The Final Crusade

Iranian militants target Reverend Eldon Sluggard in a series of attacks, including hijackings and threats at the Lincoln Memorial. At the Lincoln Memorial, Remo throws the other explosives into the air, where they explode; Chiun disconnects the wire before the current reaches the charges, stopping the threatened blast. Smith then sends them to investigate Sluggard’s ministry. They discover a fraudulent televangelist operation and Victoria Hoar’s plan to recruit thousands of young men into a military expedition that will seize Iranian oil fields. A first group already invaded Iran under the false claim that it would recover a Holy Nail from the Crucifixion; the recruits were massacred, and Lamar Booe was captured.

Rashid Shiraz is sent to abduct or kill Sluggard, uses Lamar to reach the ministry, and attacks its headquarters; Rashid’s escape attempt ends when his bus crashes into a river, and Lamar is mortally wounded. Before dying, Lamar describes the earlier invasion and the supposed nail. Remo and Chiun travel to Iran, negotiate limited noninterference, and retrieve the nail from Masood Attai’s shop; it is stamped “Made in Japan.” Meanwhile, the second force of nearly six thousand youths sails aboard the Seaworthy Gargantuan. Chiun runs across the water and climbs the tanker; the Crusaders mistake his feat for a miracle, and he persuades them to discard their weapons.

Remo disables Iranian forces and spares the youngest soldiers. Victoria admits that the relic was a fake pretext for her plan to take control of Iranian oil. Remo kills her; Sluggard is captured alive and taken toward Tehran. Smith reports that surviving Crusaders from the later force have been returned to their families. He says Iran shows no sign of relinquishing the first-wave dead bodies, who may remain permanently missing; Mammoth Oil faces lawsuits and financial collapse. Remo and Chiun decide to leave Folcroft and buy a house.