The Spear of Destiny by Julian Noyce Page A

replied, “We’ll find a link somewhere.”
    The kitchen buzzer sounded again.  
      “That’ll be the Chinese,” Dennis got up and took fifty pounds from his wallet. He returned with the food and placed it on the table, then went into the kitchen and returned with plates and cutlery. The three of them settled to eating. Every once in a while Dennis would click on his laptop.
      “We’ll just have to keep searching,” Natalie said, “There will be something.”
      “It must be a cure,” from Hutchinson, “The other categories don’t really fit in with Von Werner’s injuries.”
      Dennis checked every miracle of christ that he could find. He shook his head.
      “Nothing really gives us a clue.”
      “What about that journal Von Werner had. Have you still got it?”
    Dennis jumped to his feet.
      “Yes.”
    He went to his bookcase and rummaged through a pile of books laying down flat.
      “It’s here somewhere,” he said moving some more. Then he found it, “Ah here it is.”
      He gave it to Natalie. She opened it and began flicking through the pages. Then a quarter of the way through it she stopped. Hutchinson was watching her.
      “Have you found something?”
    Natalie’s eyes continued to move over the page she was on.
      “Nat.”
      “There may be something here.”
    The two men joined her on the couch, sitting either side of her.
      “Saint Helena,” Hutchinson said, “Who was she?”
    Dennis reached across the table for his laptop. The page in the journal was hand drawn. There was a large sketch of a shrine. There was a detailed drawing of a woman under a domed ceiling holding a large wooden cross. Underneath the sketch were the words ’St Helena’s shrine, St Peter’s basilica’
      “Is that in Rome?” Hutchinson asked.
    Natalie nodded.
      “Vatican city.”
    She turned the page. There were more drawings. Simple sketches, of pieces of rope, what looked to be a tunic, some nails which looked to be Roman, some pieces of wood and the holy lance. Under each drawing were words in German.
      “Saint Helena,” Dennis said, “also known as the empress Helena was the mother of the Roman emperor Constantine the great. Birthdate not known but thought to be either 246 or 250AD. Died 330AD. Famous for finding the relics from Christ’s crucifixion. She found the nails and rope used to fix him to his cross. She also found the cross on which he was crucified. She found a total of three crosses and had a woman from Jerusalem, who was near death, touch each one. When the woman touched the third cross she was cured.”
      “Now we’re getting somewhere,” Hutchinson said, “Do we know where this took place?”
      “Yes. She was appointed by Constantine as Augusta Imperatrix, Greek for empress. He gave her unlimited access to the imperial treasury. She went on to build many churches. One on the site of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem. Another on the mount of olives in Jerusalem where he ascended into heaven. She ordered a temple built hundreds of years earlier by the Roman emperor Hadrian to be pulled down. This temple was built over the site of Christ’s tomb in Calvary. When her men excavated the ground under the temple they found the remains of the three crosses said to be those of Christ and the two thieves Dismas and Gestas who were crucified either side of him. Dismas went on to become a saint.”
      “Pete.”
      “Oh sorry. Getting a bit sidetracked. Anyway, after the find Constantine had the church of the holy sepulchre built. Right over the spot where Helena found the relics.”
      “Great,” Hutchinson said, “We’ve got no chance of searching that.”
      “Now wait a minute. There’s more. Helena left Jerusalem for Rome in 327AD. She took the ‘true’ pieces of the cross with the nails, rope and the tunic of Christ with her. They are currently on display in the basilica of the holy cross in Jerusalem where they have been since she placed them