Free The Fifth Gospel by Ian Caldwell

going to move it here. But the radiocarbon tests created a climate of doubt in which it was impossible to transfer the Shroud from Turin. Now we’re finally going to fix that. My exhibit is going to bring the Shroud home.”
    He lowered his voice so that Simon and I had to lean in to hear.
    â€œI have found ancient texts describing an image of Jesus that was kept in a city called Edessa for centuries before the Shroud appeared in France. That Turkish city is now called Urfa and is where your brother rescued me in the hospital. I’ve tracked our Turin Shroud to that location no later than the four hundreds AD. Now I want to do more: I want the finale of my exhibit to prove that this so-called Image of Edessa came from Jerusalem in the hands of the disciples themselves. And, Father Alex, that is where my work involves you .”
    Before continuing, he reached into his pocket for the plastic bag he had taken from the apartment. From inside it he produced something odd: a plastic spoon resembling a drumstick. He lowered himself to Peter’s level and said, “Peter, I need to speak to your father alone for a moment, so I’ve brought something for you.”
    The tip of the spoon was covered with something pale and lumpy.
    â€œWhat’s that ?” Peter asked.
    â€œSuet. And it has magical powers in this basilica.” Ugo led Peter to an open space near the altar. “Hold it out just like this, and pretend you’re a statue. Don’t move a muscle.”
    A moment later, a dove descended from the dome. It landed on the suet and began to feed. Peter was so surprised that he nearly dropped the spoon.
    Ugo whispered to him, “Now go anywhere you like. Take your new friend for a walk. I’ve found the birds here are quite tame.”
    Peter was enchanted. With the dove only inches from his hand, he began to drift through the empty nave, careful as if it were a candle he was holding. All of us fell silent for a moment, watching him.
    Then Ugo turned back to me. “As I was saying, I’ve been hoping toprove that the disciples brought the Shroud from Jerusalem to Edessa. This proof, of course, has been difficult to find. But I believe I’m finally on its trail. You see, Edessa was one of Christianity’s early capitals, and in the mid–one hundreds AD a gospel was written there. This gospel came to be called the Diatessaron, which I’m sure you know is Greek for ‘made out of four,’ because its text was a fusion of the four existing gospels into a single document. Since the Shroud would’ve been in Edessa at the very moment this gospel was written, I believe its writer may have mentioned the Shroud in his text.”
    I began to interrupt him, but Ugo held up a hand.
    â€œThe challenge of confirming this is, of course, that the Diatessaron is extremely rare. Our only surviving copies are translations into other languages, written centuries later. All original copies were destroyed by the bishops of Edessa themselves when they decided in favor of the four separate gospels. At least, so the story goes. But recently I seem to have discovered otherwise.”
    I blurted, “You found a manuscript of the Diatessaron? In what language?”
    â€œIt’s a diglot. Syriac on one side, ancient Greek on the other.”
    I was agog. “That would be the original text.”
    The Diatessaron had been written in one of these two languages and then translated into the other so quickly that no one today knew which came first.
    â€œUnfortunately,” Ugo continued, “I don’t read either tongue well. Father Simon tells me, however, that you read one of them fluently. So I wondered if you might be willing to help me—”
    â€œAbsolutely. Do you have pictures?”
    â€œAlas, the book is . . . not easily photographed. I discovered it in a place where I wasn’t supposed to be looking, so I can’t bring the book to you,