Curiouser and Curiouser - Updated Again

álvaro ballesteros

It´s been almost a year since the disappearance of the Códice Calixtino from the Cathedral at Santiago Compostela (see this post).  But never fear, the authorities are still on the case.

The police think the Codex never left Santiago, in fact, it may never have left the Cathedral.  The working theory is that the book´s disappearance is related to discrediting the Dean in charge, rather than stealing the artifact for sale on the black market.  So, some corrupt member of the .0001 % is probably not hidden away in a bunker, lovingly stroking the cover and gloating.

From La Voz de Galicia:

The Codex Calixtino is still in Galicia.  It is not in the possession of a mafia disposed to sell it to a rich collector nor was it a contracted theft.    What´s more, it never left the Santiago area and it´s possible that it´s secreted within the miles of possible hiding places in the cathedral. . .


The police are giving more weight to the hypothesis that the disappearance of the Codex was more a kidnapping (book-napping? CH) than a theft.  That is to say, whomever entered the secured Cathedral vault and took the book did not intend to benefit from the sale, but rather was motivated by a desire to damage the Dean, José María Díaz, with whom they had a personal conflict.


As such, the Police focused on the personnel working in the Cathedral itself from the beginning of their investigation, which was painstakingly searched under the suspicion that the Codex Calixtino was still hidden within it´s walls. 

In case it never reappears - you could buy your own copy here.

The article goes on to claim that the authorities are tyring to contact the suspected thief/thieves indirectly to encourage the voluntary return of the book, either in exchange for reduced charges, or perhaps in the same way that it was taken - simply reappearing without further explanation.  Some of the more cynical commentors on the article think the whole thing is a publicity stunt.

What´s clear is that the perpetrator had inside help.  Neither visitors nor pilgrims have access to the area where the book was stored.  So is the Cathedral a seething hotbed of personal animosities and backstabbing politics?  Hardly surprising, what workplace isn´t?

What with the Pope´s Butler scandal and this - I really, really hope somebody somewhere is writing a screenplay.

source

UPDATE!

Headline this morning

The Accused Thief of the Codex Calixtino is an ex-employee of the Cathedral

The suspect of the theft, an electrician who worked in the Compostelan church, was arrested along with his wife and son, who may be considered accomplices

Apparently they found other objects stolen from the church when they searched the guy´s house.  He´s been under surveillance for the last year. 

FINAL UPDATE!

Headline this morning


It was in a Garage in Milladoiro! The Codex Calixitino appeared hidden inside a plastic bag, wrapped in newspaper, in one of the arrested electrician´s properties, located in the building where he lived with his family. 

Kind of anticlimactic - but there are more questions to be answered.  For example, how is it possible that the church never realized the other items in his possession were missing, not to mention the source of the huge amount of cash he had?