The Shroud Codex - Jerome R. Corsi [67]
She recounted the facts. “Father Bartholomew came to the ER with you on Sunday night. He had suffered what looked like wounds from a severe whip beating all over his body, front and back. The wounds were so severe that you had him admitted to the burn unit for treatment. This is Thursday afternoon, not quite four days later, and his wounds, as you can see, are nearly healed.”
Castle took a close look at the CT scans and the MRIs. He could see that Dr. Lin was right.
“I don’t understand it,” Dr. Lin said. “I have never seen any case where wounds as severe as this patient suffered have healed so quickly.”
“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 analysis.”
“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