Anyone who has ever been associated with the art colony in Rome will have heard of a certain “secret cabinet” hidden somewhere in the labyrinth of the Vatican Museums. It was the near-misfortune of one of the most renowned art dealers in Rome to have been exposed, recently, to the contents of that very real cabinet. The peculiar circumstances of his involvement are set out, in unflinching detail, in the following report.

"Dan Pearlman's writing presents us with a rare multiplicity of unique voices. His unforgettable characters continue to whisper in the reader's ear long after the final page is turned."
Paul Di Filippo

A story in which sex and society stand in uneasy relationship.

"Giuseppe Pennini, a dealer in ancient Roman statuary, is assigned a 'penance' of matching severed genitalia secretly stored in the Vatican museums with the unknown statues from which they were removed. It has so much to delight -- political intrigue, vanity, greed, and double-entendre -- all set in a subtle send-up of the traditional detective story, complete with a double-cross ending."
StrangeHorizons.com