Axel
During the next two weeks, with the little time we had, Miranda and I began to plan our attack against the archdiocese of Esperanza City.
We had no idea how to do it, but we were aware that, in order to have a considerable impact on society, we had to connect our objective with that documentary that was considered a discrediting material for the archdiocese and the figure of the beloved cardinal Tulio Ruperto Barradas.
We also finished reading volumes two and three of Gutiérrez and Esparza, in which we found more testimonies from families whose children were victims of sexual abuse by the cardinal.
Reading those testimonies was heartbreaking and frustrating, especially considering that it happened in a time when ecclesiastical authorities were regarded as immaculate, unique beings chosen according to God's will.
The time we had to continue investigating was short, as classes intensified on the fourth day, after a series of tests that highlighted our weaknesses and strengths.
Professor Estrada was pleased to find more strengths than weaknesses in our group, although that did not prevent him from considering teaching topics that most of us had seen before receiving the scholarship.
During those days, we focused on understanding light and shadow, and although I had no weaknesses in either aspect, I was able to understand new details that I didn't see at university.
In fact, thanks to Professor Estrada, I became aware of a small mistake I regularly made when it came to shadows.
As for my role in the newly founded The Clay Club that Miranda led, I limited myself to compiling information that we transcribed secretly from the librarian, who regularly watched us because of how often we requested the seven volumes of Gutiérrez and Esparza.
It wasn't that the librarian was in favor of the archdiocese, but rather that his job with respect to the seven volumes was to keep the information classified and to limit the students to compiling educational content when they requested it.
In fact, few people had access to the volumes of Gutiérrez and Esparza, and they were generally upper-level students or those in the final stage of their studies, which allowed us to deduce that the dean was indirectly asking us to help him in the preservation of such important historical documentation.
Thus, as we continued to gather information and consider plans for the dissemination of the The Clay Club, as well as the search for students who wanted to be part of our guild, three more weeks passed in which, although we had good material to confront the archdiocese, we were aware that carrying out any plan was counterproductive.
The archdiocese no longer held the power it had enjoyed in past centuries, when the fear of God allowed it to be a supreme authority that intervened in the legal, economic, and social affairs of New Granada. Nevertheless, it continued to be respected and admired, especially with the news of Cardinal Barradas's potential beatification, for which The Vatican had considered him.
"I've always said that information is power, but it's also essential to know how to use it", Miranda commented one Saturday afternoon, as we strolled through a square near her apartment.
That afternoon, Miranda had texted me to meet up, claiming to feel frustrated about our plans.
"To get attention, we first need to have a good number of followers or cause a considerable social impact, and so far, only ten people have joined our cause", I said.
"The dean's goal is to preserve the volumes of Gutiérrez and Esparza, but the archdiocese has been insistent in recent days with its demands, so it is possible that this situation will end up in court… If that happens, attention will be diverted to that legal event, and our objective will then have little meaning", Miranda argued.
"Hey, we're just a couple of kids coming out of adolescence, don't you think we're putting a huge responsibility on ourselves for how impactful an event related to the historical truth of Esperanza de la Vega can be?", I asked.
"I'm aware of that, but it frustrates me that, to this day, the truth hasn't come to light," she replied, frustrated.
For a few seconds, not knowing how to respond, I remained silent while I thought of a way to cheer her up, but nothing came to mind.
"Tell me, Axel, do you think we're wasting our time?" she asked.
"Wasting time? Not at all... On the contrary, we are accessing classified information that only a small group of people know and mastering the techniques of Gutiérrez and Esparza," I replied.
Miranda gave a half-smile; she wasn't happy with my answer.
"Miranda", I murmured.
"Tell me," she replied, unable to hide her frustration.
"How far would you go to reveal the truth about Esperanza de la Vega?" I asked.
"Huh?" she replied, confused.
"Look, since we started getting involved with this issue, we've just been gathering information without a really concrete plan. So, if we want to make an impact, we have to take some risks and stir up some curiosity in society," I said.
"Morbid curiosity?" Miranda asked.
"Yes… Morbid curiosity is generally attractive and addictive to society, even when it's a lie", I replied.
Miranda looked thoughtful; she didn't seem convinced.
"One example is the tabloid media, which always resorts to sensationalism or lies to attract an audience," I explained. "Of course, this has adverse consequences, and in our particular case, if things go wrong, we could risk losing our scholarship, or worse, being arrested."
"I don't know if I would be willing to go that far, and now I feel like a fool for believing I could do the same as Esperanza de la Vega," she said, with sudden distress.
"You feel that way because you know we would lose more than we could gain", I commented.
"So, what do we do?", she asked.
"To hell with scholarships... let's take a chance on this," I replied.
Miranda, who hadn't expected my answer, opened her eyes in shock.
"Are you serious?" she asked, with persistent astonishment.
"Of course, and I don't deny that I'm afraid, but at the same time, I'm tempted by the possibility of changing the very course of our country's history… We're talking about revealing that Tulio Ruperto Barradas, a man almost considered a saint, was a pedophile who murdered Esperanza de la Vega", I replied.
Miranda, who suddenly seemed to regain her spirits, remained thoughtful for a few seconds. Then she looked up at the reddish sunset sky and let out a short sigh.
"Who killed Esperanza de la Vega? The Clay Club demands justice!" she said suddenly.
I didn't answer because I understood that I had already come up with the perfect phrase to generate morbid curiosity, so from then on, we just had to get to work.
***
Before putting our plan into action, we focused on reading the remaining volumes of Gutiérrez and Esparza, where we discovered that, at one point in their lives, they maintained communication with the former bishop Oyarzabal.
The diaries of Gutiérrez and Esparza revealed the frustration faced by former bishop Oyarzabal, who, believing he had sinned by not confronting Cardinal Barradas, sent letters to the families of the children who had been victims of sexual abuse when he belonged to the clergy of the archdiocese of New Granada.
Considered a heretic after his escape, the former bishop carried the blame for the atrocities committed in the church of New Granada, until he reached a point where he wrote a farewell letter to the new cardinal who served as the highest authority during Tulio Ruperto Barradas's trip to Europe.
We don't know what happened to former bishop Oyarzabal, but we suspect he committed suicide.
In short, once we finished reading the seven volumes of Gutiérrez and Esparza, and transcribed what we considered decisive evidence against the archdiocese of Esperanza City, we launched the first phase of our plan.
This first phase consisted of designing a flyer with which we intended to generate morbid curiosity in the city and obtain support from those who, because of the documentary, continued to doubt the archdiocese.
The most striking phrase on that eye-catching flyer was: Who killed Esperanza de la Vega? The clay club demands justice!
Below the phrase, there was a short text next to a portrait of the cardinal that I painted, who was accused as the main participant in the murder of Esperanza de la Vega, as well as his crimes related to child sexual abuse.
To arouse morbid curiosity in the capital's society, we had the support of the members of the The Clay Club, who, together with us, were in charge of putting up flyers in the busiest areas of the city.
This, as expected, aroused people's morbid curiosity, although also a discontent that soon manifested itself through the local media.
By the time much of the city was already immersed in discontent and doubt, we were considered a group of anonymous extremists who only wanted to discredit the image of the archdiocese and Cardinal Barradas.
Thanks to our use of anonymity, we were able to continue with our daily routine, although, as a precaution, before moving on to the second phase of our plan, we met with the dean to explain our objectives.
"Do you really want to mess with the archdiocese?", the dean asked that morning, scratching his brow.
"We will use anonymity to achieve our goals, but the archdiocese will likely want to retaliate against the university because of what we will reveal," Miranda replied.
"They have enough enemies they could target, especially the producers of that documentary, but I will still create an alibi to distance the university from The Clay Club," the dean argued.
"Thank you, Dean!", exclaimed Miranda, thrilled.
"Just be careful, please, and if you find yourselves in trouble, don't hesitate to come to me, okay?" he said.
"Yes, sir", Miranda replied.
The dean's support was vital for what we considered the second phase of our plan to reveal the truth about Esperanza de la Vega, and that was something I took charge of.
To avoid being discovered, I took great care in writing a series of letters, using gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints and noticeably changing my handwriting.
The first of those letters, which some members of our club took to a well-known radio station at midnight, hiding their faces with balaclavas, was what allowed us to make an initial impact in the nation's capital.
The content of that letter was a section of what Esparza wrote in his diary, related to part of what the former bishop Oyarzabal revealed to the artist.
Furthermore, as the dean indicated, he created an alibi with a performance by the university's theater club, with whom he obtained recordings captured by security cameras in which the theft of the seven volumes of Gutiérrez and Esparza was simulated, which he kept in a place he did not want to reveal.
As we suspected, the archdiocese began to retaliate against the university, but with the recording of the fake robbery and the threat of a lawsuit, the dean kept them at bay.
The funny thing about that time was noticing how the archdiocese began to frequent the local media, evidently desperate to dismiss all the letters we started sending.
Furthermore, it was heartening to see how society's aversion to the church was becoming noticeable, which prompted the families of some abuse victims to accuse pedophile priests who were hiding under the authority of the archdiocese.
Esperanza City descended into social chaos, so much so that the authorities began to intervene on behalf of the archdiocese, which became the victim of a radical group of enraged citizens.
All the churches in the city began to suffer attacks, as well as the clergy and the faithful parishioners who defended their religion beyond the archdiocese.
Unfortunately, once the city authorities got involved in the situation, with investigators who quickly tracked us down, we had no alternative but to turn ourselves in.
For two months we believed we had control of a situation that was increasingly sinking the archdiocese, but, once we were arrested, the social crisis of Esperanza City took a back seat.
Our biggest fear was that they would reveal our identities, but since we surrendered in the company of the dean and his group of lawyers, we were able to maintain our anonymity.
The dean asked us why we surrendered so quickly with noticeable frustration and despair, which was understandable, since he didn't know that surrendering was part of our plan.
Miranda and I, after our arrest, found ourselves in a white and silent room, although we knew it was an interrogation room, so we refrained from talking from the moment we arrived.
A day had passed since we surrendered, and the reason we weren't being questioned was due to the intervention of the dean's legal team, who were looking out for us and our anonymity.
Then, a gentleman in elegant attire and with an expressionless face entered the room carrying some documents in his hands; he introduced himself as Commissioner Ricardo Heredia.
"Ana Ferrer, seventeen years old and from Puerto Cristal", said the commissioner, who looked at Miranda.
Miranda simply nodded.
"Axel Lamar, eighteen years old and from Rio Grande", he said, turning his gaze towards me.
Like Miranda, I just nodded.
"They're just a bunch of kids with classified information, so I'll get straight to the point… Where are the seven volumes by Gutiérrez and Esparza?"
We knew it.
Miranda and I were aware that we would be blamed for the false theft of the seven volumes of Gutiérrez and Esparza, so we pretended to be confused.
"Don't they know?" the commissioner asked sternly.
"No, sir", Miranda replied.
"Look, guys, I'm going to be honest with you," he said. "The truth is, I don't want to be forceful, much less resort to any particular, not to mention painful, methods to get the information I want. So, tell me, where are those volumes?"
"With all due respect, sir…"
"Did I give you the floor?" the commissioner asked, interrupting me with noticeable contempt.
It was clear he was trying to intimidate us, but we did not succumb to fear.
"Sir, we understand why you associate us with the theft of the seven volumes, but we have nothing to do with it", Miranda replied.
At that moment, I raised my hands, which were handcuffed.
"What do you want?" asked the commissioner.
"If what you want to know is how we obtained the information we were sending to local broadcasters, we can only say that we received letters from an anonymous source," I revealed.
"It doesn't make sense," muttered the commissioner.
Miranda and I remained silent, as we had to choose our answers carefully.
"Since when have you started receiving those kinds of letters?" the commissioner asked.
"Since we began our training as scholarship recipients", Miranda replied.
The commissioner looked thoughtful and then nodded.
"What do you think of the The Clay Club?" he asked.
"We created the club because we were inspired by the influence of that anonymous person and the content of their letters… We just want the truth about Esperanza de la Vega to be revealed", I replied.
"Do you know how stupid that sounds, brat?" the commissioner retorted. "They're not even aware of the damage they're doing to society with their lies."
"If they are lies, why is the archdiocese so alarmed by the contents of the seven volumes?" Miranda asked.
The commissioner narrowed his eyes at Miranda's tricky question.
"The letters we've received from that anonymous source contain information from all seven volumes. So, tell us, haven't you considered that they might be a truth hidden by the authority of the church?" I asked.
"I'm the one asking the questions," the commissioner replied.
"But please, answer that question for me", I insisted.
The commissioner frowned and then looked at Miranda.
"Esperanza de la Vega was murdered by the leader of another religious group, as established in historical records and in any history book", the commissioner said.
"Records in which the archdiocese of New Granada intervened", Miranda replied.
"Esperanza de la Vega was murdered by Cardinal Tulio Ruperto Barradas, who also sexually abused forty children", I continued.
"They are making delicate statements without any evidence to support them," replied the commissioner, astonished.
"The evidence must be in the seven volumes, and that's why the archdiocese has turned its legal actions against the university," I argued.
"How can they speak of such nonsense without any basis?" he inquired, suddenly agitated.
"What better basis than the letters we have sent to the broadcasters?" I replied.
The commissioner did not seem satisfied with my answer, and even appeared a little desperate; perhaps he was devoted to the immaculate image of Cardinal Barradas.
"Assuming everything is true, was that the reason for exposing so much sensitive information to society?" the commissioner asked.
"We'll be honest," Miranda replied. "At first, we only wanted to support the dean of our university in preserving the seven volumes and revealing the truth about Esperanza de la Vega's death. But after new cases of abuse covered up by the archdiocese came to light amidst the social upheaval, we wanted to bring them down and see them face the full force of the law. So…"
Miranda paused briefly and cleared her throat.
"Aren't you, as the authority, supposed to be investigating the archdiocese instead of opposing our cause?" she inquired.
"Are you against the archdiocese?" the commissioner asked.
"We are against injustice, sir!" exclaimed Miranda, slamming her fist on the table.
Miranda's rage astonished us both, although I later became concerned about her hands.
"We are against the abuse of authority, the manipulation of history for selfish gain that only enriches the high command of the archdiocese and, above all, that, to this day, they allow and conceal the sexual and psychological abuse of children", Miranda continued.
"Personally, Commissioner, even if I were a member of the Catholic Church, in your position, I would push for the search for true justice, especially for the children who have been victims of abuse by those shitty pedophiles", I commented.
The commissioner, shocked and aware of this truth, did not know how to reply.
"Your morals are at stake, sir... Don't tarnish them by protecting those pigs," Miranda said.
"Please be aware of how serious the situation is," I continued.
For a few seconds, the commissioner hesitated before speaking, although in the end he resigned himself.
"You two, you'd better go home and not get into any more trouble... I'll make sure the arrest charges against you are dropped," said the commissioner, who removed our handcuffs and led us to a room where our belongings were returned to us.
"One question, sir," I said before leaving the police station. "Were you born here in Esperanza City?"
The commissioner simply nodded, which is why Miranda and I exchanged glances.
"Well, that's more than enough to put them on our side, because considering that they are considering Cardinal Barradas for beatification, I think it is a disgrace to the citizens, and even to the memory of Esperanza de la Vega, that a pedophile should be the saint who represents them", I said.
The commissioner didn't answer; he just gestured for us to leave while scratching his forehead. So, we left the station and returned to our respective apartments to rest.
***
A week later, being the center of attention for The Clay Club members on the College of Art campus, Miranda and I were astonished by the presence of two elegantly dressed individuals heading towards the university's main building.
I sensed they were detectives or prosecutors, so I exchanged glances with Miranda and we nodded proudly in celebration.
We didn't know if we had achieved our goal, but at least we had the consolation that things would take a positive turn from then on.
However, in the middle of our meeting with the members of The Clay Club, we were interrupted by a law student who, agitated, shouted our names aloud; perhaps because of the boisterous group surrounding us.
"Hey... There's no need to shout," I protested.
"Are you Axel Lamar?" the boy asked.
"Yes, what's wrong?" I replied suspiciously.
"I come on behalf of the dean, who requests your presence and that of Ana Ferrer in his office", he replied.
"For what reason?" Miranda asked.
"I don't know, he just asked me to call them," he replied.
Under other circumstances, a call from the dean would have alarmed us, but since he supported our cause, we chose to say goodbye to our group and headed to his office.
Once we were in his office, we encountered those well-dressed individuals who introduced themselves as detectives from the national police, who interrogated us in the presence of the dean, who represented the highest authority of the university.
The dean remained silent during the questioning, which was mostly related to the information we sent to the city's radio stations.
The detectives couldn't understand how we could handle that kind of information if we weren't the thieves of the seven volumes, so, at that point in the interrogation, the dean intervened to reveal that no one had stolen them.
"Considering the archdiocese's potential reprisals against the university, I created an alibi by fabricating the theft of the seven volumes in my possession," the dean revealed. "Unfortunately, they cannot access that information, as they possess a confidentiality agreement that prevents us from making the contents public."
"I understand," one of the detectives replied. "Then we must raise the issue with our superiors and let them handle presenting the case to the prosecutor's office. Only then can the confidentiality agreement be revoked and the volumes made public."
"I am in favor of taking the case to the prosecutor's office," said the dean.
Since we had nothing to say, we left his office and headed once again to the Art Faculty campus, where some members of our group were still waiting, and we shared the good news about the seven volumes of Gutiérrez and Esparza with them.
***
As a few months passed, Miranda and I lost contact with the topic of the seven volumes of Gutiérrez and Esparza and the revealed truth of Esperanza de la Vega.
We even dissolved the renowned The Clay Club, which became a recurring news topic in the media, in a season that plunged Esperanza City into affliction, shame, and guilt.
It turns out that the investigation that took place after our arrest ended with a scandal that became known throughout the country.
A total of twelve priests were arrested on charges of child sexual abuse and psychological mistreatment, which damaged the reputation of the archdiocese; it was a situation in which envoys from The Vatican intervened.
Thanks to that investigation, the authorities determined that the content of Esperanza de la Vega's letter, as well as what was revealed by that controversial documentary, was genuine, so the truth about Cardinal Barradas became the new news topic that shocked the entire country.
This not only prevented his beatification, but also allowed the rewriting of the country's history, at least that related to Esperanza de la Vega, Luis Gutiérrez, Faustino Esparza and even the former bishop Juan Crisanto Oyarzabal, who was considered for beatification.
Furthermore, we suddenly became a focus of media attention, all because of a simple mention by the mayor of Esperanza City, who labeled us honorable students defending the truth when he invited us to attend an event where we were decorated.
Yes, we were briefly famous and invited to television interviews, which made my family proud and even benefited my dad's business in Rio Grande, which used my name for advertising purposes.
I didn't mind Dad using my name in advertising, because, in addition to multiplying sales, he started sending me more money with which I could enjoy a better lifestyle in Esperanza City and quit my job.
Miranda, for her part, took advantage of those moments of fame to enhance her artistic profile, because every time she had the opportunity, she mentioned her skills in sculpture and spoke of her love for art; this also benefited me as an aspiring artist.
In short, beyond preserving the seven volumes of Gutiérrez and Esparza, which from then on had greater relevance in history, we managed to ensure that investigations in churches were carried out throughout the national territory; an overwhelming number of arrested pedophiles shocked the country.
A similar event occurred in the late nineties and early two thousand in Boston, United States, when a group of journalists discovered how the ecclesiastical system was hiding a disturbing reality from the world.
Therefore, what happened in Esperanza City was considered the second wave of pedophilia within a larger ecclesiastical system in the world, which also led to investigations in other countries that yielded alarming numbers of pedophile priests arrested.
It was incredible the domino effect that, by mere coincidence, occurred through the actions we took after hearing a heated argument between the dean and two priests.
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