there is an audible gasp from the assembled cardinals as the heavy locks clunk open, the chains rattle away, and the main doors of the sistine chapel sweep open.
the camerlengo has just passed on the shocking news, and the whispered word "murder" can be heard in several languages.
the camerlengo continues, and the cardinals are listening.
the camerlengo continues, growing passionate.
mortati's aide, father simeon, takes advantage of the open sistine chapel doors and slips inside. he takes a place just behind mortati as the camerlengo goes on.
the camerlengo speaks faster now:
the camerlengo's wrapping up:
the cheers from outside are clearly audible in the sistine chapel, where the doors have been thrown open and they have gotten the news. jubilation reigns.
in the sistine chapel, cardinal mortati is in hushed, urgent conversation with a group of seven or eight cardinals.
-- and stops, right there, the look of imminent ascendancy frozen on his face.
close on a bundle of one hundred sixty-one slips of paper, pierced by a needle and strung together.