“It’s harder for me to say,” Shawn admitted. “It’s all up to how long the unrolling is going to take. My guess and hope is that after one or two more three-hundred-sixty-degree cycles, it will become one hundred percent easier. It’s been my experience that the original moisture caused more of a problem with the pages closest to the scroll’s surface. With that variable in mind, I’d say anywhere from one week to two months.”

“All right, then,” James said. “I’ll accept you people inviting Luke Hester as a houseguest for one week. But this must be, as I said, quality time. You must engage him and be interested in his life story, which has not been the easiest. The man has suffered but with the help of the Blessed Virgin has overcome his travail and torments. In other words, you must be hospitable to him as a true guest, like the child of one of your closest friends.”

“What’s being hospitable?” Shawn asked warily. In some ways, this caveat seemed too easy. In other ways, he thought it capable of driving him crazy. Shawn had never been good at small talk, except with attractive women in bars with the aid of alcoholic lubricant.

“I believe that is intuitive,” James said.

“How old is this man?” Sana said.

“I’ll leave that up to you to determine,” James said. “There is a disconnect between his age and his appearance. I found him very easy to speak with, and he is, as I said, quite charming and intelligent. Of course he might have some psychological scars from his difficult childhood, but they were not apparent at all when I interviewed him.”

“I hope you’re not sticking us with some young, proselytizing born-again Christian,” Shawn said. “I’m not sure I could take a week of that.”

“I mentioned he is charming,” James said. “I meant it. I’ve also told him the whole story about the ossuary, so you will have plenty to talk about. Now, what I’d like to know is whether we have a clear understanding of what the deal is here. I’m going to give him a mobile phone so he can call me. If he calls and complains that either of you is not engaging him appropriately, the deal is off. Is that understood?” James looked at both Shawn and Sana in turn, making sure he got clear acquiescence from both. The very last thing he wanted was for one of them, after the fact, to claim that they didn’t understand the deal. With a threat, the problem was that you had to be willing to carry it out.

“When is this guest week going to begin?” Sana questioned.

“What time will you be getting home tonight?” James asked.

“About five would be my guess,” Sana said.

“He’ll be waiting at your door,” James said.