The voice of the attendant calling for security echoed down the hallways. He was solidly built and Father Matthias would not find it easy to evade him. If he had to confront him face to face, he would undoubtedly get the worst of it.
"I don't understand, why the big uproar?" said Father Matthias, feigning complete calmness. "I came down here at the request of the victim's family to pray for his soul."
The attendant looked at him incredulously and then noticed what he was wearing.
"Forgive me, Father, I didn't realize."
"You are forgiven."
"Are you done? I don't like having to look at dead bodies, I'm sorry... at these poor unfortunate souls, and even less when it's someone so young."
"It was a genuine tragedy."
"A car left him broken like a rag doll.”
"So I've already seen," he nodded in agreement. "Well, look, since you're here and seem like a good person, I'd be very grateful if you would help me put his body on this gurney so that I may pray for him properly as I should."
"That doesn't seem like a good idea to me, Father."
"I know, but don't you think it's better than doing it in a hasty, superficial way in the door of a freezer?”
"It's not a freezer," replied the attendant.
"True, but can you deny that it looks a lot like one?"
The attendant closed his eyes and stroked his chin.
"You're right, father. It's no big deal to make things a little better."
Without a second thought, the powerful man grabbed Carlos' corpse firmly and laid it down on the gurney.
"Don't take too long, Father."
As the attendant turned around, Father Matthias raised the palm of his hand to his mouth and blew a powder made from roots into the attendant's face, blinding him.
"But, what..."
The well-built man lost consciousness instantly. His head slumped forward and his body swayed back and forth like a sail moving with the wind.
"I've got you," said Father Matthias, catching him in his arms and slowly lowering him to the floor. "Don't worry, you'll wake up in a couple of hours and not remember a thing."
He grabbed his cellphone and dialed Ana's number.
"Change of plans ... I'm bringing the corpse."
Without any further delay, he covered the body with a sheet and pushed the gurney through the hallways. He zigzagged around the laundry baskets and pallets loaded with medical materials. He courteously greeted a couple of cleaning women who were staying out of sight down there to escape from working, tucked his head down between his shoulders to hide from any potential security cameras, and went outside.
He was just a little over 100 meters from Ana's car when he heard a voice behind him.
"Stop!"
He turned and saw a security guard running after him. He began to walk faster, ignoring the shouts of the guard.
"I'm not in any shape for this kind of thing," he thought.
He made it to Ana's car and opened the trunk. She came out of the car to help him and, just when they were on the verge of putting Carlos' body inside, the security guard all but collapsed on the gurney.
"I have to work out more," he said, gasping for breath. "You left your Bible, Father."
"Oh," said Father Matthias warily, knowing full well the Bible wasn't his.
"When I saw you pushing the gurney, I knew right away it must have fallen off since you were in such a hurry."
"Thanks very much for your concern."
"You're welcome, I always say that if we don't help one another, we only make this world a living hell."
"You're right to a certain extent."
"Let me give you a hand with this," the security guard offered.
"No! It's not necessary, thank you," replied Ana sharply, growing more upset.
"But it doesn't bother me at all and it sure looks pretty heavy."
"If you don't mind, we'll load these ... ghmmmm... things in the truck ourselves and you can take the gurney back."
"OK, no problem," he replied with a smile.
Ana pushed the corpse while Father Matthias did his best to keep it hidden under the sheet. But the resounding thud the corpse made when it landed in the trunk attracted the guard's attention again.
"Uhhmm, by the way... what exactly is that?"
"You know... material for ecclesiastical study."
"What do you mean?" he asked, trying to move into position to get a good look inside while Ana attempted to block him by shifting her body to stay in front of him.
"Wax from the remains," whispered Father Matthias.
"How disgusting!" exclaimed the guard, and looked at his hand.
"You haven't changed your mind?"
"About what?"
"About helping us."
As he shook his head no and looked at the gurney, nauseous now, he said:
"No, no. Of course, I'm going to help you."
"Thanks a lot," said Ana and shook his hand.
"And thanks for bringing me my Bible," added Father Matthias as he opened the car door.
*
In the basement of a library in suburban Amsterdam, Ana was preparing a spectrometer for monitoring Father Matthias' operation as fast as she could.
"Back with that piece of junk again," he said.
"I like watching how it moves."
"OK, fine, but right now I need you to help me. We've lost too much time and I don't know if we'll be able to pull this off."
The boiler room predictably smelled strongly of diesel fumes and had been converted into his combination home, study room and laboratory over the past few years. The handful of people who knew of his existence didn't pay any attention to him. Only Ana took an interest in him when she first spotted him walking slowly up and down the aisles of the library a few years before, looking for a botany book. It struck her as curious to see a priest dressed in an old cassock wandering around a town that didn't even have a church.
"Bring the crystal globe over to me," Father Matthias insisted, fully concentrated on his work.
"You mean the prison of souls?" Anna asked.
"I've told you not to call it that."
"What difference does it make what I call it?"
They lay Carlos face down on top of the table and completely uncovered him. Then Father Matthias applied a bit of Vaseline to a small opening in the thick crystal globe and placed it on Carlos' back.
"One, two, three..." counted the priest, as his fingers examined the corpse by tapping its spinal column.
When he found the precise spot, he placed the globe there and secured it with duct tape.
"It's not very modern but it will work."
"Are you sure? We've only practiced on dogs and cats until now. According to what the book says, it's not the same thing with a human as an animal."
"That's why the container is bigger. At any rate, what else is left for us other than to believe?"
Ana positioned herself near the spectrometer and took hold of a transparent prism she had for observing the colors, waiting for Father Matthias to finish mixing the plants he had just carefully selected in a granite mortar and pestle.
"Are you ready, Ana?"
"I am."
He rubbed his hands, applied the paste he just made on to Carlos' skin around the globe and pressed down forcefully to create heat.
"Here it comes!" exclaimed Ana a few minutes later.