“Who wrote it?”
“A bishop of Antioch called Saturninus.”
“I never heard of him.”
“He’s a known figure, not very well known, but he was a real person.”
“Who did he write to?”
“Another bishop, a bishop of Alexandria, named Basilides.”
“I never heard of him, either.”
“Do you know anything about Gnosticism?”
“Can’t say I do. It’s a subject that doesn’t come up often at the morgue.”
“I’m sure not,” James said with a laugh. “It was a serious heresy in the early Christian church, and Basilides was an early leader.”
“Would Saturninus have had any reason to lie to Basilides?”
“Clever idea,” James said, “but unfortunately no.”
“Does Saturninus take responsibility for actually burying the ossuary?”
“Most definitely.”
“Does he say how he came to have the relics or who gave them to him?”
“He does, and you are cleverly enough coming to what I think is the weakest point in the chain of custody, so to speak. Do you know who Simon Magus was?”
“You have me there, too. Never heard of him.”
“He is the archvillain of the Bible’s New Testament, a true scoundrel who tried to buy Saint Peter’s healing powers. From him we get the word
“Simon Magus is also considered by some to be one of the earliest Gnostics,” James continued. “And Saturninus, who was much younger, worked for him, helping him with his magic. So to prove whether the bones in the ossuary are the Holy Mother’s, which they certainly are not, it all depends on Simon Magus, perhaps the most notoriously poor witness of all.”
“There’s another way,” Jack said. “A particularly straightforward way.”
“Which is?” James asked eagerly.
“Have an anthropologist check the bones, if there are bones, and first make sure they are human. If they are human, then make sure they are female, and if they are female, check whether or not the woman had given birth. We know Mary had at least one child.”
“An anthropologist can tell those things?”
“A definite yes on the first two points: whether or not the bones are human and whether or not they are female. It is a little less certain on whether one can tell if the woman was parous or not. If the changes one looks for are present, the woman definitely had children, and generally, the more prominent, the more children. However, if they are not there, you cannot say with certainty the woman didn’t have, perhaps, one child.”
“Fascinating,” James said. “Especially with the idea the bones could be male. If they are, the nightmare would be over.”
“Have you seen the bones?” Jack asked.
“No. Shawn and his wife were only interested in making sure the ossuary had not been broken during transit. They did not want to open the ossuary itself, since it is sealed with wax. Both are concerned, as you might imagine, with the state of the contents after two thousand years, and didn’t want to expose them to air and moisture without having laboratory facilities available. Have you met Shawn’s wife?”
“Maybe,” Jack said. “The last time I saw him was two years ago, and considering the speed with which he goes through wives, I don’t know if I’m current. I’ve seen Shawn only twice in the fourteen years I’ve been here in the city. In that time I know he’s been married and divorced at least twice.”
“Totally shameless,” James remarked. ”But not totally out of character. Remember how many girlfriends he had in college?”
“Do I ever,” Jack said. “I remember one weekend when two showed up. One was supposed to be for Friday night and the other for Saturday, but the Saturday one mistakenly thought it was for the whole weekend. Fortunately, I was able to help out. I ended up entertaining the Friday-night choice, and we hit it off.”
“Shawn’s current wife is named Sana.”
“Oh, yes,” Jack said, remembering. “I have met her. She was very shy and retiring. All she did was cling to his arm and dreamily stare into his face. It was a little embarrassing.”
“She’s changed. She’s a molecular biologist who has gained a lot of notice in her field.
She’s now a scientist at the medical school up at Columbia University. I think she’s really blossomed since they first met. I have a sense that the marriage won’t last too long, given Shawn’s preference for adoring, docile women. Socially, he’s never going to be content. I’m no expert, but I don’t think he’s capable of being faithful.”
“Maybe so,” Jack said. He’d never admired Shawn’s behavior in regard to women, but he’d never commented on it. But it had always been a bone of contention between James and Shawn.
“How is your relationship with Shawn?” James asked.
Jack shrugged. “As I mentioned, I’ve seen him only twice since I moved here to New York City. He was nice enough to invite me to his home for dinner on those two occasions. I suppose I should have returned the gesture, but I’ve become a bit of a hermit these days.”
”You alluded to that on the phone,” James said. “Would you care to explain?”
“No. Maybe some other time,” Jack said, trying to avoid thinking about his first family or his second. “Why don’t you tell me how I can help you? I assume it involves the box downstairs.”
James took a deep breath to steel himself. “You are right, of course,” James began. “It does involve the box downstairs. What do you think would happen if a significant percentage of people came to believe, even briefly, that the ossuary downstairs actually contained the bones of Mary, the Mother of God?”
“I suppose it would disappoint a lot of people,” Jack said.
“That’s a lot more diplomatic than I would have expected.”
“And less sarcastic than I’ve been of late.”
“Does that have anything to do with me being a cardinal?”
“Obviously,” Jack said.
“I’m sorry you feel that way. Old friends should feel able to be themselves.”
“Maybe if such meetings became a habit. For now, why don’t you tell me what you think would happen?”
“It would be a disaster for the Church, at a time it can least afford it. We are still suffering from the damage caused by the priest molestation scandal. It has been a true tragedy for the people involved, and for the Church itself. So too would the belief that the Blessed Virgin Mary had not been assumed body and soul into heaven as promulgated ex cathedra by Pope Pius the Twelfth with his
“I’ll take your word for it,” Jack said, watching James’s face turn increasingly red.
“I’m being very serious,” James declared, afraid Jack wasn’t really getting the message.
“As a direct religious descendant from Saint Peter himself, when the pope speaks ex cathedra on faith or morals he is making divine revelation as the Holy Spirit works in the body of the Church as
“Okay, okay,” Jack conceded. “I understand how Shawn claiming Mary did not rise up to heaven when the Church has declared she had would be a serious blow to the Catholic faith.”
“It would be an equally disastrous blow to those who venerate Mary almost as they do Jesus Christ. You have no idea of her position among the Catholic faithful, who would be cast adrift if Shawn has his way.”
“I can see that, too,” Jack said, sensing that James was working himself into a minor frenzy.
“I can’t let that happen!” James snapped, slapping his palm on the table hard enough to cause the dishes to rattle. “I can’t let that happen, both for the Church’s sake and my own!”
Jack raised his eyebrows. Suddenly, he saw his friend as he was back in college, sensing James’s beneficence and concern about the bones in the basement was based on more than the Church’s well-being. James was also a
