Intervention by Robin Cook Page A

all.”
    “Sorry,” Shawn said, realizing that if he wanted her to come, he had to be patient.
    “Getting back to the ossuary’s placement, I have to tell you that it is unbelievably serendipitous for us for two reasons: First, I don’t think that area of the tomb has ever been touched; second, the last time the tomb was excavated, which was in the nineteen-fifties, the archaeological team actually tunneled under the area, probably passing beneath Mary’s ossuary, to reach the inside of the tomb. What that means is that all we will have to do, at most, is remove maybe a few inches of packed debris and the ossuary will drop down into our waiting hands.”
    “You make it sound so easy.”
    “I think it will be. Just before you got here I was on the phone with my assistant, Claire Dupree, back at the Metropolitan. I’m having her overnight my file on Saint Peter’s tomb to the Hassler in Rome. I still have the access permit to the necropolis under Saint Peter’s Basilica from the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology, which James arranged directly through Pope John Paul II. The file also contains my Vatican ID card, and most important, the key for the Scavi, or excavation office, which is the same as to the site itself.”
    “That was five years ago.”
    “True, but I’d be astounded if anything has changed. It’s one of the frustrations as well as joys of Italy that rarely does anything change, at least in the bureaucratic arena.”
    “What if the keys don’t fit or the permit has been revoked?”
    “I cannot imagine that happening, but if it does, we’ll have to cross that bridge at that time. If worse comes to worst, I’ll call James. He can arrange for us to get in there. It just might mean an extra day.”
    “You think James would do that if he gets to read Saturninus’s letter, which I assume he’d demand to do. I don’t think so. Also, let’s say we do get in there for argument’s sake, and we do find the ossuary. What in heaven’s name do you plan to do with it?”
    “Bring it secretly to New York. I don’t want to jump the gun with this windfall project.
    When I announce it, I want to have studied the bones and fully translated any and all writings, most specifically, the Gospel of Simon.”
    “It’s against the law to take antiquities out of Italy.”
    Shawn regarded his wife with a touch of irritation. Over the previous year she had developed an independent streak, as well as an aggravating tendency toward negative thinking, and this was a good example. At the same time he reminded himself that in his enthusiasm over the previous hour, he was guilty of glossing over a few pesky details, like how the hell he was going to get his find back to New York. He, more than anyone, knew that Italy had become very protective about its historical treasures being pirated out of the country.
    “I’ll send the damn thing from the Vatican, not Italy,” Shawn decided abruptly.
    “What makes you think sending it from the Vatican is going to be any different? It will have to clear customs one way or the other.”
    “I’ll send it to James and label it his personal property. Of course, that will mean I’ll have to call him beforehand and tell him it is a surprise, which it certainly will be, and tell him not to open it until I get there.”
    Sana nodded. She’d not thought of that. She supposed it might work.
    “Hell, I’ll be giving it back after the fact,” Shawn said, in partial justification.
    “Wouldn’t they let you work on it at the Vatican? Why take it back to New York at all?”
    “I can’t be sure of it,” Shawn said without hesitation. “Besides, a number of people would demand to be involved and share the spotlight. Frankly, I don’t want to do that.
    I’ll take some flak for removing it from the Vatican necropolis and sending it to New York, but the positive will overwhelm the negative, I’m certain. To sweeten the deal, I’ll even give the Vatican the codex and