“Absolutely. I don’t know how to be more clear. Last night I must confess I was bombed, and for the life of me I cannot remember everything I said. For that I apologize, but I believe I was quite clear about my intentions in relation to the ossuary and its contents.”

“Clear, indeed,” James said. “Clear enough for me to spend a good amount of time thinking and praying for guidance after leaving your home last night about what I should do to try to change your mind. First of all, I personally have given up trying to do it myself. We are too familiar with each other, as evidenced by your calling me lardo.”

“Good God!” Shawn cried, slapping his forehead. “Don’t tell me I called you lardo. How disrespectful. I’m terribly sorry, old friend.”

“I’m afraid you did,” James said. “But you are forgiven, as I have done far too little to diminish its sad appropriateness. Going beyond that, I have decided to allow you both to continue your studies of the ossuary contents, with one caveat.”

A small, derisive smile appeared on Shawn’s face. “What makes you think you are allowing us to do our work? From my perspective, your wishes are relatively irrelevant, although, being a realist, a call from you to Jack’s boss might be sufficient to put us out on the street. But if that happens, we will go elsewhere.”

“Sometimes I am truly surprised at your naïveté,” James said. “First of all, you still don’t seem to recognize that ultimately the proof of these bones being those of the Blessed Virgin must rely on Simon Magus telling his assistant, Saturninus, that it was so. From a theological perspective, which is what this is all about, you are basing your argument on the worst possible source. If all Simon wanted to do was trade the bones for Peter’s healing powers, there would have been no need to make the extra effort to get the real ones. Any female bones would have sufficed, which is what I believe these bones are. They are the bones of a random first-century female, not the Blessed Virgin’s.”

“I counter that argument with Saturninus’s statement about Simon being disappointed that the bones themselves didn’t mystically convey to him the healing power. If they weren’t definitely the Virgin’s bones, he wouldn’t have suspected or hoped that they would have done the trick themselves.”