In the meantime, old college friends of Jack’s, Shawn Daughtry, a renowned archaeologist and scholar, and James O’Rourke, the Archbishop of New York City find themselves at loggerheads about an ancient document and ossuary that Shawn has found. Shawn believes it to contain the remains of the Virgin Mary, and James pleads with Jack to assist him in diverting Shawn from his study of the relics.