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Chapter 57
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Just for two weeks Chapter 58
Having squeezed beneath the security gate, Jim Davis now stood just inside the entrance to the Grand Gallery. He was starting into the mouth of a long, deep canyon. On either side of the gallery, Stark walls rose thirty feet, evaporating in the darkness above. The reddish glow of the service lightning sifted upward, casting an unnatural smolder across a staggering collection of Da Vincis, Titans and Caravaggios that hung suspended from ceiling cables. Still lifes, religious Senses, and landscapes accompanied portraits of nobility and politicians. Although the Grand Gallery housed the Louvre's most famous Italian art, many visitors felt the Wing's most Stunning offer was actually its famous parquet floor. Laid out in a dazzling geometric design of diagonal oak slats, the floor produced an ephemeral optical illusion - a multi-dimensional network that gave visitors the sense they were floating through the gallery on a surface that changed with every step.As Jimmy's gaze began to trac
Just for two weeks Chapter 59
The modest dwelling within the church of Saint-Sulpice was located on the second floor of the church itself, to the left of the choir balcony. A two-room suite with a stone floor and minimal furnishings, it had been home to sister Rosaria Van Spee for over a decade. The nearby convent was her formal residence, but she preferred the quiet of the church and had made herself quite comfortable upstairs with a bed, phone, and hot plate. As the church's conservatrice d'affaires, Sister Rosaria was responsible for overseeing all nonreligious aspects of church operations - general maintenance, hiring support staff and guides, securing the building after hours, and ordering supplies like communion wine and wafers. Tonight, asleep in her bed, she woke up to the shrill of her telephone. Tiredly, she lifted the receiver."Soeur Rosaria. Eglise Saint-Sulpice.""Hello, sister," the man said in French. Sister Rosaria sat up. What time is it? Although she recognizes her boss's voice, in twelv
Just for two weeks Chapter 60
Jimmy couldn't tear his eyes from the glowing purple text scrawled across the parquet floor. Marquis Esquibel's finial communication seemed as unlikely a departing message as any Jim could imagine. The message read: 14-4-2-1-1-10-6-24 O, Draconian devil Oh, lame saint!Although Jimmy had not the slightest idea what it meant, he did understand Romano's instinct that the pentacle had something to do with the devil worship. O, Draconian devil!Esquibel had left a literal reference to the devil. Equally as bizarre was the series of numbers. "Part of it looks like a numeric ciph.""Yes," Romano said. "Our cryptographers are already working on it. We believe these numbers may be the key to who killed him. Maybe a telephone exchange or some kind of social identification. Do the numbers have any symbolic meaning to you?"Jimmy looked again at the digits, sensing it would take him hours to extract any symbolic meaning. If Esquibel had even intend
Just for two weeks Chapter 61
To ensure his conversation with Mr. Jim would not be interrupted, Andrie Romano had turned off his cellular phone. Unfortunately, it was an expensive model equipped with a two-way radio feature, which, contrary to his orders, was now being used by one of his agents to page him."Capitaine?" The phone crackled like a walkie.Romano felt his teeth clench in rage. He could imagine nothing important enough that Suslowicz would interrupt this surveillance cachée - especially at this critical juncture.He gave Jimmy a calm look of apology. "One moment please." He pulled the phone from his belt and pressed the radio transmission button. "Oui?" Romano's anger stalled momentarily. A cryptographer? Despite the lousy timing, this was probably good news. Romano, after finding Esquibel's cryptic text on the floor, had uploaded photographs of the entire crime scene to the cryptography department in hopes someone there could tell him what the hell Esquibel was trying to say. If a code breaker had no
Just for two weeks Chapter 62
Amorth sat behind the wheel of the black BMW the Teacher had arranged for him and gazed out at the great Church of Saint-Sulpice. Lit from beneath by banks of floodlights, the church's two bell towers rose like stalwart sentinels above the building's long body. On either flank, a shadow row of sleek buttresses jutted out like the ribs of a beautiful beast. Amorth was looking forward to finding the keystone and giving it to the Teacher so they could recover what the brotherhood had long stolen from the faithful. How powerful that will make Copus peccate.Parking the BMW on the deserted place Saint-Sulpice, Amorth exhaled, telling himself to clear his mind for the task at hand. His broad back still ached from the corporal mortification he had endured earlier today and yet the pain was inconsequential compared with the anguish of his life before Copus peccate had saved him.Still, the memories haunted his soul. Release your hatred, Amorth commanded himself. Forgive those who trespassed a
Just for two weeks Chapter 63
"Une plaisanterie numérique?" Andrie Romano was livid, glaring at Sophie McEwan in disbelief. A numeric joke? "Your professional assessment of Esquibel's code is that it is some kind of mathematical joke?"Romano was in utter incomprehension of this woman's gall. Not only had she just barged in on Romano without permission, but she was now trying to convince him that Esquibel, in his final moments of life, had been a clown. "This code," Sophie explained in rapid French, "is simplistic to the point of absurdity. Marquis Esquibel must have known we would see through it immediately." She pulled a scrap of paper from her sweater pocket and handed it to Romano. "Here is my decryption." Romano looked at the card."This is it?" He snapped. "All you did was put the numbers in increasing order!"Sophie actually had the nerve to give a satisfied smile. "Exactly."Romano's tone lowered to a guttural rumble. "Agent McEwan, I have no idea where the hell you're going with this, but I suggest you
Just for two weeks Chapter 64
For several seconds, Jim stared in wonder at the photograph of Esquibel's PostScript. P.S. Find Jim Davis. He felt as if the floor were titling beneath his feet. In his wildest dreams, Jim could not figure out why. "Now do you understand," Sophie said, her eyes urgent, "why Romano ordered you here tonight, and why you are his primary suspect?"The only thing Jim understood at the moment was why Romano had looked so smug when Jim suggested Esquibel would have accused his killer by name. "Why would Esquibel write this?" Jim demanded, his confusion now giving way to anger."Why would I want to kill Marquis Esquibel?" "Romano has yet to uncover a motive, but he has been recording his entire conversation with you tonight in hopes you might reveal one." Jim opened his mouth, but still no words came."He's fitted with a miniature microphone," Sophie explained. "It's connected to a transmitter in his pocket that radios the signal back to the command post." "This is im
Just for two weeks Chapter 65
Amorth felt strong as he stepped from the black BMW, the nighttime breeze rustling his loose-fitting robe. He knew the task before him would require more finesse than force, so he left his handgun in the car which the Teacher provided to him. The plaza before Saint-Sulpice was deserted at this hour, the only visible souls on the far side of Place Saint-Sulpice a couple of teenage hookers showing their wares to late night tourists traffic. Their nubile bodies sent a familiar longing to Amorth's loins. He knew he had sacrificed much to follow Copus peccate, but he had received more in return. A vow of celibacy and the relinquishment of all personal assets hardly seemed a sacrifice. Considering the poverty from which he had come and the sexual horrors he had endured in prison, celibacy was a welcoming change. Moving toward the church entrance. He paused in the shadow of the massive doorway, he took a deep breath. It was not until this instant that he truly realized what he was about to
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Just for two weeks Chapter 116
Jason was receiving an award for his book that he'd published and Jimmy was in the city, so he did the best thing he could before running off to Florence. It has been a long time since he'd been around but the event that had unfolded recently had taught him to spend more time with family. Encaenia took place in the Sheldonian - a long and rambling ceremony conducted in Latin for six distinguished persons though, in Lola's mind, this was a celebration mainly for Jason. At last, he was receiving the recognition he deserved. After the ceremony, she stood and watched him with pride as he mingled with guests. She had met Jason briefly before the ceremony and they had hugged, but hardly spoken; too many people and not enough time. She thought at first that it was perhaps the way it should be, with no time for sentimentalism, but no, she decided that it was not the way it should be. They needed more time. "Do you know all these people?" Malik whispered."No." Lola shook her head, even tho
Just for two weeks Chapter 115
Night had fallen over Shekina. Jimmy stood alone on the porch of the fieldstone house enjoying the sounds of laughter and reunion drifting through the screened door behind him. The mug of coffee in his hand had granted him hazy reprieve from his mounting exhaustion, and yet he sensed the reprieve would be fleeting. The fatigue in his body went to the core. "You slipped out quietly," a voice behind said.He turned. McEwan's grandmother emerged, her silver hair shimmering in the night. Jimmy gave a tired smile. "I thought I'd give your family some time together." Through the window, he could see McEwan talking with her brother. Sophie's grandmother came beside him. "Mr. Jim, when I first heard of Esquibel's murder, I was terrified for McEwan's sake. Seeing her standing in my doorway tonight was the greatest relief of my life. I cannot thank you enough."Jimmy had no idea how to respond. Although he had offered to give McEwan and her grandmother time to talk in private, she had asked
Just for two weeks Chapter 114
"Davis?" McEwan was standing outside the car, looking back at him. "Are you coming?" She was holding the rosewood box, which captain Romano had returned to them. Inside, both cryptex had been reassembled and nested as they had been found. The verse was locked safely at its core - minus the shattered vessel of vinegar.Making their way up the long gravel path, Jimmy and McEwan passed the famous west Wall of the chapel. Casual visitors assumed this oddly protruding wall was a section of the chapel that had not been finished. The truth, Jimmy recalled, was far more intriguing. Shekina chapel's entrance was more modest than Jimmy expected. The small wooden door had two iron hinges. The chapel would be closing soon, and as Jimmy pulled open the door, a warm puff of air escaped, as if the ancient edifice were having a weary sigh at the end of a long day. Entering with McEwan, Jimmy felt his eyes reaching across the famous sanctuary and taking it all in. Although he had read accounts of She
Just for two weeks Chapter 113
The mist had settled low as Amorth limped into a quiet hollow out of sight. Kneeling on the wet grass, he could feel a warm stream of blood flowing from the bullet wound below his ribs. Still, he managed.The fog made it look like heaven here.Raising his bloody hands, he prayed, but most importantly he prayed for his mentor… Myositis… that he would not fade with the sands of time. The fog was swirling around him now, and Amorth felt so light that he was sure the wisps would carry him away. Closing his eyes, he said a final prayer.His pains at last began to fade, and he knew Myositis was right. It was late afternoon when the London sun broke through and the city began to dry. Andrie Romano felt weary as he emerged from the interrogation room and hailed a cab. Sir Albert Rodriguez had noisily proclaimed his innocence, and yet from his loose ranting about the Archstone, secret documents, and mysterious brotherhood, Roman suspected the sly historian was setting the stage for his lawye
Just for two weeks Chapter 112
Myositis's body had endured many kinds of pain, and yet the searing heat of the bullet wound in his chest felt profoundly foreign to him. Deep and grave. Not a wound of the flesh… but closer to the soul. He opened his eyes, trying to see, but the rain on his face buried his vision. He could feel powerful arms holding him, carrying his limp body like a rag doll, his black cassock flapping. Lifting a weary arm, he mopped his eyes and saw the man holding him was Amorth. He was struggling down a sidewalk, shouting for a hospital, his voice a heart-rending wail of agony. His red eyes were focused dead ahead, tears streaming down his face. "My son," Myositis whispered, "you're hurt." Amorth glanced down, his visage contorted in anguish. "I am sorry sorry, Father." He seemed almost too pained to speak. "No," Myositis replied. "It is I who am sorry. This is my fault. I was too eager. Too fearful. You and I were deceived." Myositis was unconscious when the doors of St Luke's hospital hiss
Just for two weeks Chapter 111
Jimmy and McEwan moved slowly down the north aisle, keeping the shadows behind the ample pillars that separated it from the open nave. Despite having traveled more than halfway down the nave, they still had no clear view of the tomb. The sarcophagus was recessed in a niche, obscured from this oblique angle."At least there's nobody over there," McEwan whispered.Jimmy nodded, relieved. The entire section of the nave near Klaus' tomb was deserted. "I'll go over," he whispered. "You should stay hidden just in case someone-"McEwan had already stepped from the shadows and was headed across the open floor."-is watching," Jimmy sighed, hurrying to join her.Crossing the massive nave on a diagonal, Jimmy and McEwan remained silent as the elaborate sepulcher revealed itself in Tantalus increments… a black-marble sarcophagus… a reclining statue of Klaus… two winged boys… a huge pyramid… and… an enormous orb."Did you know about that?" McEwan said, sounding startled.Jimmy shook his head, als
Just for two weeks Chapter 110
Jimmy had not gotten his eyes off the computer screen since the search began. He was starting to get worried.Anita Istredd was in the adjoining room, preparing hot drinks. Jimmy and Sophie had inquired unwisely if there might be some coffee brewing alongside the tea Istredd had offered, and from the sound of the microwave beeps in the next room, Jimmy suspected their request was about to be rewarded with instant Nescafe.Finally, the computer pinged happily."Sounds like you got another," Istredd called from the next room. "What does it say?"Jimmy looked at the screen, disappointed.They sat patiently in front of the screen and waited through two more dubious returns. When the computer pinged again, nothing interesting happened.Istredd peeked back in the doorway, holding a packet of instant coffee. "You don't want the full text," Istredd called. "Click on the hypertext title. The computer will display your keyword hits along with mono prelogs and triple post logs for context."Jim
Just for two weeks Chapter 109
Copus peccate's headquarter in London is a modest brick building. Amorth had never been here, but he felt a rising sense of refuge and asylum as he approached the building on foot. Despite the rain, Beardsley had dropped him off a short distance away in order to keep the limousine off the main Streets. Amorth didn't mind the walk. The rain was cleansing.At Beardsley's suggestion, Amorth had wiped down his gun and dispose of it through the sewer grate. He was glad to get rid of it. He felt lighter. His legs still ache from being bound all the time, but he had endured far greater pain. He wondered, though, about Rodriguez, who Beardsley had left bound in the back of the limousine. The Briton certainly had to be feeling pain by now."What will you do with him?" Amorth had asked Beardsley as they drove over here.Beardsley had shrugged. "That is a decision the Teacher would make." There was an odd finality in his tone.Now, as Amorth approached the building, the rain began to fall harder
Just for two weeks Chapter 108
Jimmy still felt shaken as he and McEwan came from the rain and entered the library. The primary research room was as Rodriguez had described it - a dramatic octagonal chamber dominated by an enormous round table with twelve flat-screen computer workstations. On the far side of the room, a reference librarian was just pouring a pot of tea and settling in for the day of work. "Good morning," she said in a beautiful British accent, leaving the tea and walking over. "May I help you?""Thank you, yes please," Jimmy replied. "My name is-""Jimmy Davis." She gave a pleasant smile. "I know who you are."For instance, he feared Romano had put him on English television as well, but the librarian's smile suggested otherwise. Jimmy had not gotten used to these moments of unexpected celebrity. Then again, if anyone on earth were going to recognize his face, it would be a Librium in a religious studies reference facility."Anita Istredd," the librarian said, offering her hand. She had a friend
