The Second Messiah

“I’ll have to help you find the file myself, Jack. I’m afraid our archivists are being kept terribly busy.”

Jack and Yasmin hurried alongside Cardinal Kelly as he led them toward the Vatican courtyard, Cortile del Belvedere. Despite his bulk the American was quick on his feet and rushed them along. Jack asked, “Why so busy?”

Kelly sidestepped a marble statue of the Virgin and child. “Thousands of scholars and visitors are welcomed each year in the Vatican Library. However, visits have been suspended while certain historical documents are being studied. But because your father was a good friend, I spoke personally with the pope. In fact, he remembered you and your parents very well.”

“I’m impressed. It’s been a long time.”

“How could he forget their terrible tragedy? The pope greatly admired your father’s work and gave permission for me to help you in your task.”

“Father Becket’s come a long way.”

“He certainly has. Now, about this archive document written by Father Kubel that you wanted to see.”

“Kubel told me he was asked to write a report. About the circumstances surrounding my father’s death and the scroll’s destruction.”

Kelly nodded. “As you well know, Cardinal Cassini and myself occasionally visited our fellow clergy working at Qumran. Our Vatican superiors asked us to have Kubel write the statement.”

“Why?”

“They naturally had an interest in the scroll. It would have been normal procedure to investigate its destruction. Nothing was found amiss, I can tell you that. What happened to your parents and the scroll was simply a cruel accident.”

“Have you read the report?”

“Soon after it was written. But that was a long time ago.” Kelly hurried them to the opposite side of the courtyard, toward a granite building with a pair of tall oak doors. “Forgive my haste. But I have an important church appointment to attend later and don’t want to be delayed. Tell me more about this scroll you found. Do you think it may be important?”

“I think so. But first it has to be recovered by the police. Then we can ascertain the entire contents. However, we do know that the parchment’s been carbon-dated to the second quarter of the first century A.D.”

“Do you have any idea as to the contents?”

“No,” Jack lied. “We didn’t want to risk unraveling the parchment for fear of damage. The few lines that were legible I could barely make sense of. I’m arranging expert help with the translation.”

“Could I see the lines in question?”

“I’d prefer to wait until the experts have had a look.”

Kelly looked disappointed. “I see. Your discovery may be of great interest to the Vatican’s scholars. Don’t forget you promised me a copy of the translation in return for allowing you to see the archive files.”

“You have my word.”

Kelly put a hand on Yasmin’s arm. “Your uncle was a much respected scholar, my child. I’ll offer a mass for his soul.”

“That’s kind of you.”

“Here we are.” Kelly halted outside the oak doors, pulled one open, and they moved into a hallway with shiny oak floors that smelled freshly of wax polish. Two plainclothes guards stood just inside the hallway, next to a metal door.

Yasmin said to Kelly, “Tell me about the library, Cardinal.”

“It was first established in the late fifteenth century, to preserve the culture of the Catholic Church and to catalogue its documents. The archives contain over fifty miles of shelves. Some precious Latin, Greek, and Hebrew texts go back thousands of years.”

One of the guards shifted his eyes to a nearby table and the open pages of a visitor’s ledger. The man silently offered his guests a ballpoint pen and Kelly said, “If you’d sign the book, please.”

They signed the ledger but when Jack offered the pen to Kelly, the cardinal said bluntly, “There’s no need. The duty archivist will record my presence. Besides, cameras placed inside and outside the building record all comings and goings. You look distracted, Jack.”

“To tell the truth, I’m awestruck. Now I can imagine how Carter must have felt.”

“Carter?”

“When he entered King Tut’s tomb for the first time.”

Kelly produced a plastic card and slid it along a security scanner by the metal door. It sprung open a few inches with a hydraulic hiss and a long hallway lay beyond. “Believe me, this is a privilege that’s granted to very few. Follow me.”

67

They followed Kelly to the end of the hallway and climbed a flight of steps. It led onto a landing and another steel security door. Kelly’s face was red from exertion and he paused to catch his breath, saying with a hint of pride, “The Secret Archives lie beyond this door. Or to give them their full and correct Latin title, Archivum Secretum Apostolicum Vaticanum. They are one of the largest and most guarded document depositories in the world.”

Above the door the Cyclops eye of a security camera watched them.