Morning Star Full Novel

Chapter 13

Tony set the newspaper on Brinkman’s desk and just shook his head.

"I had no idea." He said in disbelief. "Parsons was the one the whole time. I sat next to him for years, and the whole time he was the one! Sick bastard, I never liked him."
Brinkman sat back in his leather chair and puffed out cigar smoke watching Tony rub his forehead and squint his eyes.
"His DNA was all over the place," Brinkman said. "It was almost like he wanted to get caught."
"Most of them do," Tony replied. He though for a moment. "Dorothy!" he exclaimed.
Brinkman nodded. "We suspected him the whole time. We found skin under her fingernails and the DNA matched his."
"And you did nothing?" Tony asked.
"We had no other proof," Brinkman said. "No witnesses. Nothing."
"This has been a very strange week," Tony said as he tilted his head back and closed his eyes. " I need sleep."
"I’m sorry to tell you this, under your stress, but it gets a lot stranger."
"What now?" He asked.
"Speaking of DNA my friend. If you remember our last conversation about your DNA, I said it was unlike any other string I have ever seen. Well, I wasn’t exactly telling the whole truth."
"I’m not surprised," Tony said sarcastically. "Go on."
"As you know the US government has accesses to information that the general public does not, in order to insure and maintain national security."
"Of course."
"This goes no further than this office."
"I understand."
"Ok," Brinkman said tapping a pen on his lower lip. "I don’t know how much you know about ancient artifacts and religious relics. You have heard of the shroud of Turin haven’t you?"
"Yes, it supposedly has the burned on image of Christ on it."
"Well this has nothing to do with that fake."
"Fake? How do you know?"
"We’ve known the truth for the last thirty years. All this study they are doing now is just for show."
"How do you know?"
"Let’s say that the technology we use is probably fifteen to twenty years ahead of the private sector. Do you think Bigfoot is running around in the forests of Washington State? We have known the truth ever since the first spy satellite was put into orbit."
"Is he?"
"I would tell you, but I would have to kill you." Brinkman said with a smile. "But I digress."
"What does this have to do with me?"
"Many old European churches keep artifacts in their churches as shrines. They are usually only brought out for special ceremonies and such."
"I am familiar with this," Tony stated
"Not all of the relics are, you see."
"You’re just full of secrets aren’t you?"
"That’s my business." Brinkman said leaning forward in his chair.
"We have had an on and off relationship with the Vatican for years. During WWII we were able to gain access to their private vaults and collections."
"Why?"
"Doesn’t matter, its all politics anyway. Fact is though, we were given access to something the church holds as probably its most prized possession."
"The Holy Grail?" Tony asked.
"That fails in comparison my son. In a air-conditioned, vault seventy-feet below the pope’s chamber, lie the crown of thorns."
Tony sat dumbfounded. "They still exist?"
"Yes, and many other things that I will not go into now."
"Why are you telling me this?
"I can’t go into the details, but we were allowed a sample."
"You desecrated it?"
"No, we took a very small sample from one of the blood stained thorns. At the time we were only interested in blood typing the sample. Hoping to see if the blood was indeed human."
"Was it?" Tony asked.
Brinkman paused and leaned back in his chair. "Yes and no," he stated.
"In what way?" Tony asked.
"I’ll get to that," he said standing. He walked over to the coffee machine and poured a cup of steaming hot coffee. "Would you like some?"
"No, please go on."
"DNA testing was thirty-five years away. When it was available we tested the sample. It was amazing, absolutely astonishing. The sample showed most of the same patterns of human DNA and some we had never seen before. Until now."
"What are you getting at?" Tony asked.
"Remember when we picked through your comb, as you put it? Your tests match those tests to a one hundred million to one degree of error."