“I assume you are trying to obtain DNA from the ossuary bones?” James asked. With the idea the bones might be those of the Blessed Virgin, albeit a very slim chance, James felt unease about trying to isolate DNA, without knowing why he felt that way. He imagined it was a privacy issue about someone he held inordinately dear.

“That’s correct,” Sana responded. “But our current attempt is from a tooth, not from bone.”

“Is that a lengthy process?” James inquired.

“Not if we’re lucky,” Sana answered. “It should take only a few days, although maybe as much as a week. I’d rather be careful than quick. There’s lots of opportunity for DNA contamination, which I’m intent to avoid.”

“What about the bones?” James asked. “What did you learn from the anthropologist? Are they human? Are they female? Is it more than one person?”

“Yes, yes, and no,” Shawn responded. “They are definitely human, without doubt female, and it is only one person.”

“And there is a suggestion the individual was multiparous,” Jack added. “In fact, significantly multiparous, like more than five, maybe even up to a dozen children.”

James felt his pulse hammer at his temples and for a moment he was overheated, thinking of removing his sweater. After taking a sip of wine to relieve his suddenly parched throat, he asked, “What about the age of the individual?”

“That’s difficult to ascertain, but the anthropologist was willing to guess over fifty, probably more like eighty-plus.”

“I see,” James said simply. Doing a quick calculation in his head, he realized with yet another start that such an age would have been entirely appropriate for the Blessed Mother, considering Jesus’ birth around 4 BC and her death in AD 62. She would have been in her eighties.

James felt his general anxiety rising. Although he knew everything he was hearing was only circumstantial, he feared that such evidence could not help but harden Shawn’s opinion, making James’s job that much more difficult. It also suggested to him that he could not wait any longer. He had to state his case; otherwise, he would have to resort to plan B. Of course, the big problem with plan B was that there was no plan B.

With a shaking hand that he tried to hide, James took a fairly large mouthful of wine, savoring the taste, which was absolutely heavenly. Slowly he swallowed, bit by bit. Then, sitting up straighter in his chair, he began, first by thanking his hostess.