The Templar's Code

by C. M. Palov

As he examined the cherry-red phone, a crease materialized between his brow. “Marnie’s, I believe. She mentioned that it was pinched last evening. She noticed it missing after she spent the night with the aforementioned young man.”

  “You’re kidding me! Marnie actually slept with Rico Suave? But he’s . . . he’s a cold-blooded killer,” she sputtered, stunned by the revelation.

  “A fact that she is blissfully ignorant of. Moreover, she has no idea that her Greek lover was involved with Rubin’s murder. I’m assuming that in addition to lifting her mobile, the bastard also nicked the key to the bookshop.” He flipped open the cell phone. Maneuvering through the navigation keys, he replayed the video. He turned slightly, preventing her from viewing the ghoulish imagery. A few moments later, he snapped the phone shut. “I don’t know if you noticed, but there was an eight-pointed star incised in one of the wood panels.”

  “That’s the same symbol that was on the knife used to kill Jason Lovett.”

  “The eight-pointed octogram is a Judeo-Christian pictogram of the Creation. Composed of two interlacing squares, it symbolizes the seven days of Genesis followed by the eighth day of regeneration in the newly created Paradise.” As he spoke, Caedmon absently rubbed his hand over his reddened cheek. “The fact that the killer uses the octogram so freely implies that he is aware of the so-called Genesis code that’s encrypted on the Emerald Tablet.”

  “Please don’t tell me that after all of this”—Edie gestured to the chaotic crush of firemen and spectators—“we’re still going to Philly.”

  “If I don’t go, Rubin will have died in vain.”

  “Time out.” She made a T with her hands. “I think we’re getting way ahead of ourselves. We don’t know if the Emerald Tablet actually contains a Genesis code. That has yet to be verified. Meaning it’s still very much a speculative premise.”

  “I can’t take the chance that Rubin’s killer will find the relic,” Caedmon countered, a determined look on his face. “Twelve thousand years ago, an entire continent vanished from the face of the planet. Obliterated. The Genesis code that’s embedded on the Emerald Tablet may have triggered the catastrophe.”

  “But you said it yourself: Without the encryption key, the Emerald Tablet has no power.” No sooner did she utter those words than Edie was hit with a horrifying thought. “Oh God! You’re worried that Rico Suave has the encryption key.”

  “Or the group that he’s working for is in possession of it. Yes, the thought has crossed my mind.”

  “So, who is Rico Suave’s employer?”

  Caedmon shrugged. “A rogue nation. Or perhaps a terrorist cell. Even a lone madman is a terrifying prospect if the madman has the motive and the means to create the primeval atom.”

  “Because the Big Bang only needs one exploding atom,” she quietly murmured, the dread escalating.

  “Surely you understand why I must fly to Philadelphia.”

  “Telling me there are six universes parallel to this one doesn’t mean that I understand quantum physics. Not to mention you used the singular ‘I’ instead of the royal ‘we.’ ”

  “When I call Thames House, I’ll arrange to have you taken to—”

  She put a silencing hand over his mouth. “Don’t waste your breath. I’m going with you.” Point made, she lowered the makeshift gag.

  “Right.” He acquiesced with a grim nod. “In all honesty, I don’t know where the clues contained within The Book of Moses will take us. If anywhere. After two hundred and thirty-five years, the trail is a bit cold. Our search may very well begin and end at the American Philosophical Society. What we do know is that Franklin intended to conscript two accomplices to help him safeguard the Emerald Tablet. The Triad, as he called it.”

  “And he planned to use the Second Continental Congress as his recruiting office.” Suddenly realizing the significance of that, she gasped. “Meaning that all of the members of the Triad were signatories to the Declaration of Independence.”

  CHAPTER 65

  We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

  On the sheet of parchment, beneath those immortal words, were penned fifty-six signatures beginning with the most flamboyant, that of John Hancock, the president of the Second Continental Congress. Several of the names were famous. Others known only to students of American history. All were considered Founding Fathers of the fledgling nation that on July 4, 1776, officially took its place on the world stage.

  “A daunting task, eh?”

  Tell me something I don’t already know, Edie despondently thought, making no reply to Caedmon’s wry observation.

  Sitting side by side at the library table, an open book placed squarely between them, they stared at a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Next to the library book was a new Dell netbook computer, a small stack of plain white paper, and four sharpened lead pencils, the only supplies permitted in the reading room at Philadelphia’s Library Hall. Located around the corner from Independence Hall, where the Second Continental Congress met in 1776, Library Hall was owned by the American Philosophical Society. As with the parent, the library had been founded by Benjamin Franklin.

  Edie’s gaze alighted on the top sheet of paper, which was noticeably blank. If a picture was worth a thousand words, that blank sheet of paper did not bode well.

  Not quite ready to throw in the towel, she said, “We’re looking at the signatures of the best and brightest men the colonies had to offer. A list that includes men from all walks: lawyers, farmers, businessmen, and professional politicians. We know that Benjamin Franklin intended to recruit two men from this group to help him safeguard the Emerald Tablet.”

  “The Triad,” Caedmon said in a lowered voice. The floor-to-ceiling bookcases, Georgian windows, and colonial-style chandeliers invited reverential tones.

  “Any idea how to whittle down the list?” She pasted a chipper smile on her face, hoping the nonstop flight from London to Philly wouldn’t prove a colossal waste of time, energy, and money.

  Caedmon thoughtfully stared at the open book. “I suspect that Franklin’s Triad would not have included any Freemasons,” he said after a lengthy pause. Then, smiling slightly, he amended, “Aside from the wise sage of Craven Street himself.”

  “I agree. It would defeat his purpose to have an initiated fox stand sentry. And Franklin made it very clear in The Book of Moses that he considered the Freemasons ‘a superstitious coven of sun-worshipping Atenists and bewigged magi.’ ”

  “His own membership in the group simply a means to an end. A way to get his leather-shod foot in the drawing room door.”

  “The old coot was wily, I’ll give him that,” Edie said with a chuckle, still amused at how Franklin pilfered the Emerald Tablet. “We should be able to find an online list of signatories to the Declaration of Independence who were also Freemasons.”

  “Right.” Caedmon deftly pecked away on the computer keyboard. Because of his publishing credentials, he’d managed to secure a researcher’s pass for the both of them, the library open only to academics. “There you have it, the rogue’s gallery,” he announced a few moments later, jutting his chin at the roster of names on the computer screen.

  William Whipple

  John Hancock

  Robert Treat Paine

  William Ellery

  Richard Stockton

  Benjamin Franklin

  William Hooper

  Joseph Hewes

  George Walton

  “Our task has been rendered slightly less daunting.”

  Edie examined the list of Freemason/Founding Fathers. “Just so you know, there’s no doubt in my mind that every one of these guys was a loyal patriot,” she avowed, refusing to sling mud—even at a sun-worshipping Atenist.

  “What you reckon as patriotism, King George and his ministers deemed treason.”

  Not wanting to fight another revolution, Edie decided a change of subject was in order. “Okay, we’ve reduced the roll call to forty-seven signa
tories. Which is still a far cry from Franklin’s two-man tag team.”

  “Not to fear, I have another trick up my sleeve.” Blue eyes mischievously twinkling, Caedmon’s fingers furiously pecked away at the keyboard.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Accessing the member database for the American Philosophical Society. In those turbulent months leading up to the final break with Britain, loyalties were shifting and uncertain. Franklin couldn’t be too careful in his selection.”

  “I seem to recall from a long-ago history lesson that Franklin’s own son William, who happened to be the governor of New Jersey, remained loyal to the Crown. So, what are you thinking? That Franklin would have recruited the other two members of the Triad in-house?” Raising her arms, Edie gestured to the four walls of the reading room. “Specifically this house.”

  Still typing, Caedmon nodded. “Franklin was searching for two trustworthy, like-minded men possessed of ‘a keen intellect and a stalwart heart.’ ”

  “Given that the American Philosophical Society was Franklin’s homegrown answer to the Royal Society, all of the members would have satisfied the first criteria.”

  “However, unlike its English template, Franklin was determined that his society would be free of the elitist taint associated with the Royal Society. Ah! I give you the American Philosophical Society circa 1776.” Caedmon expansively gestured to the monitor.

  John Adams

  Stephen Hopkins

  John Witherspoon

  Francis Hopkinson

  Robert Morris

  Benjamin Rush

  Benjamin Franklin

  George Clymer

  James Wilson

  Thomas McKean

  Francis Lightfoot Lee

  Thomas Jefferson

  John Penn

  Thomas Heyward, Jr.

  “At least all the members who signed the Declaration of Independence.” Edie quickly took a head count. “Including Franklin, I get fourteen fellas.” She grabbed a pencil and jotted all fourteen names onto a sheet of paper. Then she opened The Book of Moses file on the laptop. Since they couldn’t bring any outside materials into the library, except for the computer, she’d taken digital photos and copied them onto the Dell. She quickly scrolled to the last page. Gnawing on her lower lip, she ruminated on Franklin’s checklist of “suitable” criteria. “We’re trying to unravel a two-hundred-and-thirty-five-year-old mystery but coming at it backward.”

  “I admit we have scant clues to go on. And the few crumbs that Franklin drops are interspersed with political sound bites. Take this, for example—” Using his fingertip, he underscored the last line of handwritten text: “ ‘Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.’ Makes me want to dress up like an Indian and toss a crate of tea into Boston Harbor.”

  Edie absently folded a sheet of blank paper. “Okay, let’s suppose for argument’s sake that Ben did invite two fellow members of the American Philosophical Society to join his Triad. There’s a very good chance the guys simply hid the darned thing right here at Library Hall, concealed within the bowels of the building.” Which, according to the pamphlet she’d picked up in the lobby, housed more than 350,000 volumes and bound periodicals, eleven million manuscripts, and nearly a quarter million images. Including a massive collection of Franklin’s papers, as well as his personal library. The proverbial haystack.

  “You’ll be disappointed to know that Library Hall was constructed in the mid-twentieth century,” Caedmon informed her.

  “You’re kidding! I would’ve sworn this was a colonial-era building.”

  “A very convincing reproduction, I’m afraid. And the building across the street, which is the official headquarters for the American Philosophical Society, was constructed in 1789. Twelve years after the Second Continental Congress disbanded. So while Dr. Franklin may have transported the Emerald Tablet to Philadelphia, I suspect the City of Brotherly Love was merely a way station.”

  “Great.” Edie glanced down, bemused to see that she’d made a paper airplane. Hit with a childish impulse to send it sailing across the room, she instead shoved back her chair and rose to her feet. “I need a time-out.”

  “I’m not about to let you gallivant on your own. I’ll accompany you.”

  “To the ladies’ room? I think not.” She put a staying hand on his shoulder. “Besides, I don’t intend to gallivant any farther than the lobby.”

  “The bastard followed us to London. He could have followed us to—”

  “But he didn’t. We were very careful,” she said over top of him, hoping to nip his concern in the bud. While it was endearing, she didn’t need a bodyguard. She was a big girl and they were in a public building. “Now excuse me while I go to the loo.”

  Not giving Caedmon a chance to protest, she did a military-style turn and headed for the exit.

  In the lobby—the only area of the library open to the public—a group of school-aged children were being ushered past an exhibit titled “Franklin: Man of Many Words.” As near as she could tell, the exhibit consisted of various pieces of ephemera displayed in glass cases. A generation acclimated to the visual overload of the digital age, the kiddies were clearly bored out of their bonkers. She suppressed a chuckle.

  Moments later, about to ask the docent for directions to the restroom, Edie stopped in her tracks. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a blown-up excerpt mounted inside one of the display cases.

  She did a double take, stunned at seeing a very recognizable phrase. . . . Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.

  CHAPTER 66

  “I think I know the names of the other two Triad members,” Edie blurted without preamble, setting a large leather-bound book on the library table.

  Caedmon glanced up from the computer. “Indeed?”

  “Yes, indeedy. But first a quick American history lesson.” Cheeks flushed with impassioned color, she shoved her hand into her jeans pocket and removed a crumpled one-dollar bill, which she slapped onto the tabletop, backside on display. “This is the Great Seal of the United States that was approved by Congress in the year 1782.” With her index finger, she indicated the two circular medallions that adorned the left and right side of the note.

  His curiosity piqued, Caedmon examined the familiar green-and-white bill, American currency famous the world over. “I’ve always been fascinated with the blatant esoteric symbolism engraved on your paper money,” he remarked, his attentive gaze landing on the unfinished pyramid, the Latin mottoes, and the All-Seeing Eye. The last had become something of a perennial bloom, the ancient symbol popping up with disturbing frequency.

  “According to the library docent, between the years 1776 and 1782, three separate congressional committees submitted design ideas for the Great Seal of the United States. Congress rejected all three designs.”

  “And what does this have to do with our signatories?” Next to the laptop was the list of prime suspects: the thirteen members of the American Philosophical Society, all of whom were signatories to the Declaration of Independence.

  “Well, it just so happens that the first of the three Great Seal committees was formed on July 4, 1776, the very day that the Declaration of Independence was signed. And guess what? The 1776 committee recommended that the country’s new motto should be ‘Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.’ ”

  Hearing that, his heart rate spiked, Edie having just spilled a bag of gilded beans. Again, he glanced at the list that they’d compiled, wondering if any of the members of the American Philosophical Society had been on the 1776 Great Seal committee.

  “Now this is where the story gets really interesting.” Opening the volume she’d brought with her, Edie quickly flipped through the pages. “This book contains the minutes of the Continental Congress for the year 1776. The librarian was kind enough to pull it from the stacks.” A few moments later, excitedly tapping an open page, she drew his attention to two printed lines of text. “Look! There it is! The official congressional entry:
‘Resolved, that Dr. Franklin, Mr. J. Adams, and Mr. Jefferson, be a committee, to bring in a device for a seal for the United States of America.’ ”

  “My God . . . I don’t bloody believe it.”

  Edie turned to him, beaming. “Unless I’m greatly mistaken, we have our three Triad members.” Grabbing a pencil, she circled three names on their handwritten list: Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. “As you can see, all three men were members of the American Philosophical Society.”

  “Adams and Jefferson . . . the catheti to Franklin’s hypotenuse,” he murmured, recalling a line from The Book of Moses.

  “In 1776, Franklin became a septuagenarian. Old by any man’s measure. In youthful contrast, Adams was forty-one years of age, Jefferson a mere thirty-three,” Edie remarked, fast proving herself a fount. “Both men were young enough to do the physical legwork to safeguard the Emerald Tablet.”

  “Without question, Franklin snared the best of a very fine lot.”

  “While I can’t lay claim to being an expert in American history, I do know that Franklin, Jefferson, and Adams also served on the committee that wrote the Declaration of Independence, the famous document having the input of all three men. And, here’s the real kicker”—she dramatically paused to ensure his full attention—“to a man, they were dyed-in-the-wool Deists.”

  “Advocating the light of reason, the hidden stream of knowledge consigned to history’s trash heap.” Hit with a guilty twinge, he glanced at the silver signet on his right ring finger. “Franklin’s committee must have submitted a design for the Great Seal. Do you by any chance know if there’s a record of it?”

  Broadly grinning, she pulled a single sheet of loose paper from the volume’s inside cover. “One step ahead of you, Big Red. I had the librarian photocopy this and”—she slapped the sheet in front of him—“guess what? The Triad put the All-Seeing Eye on the design!”

  Astounded, his jaw slackened.

  As with the emblems on the back of the dollar bill, there were two separate drawings, constituting the front and the back of the proposed Great Seal. On the face side were Lady Liberty and Lady Justice crowned with the All-Seeing Eye. On the reverse, a detailed drawing of Moses parting the Red Sea emblazoned with Franklin’s catchphrase ‘Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.’ The gratin on the casserole.