Near the stable was a door in the basement side of the mansion. Eduardo saw a doorknob and metal plate with the standard slot for a key. He crouched and peered through the keyhole. It was dark inside. He placed his mouth close to the keyhole. "Tasha, are you there?" An eye looked at him from the inside. An imploring voice came to him through the keyhole: "Tasha." Words in Russian, then in Italian: "Clean room. Wash clothes. No food if you noise." A torrent of words in Russian followed. Eduardo moved his mouth to the hole and said, "Be silent, Tasha. I will save you."
Wars break out in Italy over who owns which territories. Child-smuggling runs rampant. Enter King Vittorio Emanuele II of Sardinia. With his army, he gathers most states of the "boot" into one national group. Soon enough, Eduardo and Rai find themselves drawn into a spy plot by King Emanuele. What the inspectors uncover as "auditors" for the Holy See, and child trafficking in Rome, reveals secrets that seal the fate of the Vatican. It leads as well to Eduardo's mortal fate.