Cross Bones Part 52

"We know Max can't be Jesus. But Lerner was sure he was Jesus, and look how he reacted. Maybe others think so, too, and they're playing hardball to make the bones disappear." know Max can't be Jesus. But Lerner was sure he was Jesus, and look how he reacted. Maybe others think so, too, and they're playing hardball to make the bones disappear."

"Proposition three." Ryan gave my scenario a different spin. "A group of Islamic fundamentalists have learned of Max's existence and believe he is Jesus. They want to use the bones to undermine Christian theology."

"How?"

"Jesus at Masada would shatter the central concept of the resurrection. How better to kick the legs out from under Christianity?"

"And these Muslim fanatics will stop at nothing to get their hands on Max. That works."

I pictured Sylvain Morissonneau in his office at l'Abbaye Sainte-Marie-des-Neiges. I made a note to contact LaManche to find out if an exhumation and autopsy had been ordered.

"Proposition four." I offered a hybrid of my proposition two and Ryan's proposition three. "A group of Islamic fundamentalists have learned of Max's existence and believe he is a Nazarene, perhaps even a member of the Jesus family. They fear both Christians and Jews might embrace this finding, reinterpreting Masada with zealots and early Nazarenes struggling against oppression, side by side. They fear the skeleton might be used to trigger a resurgence of religious ardor in the Judeo-Christian world."

"And they've vowed to prevent that," Ryan added. "That works."

We took a moment to consider our hypotheses. Fanatic Christians, Jews, or Muslims believing the bones were those of Jesus or one of his family or followers? Each proposition was as frightening as the next.

Ryan broke the silence.

"So who is Kaplan's mystery woman?" he asked. "And how does she link to Ferris? And how does she link to Max?"

"Excellent questions, Detective."

"I expect phone records this afternoon."

Ryan pulled me closer.

"Friedman wants to let Kaplan stew for a day."

"Stewing can be productive," I said.

Ryan kissed my cheek.

"I think we're on the right track, Ryan."

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."

"Will Rogers," I identified the quote. Another game.

Ryan's hand went to the back of my neck.

"Not much doing on the Sabbath."

Ryan's lips brushed my ear.

"Day of rest," I agreed.

"Little we can detect right now."

"Mm," I said. I think.

"But I have another excellent question," Ryan whispered.

I had an excellent answer.

Yes!

In the Toronto airport I'd noticed a book on the tao of s.e.x, health, and longevity. I hadn't purchased it, but at the current rate, I was guessing I'd live to be 180. The deep breathing alone must have bought me a decade and a half.

Following breakfast and an argument concerning my driving solo to Beit Hanina, Ryan headed to police headquarters and I drove solo to Beit Hanina.

Jake was in better spirits than when I'd left him.

"Got something you're going to love," he said, flapping a paper above his head.

"Beard's recipe for grouse pie."

Jake dropped his hand. "Your abrasions look better."

"Thanks."

"You have a facial or some kind of treatment?"

"Moisturizer." I c.o.c.ked my chin at the paper. "What do you have?"

"A memo from Haas to Yadin containing notes on the Cave 2001 bones." Jake leaned close and squinted. "Just moisturizer?"

I squinted back. "Positively Radiant."

"No treatment?"

Not one I was going to discuss.

"Let me see the memo." I held out a hand.

Jake yielded the paper. The notes were handwritten in Hebrew.

"How long have you had this?"

"A couple of years."

I shot Jake a look.

"It came mixed in with materials I requested on these first-century synagogue ruins I'm digging. Probably because there's a first-century synagogue site on Masada. The thing popped into my mind while I was eating breakfast. I vaguely remembered skimming some memo from Haas. It had nothing to do with the Talpiot site, so I set it aside. I dug back through my files, and there it was. I'd never really read it until this morning."

"Does Haas mention an isolated articulated skeleton?"

"No. In fact it's clear from his memo he never saw that skeleton." A mile-wide smile. "But he mentions pig bones."

"Pig bones?"

Nod.

"What does he say?"

Jake translated as he read: "'This has nothing to do with the riddle of the pig tallith.'"

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know, but he refers to a pig tallith 'riddle' or 'problem' twice."

"What would pig bones be doing at Masada? And what does that have to do with Cave 2001?"

Jake ignored my questions. "Another thing. Yadin estimated there were more than twenty cave skeletons, but Haas catalogs only two hundred and twenty individual bones. He places them into two categories: those that are clear, and those that are not so clear with regard to age."

He translated again from the memo.

"In the clear category, he lists one hundred and four old, thirty-three mature, twenty-four juvenile, and seven infant." Jake looked up. "He says six of the bones belonged to ladies."

There are 206 bones in the adult human skeleton. I did some quick math.

"Haas cataloged two hundred and twenty bones. That would mean ninety-six percent of the a.s.semblage was missing."

I watched Jake chew dead skin on the ball of his thumb.

"Do you have a copy of the photo in Yadin's book?"

Jake went to his files and returned with a three-by-five black-and-white print.

"Five skulls," I said.

"That's another inconsistency," Jake said. "Tsafrir wrote in his field diary there were ten to fifteen skeletons in the cave, not twenty-some, and not five."

I wasn't really listening. Something in the photo had caught my attention.

Something familiar.

Something wrong.

"May I take a closer look?"

Jake led me to the back room. I took a seat at the dissecting scope, clicked on the light, and brought the center skull into focus.

"I'll be d.a.m.ned."

"What?"

I increased magnification, s.h.i.+fted to the photo's upper left corner, and slowly moved across the print.

At some point Jake said something. I agreed.

At another point I noticed Jake was no longer with me.

With each grainy detail, my apprehension grew. The same apprehension I'd felt upon spotting Max's ill-fitting tooth.

Had no one noticed? Had the experts been wrong?

Was I wrong?

I began again at the upper left corner.

Twenty minutes later, I sat back.

I wasn't wrong.

32.

JAKE WAS IN THE KITCHEN, KNOCKING BACK ASPIRIN.

"These bodies weren't just dumped in the cave." I flicked Yadin's print. "They were buried. Laid out in graves."

"No way!"

I placed the photo on the counter. "Notice the hands and feet."

"The bones are articulated," Jake said. "They're lying in anatomical position."

"Indicating at least some of these were primary burials."

"No one's ever interpreted the site that way. Why's everything else so helter-skelter?"

"Check out the long bones. There." With a pen, I indicated a small puncture. "And there." I indicated another.

"Tooth marks?"

"You bet they are." I tapped several bones and some long, jagged fragments. "These were splintered to extract the marrow. And look at this." I moved my pen to a hole in the base of one of the skulls. "Some critter tried to munch that brain."

"What are you saying?"

"This wasn't a body dump. This was a small cemetery disturbed by animals. Roman soldiers didn't just throw dead bodies into the cave after the siege. People took time to dig graves and place these bodies into the ground. Animals later dug them up."