‘Very!’ Ulster said. ‘But it’s been wonderful. I’ve always been tempted to expand the Archives, and this gave me the perfect excuse. If the donations keep pouring in, we’ll be able to double in size.’
Payne whistled, impressed. ‘And what about the artifacts? Did you lose anything in the fire?’
‘Nothing invaluable. There were some personal items, things with sentimental value that we couldn’t salvage. Like my grandfather’s photo collection.’
Payne groaned at the loss. ‘You mean the ones in the hallway? Man, I loved those.’
‘Me, too. But thanks to you, I still have one of the pictures.’
‘Really?’
He nodded. ‘The one with the Lipizzaner stallions. Remember, you took it off the wall to show us the laughing man? Because of that, the picture survived.’
‘Just like an American,’ said a gruff voice from behind. ‘Saving our horses again!’
Payne turned and saw Franz. ‘Ja! Ja! It’s true. You soldiers are always showing off.’
Payne smiled and greeted him with a handshake. ‘How have you been, Franz? Still resting up from our little adventure?’
‘Adventure? That was nothing! My recent trip to Amsterdam, now that was an adventure.’
The thought of a naked Franz made Payne and Jones slightly nauseous.
‘So, why are you here?’ he asked. ‘Are you here to help? We could use some more hands.’
‘Franz!’ Ulster scolded, laughing. ‘These are our guests. They should be treated as such.’
Franz waved dismissively. ‘Don’t start with me, Petr. Even the woman is working!’
‘What woman?’ Jones asked.
‘Your woman,’ Franz said. ‘Ja, ja! She got here yesterday with Dr Boyd.’
‘My woman? You mean Maria? She’s here?’
Payne loved the look on Jones’s face. A mixture of bliss, confusion, and total shock.
‘Oops!’ Payne said. ‘Did I forget to mention that? Sorry. It must’ve slipped my mind.’
‘Wait a second! You knew about this?’
‘Duh! That’s the only way I could’ve planned it.’
‘But I thought she was in Italy, taking care of her brother and her family’s estate.’
‘Not anymore,’ Payne said. ‘By the way, when did Maria become your woman? Does she know about that?’
‘No, but…’
‘But what? Women aren’t possessions, you know. You can’t just run around claiming them.’
‘I realize that, but…’
‘Maybe you’d have a little more luck with the ladies if you treated them with the respect that they deserved. Besides, before you run off and plant your flag in Maria or whatever you’re going to do to claim her, we have some business to take care of.’
‘Business?’ He looked at Payne, confused, until he realized what Payne was talking about. ‘Oh, that’s right! Our business. I almost forgot about our business.’
Ulster and Franz stared at Payne and Jones like they were crazy. Which, of course, they were. They didn’t call them MANIACs for nothing.
Payne said to Ulster, ‘When D.J. and I were in Italy, we came across an item that we thought would look great in the Archives. It’s one of those things that we think everybody should get a chance to study, not just a few old priests at the Vatican.’
Jones added, ‘If you don’t want it, we’ll completely understand. I mean, it is kind of cumbersome. But since you’re building a new wing and all, we figured you’d have the room.’
‘What is it?’ Ulster asked.
‘We can show you if you’d like. We brought it with us.’
‘You did?’
Payne nodded as he opened the back of the chopper. Ulster and Franz peered inside and saw the stone sarcophagus, hermetically sealed in high-grade plastic. ‘We didn’t want to expose it to the elements, so Dr Boyd showed us how to protect it. Hopefully you can figure out a more permanent solution for its upkeep.’
Struggling to see through the plastic, Ulster frowned. ‘I’m sure I could if I knew what I was looking at… Please tell me there isn’t a body in there.’
Jones laughed. ‘I was worried about the same thing when we opened it. But as luck should have it, it was filled with something more, um, shocking.’
‘Shocking?’ Ulster asked.
Instead of answering, Payne pulled several pictures from his shirt pocket and handed them to Ulster. They were taken from a variety of angles and showed the sarcophagus both opened and closed. The final few photos focused on the object that was inside, an artifact that had survived the last two thousand years intact. Evidence that had been saved by Pilate to tell his side of the story. At least part of it. The other part would be explained on a separate document.
Ulster gasped when he saw the item. ‘Are those beams from a cross?’
They nodded. The stipes had been sawed in half, but the patibulum was still intact. And best of all, they had scientists in Pittsburgh test a sliver of wood, and it was first-century African oak.
Just like it should’ve been.
‘You mean,’ Ulster stuttered, ‘this is his cross?’
Payne shrugged. ‘That’s what we’re hoping you can prove. That is, if you have the time.’
‘Yes,’ he gasped. ‘I have the time.’
‘But that’s not all.’ Payne reached into the chopper and pulled out a small storage case. ‘There was one more item inside the sarcophagus, something we haven’t opened yet. We figured it would be best if we left that to you, Boyd, and Maria.’
With shaking hands, Ulster opened the case and saw a bronze cylinder, similar to the one that had been found in the Catacombs. Yet instead of Tiberius’s seal, the cylinder was stamped with Pontius Pilate’s official symbol, an emblem that hadn’t been used since the days of Christ.
‘I have no idea what’s inside. But if we’re lucky, it might just tell us what happened.’
And as luck would have it, it actually did.
*
As far as Payne could tell, only six of them (Dante, Maria, Boyd, Ulster, Jones, and himself) knew everything. And by everything Payne meant the truth about the Catacombs and the identity of the laughing man. Several others — everyone from Franz to Nick Dial to Randy Raskin, not to mention everyone at the Pentagon who monitored Raskin’s calls — knew bits and pieces of the tale. Still, Payne realized it would be difficult for any of them to put the whole story together, simply because none of them had enough information to go on or the proof that they possessed.
No, as far as Payne could tell, only six of them knew the secret that Cardinal Rose thought he’d silenced forever when he killed Benito Pelati. Thankfully, Rose was a poor detective, otherwise Payne knew he would’ve heard from Rose’s bosses by now — in one way or another.
Speaking of which, Payne wasn’t really sure what the Vatican knew (and didn’t know) about their adventure. And he had no intention of asking them. Ever.
Why? There’s an old adage that says there’s no such thing as a stupid question. Well, that might be true, but Payne knew there was such a thing as a dangerous question.
Especially if the wrong person wanted to know the answer.
Or wanted to keep it a secret.
Epilogue
The scroll was in remarkable shape considering it was penned by Pontius Pilate on his deathbed. Buried in the hills of Vindobona, the parchment stayed undisturbed for nearly 2,000 years, protected by a bronze cylinder, a stone sarcophagus, and a family with a secret past.
Generation upon generation of Pelati men went to the grave thinking that their forefather, Pontius Pilate, was a hero. That he was the true founder of the Christian faith. That Tiberius had called upon his noble servant and asked him to fake the death of Christ for the betterment of all things Roman. That Tiberius was so impressed with his heroics that he honored his achievements in stone, immortalizing Pilate’s image and amazing deeds in the Catacombs of Orvieto. Yet none of the Pelatis — not Benito, Roberto, Dante, or any of their ancestors except Pontius himself — knew the full story of the crucifixion until Maria broke the seal on the cylinder.