Blueprint

Brother Francis produced the blueprint. “The highwayman was kind enough to leave this in my keeping, Holy Father. He – he mistook it for a copy of the illumination which I was bringing as a gift.”

“You did not correct his mistake?”

Brother Francis blushed. “I’m ashamed to admit, Holy Father –”

“This, then, is the original relic you found in the crypt?”

“Yes –”

The Pope’s smile became wry. “So, then – the bandit thought your work was the treasure itself? Ah – even a robber can have a keen eye for art, yes? Monsignor Aguerra told us of the beauty of your commemoration. What a pity that it was stolen.”

“It was nothing, Holy Father. I only regret that I wasted fifteen years.”

“Wasted? How ‘wasted’? If the robber had not been misled by the beauty of your commemoration, he might have taken this, might he not?”

Canticle For Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (1959)