The Shroud. Dale Fowler
caused the woman to go into a panic. Conrad picks himself up from the couch after falling through the ceiling tile.
Conrad looks up having little embarrassment. “Did we get him?”
“Yes we did,” Jim responds. “Didn’t you take the noise thing a little far?”
CHAPTER SIX
The Good Doctor
DAVID SANDERS, SR., retired early from the Denver Police Department in the late-nineties after working homicide for twenty-four years. At 46, he was too young to collect a monthly check but it didn’t matter, he got away from man’s inhumanity to man. David actually loved the job in many ways, but his personal life was turned upside down. A story written and lived far beyond the burned out drinking cop and a wife tired of the late nights being ignored. No, David’s life certainly left a cop’s negative footprint on a social and personal level, but his mental state got blasted by the loss of his son.
David Sanders, Jr., his only child, was killed just short of his 18th birthday “truck surfing” as the kids call it. David Sr. only knew about this crazy, dangerous teenage trend after reviewing a memo sent down in the department about “truck surfing” going on in California. It never dawned on David any Colorado kid would stand on the top of their truck cab and balance like a surfer riding a board off a Maui beach going 30 miles-per-hour on a dirt road. Certainly in his wildest thoughts on a double homicide day, he never envisioned his son drinking a six-pack of beer and flying off the top of his F-150 crushing his skull on a rock.
David’s wife took their son’s death harder than he, and she blamed the accident on his teenage girlfriend, who was drunk and driving the truck he fell from. David didn’t share her feelings, no one held a gun to his son’s head and made him get on top of the truck to begin with. His wife wanted to pursue criminal charges against the girlfriend, something David felt would pile one tragedy on top of another. The riff cut the last remaining string holding the marriage together.
After his divorce, David drifted around a short period of time looking for something to place his energy into. He earned a P.I.’s license and got good chasing down wayward husbands and wives. It even allowed him to stay in contact with many of his old buds still working the Denver streets at the department.
In 2004, he was introduced to Dr. Royce Benders by his previous captain on the force. Dr. Benders gave a lecture for two hundred plus medical specialists and another hundred law enforcement officials in Denver. Dr. Royce Benders crossed over from the medical profession to law enforcement because of his work with DNA. He established the medical protocol in the eighties and nineties for forensic investigation and cutting edge medical advancements in DNA science. A Nobel Peace Prize winner in genetic science, Dr. Benders set the tone for what science could do in helping redefine evidence for lawmen around the world.
David sat in the lecture sometimes in awe and sometimes in complete ignorance to the medical language coming from the brilliant mind talking on the stage. His years in homicide kept him up on most of the conversation, but he never visualized the creator of the tools used on a regular basis would be a few feet away in person. David not only appreciated Dr. Benders for his many amazing accomplishments, but the easy conversational style and humility captured his undivided attention. Attention is about to get a lot more personal for David before the evening is over.
Captain Fisher gave David a ticket to the event for more than an entertaining evening and getting caught up on forensic science. The Captain knew Dr. Benders on a personal level and the Doctor asked him to make a recommendation for someone to help manage his security. The position is far more than simply being a bodyguard, and Captain Fisher felt David is the man for the job.
After the lecture four people went to dinner including David, the Doctor, Captain Fisher, and a Catholic Bishop from Denver. David is overwhelmed not only by the Doctor but the presence of Bishop Pressey pushed him over the top. A life-long Catholic, David can’t believe he’s sitting among people having accomplished so much good in society for others.
The small talk continues through dinner and when dessert was served, Bishop Pressey looked over at Dr. Benders.
“What is the latest condition of the Shroud?” The Bishop asks.
Dr. Benders’ face lit up instantly.
“The prognosis is good for the immediate future; I talked with the Vatican a few weeks ago.. .some of the measures we instigated in my first visit seem to be holding up.” He responds.
David said little at the table up to this point. But he’s familiar with the Shroud of Turin, the cloth wrapping Jesus in the tomb after the crucifixion, his image imprinted in blood on the surface.
“Excuse me,” David inquires. “Are you talking about the Shroud of Turin?”
The Bishop turns to David. “Yes, the holiest of Christian artifacts. Dr. Benders would never brag, but the Shroud was deteriorating almost to the point of losing it until his genius and recommendations saved it.”
“Please,” David implores. “Tell the story.”
“I have to say the Vatican was extremely bullheaded when it came to the defense of the Shroud.” The Bishop relays. “Its significance so overpowering to the Church we refused to recognize its physical properties focusing mostly on the spiritual one. Listening to Dr. Benders’ insistence the Shroud is a 2000 year old relic needing very specific care, we finally let the scientific community in to examine it in the mid-eighties for recommendations on how to preserve it.”
Dr. Benders jumps in to the conversation.
“Thank you for those many accolades, but I wasn’t the only scientist having those concerns. There was an extensive medical team I was part of; first examining the Shroud in 1984...we discovered a number of things surrounding its age, blood type, even dust particle analysis. Some amazing things surfaced including the identification of plant imprints on the Shroud indigenous only to the area where Jesus was crucified. The study helped to verify its origins... just as importantly, set up a plan to keep the Shroud from further damage that comes with the aging process.” Dr. Benders summarizes.
“That’s an amazing story you told, thanks for helping me understand.” David responds with an even greater appreciation for the Doctor.
“Dr. Benders is really God sent. Bless you, Sir.” The Bishop underscores.
With that said the dinner is over. David returns home unaware the evening was the first step in the interview process. Dr. Benders contacted him a few days later, posed a few more questions and then flew him to L.A. to see his research hospital and cutting edge in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinic. He also gave him a tour of his home to see what suggestions David would make to increase his security. David didn’t hesitate to take the job offered in the coming weeks to work for Dr. Benders, the money far more than he ever made as a cop, and he believed in everything the Doctor stood for in serving his fellow man.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Death Do Us Part
DR. BENDERS LIVES in a compound overlooking the Pacific in Malibu. The main house is 8200 square feet of pure mansion, something the Doctor earned over an incredible career. A separate five car garage is topped off with a guest house David resides in. The Doctor insisted David live on the property to facilitate security needs over the last nine years, virtually ingraining him a family member. Not that David pushed back too hard, it’s not exactly a terrible place to live or a view to have, but he’s cognizant of the job’s importance.
Dr. Benders caught the eye of several radical groups during his work on The Shroud and the IVF clinic. The hospital produces astounding results and international headlines principled in multiple births including six children born to a mother all surviving.
Several times over the years individuals have come after the Doctor. At a book signing a woman threw pig’s blood on the Doctor before David could wrestle her to the floor. A second incident was even scarier, a Muslim man breached the compound walls of the home firing two shots into his bedroom window. Dr. Benders