Faldoni, parts 3008 - 3011

 3008. The judges so far, made no objection, sitting immobile in their ornate chairs, behind a massive carved oak  desk, a desk that seemed to be muttering “guilty, guilty, guilty,” as did the ornate walls of the judgment chamber.  The judgment chamber had an unusually high chamfered ceiling and the ceiling also seemed to concur with the opinion of the oaken desk, that Faldoni,  and anyone else sitting in the dock, was quite obviously guilty.

 3009. The friar continued with his argument. “Now it is true that we monks and friars try to make things easier for the Good Lord by tonsuring out heads, thereby making it simpler for him to count, and those among us who are completely bald, I would suppose,  are especially appreciated by The Father.”

 3010.  At this point the friar looked at the three judges to see if his attempt at humor had any effect, but he may as well have been looking at those dour stone portraits that adorn cathedrals in rural districts.

3011. But the friar, warming to his argument, went on and even ventured into dangerous territory. “Yes,” he said with new conviction, “the Roman Catholic Church owns the monastery, and also owns Faldoni and his ultramarine pigment. But more important is the question of who is it that owns the Church itself?”