‘In the floor?’

‘Yes. Saints are buried in churches. This is hallowed ground.’

‘Where were the other monks buried?’

‘In cemeteries. But these men were special. Their passing could not go unmarked.’

Lourds blotted his bloody lips on a shirt sleeve. ‘I’m not going to defile this room. I’m going to simply remove that stone and look behind it. When I’m done, I’ll put the stone back.’

‘You said nothing about removing the stone earlier.’

Nodding, Lourds agreed. ‘I didn’t. Because I thought you would have this kind of reaction.’ He touched his bruised face gingerly.

‘Why do you think there’s something behind that stone?’ the other monk asked.

‘According to all of you, the Elders were the only ones who knew where the Joy Scroll was kept,’ Lourds said.

The monk nodded.

‘During the sack of Constantinople in 1204, the monks knew they could be found out and their secret stolen,’ Lourds said. ‘They were aware no one else knew where the Joy Scroll was. So they had to leave behind a message. In this room.’

‘The stone,’ Olympia said.

‘Exactly.’ Lourds wiped more blood from his mouth. ‘One of the monks inscribed that stone with the message you couldn’t read while they were in here slowly dying.’

‘Your translation was, “A stranger shall be required to read the message we have left behind”,’ Olympia said.

‘That’s right. Now what do you make of that?’ Lourds stared at them.

‘It doesn’t make any sense, just as I told you,’ Joachim said.

‘That’s because you don’t have any faith,’ Lourds replied. He hurried on before Joachim took umbrage over his accusation. ‘Why a stranger? Why someone outside the Brotherhood? Why did they write the message in a language they created instead of one that would be easily understood?’

‘The last thing we seem to need is a lot more questions,’ Cleena said.

Despite the pain in his mouth, Lourds couldn’t help grinning. ‘It’s a logic problem. Not a faith problem. This place is hidden.’ He waved his arms to take in the room. ‘Strangers don’t come here. Strangers aren’t allowed.’ He paused. ‘So why bring a stranger here?’

‘To see something someone familiar with the place wouldn’t see,’ Olympia said.

‘Close,’ Lourds told her, ‘but you’re already off on a tangent.’

‘Make sense,’ Joachim ordered impatiently.

‘Sure, but it seems as plain as the nose on your face.’ Lourds looked at them. ‘What do you have to fear from strangers?’

No one answered.

‘That a stranger won’t revere those things you hold precious.’ Lourds pointed at the wall. ‘Like that stone. You see a precious relic that ties to a very sad, very terrible story. Maybe even to the nine men who gave their lives to protect it. But do you know what I see?’

Only silence greeted his question.

‘What I see,’ Lourds said in a dramatic voice, ‘is merely the first message. Or maybe the second. It depends on whether you believe the artificial language was the first or second message the Elders left.’

‘You’re saying that you believe the Elders took that stone from the wall and put the Joy Scroll behind it?’ Cleena asked.

‘No, I’m not.’

Exasperation tightened Olympia’s face. She wrapped her arms around herself and stared at him. ‘Thomas, I’m lost.’

‘Once more for the slow kids,’ Lourds said. He ticked off points on his fingers. ‘One, the Elders had to work with what was inside this room and they needed something that would be left alone but hopefully noticed. They had to leave a message indicating where the Joy Scroll could be found. So they chose the stone. The message about the stranger was because none of you would dare desecrate this place.’

‘That makes sense,’ the other monk said.

‘Two, the artificial language probably ties into the Joy Scroll. Maybe the whole thing is written in an artificial language that John of Patmos created or caused to be created. Possibly, the writing on that stone is a Rosetta of some sort. A key to help with the translation.’

‘It’s a stretch,’ Olympia said.

‘Remember, they were desperate, and they could only work with what they had in this room. They left two clues wrapped in one, and both of those were to lead to the third.’

‘Thomas is right, Joachim,’ Olympia said quietly. ‘None of you would have touched that stone. Without him, or someone else, that stone would never be removed.’

‘Why wouldn’t they use another stone?’ Joachim asked. ‘What makes you so sure that your foolishness won’t have us dismantling this whole room?’

‘Because they wouldn’t have wanted to dismantle this room either,’ Lourds answered. ‘And they didn’t want to have the clue too far removed from the Brotherhood. I’m sure they didn’t intend for the Joy Scroll to be lost for so long.’

Joachim gazed at the stone and the wall and tapped the pry bar against his thigh. Finally, he handed the tool over to Lourds.

‘When this is over, after you have discovered the error you have made, you will put the stone back.’

Lourds met the other man’s gaze full measure. ‘When this is over, and you discover I am right, I will put stone back and it will be as good as new.’

Joachim stepped across the room and jammed his hands into his pockets. He looked like the next man in line to visit the headsman’s axe.

Showing as much confidence as he dared, Lourds focused on the stone in the wall. He knelt and set the edge of the pry bar against the mortar.

Cleena watched with growing interest as Lourds managed to break up the mortar around the inscribed stone. Piles of chips gathered steadily on the floor in front of the professor.

‘Can you talk?’ Sevki whispered in her ear.

Masking her mouth with her hand, Cleena whispered, ‘No.’

‘I’ve been picking up the conversation through your earwig. I wish I had a video link to you. This is really cool stuff.’

If you like old things and dark places, Cleena mused. She was barely keeping the claustrophobic feeling at bay. Every nerve in her body screamed at her to get out of the room.

‘Did you know about any of this?’ Sevki asked.

‘No.’

One of the nearby monks must have heard her talking, because the man turned to look to her. Cleena coughed delicately and patted her chest.

‘Dust,’ she said.

The monk nodded and turned away.

‘Ooops,’ Sevki said. ‘Sorry. I got carried away.’

Most of the mortar lay on the floor at Lourds’ feet. A pool of light from all the flashlights played over the action. Lourds paused and reached into the gaps he’d created to seize the stone.

‘I don’t hear the hammer any more,’ Sevki said. ‘Is the scroll there?’

Cleena ignored him, but she felt the same mixture of excitement and curiosity that coursed through Sevki. For the moment it gave her an edge over being in the enclosed space.

Lourds strained to free the stone but it didn’t budge. He returned to work with the pry bar for a few minutes. The only sound that could be heard in the room was the sound of the bar meeting stone and Lourds’ heavy breathing. Everyone else seemed to be holding theirs. The professor put the bar against the stone above the inscribed stone and used leverage. The resulting crack sounded like a pistol shot inside the room.

‘You know,’ Sevki said, ‘this is the part in a horror movie where the dead rise up to defend their treasure.’

Cleena glanced at the nine graves set under the room’s floor. Nothing moved there. Thanks for that thought, Sevki. As if being chased by flesh and blood killers isn’t threat enough.

Lourds put the bar aside, raised one knee to brace against the wall, and grabbed the stone with both hands.

‘Did you get it?’ Olympia asked.

‘I think so. I wasn’t able to reach all the mortar at the back. The stone is longer than I’d thought.’ The muscles in Lourds’ forearms corded with effort.

With a rasping sound the stone came away from the wall. No one spoke. Carefully, Lourds laid it aside and peered into the dark cavity.