The Brimstone Diaries by Rick Jones

Author:Rick Jones [Jones, Rick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Nine

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Milan, Italy

He was known in certain circles as the Craftsman, an aged man with unscrupulous standards who forged counterfeit pieces of high-end objects to sell on the black market. Several weeks ago, however, he had been contacted by a man of Syrian decent who flashed a wad of American dollars with the promise of more to come, should he devise a specific crucible to replicate the one that was showcased inside the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, in timely fashion. Accepting the offer, the Craftsman agreed on a settled amount which would be transferred to his account in the Caymans.

Today, the call to collect the item had finally come.

The Craftsman stood back to admire his creation, a perfect facsimile of the one inside the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, right down to its exact proportions. It was a masterful rendition of the old man’s skills which painstakingly took several hours a day to craft. But the time that had fatigued him and the effort that had sometimes tested his patience was well worth the final product, as he stood there admiring the piece. It was a first-class replica of the Sacra Culla, a gold-plated crucible that contained the pieces of Jesus’ crib and was located at the reliquary crypt before the main altar at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, which was about three miles from Vatican City. Under the directive of Pope Pius IX, it was constructed by Virginio Vespignani to contain the sacred relic of the Holy Crib. But the old man’s craftsmanship, he was sure, had rivaled Vespignani’s. Smiling with pride, the Craftsman nodded at his creation with approval and contacted the Syrian, who informed him that a courier would pick up the item immediately.

Under the glare of a single bulb, the crucible shined with a beautiful halo of light.

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