extinct language, unknown to most of the world. Perhaps it is encrypted.”
“Encrypted? Don’t you think the author has gone to a lot of trouble to hide the content of the book? Obviously it must lead to something very valuable!”
“I completely agree. That much was made clear when those two thugs tried to kill me this afternoon, but I intend to get to the bottom of it. I’ve been thinking, I could call in a few favors, get a group of specialists together to decipher its content. They could start on it in a couple of days.”
Mary sat on the sofa next to James, gently lifted his right hand and placed it next to hers on her lap. She looked him straight in the eyes and spoke to him with searing honesty. “James, I don’t know if we’ll still be alive tomorrow. Don’t you realize they want to kill us? How would you fly to the United States without those two assassins finding you? Besides… are you seriously thinking about handing it over to a group of people who could use it for their own gains and benefit at our expense? We have to find another solution.”
“But what good is it having the book in our hands if we aren’t able to decode its meaning? I’ve only discovered a couple of things.” James noticed how the young woman was starting to pay more attention to him. “It seems that the book is made up of a series of well-structured chapters, some of which even seem to have a number of objects which look as if they are linked to the text. I’ve found several, which makes it all the more mysterious.”
“I’m listening.”
“The first is a large blank sheet without any writing which measures about ten square feet. It seems to be related to the first chapter.” James passed the sheet to Mary while she looked at it in astonishment, but she didn’t even unfold it. “I found some kind of emblem at the end of the second chapter. It’s made from an odd material which I couldn’t recognize. If you look hard, you’ll see that it is identical to the carving which appears on the cover of the book, and to the symbols that I found in your house.”
“And what do you think this symbol could mean?”
James shrugged his shoulders. “The first time I saw it, I thought that it was a masonic symbol due to the pyramid shape. Have you heard of the Illuminati?” Mary nodded. “Well, as you know, the symbol par excellence of that order is the pyramid with an eye at the top, otherwise known as the ‘All-seeing Eye’ or ‘Eye of Providence’. It is a symbol which was also adopted by the Freemasons. I have to say that it bears a great similarity to the symbol I found in your house, but it isn’t the same.”
“So, do you think it belongs to some kind of secret order?”
“I don’t know. The story I heard spoke of the emblem of a powerful family which had commissioned a series of woks from Michelangelo. From what I can tell, they wanted to hide something and they’ve done that very well. At first glance, I think that the book is a kind of map which will guide us towards something much more important and of unimaginable value. However, without understanding the language in which it is written, it will be impossible for us to understand it.”
Suddenly a noise from the kitchen startled them. After a faint whistling sound, the boiler switched itself on and they both looked at each other with relief.
James got up off the sofa and paced around in circles while he looked at the canvases on the wall. After a few seconds, he spoke again. “Mary, I have to get away from the city. They are highly-trained professionals - no doubt they will find us in no time and, realistically speaking, we wouldn’t last five minutes at their hands. They’ve probably been hired by very wealthy people who have offered them exorbitant amounts of money to retrieve the book. Clearly they won’t stop until they have it. I will leave first thing tomorrow. Besides, they haven’t seen you, they don’t know who you are or what you look
“Encrypted? Don’t you think the author has gone to a lot of trouble to hide the content of the book? Obviously it must lead to something very valuable!”
“I completely agree. That much was made clear when those two thugs tried to kill me this afternoon, but I intend to get to the bottom of it. I’ve been thinking, I could call in a few favors, get a group of specialists together to decipher its content. They could start on it in a couple of days.”
Mary sat on the sofa next to James, gently lifted his right hand and placed it next to hers on her lap. She looked him straight in the eyes and spoke to him with searing honesty. “James, I don’t know if we’ll still be alive tomorrow. Don’t you realize they want to kill us? How would you fly to the United States without those two assassins finding you? Besides… are you seriously thinking about handing it over to a group of people who could use it for their own gains and benefit at our expense? We have to find another solution.”
“But what good is it having the book in our hands if we aren’t able to decode its meaning? I’ve only discovered a couple of things.” James noticed how the young woman was starting to pay more attention to him. “It seems that the book is made up of a series of well-structured chapters, some of which even seem to have a number of objects which look as if they are linked to the text. I’ve found several, which makes it all the more mysterious.”
“I’m listening.”
“The first is a large blank sheet without any writing which measures about ten square feet. It seems to be related to the first chapter.” James passed the sheet to Mary while she looked at it in astonishment, but she didn’t even unfold it. “I found some kind of emblem at the end of the second chapter. It’s made from an odd material which I couldn’t recognize. If you look hard, you’ll see that it is identical to the carving which appears on the cover of the book, and to the symbols that I found in your house.”
“And what do you think this symbol could mean?”
James shrugged his shoulders. “The first time I saw it, I thought that it was a masonic symbol due to the pyramid shape. Have you heard of the Illuminati?” Mary nodded. “Well, as you know, the symbol par excellence of that order is the pyramid with an eye at the top, otherwise known as the ‘All-seeing Eye’ or ‘Eye of Providence’. It is a symbol which was also adopted by the Freemasons. I have to say that it bears a great similarity to the symbol I found in your house, but it isn’t the same.”
“So, do you think it belongs to some kind of secret order?”
“I don’t know. The story I heard spoke of the emblem of a powerful family which had commissioned a series of woks from Michelangelo. From what I can tell, they wanted to hide something and they’ve done that very well. At first glance, I think that the book is a kind of map which will guide us towards something much more important and of unimaginable value. However, without understanding the language in which it is written, it will be impossible for us to understand it.”
Suddenly a noise from the kitchen startled them. After a faint whistling sound, the boiler switched itself on and they both looked at each other with relief.
James got up off the sofa and paced around in circles while he looked at the canvases on the wall. After a few seconds, he spoke again. “Mary, I have to get away from the city. They are highly-trained professionals - no doubt they will find us in no time and, realistically speaking, we wouldn’t last five minutes at their hands. They’ve probably been hired by very wealthy people who have offered them exorbitant amounts of money to retrieve the book. Clearly they won’t stop until they have it. I will leave first thing tomorrow. Besides, they haven’t seen you, they don’t know who you are or what you look
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