Sana bent over the letter to look at it more closely. From a distance the printing appeared uniform, as if done by a machine, but on closer inspection, slight variations proved that it had been done by hand. “Is this Coptic as well?” she asked.

“No, the letter is in an ancient Greek,” Shawn said, “which isn’t surprising. Greek, even more than Latin, was the lingua franca of the day, particularly in the eastern Mediterranean. As the name suggests, Alexandria was one of the centers of the Hellenistic world established by Alexander the Great’s military feats.”

Sana straightened back up. “Was this letter part of the codex or merely stuck into the book as an afterthought?”

“It certainly wasn’t an afterthought,” Shawn said cryptically. “It was done very deliberately, but not for the reason you might imagine. Remember how I described the codex’s cover? Along with other scraps of papyrus, this letter was sandwiched in behind the leather to make it what we would think of as a hardcover book. I’d heard that had been done with other volumes of this particular treasure trove of codices.”

“You found more than one?”

“No, I came across only this one codex. But I recognized it instantly. Here, sit down. I’ve got some explaining to do, especially since we’re not going home tomorrow as planned.”

“What are you talking about?” Sana demanded. “I’ve got to get back to rescue several experiments.”

“Your experiments are going to have to wait, at least for a day, or maybe two days at most.” Shawn placed his hand on Sana’s shoulder in an attempt to ease her down onto the couch.

“You can wait if you want, but I’m going back,” she said, making a point of pushing his hand off her shoulder. She wasn’t going to allow herself to be bullied.

For a moment wife and husband glowered at each other. Then both relented without a harsh word.

“You’ve changed,” Shawn commented at length. He acted surprised rather than angry at her unexpectedly rebellious announcement.

“I think it’s safe to say you’ve changed as well,” Sana responded. She made a distinct effort to keep any suggestion of irritation out of her voice. She didn’t want to get into a long, drawn-out emotional discussion at the moment. Besides, he was right. She had changed—not markedly, but in a very real way, a response to his changing.

“I don’t think you understand,” Shawn said. “This letter may very well lead me to the apotheosis of my career. To take advantage of it, I’m going to need your help for a day—two, tops. I have to see if the author, Saturninus, was telling the truth. I cannot imagine why he would have lied, but I have to be sure. To do that, we’re going to be flying to Rome early tomorrow morning.”

“Do you need my help literally or figuratively?” Sana questioned. To her it made a difference.

“Literally!”

Sana took a breath and eyed her husband. He seemed sincere, which changed things in her mind. He’d never actually asked for her help before. “All right,” she said. She sat down. “I’m not yet agreeing, but let’s hear your explanation.”