Without speaking, Shawn handed over his Vatican ID and the access permit. The man examined the permit closely. When he read Shawn’s name his eyes lit up. He raised his head and smiled. “Professor Daughtry! Buona sera.” As it turned out, the man recognized Shawn’s name from his work at the site five years previously. He introduced himself as Luigi Romani.

Shawn vaguely recognized the name.

“Are you going down into the Scavi?” Luigi asked.

“Yes, just for a short visit. We just came into Rome this afternoon, and we’re leaving tomorrow. I wanted to show my wife some of the more interesting details. We won’t be long.”

“Will you be exiting back this way or through the basilica? I’ll be leaving shortly.”

“In that case, we’ll leave through the basilica with the tour group that’s down there.”

“Do you need me to let you in?”

“No, I have my keys, unless the locks have been changed.”

“Changed?” Luigi laughed. “Things like that never change.”

Leaving the Scavi office, Shawn led the way down a gently sloping, completely deserted marble corridor. “We’re actually about ten feet or so below the floor level of the basilica above us.”

“The fact that Mr. Romani recognized you—does that matter?”

“I can’t imagine,” Shawn replied in a hushed voice. “Since no one but us knows about the ossuary, if we find it and take it, no one’s going to be the wiser.”

They reached a flight of marble steps that descended more than a full story. Shawn started down.

Sana hesitated, pointing ahead. “Where does this corridor lead?” “It winds up in the newer crypt beneath Saint Peter’s.”

At the base of the stairs was a narrow stone passageway blocked by a locked metal grate. “Here’s the test!” Shawn said, pulling out one of the sets of keys. He remembered the correct key, and it slid into the lock with ease. “So far so good,” he said. After a moment’s hesitation to bolster his courage, he tried to twist the key, and to his joy it did so with ease.

After passing through a humidity-control door and descending more stairs, they reached what had been ground level in ancient Roman times.

“It is quite humid,” Sana commented. She wasn’t pleased.

“Does that bother you?”

“Only if the seal on the ossuary is broken.”

“Right!” Shawn said, realizing that Sana’s interest was primarily to find ancient DNA.

“Why don’t they have more light down here?” Sana complained. “It feels claustrophobic.” The illumination was very dim, mostly from recessed lighting at floor level. The ceiling was completely lost in shadow.

“For atmosphere, I suppose. To tell the truth, I don’t really know. It gets even more claustrophobic around Peter’s tomb. Are you going to be able to handle it?”

“I think so. Where are we now?”