“Follow me!” Shawn said. They passed behind the tour group and approached a large decklike structure reached by several descending steps. It had a gridlike metal frame and handrails. The surface was comprised of large squares of clear three-quarter-inch glass. Standing on the deck, one could look down to the lowest point of the excavation about five feet below.

“That’s the level of the floor of Peter’s tomb,” Shawn explained. “To get to the tunnel, we have to go down there and then back under where we are standing in front of the graffiti wall.”

“How are we going to get down there?” Sana questioned, as her eyes ran around the transparent deck. There didn’t seem to be any opening.

“The glass panel in the far corner lifts up. It’s heavy as hell, but we’ll be able to do it together. What do you think? Will you be able to manage all this?”

The thought of crawling through a tunnel pricked at Sana’s mild claustrophobia. Knowing she was already some forty to fifty feet underground didn’t help.

“Having second thoughts?” Shawn asked when Sana didn’t answer.

“Are these lights going to be on?” Sana asked in a scratchy whisper. She ran her tongue around the inside of her mouth to try to drum up a bit of saliva. Her throat had suddenly gone dry.

“We can’t have the lights on,” Shawn said. “They are on an automatic timer, and if someone were to open either of the doors to the necropolis and see the lights, they’d know something was wrong. Besides, we need the lights off to act as a warning system. If anyone goes through the basilica while we are using the chisels, they might hear it, despite it being forty or fifty feet away. Remember, marble is a great sound transmitter. If they come to investigate, they’ll turn on the lights, which will warn us someone is coming. Does that make sense?”

Sana reluctantly nodded. It made a lot of sense, but she didn’t like it.

“Talk to me,” Shawn said. “Are you going to be able to handle this?”

Sana nodded again.

“Tell me!” Shawn demanded, raising his voice and giving it an edge. “I have to know for sure!”

“Okay! Okay!” Sana said. “I’m with you all the way.” She glanced around self-consciously at the nearest members of the tour group, several of whom were eyeing them curiously. Sana looked back at Shawn. “I’ll be okay. Don’t worry!” she assured him in a whisper, but had she known what was to transpire several hours hence, she might not have been quite so confident.

Chapter 11

11

11:34 A.M., TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2008
NEW YORK CITY
(5:34 P.M., ROME)

How was lunch yesterday?” Jack asked. He’d stuck his head into Chet’s office, where his colleague was at his microscope studying a set of slides. Chet looked up and then pushed back from his desk.