Part 11 (1/2)

”I don't have any medical explanation for it, either,” Castle said. ”Wounds as severe as what we observed in the burn unit should have taken weeks to heal.”

Looking closely, Dr. Castle could see in Dr. Lin's tests the dumbbell shapes that marked the end of what appeared to be every lash of the whip. The CT scans and MRIs confirmed what he observed when he first checked Father Bartholomew's wounds in the hospital on Wednesday morning.

”I am going to ask a priest, Father Middagh, to come over here and meet with us,” Castle said to Dr. Lin. ”He is an expert on the Shroud of Turin.”

”So you think Father Bartholomew's wounds are going to look like the wounds of the man in the Shroud?” Dr. Lin asked.

”There appears to be a resemblance,” Castle said. ”But remember, I'm a psychiatrist. I've established that Castle has studied the Shroud and his subconscious may be strong enough to have manifested those wounds by itself.”

”Do you think Father Bartholomew is mentally ill?” she asked, following up.

”I haven't come to that conclusion yet. I'm just beginning the a.n.a.lysis.”

”Just have Father Middagh call me directly,” she said. ”I'm sure I can make the time to see him today.”

”What about the wrist wounds?” Castle asked. ”Have they continued to heal?”

”That's another mystery,” Dr. Lin said, turning to the CT scans and MRIs of Father Bartholomew's wrists. ”In the first set of tests I ran, before these whipping wounds appeared, I noted that the wrist wounds had begun to heal from within.”

”I remember that you could not confirm the wounds pierced completely through the wrists,” Castle said.

”That's right,” Lin said. ”Now, in these tests I ran last night, the healing within the wrists is almost complete. The wrist wounds are only superficial wounds, on the top and back. I don't even see evidence of scar tissue within the wrists. It's almost as if the tissue has completely regenerated without any evidence of injury.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

Thursday, late afternoon Beth Israel Hospital Day 15 I'm going to let you in to visit with Father Bartholomew,” Dr. Castle told Father Morelli and Anne in the ICU waiting room. ”But just for a few minutes. He is exhausted and he needs the rest.”

From the moment Anne entered the room, Bartholomew sat up in bed, startled.

”Mother?” he asked in disbelief.

”No,” Anne said, startled. ”I'm your half sister.”

”But I don't have a sister,” Bartholomew said. ”You look identical to my mother twenty years ago, when she was forty years old.”

”My name is Anne,” she said.

Bartholomew was startled as well. ”Anne was my mother's name.”

”I know,” Anne said. ”She was my mother, too, and I was named after her.”

Observing closely, Castle concluded Bartholomew's reaction confirmed the truth of Anne's story. Remarkable though it was, Bartholomew appeared to have had no idea that he had a half sister, let alone one who so closely resembled their mother, even in name.

Just then, Castle's cell phone rang. It was Dr. Lin. ”Father Middagh has just joined me,” she said. ”Can you meet with us in my office?”

”Yes,” Castle answered. ”I'm still in the hospital. Do you mind if I bring Father Morelli with me? The pope sent him here from the Vatican to help us with Father Bartholomew's case.”

”No problem. Bring him along.”

Giving Anne some time alone to visit with her brother, Dr. Castle and Father Morelli headed off to Dr. Lin's office. Castle was looking forward to comparing Father Middagh's images of the man in the Shroud with the CT scans and MRIs that Dr. Lin had taken of Father Bartholomew.

When Castle and Morelli arrived, Middagh was already hard at work a.n.a.lyzing the two sets of images. ”It's remarkable,” Father Middagh told Castle and Morelli as they settled into Dr. Lin's conference room. ”I'm not skilled at reading CT scans and MRIs, but with the a.s.sistance of Dr. Lin here, I believe Father Bartholomew's scourge wounds match almost precisely the scourge wounds we observe in the man in the Shroud, blow for blow. Where Christ was beaten, Father Bartholomew was beaten. I don't see any blows that were missed, even on the back, or the legs and the feet. Even the dumbbell wounds are identical. It's hard to believe we are looking at two separate men who lived two thousand years apart.”

”Do you agree, Dr. Lin?” Castle asked.

”This is really the first time I've looked at the Shroud of Turin,” she said. ”So I'm no expert. But reading the CT scans and MRIs, I do see the points of resemblance Father Middagh is pointing to.”

”What about the wrist wounds?” Dr. Castle asked Middagh.

”They appear identical again,” Middagh said. ”As far as I can tell, the wounds in Father Bartholomew's wrists are placed exactly where we see the wrist wounds in the Shroud.”

”Do you agree?” Castle asked Dr. Lin.

”Again, my first impression is that Father Middagh is right,” she answered. ”Except for the healing I see in Father Bartholomew's tests, his CT scans and MRIs are similar to the injuries in Father Middagh's computer images of the man in the Shroud.”

Dr. Castle took in their conclusions without comment. In his mind, Castle was calculating that Bartholomew's rapid recovery could be a sign that the wounds were psychologically induced in the first place. If Bartholomew's subconscious was causing him to manifest the wounds of the man in the Shroud, his subconscious might equally bring him back to normal once the drama of the wounds being inflicted was over.

”What do you make of it, Dr. Castle?” Father Morelli finally asked him.

”It's pretty much what I expected,” Castle answered. ”What I need to do now is interview Father Bartholomew some more privately. When he suffered the stigmata, he said he experienced in his mind that he had returned to Golgotha and that he took the place of Christ being nailed to the cross. I want to see if he had the same experience with these more recent wounds.”

”So, you suspect Father Bartholomew returned to Jerusalem to take the place of Christ being scourged at the pillar?” Morelli asked.

”Yes, I do. At least in his own mind, I believe Father Bartholomew went back in time and became Christ being scourged.”

Morelli listened intently. ”Went back in time? Does that mean you are becoming a believer?” he asked Castle.

Castle corrected himself. ”I meant that Father Bartholomew felt felt he went back in time.” he went back in time.”

Morelli pressed further. ”So you think he was hallucinating?”

”In a sense, yes,” Castle answered. ”Much of what goes on in the mind does not happen that way in what we call 'reality.' I know how compelling this evidence looks to you and I know how much Father Bartholomew looks like the man in the Shroud, but that's simply because he has long hair and a beard.”

”And now we have the wounds that are very similar,” Morelli added.

”I understand,” Castle said, without granting any conclusions.

”Do you think Fernando Ferrar is going to broadcast his film of Father Bartholomew standing at the window?” Morelli asked.

”I have no doubt about it,” Castle answered without hesitation.