The organization’s fundamental commitment to secrecy makes any external examination of its holdings inconsistent with its identity as an institution.

If the organization truly does not possess Geronimo’s remains, there may be other reasons not to invite examination — the presence of other human remains that might raise their own questions.

If the organization does possess remains associated with the 1918 grave robbery, the decision about what to do with those remains is complicated by the uncertainty about whose remains they are and by the legal and reputational implications of any acknowledgment.

Alexandra Robbins, author of “Secrets of the Tomb,” has noted another consideration: even if Skull and Bones possessed Geronimo’s skull at some point, the skull might not be there now.