work of the Devil. Benedict wasn’t a happy man.

‘But that’s the end of that story. At least, that’s as far as my research has taken me. DeMarco and his followers never resurfaced. The German was sent home in some disgrace and he never worked for the Pope again. He apparently died a few years later in a small village just outside Dusseldorf, a broken man; haunted by nightmares.’

‘So what happened to Kulsay after that?’ Jane said.

‘Well the Catholics gave the place a wide berth and never set foot on the island again, but thirty years or so later a Presbyterian minister called McLeod led a group of settlers over here. They brought a few thousand sheep with them and turned the island into a fairly thriving farming community. They built the church, held regular services, and McLeod took over deMarco’s house and turned it into the Manse. For a number of years the place flourished. Until sixty years ago when the entire population vanished. Then nothing until the island was bought by the KDC.’

‘So this is the house deMarco built?’ Carter said, looking about the room.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Bayliss said nothing but nodded slowly.

McKinley gave a low whistle. ‘And we’re stuck here. Isn’t that a pisser.’

Jane stepped in. ‘Well, thank you for the history lesson, Mr. Bayliss, but I don’t see how it moves us forward. It’s just given us a few more mysteries to unravel,’ she said.

Bayliss frowned at her. ‘You’re missing the point I’m trying to make,’ he said. ‘Before I came here you knew nothing about the island. You had no idea what you were up against. Now you do.’

‘DeMarco?’ She tried but failed to keep the incredulity out of her voice.

‘Exactly.’ Bayliss tapped his knee with his coffee mug as if to emphasize the point.

‘A man who died over three hundred years ago?’

‘I didn’t say he died. I said that when Meyer offered him life everlasting through God, he said he already had it.’

‘Yes, but obviously he was speaking figuratively.’ Jane looked at the others to gauge their reaction.

‘Do you know that for certain?’ Bayliss said. ‘Look, what’s been happening on the island isn’t just happenstance. I believe there’s an intelligence controlling events, and I believe that intelligence is Alphonse deMarco.’

‘It’s a bit of a stretch,’ Kirby said. ‘But okay. Let’s imagine for a moment that you’re right and by some means or other deMarco’s found a way to…to postpone death, where is he now, and what’s his motivation?’

‘I believe he’s still here on Kulsay. As for his motivation, take your pick. Revenge. Anger. Perhaps he wants to strike back at the Church. I don’t know for certain.’