“I’ve given up debating this affair,” James said, holding up his hand. “As I said earlier, I have relinquished trying to change your mind myself. But as for my power to stop you, consider this. Unless you accept the caveat I alluded to, I plan to go to the authorities today. That sounds like a desperate move, but I am desperate for the Church and myself. I will declare the ossuary a hoax and you a thief so that instead of being an accessory, I will more likely be considered a hero for risking myself to expose this faithless attack on the Church.”

“You wouldn’t do that,” Shawn said, but without much confidence. After all, had he been caught in a web similar to James’s, he might very well do the same thing. For as much as the ossuary affair was a win-win for him, for James it was clearly a lose-lose.

“I’m going to contact the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology today, let them know how you abused their original courtesy to you, and let them contact their counterparts in both the Italian and Egyptian governments, who will not take kindly to your antics, and who will demand you be arrested, and you, too, Sana. Whether there will be an extradition, I don’t know, but surely the ossuary and its contents will immediately be returned, as will the codex and Saturninus’s letter.”

“You’re extorting me!” Shawn cried.

“How would you characterize what you are doing to me?”

“This is outrageous,” Shawn continued.

“What is the caveat you spoke of?” Sana questioned.

“Thankfully, we have one sensible individual as part of the conspiracy,” James said. “The caveat is very simple and quite innocuous. I have found a charming, even radiant, young man who has in effect devoted his life to Mary and has been living in a Marian monastery for nearly the last eight years. I want you to hear from him and to feel his passion, and I want you to do it not as two ships passing in the night, which would enable you to close your ears to him and wall up your heart. I want you to spend quality time with him. Being realistic, how much longer do you two think you will need to study the ossuary’s contents?”

Shawn looked up at Sana, who responded, “My input in this affair, as I mentioned, is going extremely well. Provided there are no surprises, a total of about a week at most.”