揟he tomb that was blown up. It was the original??he asked.
Claire nodded. 揝acrificed for the greater good.?
揂 shame,?he said. 揑ts historical and religious significance was immeasurable.?
揑抦 sure, in your line of work, you抳e witnessed many precious things destroyed,?the abbess said.
揝adly, I have.?He paused. 揟he maidens rebelling was part of the show too??
Claire nodded. 揟here was a division among us. A deep difference of opinion. Me on one side, the abbess on the other. Many of us thought our mission was no longer necessary. We decided to use that debate as part of Omega. But today proved us wrong. I was wrong. We抮e united once again. No debate. No dissension. Maidens, one and all. Our purpose reinvigorated.?
揧ou made sure Friar Dwight heard you,?Kelsey said to the abbess. 揧ou wanted him to know that you guarded the Virgin.?
揑t only reinforced what he wanted to believe. It was a good addition to the plan.?
揑 assume I almost messed things up??he asked.
揧our presence did add another dimension,?Claire said. 揥e left all of the outer doors open, hoping you抎 find one for entry. Sister Ellen was tasked with keeping an eye on you, and tried to dissuade you from interfering in the chapter hall, but I knew you would anyway.?
He hated to be so predictable.
Claire smiled. 揑t seems your nature to jump right in. And, with Sister Deal involved, I realized you couldn抰 resist. So we made you part of what was happening. I think it all helped cement things in the cardinal抯 mind.?
揥ho speared the friar with the arrow??he asked.
揟hat was me,?Claire said. 揟he abbess was trying to send a message for you not to interfere.?
揂nd I didn抰。 Not then, anyway. Again, you seem to know me real well.?
揋ood guesses is the way I look at it,?Claire said. 揙ne of the side benefits of being a nun. You learn a lot about people.?
He told them about Andre Labelle and his connection to Bernat de Foix and Archbishop Vilamur.
揟hey抮e both dead,?the abbess said. 揥hen the main contingent headed for the chapel, I sent maidens out as lookouts. One of them watched as Labelle took Vilamur over a cliff.?
He hated to hear that. But wasn抰 surprised.
揑 suspect Bernat de Foix is dead too,?he said. 揟here seemed a lot of issues going on with Labelle.?
揌ow are you going to explain those deaths??Kelsey asked.
揂 hiking accident,?Claire said. 揟hey happen in these mountains all the time. We抣l allow the bodies to be discovered by others. And they will. It won抰 involve us.?
He stepped to the other niche and the rectangular glass container. Inside he saw loose pages, dry and brittle, edges curled, the surfaces all the color of brewed tea.
揟hat is The Testimony of John,?the abbess said. 揑t is a firsthand account of the Blessed Virgin抯 life after the death of Christ, including her death and burial here in the Pyr閚閑s. It抯 an original first-century manuscript.?
揟here aren抰 many of those in this world,?he said. 揌ow do you know it抯 authentic? How do you know the bones are authentic??
揥e actually don抰，？Claire said. 揃ut we had a sample carbon-dated a decade ago, which verified the pages themselves are from the first century. We also know that a copy of it was taken during the Albigensian Crusade. A contingent of soldiers came south to the Roussillon, looking for us. They went to the village of Las Illas, not far from here, thinking we were there. Thankfully, their information was incorrect. We抎 left that village hundreds of years before. But that didn抰 stop them from torturing and killing everyone there.?
What a brutal time.
揂 copy of this text was in the church at Las Illas,?Claire said. 揥e were not aware of that until after it was taken. The crusaders delivered that copy to the pope, and it stayed in the Vatican archives, relatively unnoticed, until the twentieth century. We obtained photographs of those pages and compared them to this manuscript. They were identical, except for a reference that the one stolen was a copy.?
Amazing.
揟o answer your second question,?Claire said, 搘e don抰 know if the bones are authentic. But we do know that they are the same bones interred in the first century in the cave that was destroyed today. The cave itself is exactly as described in The Testimony of John. And they are the same bones that have been guarded and protected continuously by this order ever since. They did not move from that cave, until we brought them here in the twelfth century. Fuentes knew of The Testimony of John. He quoted from it in the cave. Everything matched how the manuscript described the tomb. Which seems further verification of authenticity.?
揂nd Jan van Eyck is in fact buried in our graveyard,?the abbess said. 揥hich, to the Vatican, is further verification that this is the place they sought.?