by Sean Salazar
“That’s what I’m wondering.”
One of the men spoke up loudly, “You might want to see this.”
Both turned and saw the man standing by the wall several yards from where Dr. Zohar sat. He was looking down into a small hole in the ground.
“I turned over this piece of wood and found this.”
Vance walked over and knelt down next to the hole. Inside, he saw fresh dirt, small chunks of concrete, and a metal box.
Sadusky went over to the wall, bent over and picked up what looked like a crowbar.
“Dr. Zohar,” Vance said gently, “come take a look at this.”
She stood up, wrapped the coat around her, and slowly walked over.
Vance waited for her to approach, and as she did he asked, “Look familiar?”
She glanced down at the box and shook her head, “I don’t recognize that.”
Sadusky stepped over with the crowbar and held it up. “Let me guess; by the fresh scratches at the end of this crowbar, I would guess that he attempted to bury...”
“But didn’t finish,” Vance added, cutting him off.
“That’s what it looks like,” Sadusky said.
Vance glanced at Zohar who now seemed more comfortable with the situation, “What time did he call you?”
She exhaled and answered way faster than Vance expected. “When he called me I was about an hour’s drive from here.”
“Was there any hint when you talked to him that he was not alone?” Vance asked.
Again, she shook her head from side to side, “No.”
“May I,” Captain Sadusky said, hinting that he would like to ask a question.
Vance nodded.
He pulled out a small flappable notepad and opened it, typical of detectives. “You knew something was wrong,” he started. He looked right at her with his pen poised.
She didn’t answer.
“Very well, when did you notice something was wrong?”
She waited a moment before answering, “Dr. Golb mentioned several times before that he felt that he was being watched.”
“Did he ever say by whom?” Sadusky asked.
“No,” she hesitated. “He did say that we might be followed.”
“And?”
She seemed confused as to how to answer. “It all started, or all the weird stuff happened, after we began inputting the new translations.”
“Translations, eh?” Sadusky said with a hint of sarcasm. He glanced at Vance. “Is this the so-called delicate information?”
Vance didn’t really know how much of the past he should share with the smart ass investigators, if any at all, but ignored his comment. He knew that Al had been definitely captured and interrogated for Holy Script translations, and if what she was saying was right, then this was way beyond Captain Sadusky’s jurisdiction.
Vance reached into the hole, pulled out the small metal box, and placed it on the wood floor. It was the size of a child’s school lunch box with a flip-down latch. The latch appeared to be all that kept it closed, so he flipped it up, and cautiously opened it.
Sadusky and his men leaned in to see. Inside the box was an old, battered-looking scroll.
Vance leaned back so she could observe.
Putting her hand on Vance’s shoulder for support, Dr. Zohar leaned in to see it. She almost seemed surprised and said, “That is part of the scroll... be very careful with it.”
“The Dead Sea Scroll?” Vance asked. He immediately realized his mistake, but couldn’t retract it.
That immediately got Captain Sadusky’s attention. “Did you just say the Dead Sea Scroll?”
Vance did not answer right away but knew he had to say something because the doctor also seemed confused. “We think so.”
Sadusky took a step back. “Are you fucking serious? The actual Dead Sea Scrolls?”
One of the other men responded, “This is definitely way out of my pay grade.”
Vance closed the box, flipped the latch down, and stood up.
Sadusky cleared his throat, “Now I can see what you were meaning by a sensitive case. What do you want us to do?”
Vance was about to lie, but halted. He had to summon Ed there right away. “Hold that thought.” He then gently led Dr. Zohar to the wood crate and motioned for her to sit back down. “There is a very important person joining us soon who will have questions for you.”
“Okay,” she said sitting down, “Who is it.”
Chapter Forty-Five
Vance and Dr. Zohar watched Ed climb out of the helicopter into the heavy rain and sloshing through the grass behind the detective. The wind had picked up viciously, whipped at both of them, and funneled through the open door. Zohar stood behind Vance to shield herself from the rain that was blowing inside.
Ed stepped inside, holding his leather bag with one hand and shielding his face from the wind and rain with the other. As rainwater poured off his hat, he shook Vance’s hand while eyeing Dr. Zohar. “Is this she?”
“The one and only,” Vance answered.
Ed shook her hand while introducing himself and added with his usual heavy British accent, “It would have been more desirable for our paths to cross under better circumstances.”
She had no reply other than a head nod and tucked her hand back under the coat.
Captain Sadusky stepped in after Ed and Vance said, “This is Captain Sadusky’s investigation.”
Ed turned to him, “What is your assessment, Captain?”
Sadusky motioned with his head for Ed to follow him. “Got an interesting murder back here.”
As they walked down the brick hallway Vance handed Ed the metal box, “A present for you. It’s a piece of metal with writing on it.”
“A-ha,” he said, grabbing it.
When they reached the open area, Sadusky pointed to the body.
As Ed got a view of the sprawled-out limbs his pace stopped. “Oh, my.” He then continued walking closer, glancing all around and then upward. He stopped a few feet from the right leg and asked, “Is this Dr. Golb?”
“According to Dr. Zohar, it is,” Vance responded.
Ed turned to Captain Sadusky. “Who has seen this thus far?”
“Only us,” he answered, giving Vance a questioning look.
“Is it possible to keep this unfortunate event a secret for now?” Ed asked.
“This is a federal case as far as I understand. I do not want any of the headaches related to this and as far as I’m concerned, my men and I are only providing security.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Ed said. He then turned to Dr. Zohar. “My dear, I understand that this is not an easy task, but what happened here?”
“Like I said earlier, I got a call from Dr. Golb asking me to meet him here. As soon as I arrived, these men in black robes grabbed me, took the papers I was going to give him, and continued torturing him.”
“What were you bringing him?”
“He asked me to bring the translations.”
Ed paused to open the metal box. Once opened, he carefully reached in with a couple of fingers, separating the delicate scroll. After a few seconds of looking it over, he asked, “Translations of this writing?” Dr. Zohar closely observed his examination of the scroll as if it were her baby. “Yes, it was that writing; are you familiar with it?”
Ed held a subdued laugh and said, “Yes, I am, and this looks to be one of the missing items found with the copper scrolls.” He then turned to Captain Sadusky. “Can you and your men excuse us for a moment.”
“My pleasure,” he replied, motioning with his head for his men to follow him.
Dr. Zohar seemed surprised by his statement. “I wasn’t aware...”
Ed held up his hand halting her statement. “What I need to know is how much of the missing scrolls did you and the late Dr. Golb have?”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I was under the impression that this writing was completely unknown.”
Ed continued, “Let’s start with that. Ho
w did Dr. Golb acquire this scroll?”
“I don’t know exactly,” she said, slightly defensive. “I joined with Dr. Golb a while ago and we started working on translating it.”
“So,” Vance said, lighting a cigarette. “What’s the big deal with the copper scroll?”
Ed stepped to the head of the body and knelt down. “The copper scrolls were originally found with the famous Dead Sea Scrolls, which at that time was Qumran, Jordan, in the Nineteen Forties and Fifties.”
“Yeah, okay,” he said, exhaling a long trail of smoke, “those were the scrolls found in caves.”
“Yes,” Ed said, pausing as he stared at the body. He seemed to notice something and then stood up. “Dr. Zohar, was he alive when you arrived?”
“Yes, he was,” she answered. This time she didn’t cry. Ed pointed, “Were these shoulder and hip spikes in place when you arrived?” She hesitated briefly before answering, “Yes, I think so.” Ed continued, “And you mentioned that he called you to come and meet him in this building.”
“Yes.” Vance realized that Ed had figured something out, but what was it? “What type of man was he?” Ed asked. “Well,” she said, “I would describe him as a man on a mission. He was quiet, determined, and focused.”
“You knew him well,” Ed asked, “yes?”
“Well, yes, in a way, I guess.”
“H-mm,” Ed said, apparently thinking. After a few seconds he continued, “Very well. Look at the arms and legs directly to the side of the spikes.”
Vance stepped closer and saw exactly what he was referring to: reddish-brown marks on the skin were pressed in, the unmistakable mark of a tourniquet.
“Strap markings,” Ed said “used to stop bleeding.”
“Yes,” Vance said.
“I don’t understand,” Dr. Zohar said. “Are you saying that they were keeping him alive?”
Ed now walked to where the right leg and foot were. “Did you actually see him alive?”
“Well, not really.”
That answer surprised Vance. She said earlier that he was alive when she arrived. Now he knew something was up but held his tongue.
Zohar’s mud-caked arm came out from under the coat that she was holding tightly. “I was right over there,” she said pointing, “next to the wall where they held me down.”
Ed stepped to the other side of the body, “Go on.”
She visibly sighed, “I was held down for only a few minutes. Then I was grabbed by my hair and pulled outside and thrown in the mud.”
“I see,” Ed said, and then asked again, “but you did not actually see him alive?”
“No, I mean yes.”
Vance couldn’t resist and, now irritated, chimed in, “Then how did you know he was still alive?”
“I heard him,” she said, her eyes welling up with tears.
“What did you hear?” Ed continued.
“Someone was yelling questions like, ‘Where is it?’ over and over in a foreign accent and I thought the professor yelled back ‘Teton.’” For a second she now seemed doubtful and shook her head, lowering her eyes. “It didn’t sound like him but when I came back in and saw him... I... I figured he was in pain.” She turned around, walked a few paces, and continued, “I passed out when I saw what they did to him, and when I woke up the police were coming in.”
“To answer your question,” Ed said, continuing his earlier explanation, “when the original sets of Dead Sea Scrolls were found, they estimated the total number of scrolls when they were intact to be around a thousand. As of today, many have vanished without a trace. Therefore,” he tapped the box and looked directly at Dr. Zohar, “is this one of the missing scrolls?”
She gripped the coat around her tightly, lowered her head halfway, “Yes, I think so. I mean, by all the security around the scroll and secret meetings, I figured it was.” Her voice trailed off almost shamefully. She raised her head, “When the knights attacked the school, I somehow knew they were coming for the scroll.”
Ed held up his hand, gently halting what she was saying. He then turned around and began examining the area around the body. He made one complete loop, paused, and then walked to the far wall with his back to everyone. He then asked without turning around, “Were you able to read the unknown language on the scroll?”
She seemed uncomfortable and perplexed at his questioning and answered, “Not at first, but after a while, so-so.”
“But translations picked up recently?” Ed asked.
“Why are you so interested in this writing?” Dr. Zohar began choking up once again. “My professor has been murdered.”
“Unfortunately, my dear,” Ed said, turning to the left, “we don’t know that answer.” He pulled out a handkerchief, bent over, and gently lifted what looked like a mallet.
Vance finally decided to interrupt, “Weren’t the Dead Sea Scrolls written in Hebrew?”
Ed looked over the mallet. “The known scrolls,” he said, “were primarily written in Hebrew and Aramaic, which in the world of sociolinguistics is like French is to Italian.”
Sociolinguistics what? Vance thought. “Okay, forget I asked,” he said, taking a long drag from his cigarette.
Ed walked over to the main hallway and motioned for Captain Sadusky to step over. He carefully handed the mallet to him, and walked back. “Originally,” he continued, “when the fragmented scrolls were discovered, the painstaking work to put them together took many years.
Then,” he paused and began pacing back around the space, looking around, “it all stopped as a result of the Six-Day War in June of 1967. I remember that conflict well because not only were my good friend Betty’s husband and child killed in an explosion, but at that time the Palestine Archaeological Museum, where all the scrolls were being stored, became the property of Israel after the conflict. So you can just imagine the academic scuffling that resulted from that.”
“That’s interesting that you say that,” said Dr. Zohar. “Dr. Golb mentioned that all the time as the biggest delay in his research.”
“Delay?” Vance asked.
Ed stopped pacing. “The Arab and Israeli researchers wouldn’t cooperate.”
“Oh, yeah,” Vance answered, feeling stupid. I ought to just stay quiet before I reveal how little I know, he thought to himself.
“Well, Dr. Golb was definitely right about that,” Ed added. “Eventually, after another delay spanning many years, they worked out an agreement and finally published the initial research in 1977. Although,” he continued, “what is intriguing about this scene is that perhaps it was meant to intend to be symbolic of something.”
“That’s sick,” she blurted out.
Ed reached down and lifted the right hand, exposing a thin silver ring. He waved at Vance to come closer. “To complicate matters, this professor was a Mason.”
“A Free Mason?” Vance asked, surprised.
Ed turned the hand showing the ring, “Yes.”
“Al is going to like that,” Vance added, equally sarcastic.
Ed continued holding the hand, analyzing the ring. He gently lowered it slightly and looked around. He looked upward toward the top of the warehouse, at the dilapidated walls and the lower areas closest to him. “This specific location could be significant.”
Vance observed his motions. “You’re saying this is more than just a getaway place?”
Ed didn’t hear him, so instead Vance clued in to what he was getting at. He looked around and figured that Collins might be hinting that something was under this warehouse. He whistled to Sadusky.
Having overheard the conversation, Sadusky joined them. “You’re suggesting that this is more than a simple meeting place?”
Ed lowered the hand he was holding and stood up. “It’s a strong possibility. I will provide whatever resources you need, but this building must be secured and no one must be allowed to enter.”
“Yeah, yeah, I can do that.”
“I think he means very secure,” Vance added.
> Sadusky motioned for one of his men to come over and spoke quietly to him. The man nodded and pulled out his radio.
“Thank you,” Ed said. “I also need the history of this building and this specific property sent to me as soon as you can.”
“Like what do you mean?”
“As far as the records can go.”
“That should narrow it down somewhat,” Sadusky answered smartly.
Ed looked around for a few seconds and then stepped closer to the captain. “The fact that you and your men are a part of this investigation means that all of you have been exposed to extremely sensitive information.”
“I’m getting that impression.”
“As of now,” Ed motioned to the man on the radio, “if possible stay off the airwaves. Get the information on this warehouse as quietly as you can. Tell only those who need to know.”
“Say no more.” Sadusky immediately snapped his fingers to get the man’s attention. The captain drew his hand across his throat to halt his radio use. The man looked puzzled so the captain repeated the gesture.
Ed turned to Vance and Dr. Zohar and said, “Follow me.”
Sadusky snapped his fingers for his men’s attention, pointing to the doorway, “If you need us we will be here...investigating.”
“You can have it,” Vance added.
“Funny,” Sadusky responded, giving Vance a mean look. He then added, “Just make sure my man gets his coat back from her.”
“I will,” Vance replied.
Ed led the way down the creaky hallway and outside the building into the wind and rain. They splashed their way to the helicopter Ed had arrived in and they both helped Dr. Zohar climb aboard. Vance and Zohar sat on one side of the small compartment with Ed on the other.
Ed opened his laptop and placed it on a small metal ledge next to an electronics station. He then placed the small metal box next to it, opened it, and then delicately lifted the scroll out. He slipped on his glasses, focused on the laptop, and began typing away.
Vance pulled out another cigarette, lit it, and took a long drag.
Zohar watched him the entire time and asked, “Must you?”
“You betcha,” Vance replied, smiling. “If you hadn’t given us the slip earlier we wouldn’t be in this mess, so tough!”