Book 2, Inquisition: Chapters 12-15 Summary

In Chapter 12, Walker brings two animals into the camp that he caught in a trap. They resemble gargoyles with wings and heavy, ugly bodies. One is injured. The scientists gather around the creatures, discussing their appearance and their possible function. Shoat overhears their discussion and cuts the male creature's throat so they might investigate closer. Ali insists they should free the remaining creature. Ike agrees, but instead of freeing it, he kills it.

In Chapter 13, the Beowulf Circle gathers in Venice, Italy where the Shroud of Turin is currently being held in a bank vault. de l'Orme and Vera Wallach, a New Zealand physician, play a trick on the others in order to show them how they believe that the shroud was created with a type of primitive photography. de l'Orme suggests that the shroud is a...