From behind a group of Italian businessmen Decker saw a hand waving and then Christopher emerged and hurried toward him. "Welcome to Rome," Christopher said as he gave Decker a hug. "How was your trip?"
"Fine. Fine."
"Do you have luggage?"
"Just this," Decker answered, lifting his briefcase and a large piece of carry-on luggage from his side.
"Great. We can get started on your tour of Rome right away. You've never been to Rome before, have you?"
"No. The closest I came was in '78 when I was in Turin and Milan."
"Well, I think you're really going to like it."
"I have no doubt of that."
As they moved through the crowds to the exit, Decker noticed that several people seemed to be pointing at them, and as they waited on the curb for the limo, several cars nearly collided when a very attractive young woman suddenly stopped her car to stare at them. Christopher ignored the woman's curious gape but Decker couldn't help but remark. "I think she thought she knew you," he told Christopher, as they got in the limo.
"Shall we start with the Colosseum?" Christopher asked, taking no notice of Decker's comment. "I'm afraid all the museums are closed on Monday except the Vatican, but there's still more than enough to see to fill the rest of the day.
"Roma, non basta una vita!" Decker answered in Italian, meaning 'For Rome, one life is not enough.'
"I didn't know you knew Italian," Christopher remarked.
"You just heard every word I know," Decker confessed. "The stewardess taught it to me." Christopher smiled. Answering his earlier question, Decker added, "Whatever you say. You're the tour guide. There is one thing I want to see that may not be on the usual list of must-see places."
"What's that?" asked Christopher.
"The Arch of Titus."
"Oh sure. It's at the Forum, near the Colosseum. We can start there if you like."
"Great," Decker said. "Actually, I think you'll find it more interesting than you realize."
The Triumphal Arch of Titus rose imposingly against the backdrop of the Colosseum, barely scarred by the twenty centuries that had passed since it was constructed to commemorate the successful campaign against Jerusalem by Titus. Decker scanned the carved images in the arch and quickly found what he was looking for. "Here it is," he said. Christopher looked at the carving over Decker's shoulder. The scene depicted the spoils of war being taken from the conquered city of Jerusalem.
"Okay. Now will you tell me what this is all about?" "Sure," answered Decker. "I don't know if I ever mentioned Joshua Rosen to you." Christopher's face gave no indication that he recognized the name. "Well, he was a man, a scientist actually, whom I knew years ago. We met on the Turin expedition." Christopher's ears perked up. "Later he moved to Israel and I did a story on him. Anyway, when Tom Donafin and I were in Israel, just before we were taken hostage, Joshua Rosen gave us a tour of some of the sites in Jerusalem, one of which was the Wailing Wall – that's what they used to call the western wall of the old Jewish temple before the Palestinians blew it up and the Jews built the new Temple." Christopher nodded, indicating his familiarity with the recent history of the Jewish Temple. "Well, while we were there, Joshua told us about the Ark of the Covenant and gave his theory on what had happened to it. I'll have to tell you all about it some time. But anyway, the point of the story is that he told us about the Arch of Titus and this carving. Titus was the commander of the Roman forces that pillaged and destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D."
"Yes, I know. I prophesied that before the crucifixion," interjected Christopher.
"You never told me you remembered that!"
"Don't get too excited," Christopher answered. "I don't remember it. I read about it in the Bible."
"Oh," said Decker. "Well, anyway, as you can see, the carving is intricately detailed. Despite its age, you can clearly make out the items being taken from Jerusalem." Christopher looked more closely.
"Yeah, I see that. It's really well preserved."
Christopher didn't seem to be getting the point. "Don't you see?" Decker asked. "The Ark of the Covenant is not among the treasures shown in the carving."
"I'm sorry, Decker. I don't get it. So what?"
Decker suddenly realized that there was a lot he had not explained. "I'm sorry. I guess I need to give you some more details, but the reason for the interest has to do with the Shroud of Turin. Joshua Rosen had a fascinating theory involving the Ark of the Covenant that would explain why the original carbon 14 dating of the Shroud showed it to be only about a thousand years old." Decker proceeded to tell Christopher the whole story of the Ark as it had been told to him and Tom Donafin by Joshua Rosen.
"So you think the Shroud was in the Ark all those years?" Christopher asked after listening to Decker's story.
"I don't know, but it would answer some questions about the Shroud. And about you," Decker added.
As they talked and looked at the carvings on the Arch, they were unaware that two young boys had approached them from behind. "Scusi, Signor Goodman, potremmo avere la sua firma?" the older of the two boys asked.
Decker, who spoke no Italian, had no idea what the boys wanted, and was quite surprised when Christopher took a pen out of his jacket pocket and began to sign his name on some scraps of paper the boys handed him. "Autographs?" he asked, making no attempt to hide his surprise.
Christopher nodded in answer to Decker's question. He spoke for a moment with the boys in perfect Italian, smiling broadly and shaking their hands as if they were important dignitaries, before dismissing them. The boys walked a few steps, each showing the other the autograph he had received. Then waving their scraps of paper in the air like trophies, they broke into a run toward a lady whom Decker took to be their mother, shouting, "Il Principe di Roma."
For a moment Decker just looked at Christopher, who seemed a little embarrassed by the whole thing. "So that's what all the attention was about at the airport. You're a local celebrity."
Christopher shrugged.
"Don't be embarrassed. I think that's great. You must be doing quite a job here."
"It's not really anything I've done: I've just gotten a lot of credit for some of the United Nations programs we've implemented. Popular programs make for a popular administration."
The next morning Decker and Christopher arrived early at Christopher's office at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Jack Redmond's arrival time would be dependent on Rome's morning traffic. FAO headquarters occupied an immense building complex covering more than four square blocks in the modern city of Rome and towering well above all of the surrounding buildings. Located on Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, the FAO employed more than 2500 professional administrative personnel with a biannual budget of two and a half billion dollars.
At Christopher's office they were greeted by a young, attractive Italian woman. "Buon giorno, Signore Goodman," the woman said.
"Good morning, Maria," Christopher answered in English. "This is my very good friend, Mr. Decker Hawthorne, Director of Public Affairs of the United Nations. Decker, this is Maria Sabetini."
"Mr. Hawthorne, it's a pleasure to meet you. Mr. Goodman mentions you frequently."
"The pleasure is all mine," Decker answered. "Are you any relation to President Sabetini?" he asked, recognizing that she bore the same last name as Italy's president.
"Maria is the president's youngest daughter," Christopher answered.
"Oh… uh, well, then it's even more of a pleasure." Decker tried to not seem too surprised, but the question about her name had just been small talk; he never expected the answer he got.
"Mr. Redmond will be arriving a little later," Christopher told Maria. "When he gets here, please, show him in."
After Christopher closed the door behind them Decker blurted out, "Your secretary is the Italian president's daughter?!"