26
******
Returning from lunch, both scientists felt refreshed. The afternoon had turned out to be mild and the sunshine rejuvenating. Bersei had taken Charlotte to the San Luigi café on Via Mocenigo, only a short walk from the Vatican Museum entrance. The soft music and inviting nineteenthcentury decor complemented the lobster ravioli Bersei recommended—a quantum leap over last night’s tuna sandwich.
With Charlotte phoning the AMS lab he recommended, Bersei was once again suited up as he began his analysis of the ossuary. Dimming the lights above the workstation, he swept each surface of the ossuary with an ultraviolet light wand. Looking through the Orascoptic’s crisp lenses, key areas—particularly the etched grooves forming the intricate designs—were tightly magnified.
The first thing he noticed was that the patina had been scuffed in many areas, particularly along the sides. Glowing under the black light, the abrasive marks were long and wide, in some areas leaving an impression of woven fiber. Straps, he guessed, though no trace fibers had been left behind. Probably new nylon webbing. Confirming that there was zero sedimentary buildup on top of the impressions, he concluded that the marks were fresh.
It wasn’t that shocking. He’d often seen relics that had been handled improperly during excavation and shipment, but this type of disregard for the past always offended him. He had read that the James ossuary had been cracked during shipment. By comparison, the damage here was forgivable and probably wouldn’t devalue the ossuary either.
After mounting the digital camera on a tabletop tripod, powering it up and deactivating its flash, he snapped some shots. Then he turned off the black light and set the workstation lighting higher.
Next, painstakingly inspecting every edge and surface, Bersei hunted for any evidence that the patina had been manually transplanted with tools. Had the box been inscribed after it was found, the geological residue would exhibit obvious inconsistencies. It took considerable time, but lengthy examination showed no suspicious scrapes or gouges. The patina was bonded tightly and evenly across the ossuary’s limestone surfaces, including the relief carved onto the box’s side.
As he stood to straighten his cramped shoulders, he flipped up the Orascoptic lenses, taking a moment to once again admire the ossuary’s decorative patterns. His twenty-fifth wedding anniversary was quickly approaching and that intricate rosette design might look nice on a piece of jewelry. After so many years together with Carmela it was becoming increasingly difficult to find an original gift.
Leaning over the ossuary again, he used a small blade to scrape samples from selected areas, placing the material on glass slides and clearly marking each one. After collecting fifteen samples, he organized the slides neatly on a tray, moved to another workstation equipped with an electron microscope and loaded the first specimen.
Super-magnified and projected onto an adjacent computer monitor, the dried minerals and deposits that formed the patina looked like grayishbeige cauliflower. He saved a detailed profile of the sample in a database, removed the first slide and continued along the tray. When the last sample image had been captured, the entire group was displayed side by side on the monitor.
He entered a command to cross-check for inconsistencies. After a few seconds of calculations that compared biological content, the program detected no significant differences between the samples. If any part of the patina had been artificially “manufactured”—the most common method, using chalk or silica diluted in hot water—the program would have spotted inconsistent isotopic ratios or possibly even foreign traces of microscopic marine fossils that could appear in household chalk.
As anticipated, all the samples were high in calcium carbonate, with nominal levels of strontium, iron, and magnesium. According to Bersei’s online research, these results were consistent with the patinas on similar relics removed from subterranean Israel.
Bersei pulled the last slide from the microscope.
As far as he could tell, these results substantiated that the ossuary’s etchings predated the formation of the patina. It was more than reasonable to conclude that the mysterious pagan symbol on the ossuary’s side did indeed date from the same time as the bones. There was a chance that if he could figure out what exactly it meant, it might help identify the crucified man.
27
******
Watching Giovanni Bersei at work on the other side of the lab, Charlotte picked up the cordless phone, dialed the number he had given her. The ring tone—so uniquely European—chimed endlessly. Just when she thought she needed to redial there was a response.
“Salve.”
For a moment, she didn’t know what to say. She’d expected a switchboard or assistant—perhaps even voice mail—and wondered if she’d accidentally dialed someone’s residence.
“Salve?” The voice was more insistent.
She eyed the note again where she’d jotted the phonetic spelling. “Signore Antonio Ciardini?”
“Si.”
“This is Dr. Charlotte Hennesey speaking. Giovanni Bersei suggested I contact you. I’m sorry—I didn’t know I’d be calling your home.”
“You’ve dialed my mobile. Quite all right.” There was a small pause. “You are American?”
His English was impressive. “I am.”
“What can I do for my good friend Giovanni?”
Everyone seemed to like Dr. Bersei. “He and I are working on a unique project here in Rome. In the Vatican, actually—”
“Vatican City?” Ciardini cut in.
“Yes. We’ve been asked to examine an ancient bone sample. And to be thorough in our analysis, we’d like to date the specimen.”
His voice went up a notch. “Bone specimens in the Vatican? That’s an odd pairing. Though there are those tombs beneath St. Peter’s Basilica where they bury the popes,” he tried thinking it through.
“Yes, well...” She couldn’t elaborate. “I hate to trouble you, but Dr. Bersei was wondering if you might be able to speed up the results.”
“For Giovanni, sure. The bone—is it in good condition? Clean?”
“It’s extremely well preserved.”
“Good. Then I suggest you send a sample of at least a gram.”
“Got that. And ...would this be all right?...there’s a wood splinter that we’d like to date as well.”
“Preferably ten milligrams for wood, though we can go as low as one milligram.”
“Ten is no problem. Is there some kind of form you’ll need me to fill out?”
“Just address the package directly to me with your name—that’s all. I’ll handle the paperwork. Indicate where you’d like the dating certificate sent.”
“That’s very kind. I know I’ve asked too much of you already, but Dr. Bersei was wondering if you could call us as soon as the results are available?”
“So that’s why he had you call, Dr. Hennesey.” Ciardini let loose with a big belly laugh. “I’ll process the samples as soon as they arrive. Normally it takes weeks to get results. But I’ll do my best to get them done within a couple of hours. I’ll give you the address.”
Ciardini repeated the street address slowly while Hennesey jotted it down.
“Thank you. I’ll send the Vatican courier. The samples will be with you in a couple of hours. Ciao.”