Martha nodded. The four of us went out the front door and around to the back of the house. Approximately a hundred yards away, in the middle of a boulder-studded meadow, was a stand of trees no larger than a half acre but certainly dense enough to conceal nine men. I turned and checked. There was a window at the back of the house from which a lantern could be seen while hiding in that small patch of woods. Once again I had arrived at the moment of supreme truth so far as my investigation was concerned.

“How long did the men remain in the woods?”

“For two days!” Martha cried, her voice filled with anger and disapproval at the behavior of the nine. “Until the fifth or sixth hour of the day after our Sabbath, when John arrived with the news that Pilate had crucified our Lord and that his body was already missing from the tomb where Joseph and Nicodemus had laid him because he had risen from the dead as he had prophesied.”

I could feel Joseph of Arimathea’s eyes on me as he waited to see how I would react to Martha’s story.

“Did anyone leave the woods and later return, during those two days?”

Both sisters shook their heads in unison. Negative. Mary spoke up. “Martha and I took turns taking them food and water through the days and the nights. Always they were huddled together, all nine—sometimes crying, sometimes sleeping.”

“And none of you had been aware of the events in the city until John arrived?”

“By the time we knew, our Lord no longer needed our help,” Mary sobbed.

I wasn’t finished with Bethany yet. With the sisters’ permission to visit the tomb, Joseph and I hurried through the meadow toward the limestone cliff. The old man said little as we walked, but he looked pleased with himself. “Did you have something you wanted to add to what we have just heard?” I asked sarcastically.

He shook his head. “No, no, it is you who are conducting the investigation, and it is you who must reach your own conclusion. I am only your guide, remember?”

I put my arm around him and hugged him. “Come on, old man, I know you’re dying to say more.”