Chapter 36
Shock shoved Sharyn to her feet. “All this time, you’ve known what’s out there?”
“For less than a year,” Laurent amended. “We had to protect the secret. It’s a treasure that could shake the Western world.”
Naomi stood up, challenging him, too. “What is it?”
“Similar to the cache of gold coins from the First Adage, the second treasure is tied to King Solomon. They are artifacts of immense value—not just in monetary worth, but also of great archaeological, historical, and religious significance.”
“What the bloody hell are you talking about?” Archie pressed the man.
Laurent stared around the room. “Are you familiar with the story of Jerusalem’s Second Temple, the most holy site of the Jewish people?”
Sharyn knew some of its history, but Naomi was far better versed from her own studies. Her friend’s eyes narrowed, as if she already suspected where this was leading.
“The temple was destroyed in AD 70.” Naomi picked up her iPad and tapped at its screen. “By the Roman general Titus who ransacked the temple, then his soldiers set it on fire. But not before his army stole many of the temple’s most sacred relics and hauled them to Italy.”
“What did they take?” Tag asked.
“Everything they could get their grubby hands on.” Naomi slid her iPad to the center of the table for all to see. “But this was the most significant artifact, something of inestimable value. An object as revered and important as the Ark of the Covenant.”
Sharyn leaned over to view the image on the iPad. It was a carving in stone, etched deeply and scarred by age, of a group of men holding aloft a large menorah.
Naomi continued. “The bas relief depicts the raid, memorialized in the Arch of Titus, which can still be seen in Rome. It shows the parade of the temple’s golden menorah—the most holy relic of Judaism—across the city.”
“What became of it?” Tag asked, wheezing a bit and taking a blast from his inhaler.
Naomi glared accusingly at Laurent. “It vanished into history. Around AD 410, or maybe AD 455. Following the sacking of Rome by the Visigoths, then the Vandals. Some believe the invaders melted it down or lost it at sea. Others say it was tossed into the Tiber River to protect it from those raiders. Then there are those who claim it’s still somewhere in the Vatican. ”
Sharyn turned to Laurent. “Is that what’s hidden in the Alps, the true location of the menorah?”
Laurent remained silent for a breath. “That would be enough, of course. But what lies out there is far greater. It ties directly to what was described in the Biblical Book of Kings. In fact, Saint-Germain quotes from that text, where King Solomon ordered the sculpting of not just one golden menorah, but many. Ten or eleven in total.”
Sharyn felt a chill pass through her.
Laurent gave their group a stern look. “Saint-Germain claims seven of the original Solomonic menorahs are hidden out there, including the most sacred of them all. There are also golden incense burners and trumpets. Along with a monumental gold stand, the original Table of Showbread from the Holy Temple.”
Sharyn took a deep breath at this revelation, beginning to understand Laurent’s haste to secure such a find.
It’s beyond priceless.
Still, Laurent hung a price tag on it. “From the dimensions and measurements recorded in the Bible, the Gardiens estimate the value in gold alone to be upwards of three hundred million.”
Silence settled over the room, weighted down by this revelation.
Duncan finally broke the stillness with a gasp. He had never stopped working through all of this. Only now, he stumbled away from the computer and raised his hands. “I . . . I don’t know what I just did.”
Sharyn shifted closer, as did the others. Only Tag remained seated, clearly having reached his limit.
“What is it?” Laurent pressed Duncan.
He pointed at the computer. “Look! It’s just started doing this, like the AI program took over on its own.”
On the screen, Saint-Germain’s book lay splayed open, rotating gently in place. Like smoke rising from a fire, a cloud of grayscale pixelation formed above the pages. As they watched, the haze distilled down and formed a three-dimensional image of a pyramidal peak, which slowly spun with the book.
Duncan turned to Laurent. “Could this be the answer?”
Along one flank of the mountain, a small blip blinked steadily from the shadowy outline, appearing and disappearing as the image revolved.
“Possibly . . .” Laurent murmured, his voice tremulous, then firming up with conviction. “It must be it.”
Sharyn peered closer. “You said you had already identified all the peaks sketched by Saint-Germain. Do you know which one this is?”
“I should . . . I do.”
He reached to the table and picked up Naomi’s iPad. He pecked vigorously at it, mumbling under his breath. Finally, he nodded and showed them a topographical map of northern Italy, where it bordered Austria. A red triangle marked a location in a deeply mountainous terrain.
“It’s Monte Antelao. The highest peak in the eastern Dolomites—which is what the Alps are called in this region of Italy. In fact, this mountain has been dubbed the King of the Dolomites.”
Duncan looked at the spinning image on the screen with a mix of fear and doubt. “But can we be sure this is the right place? Could such a massive treasure be hidden there?”
Archie offered a bit of confirmation. “When my father served in the British embassy in Rome, we spent time up at Lake Como. I did some biking into the Dolomites. Those mountains are riddled with caves and hundreds of old World War II bunkers. If you wanted to hide something, it’s not a bad spot.”
Duncan rubbed his chin, still plainly unsure.
A firmer conviction came from an unlikely source.
“I can’t say this is the exact mountain,” Tag noted, “but the location is certainly somewhere in the Dolomites. So, Duncan’s decryption is most likely accurate.”
Sharyn turned to Tag. “Why do you say that?”
Her friend shifted his iPad and placed it under the Saint-Germain book, which was still open to the title page for the Second Adage. On the iPad’s screen, he had pulled up a photo of a clutch of bright blue flowers with emerald leaves.
Tag motioned between the book and the iPad. “As you can see, this is the plant that Saint-Germain sketched at the start of the section. I thought I had recognized it. Campanula morettiana. Also known as Moretti’s bellflower. It only grows in the limestone cliffs of the Dolomite mountains.”
She stared closer. He’s right . . . The unusual base of the flower, the number of petals, the shape of the leaves—they all matched what Saint-Germain had drawn.
Naomi frowned at Tag. “How did you even recognize it?”
Tag shrugged. “From my studies. In medieval times, this plant was used as a cure for tuberculosis.”
Sharyn breathed harder, recognizing how each of them had contributed to this discovery: her delivery of the book, Duncan’s AI modification, Naomi’s archaeological knowledge of the treasure, Archie’s past in the region, and now Tag’s herbology expertise.
She sensed the coming together of the threads of fate, which cemented her own conviction. “This must be the right location.”
“Even so,” Duncan said, “what do we do with this information?”
The answer came from outside the library. Gabriel rushed across the entry hall and burst into the room. “The gendarmes are coming up the hill, lights flashing. Others are racing from the city proper. Mother follows behind the first, but—”
A thumping roar cut off his words, sweeping over the chateau.
“A helicopter,” Archie warned, ducking from the threatening noise.
Worse, a ringing klaxon burst from the computer. On its screen, the mountain vanished away, replaced with an angry red box, flashing with words in French.
Laurent rushed to the keyboard and typed rapidly. “Someone’s hacking us. From inside our headquarters.”
Gabriel waved. “We must go. Now!”
“Not until I scrub our work,” Laurent gasped out. “Before they gain access.”
Sharyn snatched Saint-Germain’s book, closed it, and fumbled to lock its straps. Naomi slid over and helped.
Laurent tapped a few last instructions, then hit a button alongside the computer. A loud snap jolted the case. Smoke billowed out a moment later, accompanied by the smell of frying electronics.
Laurent grabbed a few items from his case, along with the tiny leather box holding the magnets. “Go!”
“This way!” Gabriel urged them.