The pope knew Gabrielli well. "Then you probably heard a lot about why he thinks Padre Pio was a fraud."

"I did," Castle said. "We spent a lot of time talking about how carbolic acid could have been used to cause those wounds to appear on Padre Pio's palms."

"This case is not about Padre Pio," the pope said without hesitation. "Pope John Paul II declared Padre Pio a saint in 2002 and that declaration is now a dogma of faith that is affirmed by the infallibility of the pope. The Church heard all those arguments decades ago and rejected them. I don't for a minute want to consider anything about Padre Pio being a fraud. That's not why I'm interested in Father Bartholomew."

Castle's mind worked rapidly to process what he was being told. If the pope did not want any questions raised about Padre Pio, why did the pope want him to work on Father Bartholomew, especially when both cases involved stigmata? If Father Bartholomew were proven to be a fraud, then new doubt would undoubtedly fall on Padre Pio, a saint the Catholic Church rushed to get canonized. So why was it, exactly, that the pope wanted him to work on this case when everybody knew he was an avowed atheist? He had just told the pope he was planning to work with an Italian chemist who had built an international reputation by debunking miracles. It didn't make any sense.

"Why would you want to prove Father Bartholomew is a hoax?" Castle asked the pope. "It has to be obvious to you that I am setting out to do just that."

"Yes, it is obvious to me what you are doing," the pope admitted. "But there is also something I want to try to explain to you."

"What's that?"

"Have you ever heard of Bishop Malachy?"

"Yes, vaguely," Castle responded. "Wasn't he the first Irish saint?"

"Yes, and he is a.s.sociated with a prophecy that I am going to be the last pope. A Benedictine historian named Arnold Wion published a book in 1559 t.i.tled Lignum Vitae, Lignum Vitae, in which a list attributed to the Irish Malachy listed one hundred and twelve popes yet to come, each designated by a Latin phrase that identified the pope. Pope Benedict XVI, my predecessor, was next to last. Malachy designated him as 'Gloria Olivae,' or 'Glory of the Olive.' Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI, was not a Benedictine priest, yet he chose the name of St. Benedict, the founder of the Benedictine order. The symbol of the Benedictine order includes an olive branch. Each of the one hundred and ten before Benedict XVI were identified equally as well by Malachy." in which a list attributed to the Irish Malachy listed one hundred and twelve popes yet to come, each designated by a Latin phrase that identified the pope. Pope Benedict XVI, my predecessor, was next to last. Malachy designated him as 'Gloria Olivae,' or 'Glory of the Olive.' Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI, was not a Benedictine priest, yet he chose the name of St. Benedict, the founder of the Benedictine order. The symbol of the Benedictine order includes an olive branch. Each of the one hundred and ten before Benedict XVI were identified equally as well by Malachy."

Castle listened, wondering where the pope was headed with this.

"The designation for the last pope was 'Petrus Roma.n.u.s,' or 'Peter the Roman.' I did not want to take Peter II as my name for several reasons. I thought it presumptuous to name myself second to the disciple of Jesus who founded the Catholic Church. Jesus designated St. Peter to lead his church with the famous blessing, 'Upon this rock I found my church.' I'm sure you know that 'Peter' is the English translation of the Latin and Greek word for 'rock.' I greatly admire Pope John Paul II and taking the name Pope John-Paul Peter I permitted me to put Peter in my name without having to be Peter II. Maybe it was just superst.i.tious, but I was born in Rome, so I fit the 'Petrus Roma.n.u.s' description Malachy gave to the last pope."

"So you believe in these predictions then?" Castle asked.

"I'm not entirely sure. It's altogether possible the predictions were just attributed to Bishop Malachy, or maybe the believers in the predictions have just interpreted Malachy's descriptors so that they match after the fact, regardless of who was chosen pope in Malachy's number sequence. The descriptors are vague. Malachy's descriptor for Pope John Paul II was 'From a solar eclipse.' The believers have gone pretty far afield to identify Karol Wojtyla with that phrase, even arguing that it was fulfilled because Wojtyla was born on May 18, 1920, a day when there was a solar eclipse over the Indian Ocean. I don't know. But still, I have had a feeling since the College of Cardinals moved to elect me pope that my papacy would have momentous consequences for the Catholic Church. I don't need to list our problems for you. The Catholic faithful in the United States have dropped church attendance dramatically since the priest scandal. I worry for the future of the Church's finances."

"How does this tie into Father Bartholomew?"

"The Shroud of Turin has fascinated me since I first heard about it as a child."

"You believe it is the burial cloth of Jesus Christ?"

"Yes, I do," the pope answered directly. "But that is not the official position of the Vatican, now or ever before. Officially, the Catholic Church considers the Shroud of Turin to be an important relic worthy of veneration. The Church maintains that belief in the authenticity of the Shroud as the actual burial cloth of Jesus is not important for the faithful to believe in the resurrection of Jesus. This is important because the resurrection of Jesus is the key article of faith the Church considers dogma concerning Christ's pa.s.sion and death. That Christ rose from the dead is the proof he was the Son of G.o.d. The Church does not need the Shroud of Turin to prove Christ rose from the dead."

Castle got the point. "I've challenged Gabrielli to replicate the Shroud with techniques and materials that would have been available to medieval artists. I plan to work closely with Gabrielli, and if he can replicate the Shroud, I intend to invite him to coauthor my next book with me."

"Will that book focus on Father Bartholomew?" the pope asked.

"Most likely it will."

"Then I take it you believe Father Bartholomew is psychologically disturbed."

"Yes, I do."

The pope appreciated Castle's honesty. It was exactly what he expected. "I want to make sure you understand that I picked you because you are a formidable nonbeliever. Beginning in 1977, Anastasio Cardinal Ballestrero, the archbishop of Turin, gave permission to a group of scientists who organized themselves as STURP, the Shroud of Turin Research Project, to conduct tests on the Shroud over a five-day period. Pope Paul VI was not initially in favor of Ballestrero's decision. Pope Paul VI did not think establishing the scientific authenticity of the Shroud as the burial cloth of Christ was a good idea, even if it could be proved the Shroud is authentic. He thought moving the Church in that direction would put us back in the relic business. Since the medieval period, the Church has been moving away from any idea that relics should be used to b.u.t.tress faith."

"I get the point."

"I always believed Pope Paul VI had a valid point and I disagreed with the decision to open the Shroud to scientific investigation," the pope continued. "But I am intellectually curious, especially since Pope Paul VI ultimately agreed to head down that route. So now I want to know if the Shroud can be proved to be a fake. I doubt anyone will ever prove for an absolute certainty that it is Christ's burial cloth. After all, we don't have any photographs of Christ to compare with the Shroud and we aren't likely to get any."

"So what do you want me to do?" Castle asked.

"I expect you to do your best to prove Bartholomew is deranged and I expect your Italian chemist friend will do his best to show he can make a Shroud as good as the original one. I will even pay you to do so."

"What do you mean?" Castle asked.

"I'm having one million dollars transferred to your account in New York immediately," the pope said without emotion. "I hope that will be enough to cover your time and the services of Dr. Gabrielli?"

"I am sure it is more than generous," Castle answered, quite surprised at how much the pope was willing to spend on this project.

"If you need more than that, I will need a precise accounting on how the one million dollars were spent," the pope clarified. "If one million turns out to be enough, I don't care how you spend the money. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Castle said.

"Do you agree?"

"Yes," Castle said again quickly. "The terms are most generous."

"My only condition is that you work closely with Father Morelli on my staff," the pope continued. "Father Morelli is devoted to the Shroud. Father Morelli came to the conclusion that the Shroud is the burial cloth of Christ, but he came to that conclusion only after studying the Shroud's history and the evidence intensely, both pro and con."

"No problem," Castle affirmed. "I met with Father Morelli earlier today and I will be happy to work with him."

"One more thing," the pope said. "Father Morelli will introduce you to a Father Middagh in New York. Father Middagh has studied the Shroud for more than forty years and he is one of the Catholic Church's leading experts on the Shroud. He too has a Ph.D. in chemistry, much like your friend in Bologna. Your conclusions on Bartholomew and Gabrielli's conclusions on the Shroud will not be meaningful to me until you both survive Father Middagh's examination."

Again, Castle saw the point. The pope was willing to pay, but the job was not going to be easy.

"I'm sure you appreciate that your reputation will depend on your conclusions," the pope said, almost as a veiled threat.

"What do you mean?" Castle wondered.

"The Catholic Church will not tell you what you can or cannot say or publish about Father Bartholomew," the pope clarified, "but if your a.n.a.lysis suffers from any inadequacy, the Church will be quick to defend her own."

"Of course," Castle said, realizing the seriousness of the a.s.signment.

"We understand one another, then?" the pope asked in conclusion.

"We do," Castle agreed.

"One last thing. If you need anything from me, please feel free to call on me. Father Morelli will know how to reach me instantly, on a twenty-four-hour basis, seven days a week. If I am otherwise disposed, I will get back to you as soon as possible, once I hear from Father Morelli that it is imperative we speak again."

CHAPTER EIGHT.

Friday, same week Beth Israel Hospital Day 9 Dr. Castle met with Dr. Constance Lin, a pet.i.te Chinese medical specialist who ran the CT scan and MRI sections at Beth Israel. At Dr. Castle's request, Dr. Lin had just completed taking an extensive set of CT scans and MRI images on Father Bartholomew's wrists. She had key frames from both exhibited on the lightboards that lined two walls of her office.

"What's the verdict?" Castle asked Dr. Lin. He had always had a soft spot for Dr. Lin. Even though she was more than two decades his junior, Castle was attracted to her pet.i.te frame and soft-spoken manner. Still, she was a top professional and he thoroughly trusted her judgment. As far as Castle was concerned, no physician in New York City could read an MRI or CT scan better than Constance Lin.

"I've never seen a case like this before," she said right off. "Both wounds are clearly penetrated by injuries that were caused by an object that could have been a nail." Lin understood she was studying the possibility of stigmata in examining Father Bartholomew's wrists. "The wounds on the bottom of each wrist clearly exhibit signs of an entry wound, with a small opening and the skin protruding down into the wound. The wounds on the top of the wrist are much more open and severe, with the skin protruding out from the wound."

"Okay," Castle said. "That's consistent with what we would expect to see if the stigmata were real. I would a.s.sume that in a crucifixion, the victim's arms would be stretched out along the crossbeam, with the palms upward. The nails fixing the arms to the crossbeam would have been driven through the wrist by entering the palm and exiting on the back of the hand."

"That's exactly what we see here," Lin confirmed. "The problem is with the penetration through the wrist. It does not look like the wound penetrates all the way through the wrist. But there is one more possibility."

"What's that?"

"Well," she began carefully, "it is hard for me to say with certainty. But it is possible the wound is healing very rapidly from the center outward. The wounds on the top of the palm and the back of the wrist are still very raw and open, but the bleeding from the wounds is minimal. When I opened the bandages to do the tests, the wounds exhibited almost no sign of bleeding. It was very strange, almost like the wounds had been cauterized from within. I've never seen anything like it."

Castle could see the possibilities, especially if there was a mystical element to the wounds themselves.

"There's something more I can't explain," Lin began cautiously.

"What's that?"

"The carpal bones in each hand were severely damaged by the wound," she observed. "Let's a.s.sume the hand was penetrated by a nail. The bones show signs not only of displacement, but of having been chipped and fractured."

"Isn't that what you would expect?" Castle asked.

"Yes, but when I observed Father Bartholomew take both the CT scans and the MRI exams, he seemed to have pretty good use of his hands. Even in these results, in both hands the radial nerve going to the thumb shows signs of abrasion, yet Father Bartholomew used both his thumbs freely. I would have expected to see much more impairment of function."

"What did the tests show?"

"That's the point," she said. "I could see the damage, but it was as if the carpal bones in both hands were well along in recovering, almost like the radial nerve was regenerating. I never expect to see that with severe hand trauma, especially not so soon after the injury."

Castle saw the point. Father Bartholomew's hand appeared severely injured, but the internal damage was either less than expected or healing remarkably fast.

"Also, if the wounds were from someone driving a nail through each wrist, I would have to say the person who drove the nails did so expertly. In each wrist, there was no damage to the radial artery, even though the nail was driven through each hand on the thumb side. Suicides usually try to cut the radial artery because it's closest to the surface on the back of the wrist. If the radial artery had been severed, Father Bartholomew would only have lived a few minutes."

Castle realized that Father Bartholomew's wrists were recovering almost as miraculously as the injuries that had occurred in the first place.

"The same is true with the muscles and tendons of the wrist," Lin went on. "Again, I can see signs of damage, but somehow either the person driving the nails worked to move aside key muscles, or the muscle and tendon tissue is regenerating."

"Is there any way Father Bartholomew's wounds could have been self-inflicted?" Castle asked.

"No," Dr. Lin replied quickly. "I don't see how it would have been possible. The damage done on the entry wounds in both wrists would have incapacitated the thumbs. One wound might have been self-inflicted, but not both."

Castle had not completely dismissed the possibility that Father Bartholomew had an accomplice. But from the descriptions of how the wounds occurred, it seemed that Father Bartholomew was in full view of the congregation and no one was close enough to him to have caused such deep wounds on both wrists, front and back.

"You are sure there was no obvious cause of the wounds?" Lin asked. "I believe Father Bartholomew's medical records show these wounds on his wrists appeared while he was saying Ma.s.s, but there was no attack on him or other cause of something physical penetrating his wrist to cause these wounds?"

"That's correct," Castle affirmed.

"What's your explanation, then?" Lin asked.

"I'm a psychiatrist," Castle reminded her. "I think the wounds were induced by the action of Father Bartholomew's subconscious. Psychosomatic illnesses are common. People give themselves all kinds of disorders, ranging from intestinal problems to heart problems, probably even cancer, simply by the action of their mental state. I would hate to admit to you how many placebos I have prescribed in dealing with mental patients over the years."

"Still," Lin said, "I cannot explain these CT scans and MRIs from what I know of trauma medicine. The raw nature of the wounds on the front and back surface of the wrist would only be consistent with more bleeding. These wounds are healing rapidly, and from the medical charts I see that they developed only a few days ago. Also, I cannot confirm to you that the wounds definitely penetrated the wrist, even though the wound in the palm has the characteristics of an entry wound and the wound on the back of the wrist has the characteristic of an exit wound."

"Do you think the wounds will regenerate completely, such that Father Bartholomew will recover complete use of his hand functions?" Castle asked. "I can't imagine how it would be possible with a wound that appears as severe as these do."

"Neither can I," Lin said. "But this is no usual case. Already I see signs of internal regeneration within the hand that are surprising. Who knows if the regeneration will extend to the surface of the skin? I guess anything is possible, but I know of no medical history that would suggest it is likely."

"Thank you. You've been most thorough," Castle said, grateful for her a.n.a.lysis. "Just one more question."

"What's that?"

"Do you see any reason I should not release Father Bartholomew from the hospital now?"

"You're the attending physician," she said appropriately, "and you know much better than I would what Father Bartholomew's overall physical condition is. But if you're asking me to make a judgment about the condition of these wounds, I would say the major risk now is infection. The wounds have to be irrigated and disinfected, with the bandages changed regularly. Other than that, the wounds look to me like they are healing nicely, more like wounds I would expect to be several weeks old, not just a few days old."

"Thank you again," Castle said. "You have been most helpful."

Back in the hospital room with Bartholomew and Morelli, Castle explained to them the results of the CT scans and MRI.

"How much longer will I be in the hospital?" Bartholomew asked. "I want to get back to my parish as soon as possible."

"How do you feel?" Castle asked. "Your vital signs look good and you appear to be eating and functioning normally."

Castle could keep him here in the hospital under observation for a few more days, but Father Bartholomew was clearly impatient. Castle also had a motive for releasing Bartholomew in that he wanted to observe right now what would happen if he sent Bartholomew back to his parishioners. Would the stigmata continue recovering, or would the wounds worsen? Since Castle believed the wounds were psychologically induced, he expected to see them worsen once Castle had the chance to act out his neurosis in public. By keeping Bartholomew isolated here in the hospital, Castle feared he would only postpone the inevitable second act of Father Bartholomew's self-inflicted psychodrama. Castle shared Father Bartholomew's desire to see him back in the parish as soon as possible.

"I feel a bit weak," Bartholomew said, "but that is probably to be expected. Father Morelli is planning to stay with me at the parish and I don't plan to resume active duties immediately. I may say Ma.s.s every day if I can, but I plan to get a lot of rest."

"Father Morelli, can you hold him to that promise?" Castle asked.

"I will do my best." The priest from the Vatican answered as honestly as he could.

"Okay, then," Castle said. "I will prepare the paperwork and you will be released this afternoon. I want to see you in my office two days from now."

CHAPTER NINE.

Sat.u.r.day evening Outside St. Joseph's Church Day 10 Long lines have been forming outside St. Joseph's Church on Manhattan's Upper East Side since six this morning," Robin Blair, the anchor for Channel 5 television's early evening news report, said in introducing her story. "Our correspondent Fernando Ferrar is on scene. Fernando, what's drawing the crowd?"

"You might not believe it, Robin, but these people are lined up around the block outside St. Joseph's Catholic Church," Ferrar said as he broadcast live from the street outside the church. "And what they're doing is waiting to go to confession."

Ferrar, born in Puerto Rico, was becoming a fixture on the New York local news scene. Already, his uncanny ability to sense a good story and capture a tough-to-get interview had drawn the attention of the network bosses who were always on the search for promising news talent that might break into the big time of network nightly news. He fancied himself to be a younger Geraldo Rivera and he hoped his career would have equally as meteoric a rise. Like Geraldo, Ferrar had an angular, almost sculpted face made even more distinctive by the presence of a neatly trimmed but ample mustache. His sandy brown hair and his chocolate-rich brown eyes made him a heartthrob not only in the Latino community but with the Anglo television audience as well.

"What's going on?" Blair asked. "Do these people know something we don't? Is the end of the world finally at hand?"