The Shroud Codex - Jerome R. Corsi [38]
“Of course,” Castle said, realizing the seriousness of the assignment.
“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 petite 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 petite 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 assume 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 assume 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,