“What happened to her?” Natalie asked.
“She had bone cancer at the age of six which resulted in her having to be….I don’t know the English,” Alberto mimed a cut across the top of his thigh.
“Amputated,” Hutchinson said.
“Yes. She wrote letters to Jesus Christ telling him of her suffering. Since her death there has been one miracle which was attributed to her. She was buried in the graveyard and her remains were moved inside in 1999. She is currently on the Vatican’s shortlist to become a saint.”
“Why this church?” Dennis asked.
“She was baptised here as a baby. This was her church.”
“That is such a sad story,” Natalie said. She reached out and touched the shrine. Her lips moving in silent prayer for the child.
“I will now show you the chapel of the holy relics.”
Alberto led the way upstairs and into a small room. The others filed in silently and spread themselves out. There were two other tourists in this room and they were hastily trying to hide a small Nikon camera, caught in the act of taking photographs. Alberto frowned at them and they quickly left.
“I thought that was kept in Turin,” Hutchinson said.
“Oh it is Mr Hutchinson. This is an exact copy.”
“What is it?” Dennis asked, looking at the large piece of stained cloth through the protective glass.
“It is an exact replica of the shroud of Turin.”
“The what?”
“The shroud of Turin,” Hutchinson said, “It is said to be the very linen that Christ’s body was wrapped in. Scholars have argued for centuries about its authenticity.”
“It looks medieval,” Dennis said.
“It is a work of art,” Hutchinson defended the piece.
“Art? I think it’s disgusting,” Dennis said, “and probably a fake. Just my opinion,” he said when he saw Alberto’s expression.
“But of course,” the guide replied.
Alberto led them into the final room. This room was brightly lit, the floor and walls white marble. At the far end were four black marble, square coloumns supporting a large roof, atop of which was a simple gold cross. Behind this, at the far end of the room was a glass case surrounded by brown marble.
“It’s beautiful,” Natalie said.
“This is the chapel of the holy relics,” Alberto said, leading them up to the glass.
“If you look to the left you can see a fragment of the good thiefs cross, the largest in the world. Now to the glass case.”
The shelves were filled with a variety of gold and silver ornaments, intricately decorated with adorning crosses.
“On the top shelf is the bone of an index finger said to belong to St Thomas. This reliquary with the cross on top of it contains very small pieces of Christ’s crib and pieces of his sepulchre, his tomb and also pieces of the scourging pillar where he was whipped by the Romans.”
At these words Hutchinson felt goose pimples rise on his forearms. He rubbed at them.
“My God,” was all he said.
“Also on this shelf you can see two thorns from the crown that was placed on Christ’s head. On the next shelf down you can see, once again the reliquary with the cross on top, this contains the three pieces of the true cross once found by St Helena. On the bottom shelf is a nail used in the crucifixion. However and I must warn you now, that only three nails were used in a crucifixion and around the world there are far more than three nails claimed to be original. It doesn’t help of course that some Popes throughout history made copies of these nails and distributed them around Christendom. Finally on the bottom shelf you can see what is known as the Titulus Crucis or title of the cross. This was discovered here in the church in 1492. The same year as Colombus. This is a piece of wood written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. Legend has it that this piece was personally written by Pontius Pilate the Roman governor of Judaea at the time of Christ’s crucifixion. For many years it has been thought to be a forgery from the medieval period. However new evidence suggests that the inscriptions were written from right to left and not left to right as would be the case with a medieval translator. In the 19 century this relic was further proved by the discovery of a travel journal belonging to the Spanish pilgrim Egeria, a lady who had visited the holy land in the 4 century and recorded that she’d seen this relic in Jerusalem.”
“Wow! That is amazing,” Hutchinson said, “So much history,” he could feel his goosebumps returning.
“Yes history is my passion,” Alberto said, “I am in love with history. I am extremely fortunate to have been born in such a city where I tread in the footsteps of some of the most famous people who have ever lived.”
“That you are,” the American replied.
“And now lady and gentlemen that concludes our tour of the Santa Croce en Gerusalemme in Rome. I will wait for you all outside to give you free time here in the church. On your way down the stairs look for the brick in the wall with the inscription ‘Titulus Crucis’ which I noticed none of you saw on the way up.”
They weren’t very long in meeting Alberto outside.
“That was a wonderful tour,” Natalie said.
Hutchinson came forward and shook Alberto’s hand.
“Truly fantastic,” the American said, “If it’s not too personal a question may I ask how you are paid.”
“I do a lot of work for Citalia holidays. This particular tour was, I believe, paid for by the Vatican.”
“Oh I see. Are you allowed to accept tips?”
Alberto gave his best smile. Jim pressed a twenty euro note into the Italian’s hand.
“And did the Vatican tell you why we needed a guided tour?” Bauer asked. It was the first thing he’d said since arriving at the church.
“No. Just that i was to give a private tour.”
“Do you also give personal tours?” Hutchinson asked.
“Yes of course. Though my fees are expensive.”
“Would you be able to give us a tour tomorrow. Myself, Miss Feltham, Mr Dennis….” Jim waited for their re-action.
“Yeah I wouldn’t mind Jim,” Dennis answered. Natalie nodded. “Sounds good.”
“Inspector Bauer?”
“No thank you. I have reports to make tomorrow.”
“Just the three of us then. That’s if you can manage tomorrow?”
“What do you want to see?”
“Oh uh! I don’t know. Ancient Rome, the Vatican.”
“My fees are three hundred euros per day.”
“That’s only a hundred each,” Dennis said quietly and sarcastically.
“Ignore him.”
“That is my fee.”
“That sounds most satisfactory. I could pay you up front.”
Alberto’s beaming smile returned.
“Pay me tomorrow. I would be delighted to show you around my beautiful city.”
“Thank you so much. Would you like us to come to you?”
Alberto reached into his jacket pocket, took out a map of Rome and placed a cross on it with his pen.
“This is the arch of Titus in ancient Rome. I will be there at 9 o’clock tomorrow morning. I’ll look forward to seeing you all then.”
Alberto shook hands with them all again and then went to a Fiat 500 and drove away.
“What a thoroughly interesting man,” Hutchinson said.
De Luca signalled to his men by the mini-bus. They jumped into action and soon brought the mini-bus over.
“Now lady and gentlemen if you are ready it’s time to show you to your hotel.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Carlo Bonomi was good at his job. No not good but excellent. He had been a property agent for four years. He felt that he, at only age twenty eight, was probably the best in Rome. He certainly worked for the best agency in Rome. The ‘Centauro’ letting agency.