'It certainly bothered the doctor,' Richard said. 'He said he went over Damien's tests half a dozen times.'

'And...?'

'I don't know,' said Richard. 'It had something to do with his chromosomes being different.'

'Different?' said Ann. 'That's absurd!'

'That's what I said, too,' Richard replied, 'but Dr Kane seemed awfully concerned about it.

Ann sat quietly for a moment, then said, 'What do you want to do about it?'

'Nothing, if you want to know the truth.' Richard reached for the Journal again. 'I just don't buy that sort of genetic nonsense. Damien's perfectly fine.'

***

Why Damien awoke that morning with a terrible migraine headache was a mystery to everyone, especially to Damien.

***

Dr Charles Warren had just returned from Acre, where he had supervised the painstaking work of crating and shipping the last few artifacts of the Belvoir dig which were going to be used in the Thorn Museum exhibit.

By some fluke, he had missed seeing Yigael's Wall. The priceless artifact had already been packed and shipped before he had arrived. He was quite disappointed about this; ever since his late friend, journalist Joan Hart, had made such a spectacle of herself over the wall, he had been curious indeed to see it. And now he would have to wait until it arrived in Chicago, unless he went to New York when the boat came in.

He was glad to be back in the States, and especially glad to be back in his office. He thought he had the best workroom in the entire museum. Located on the basement level, adjacent to the boiler room, it provided all the quiet and privacy he needed in his work, particularly at times like tonight, when the museum was closed and everyone else had already gone home.

His quarters were well supplied with all the latest equipment necessary for the maintenance and restoration of ancient artifacts: special air conditioners, special infrared and ultraviolet lights, portable heaters equipped with their own individual thermostats, bottled chemicals, special brushes and palette knives. With this odd combination of ancient instruments and the latest technology, Warren was able to make a centuries-old fresco look as good as new without doing damage to the artist's original conception, and without using any materials other than those available to the artist at the time.

At the moment, Warren was going through some of the things that had been shipped in one of the batches of goods from Acre. He pushed aside some bronze knives and shards of pottery, and moved out an ancient-looking leather box. This was one of the items he had personally carried back on the plane, and suspecting its importance, he had waited until the right moment to examine it thoroughly, and in private.