*
Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore
MARCO WATCHED THE evening news special on TV Roma, fascinated as religious and secular experts were wheeled on to outline their pet theories on the development of Christian art.
Cardinal Amendola was in the studio, smiling benevolently from behind heavy, black-framed spectacles. Occasionally he would nod wisely as though the recovery of the bronze head was due to his persistence. Monsignor Giorgio was unobtainable for interviews, refusing to issue any further press statements.
Everyone in the studio quickly dismissed the possibility of the head being an example of ancient Byzantine art, except one young professor of oriental illustration. A senior expert of the Renaissance thought it to be a missing work by Leonardo da Vinci, while an authority on the Baroque disagreed violently. It was obviously ... well ... possibly by ... or from ... the school of Bernini. A Spanish historian knew almost for certain it had been produced by an Iberian metal worker of the late Renaissance. A close-up shot of the parchment heralded the appearance of an authority in mediaeval documents, who was prepared to stake her reputation that it was genuine.
By the next morning one or two of the experts who had so far been quiet, probably taking the opportunity to think things through a little more carefully, were prepared to admit the obvious: that the style of the bronze was Classical, not neo-Classical, and could definitely be contemporary with Christ. One even risked his reputation by going so far as to say that it might actually be Christ.
An American professor of microbiology, an active believer in the Shroud of Turin, was interviewed live by satellite. He pointed out that the difference in beard length between the two images proved nothing. Jesus could easily have grown his beard longer in the period leading up to his final journey to Jerusalem. A New Testament scholar agreed that this was not only possible, but likely. A close-up of the bronze face filled the screen. Marco realized that the ripples were turning into shock waves. The arguments alone sounded as though they would reverberate around the Church for decades.
A political commentator predicted that over a million people would arrive in Rome over the next forty-eight hours. They were coming simply because they wanted to be near the likeness of Jesus Christ. The interest throughout the world was extraordinary. Marco knew that the Church could no longer keep the relic hidden from public view. Numbers like this would exert real influence. His cell phone rang.
His friend from England was on the line. He believed that a senior member of the laboratory staff in Oxford was deliberately falsifying DNA tests on bone fragments from Russia. The deception was connected with an announcement on the Internet of a special exhibition in Berlin to celebrate the birth of the German Führer. Since Marco was already mixed up with investigating the neo-Nazis, was he interested in coming straight over to hear the full story?
The carabinieri had interviewed him several times, but no one had told him to stay in Rome. He still had his passport. Marco decided to leave immediately, before Father Josef could return and give him other instructions. This time he'd keep his movements to himself.
His cell phone rang again while he was packing his overnight bag, and he let it ring several times before answering. It was a message from the hospital. Laura would like to see him. He looked at his watch, realized he had plenty of time to catch the plane if he went by taxi, and told the nurse he'd be straight round.
He finished his packing and made a quick phone call to Natalia at TV Roma. Could she meet him at Fiumicino airport with her passport at two-thirty? If she was willing to fly with him to England, he could guarantee her something special in the way of a story.
THE END
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