by D C Macey
With one finger, he gently pried at a side. ‘This side has moved a little. Can you see the thin black line that’s appeared along this edge? I think it will open.’ He tapped the box and tried to work a fingernail into the slimmest of cracks, to no avail.
‘Here, let me have a go,’ said Grace, leaning over Sam’s shoulder and wiggling the fingers of her right hand in front of him.
He ran a finger across the edges of her nail-bar engineered talons before pulling it back with a wince. ‘Oh, those are lethal weapons. Careful, Grace, you could have someone’s eye out with them!’
‘There’s a college party tonight. Got to look my best. Now, let me at your box.’
‘Okay, but be careful, don’t use any force, just try to ease the edges apart.’ He slid onto the adjoining chair and allowed Grace to sit in his. ‘Be very careful.’
Grace settled into the chair and drew the box closer to her while Elaine looked disapprovingly at her daughter’s new nails. Grace could feel the tension with everybody’s eyes on her. The glittering nail of her index finger ran along the edge of the box, tracing the slightly darkened line where the sides had parted.
‘Whatever you do, Grace, do it slowly and gently. Don’t force anything,’ said Helen.
‘Okay, okay, everyone back up a little. You’ll be joggling my shoulders if you aren’t careful. Back up.’
There was a shuffling of feet as the crowd obliged, then Grace traced the black line of the box edge for a second time.
She pressed her fingernail forwards just a little, worked at the gap and felt a tiny amount of give. Pressing again, her fingernail slipped in further. Then she was able to use the nail as a lever to work the edges apart.
‘If this breaks my nail, you’ll be paying for a replacement.’
‘Concentrate on the task at hand.’ Elaine’s gruff voice reached Grace from the crowd behind.
‘It’s okay, Mum, I’ve got this.’
Grace returned her focus to the box. She could feel the lid’s resistance weakening. With just another wriggle of the fingernail, the edges parted. Escorted by Grace’s guiding fingers, one side panel hinged smoothly down to rest flat on the table.
It was open. At last, they’d opened a box.
And yet, the box was just as Sam’s scan had indicated - empty. Everyone stared, lost for words, and the sense of anticipation that had pervaded the group evaporated.
Finally, Grace broke the silence. ‘Oh, that’s no good.’
‘Let me see,’ said Sam, reaching across and sliding the box towards him. There was nothing inside. The side that hinged down had a sheet of glass fixed flat to its surface; it glimmered up at him. He twisted the box and bent down closer to the tabletop, so he could look carefully inside the box without raising it from the table.
‘Is there anything inside?’ said Francis.
‘No, nothing,’ said Sam. ‘But I can now clearly see how it’s constructed. The ornately patterned surface layer is, as we know, wood. That is lined inside with a thin layer of gold, defining the shape of the box. Within that is fixed the inner layer of gold, as though lining the box. Between the two layers of gold is a narrow void space. The box has a wafer-like or sandwich construction. All perfectly engineered, then inside, just a big empty space.’
‘So what’s it all for?’ said Helen. ‘A box full of nothing is no use at all.’
‘Sam, I don’t understand,’ said Francis. ‘If there is nothing in the box, what makes it so vulnerable? Couldn’t we have just forced the lid off at any time?’ Murmurs of agreement confirmed nobody else could understand the vulnerability.
‘I know it seems quite innocent but look. Now the box is open, we can see the inside of the lid is faced with glass. And see here, between the two layers of gold, you can just make out some little shapes lurking in the shadows of the void space; they are a whole series of magnets. When the two boxes are moved in the correct sequence, the various magnets are pulled and pushed into a series of positions that combine to release the locking grip on the opening side. I’m guessing, any false move or violence against a box’s structure will propel these magnets down to break the glass.
‘I think it’s the glass that is important. The glass holds a message. Use force against the box, and you change the magnets from intricate locking mechanism to mini battering rams that propel themselves into the glass, splintering it and destroying the message before it can be read.’
Everyone focused on the open box side that lay face up, its glass surface glinting beneath the electric ceiling light.
‘There’s nothing there,’ said Grace. ‘Nothing’s written on it at all.’
‘No,’ said Sam, ‘nothing’s written on it. But look …’ He pulled out a pocket magnifying glass and leant closer to the lid, inspecting it closely. ‘What I had thought were blemishes in the glass are not. I think they are shapes etched in. Very finely. If you didn’t know to look, you’d probably never notice them.’
‘What do they say?’ said Helen.
‘Nothing. They appear to be geometric shapes, six circles etched into the glass in two ragged rows of three, that’s all.’ Sam looked around the group. ‘I’m afraid they mean nothing to me. Nothing at all.’
‘Wait, Sam, what about the other box? Perhaps there are more in there? Yes? No?’ said Xavier, raising his hands a little. ‘Maybe that one will open too.’
Grace did not wait to be invited. She reached out and drew the second box closer to her. Turning it, she quickly found a side that now revealed a black line, signing a fractional gap that had opened. ‘There’s a crack in this one too. I could open it,’ she said, allowing her fingernail to trace the breach. Again, she worked at it, and in only moments, she was carefully guiding the box’s opening side down onto the tabletop.
‘Good work, Grace, next time you want your nails done, I’ll pick up the tab,’ said Sam.
‘I’ll hold you to that,’ said Grace as she released the second box into Sam’s control.
‘Nothing inside,’ he said to a chorus of disappointed sighs from behind him. ‘Identical wafer construction. See, its hinge-down side also has a glass layer that could be broken by the little bars housed within the void. So it’s both locked and protected by the same method.’
Sam raised his magnifying glass and inspected the glass surface. ‘Same here too. Geometric patterns etched into the glass. But no meaning.’
‘Why didn’t you see the shapes in the glass during the scan?’ said Francis.
‘For all their skills, ancient craftsmen could not produce the perfectly smooth glass we expect today. Until you know they’re there, the shapes appear as just natural variation in the glass.’
‘What are the shapes?’ said Elaine.
‘They’re different to those in the first box. Look, pass me some paper and I’ll sketch them out. See what we think.’
Helen’s kitchen notepad worked its way through the group of onlookers, and Sam made a sketch of the shapes formed in the glass of the first box. He passed over the finished picture and it quickly did the rounds. Everyone looked at the six circles he had drawn. Two rows, each containing three unevenly spaced circles, everyone remained silent.
‘I’ve tried to draw the circles to scale. They are uniform in shape, just regular circles, but each varies in size a little, from an inch and a half up to two and a half inches.’
Sam sketched the shapes in the glass of the second box. These were different. Only four shapes, each an ovoid and each a slightly different size. The first three shapes were positioned in an angled group. The fourth oval was set apart from, but close beside, the lower of the group of three. Again, these shapes were all of a similar size but not exact, ranging a little above or below three inches in length and none more than one and a half inches at its widest part.
‘And you went to Libya, of all places, to find a code to open these boxes? That has to rank as one of the most dangerous wild goose chases ever,’ said Helen. Her disappointment undisguised.
‘Yes, but there must be something. Think about the investment and effort we know the Templars expended in keeping the boxes both safe and apart so nobody could open them. There absolutely must be something. We just don’t know what it is,’ said Sam.
‘Well, I’m stumped,’ said Francis, looking around the group. ‘What next?’
‘Do the shapes have any special meaning? Mathematical perhaps,’ said Xavier.
‘Not that I can see. The question is what do we use shapes for?’ said Sam.
No one had an answer, and everyone watched in despairing silence as Sam drew both boxes to himself and studied them carefully. He pulled his car keys from his jacket pocket and shone the little key light on the glass. Then gently drew his finger across the shapes, feeling the edges - obvious now that they knew to look.
He drummed his fingers on the table. ‘What am I missing? What is missing from this scene?’
No one replied. Seconds turned into minutes while everyone waited for Sam.
‘Coffee, anyone?’ said Grace. There was a concert of affirmative responses, people eager to break the tension. She hurried across the kitchen to get things organised.
Returning to the table, Grace placed a stack of side plates and a plastic container on the table. ‘I got us cupcakes earlier. Only six, I’m afraid, someone will have to miss out.’
‘I’ll share one with you,’ said Helen.
‘Okay, that’ll be great. I’ll bring the coffee over now.’ She left the table as Angelo began passing the plates around. He pulled open the cake-box lid and proffered it towards Elaine. She carefully lifted out a cupcake then slid the box to Helen who took one to share with Grace and passed the box back to Angelo who placed cakes on both Xavier’s and his own plates. Francis took one and slid the box to Sam who had been absently watching the process.
Grace returned with coffees as Sam sat staring at the cake box. He reached out, twisted it one way then the other.
‘Sam, take your cake,’ said Helen. ‘Otherwise, Grace and I might just have to take it from you.’
‘Oh yes, we love our cupcakes,’ said Grace, sitting again.
Sam leapt up. ‘I’ve got it!’ he said, lifting the remaining cupcake from the plastic box then returning it. He lifted it out again, placing it in front of Grace before displaying the empty box turning so everyone could see it.’
‘It’s a cupcake box,’ he said.
‘Yes, we know,’ said Helen.
‘No, no. Grace, you’re a genius. That’s a cupcake box.’ He prodded at one of the ancient boxes urgently. ‘Well, not exactly cupcakes, but see - the cupcake box is indented to hold the cupcakes in place. The glass in the boxes is indented very slightly, just enough to align or position something, though obviously not cupcakes. I’m thinking the indentations are to place and align things, probably tokens or some such. Tokens shaped just like those I’ve drawn.’
‘This sounds good, Sam. But what tokens? Do we know these shapes?’ said Xavier. His hands folded in towards his chest. ‘Not me. I know nothing of these shapes. Nothing.’
‘Well, let’s look again at what I’ve drawn. I’ve sketched them down roughly and can do it again more accurately. Between the two boxes - in one, there are six circles’—he placed the end of a pencil across the shapes, estimating their diameters—‘almost the same but each one just a slightly different size. And in the other, there are four roughly oval shapes. Again, they’re similar in size but not exact.’
Sam looked about the group. Francis looked down at the table and Xavier shrugged.
‘Could the circles be six moons or maybe planets?’ asked Grace.
‘Perhaps, but we only have one moon. And the ancients only recognised five planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.’
‘Moon and planets combined then? That might represent six circles,’ said Francis.
‘True, that could work,’ said Sam. ‘But we’d need to find the moon and planet tokens from somewhere, and I don’t have the slightest idea where to start looking. Never mind the four ovals, that’s a whole other—’
‘Sam!’ Helen’s voice silenced him. Her eyes were bright with excitement. ‘You don’t need to find anything.’ She clutched his arm, squeezing it hard. ‘I know exactly what fits in the spaces, and it’s not planets and moons, believe me.’
‘You do? How? What is it?’
Even as Helen had spoken up, a sense of self-doubt crept into her voice. ‘If I’m right, I have the tokens already. I’m not sure, but it seems too much of a coincidence.’
‘Where?’ said Sam. ‘What’s the coincidence?’
Helen glanced about; everyone was looking at her. ‘Last year, when I first went to the bank in Switzerland, I spent a little time going through John Dearly’s safe-deposit box. You all know about it and have seen some of the things I brought from it. Not least that.’ She pointed to where her original box rested on the table. ‘That’s from Switzerland, and it wasn’t alone. There was another box there with some coins and medallions. Six and four, I think.’
‘Okay, were the medallions oval shaped?’
‘Yes, I think.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘I can show you.’ Helen pulled her phone from her pocket and began scouring the picture archive.
It was during the previous summer that Helen had first visited Zurich and Swiss banker Franz Brenner’s private bank. There, she had learnt of the true extent of her inheritance from John Dearly and his predecessors. They had maintained a private account to keep their business secret. In the bank’s vault, she had accessed a safe-deposit box; it contained a whole range of artefacts. Some things they had already used to solve early parts of the puzzle; some, like her ornate box sitting on the table, were live. And there were yet more things to be evaluated.
She had photographed everything and was now flicking through her photos. She paused.
‘Here they are.’ She flicked on to the next image then back again. ‘Yes, spot on. I’m sorry they aren’t so clear; I didn’t bother taking them out of the box. They’re overlapping a bit, but you can just about make out there are six round coins and four oval medallions, see.’ She handed the phone to Sam.
Sam studied the picture then turned to look at her. He grinned. ‘Helen, you’ve come up trumps again, I’m sure of it. Can you remember anything remarkable about the artefacts?’
‘Not really. But back then, I had my mind on other things, remember?’
‘I remember.’ Sam passed the phone to Grace who looked, then passed it on.
‘You know what this means, don’t you?’ said Sam.
‘I guess I’m going to Switzerland again?’
Sam smiled at her. ‘I guess you are. Thank you. It beats going back to Libya! Oh, and as soon as possible, please.’
Helen rolled her eyes. Then she turned to Xavier. ‘I don’t suppose you’d mind if I used your plane? Sam seems in a hurry.’
Xavier smiled at her, waving a hand up and over his shoulder. ‘For you, of course. You don’t need to ask. Now go, get ready, go! Angelo will call ahead to have the plane on standby.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ said Grace.
‘Don’t you have a party tonight?’
‘This sounds more fun. Anyway, you’re recovering from a bullet wound; somebody needs to look after you.’
‘Sam, there is something I just don’t understand,’ said Xavier.
‘Go on,’ said Sam.
‘The boxes are Roman artefacts, but you didn’t think the Romans were good with magnets. How can this be?’
‘Yes, tricky. I’ve been thinking about that. It might be that the boxes are not true Roman artefacts at all. The ancient library at Alexandria, just along the coast from Leptis Magna, was a repository for ancient knowledge. Some of that is reputed to have been well ahead of Roman thinking. Perhaps, knowledge of such things existed there … maybe even the boxes themselves.
‘It is possible that the Romans looted the boxes from Alexandria. They were good at lootin
g. Perhaps they took them before the library was burnt down, which did happen during a period of Roman influence. I don’t know, but it would certainly explain the confusing artistic style. But it’s just a guess; we can never know for sure.’
18
Wednesday, January 22nd
Cassiter strolled along the aisle towards the altar. His man beside him was quick to point out the guide who had advised Cameron. Oliver was standing beside the altar, watching their approach. Cassiter could just make out the heads of a couple beyond the altar where they were busy considering the merits of the Apprentice Pillar. Otherwise, the place was empty. The persistent snow and bad weather continued to deter visitors.
‘Gentlemen, welcome to Rosslyn Chapel. My name’s Oliver, and I’m here to help. Just ask, and I’ll be happy to address any questions you may have.’
‘Well, there is something you can do, thanks. My colleague, Dr Cameron, was here with a party yesterday. They were very interested in the archway over there. Sam said you had been very informative; he’s asked me to come in and give a second opinion. He mentioned I should speak with you.’
‘I’d be delighted to help you, of course. Mostly, he was interested in the arches of the Lady Chapel. Come on, I’ll show you.’
‘Please do. Sam has a theory he wants me to examine thoroughly, to see if I can pick any holes in it. He’s deliberately not told me the details of his visit, so I can approach it with a fresh eye. If you would be good enough to talk me through things from scratch, we would much appreciate it. Then he and I can compare notes to see if we come to a similar conclusion or if there’s more investigation to be done.’
‘It’s my pleasure,’ said Oliver. With so few visitors on-site, he was only too happy to fill his time with something constructive. He quickly guided Cassiter to the archway at the centre of Sam’s interest.
A while later, Oliver slipped out of the chapel and hurried across to the visitor centre where he explained the situation to Silvia who prepared a second memory stick for Sam’s colleague. She told Oliver to send the visitor across as soon as he was finished; she’d be more than happy to speak with him.
