Stone paused, but picked up the narrative almost immediately as two men in the multi-colored, striped uniform of the Swiss Guard strode past. To his credit, Bones did not so much as crack a smile. He knew as well as Maddock did that despite the absurd-looking uniform, these men were trained soldiers. Neither Maddock nor the others made eye contact with the guards, not wanting to be remembered should things go awry.
“As they dug, the archaeologists found a burial ground that dated back to the fourth century. They found the temporal of Emperor Constantine, and even ancient graffiti that translated to the phrase ‘Peter is here.’ Initially, the remains they found were not promising. Of the three human skeletons they located, the only one that was of appropriate age and build to be the apostle turned out to be the skeleton of a woman. They also found animal bones mixed in with those of humans.
“Eventually, a new set of remains was found in a hollow niche in the wall upon which the graffiti was written. These bones were determined to be of a robust man sixty to seventy years of age. The skeleton included bones from all parts of the body except for the feet, which would be consistent with the way a crucified body was treated, since it was common practice, after the victim expired, to cut the feet off when taking the body down from the cross. Furthermore, the bones were covered in Imperial Roman purple dye, which was typically reserved for the emperor and other high-ranking men. Finally they discovered a section of the wall near the place where the bones were found on which ‘Peter is within’ was inscribed in Greek.”
Stone paused, took a moment to listen, and then nodded. “Okay, enough of that. If we hear anyone coming I’ll start doing the tour guide stuff again.” He glanced at his watch. “We’ve got about forty minutes until we’re expected to be out of here, but I’d hate to cut it that close.”
“Agreed,” Maddock said. He turned to Dima. “Where do we start?”
“At the place where the bones of St. Peter were found,” she said. “At least, that’s what the legends say, for whatever that’s worth.”
Maddock and Bones had seen enough in their lives that they no longer automatically doubted legends. They stepped aside as Dima bent to examine the niche where the bones of the apostle had been found. She ran her fingers all over the wall, examining every inch. After a few minutes she stood and took a step back.
“I don’t see anything.”
“Maybe it’s in the floor,” Bones said. He knelt to examine the spot beneath the niche.
“It’s solid rock,” Stone said.
Bones brushed the ground at the base of the wall, frowned, and leaned in close until his nose was inches from the spot where the wall met the floor. He let out a puff of breath and then another. Next, he traced an invisible square with his fingernail, and then blew again.
“There’s something here. It’s hard to see but there’s definitely something.” He began working at the spot. Seconds passed, and then a minute. Stone kept checking his watch and looking around. Finally, Bones shook his head. “Screw this.” He drove the heel of his palm into the spot he’d been working. With a crack, a square section of rock came free. Bones looked up with a smile. “Sometimes you just need the proper tool to do the job right.” He removed the square and shone his Maglite into the opening. “Whoa. Check this out.”
Everyone moved closer and knelt down for a better look. Embedded in the wall of the dark recess was something that looked like a child’s puzzle. It was a rectangle containing three rows of tiles. Letters were carved into 15 of the tiles and two more were blank, leaving one empty space so that the squares could be rearranged.
“Like we really have time to do a puzzle,” Bones said.
“Lucky for you, I sort of have a knack for puzzles. It’s one of the reasons Tam hired me. Let me take a look.” Stone switched spots with Bones. He examined the puzzle for a minute and then a sly smile crept across his face. “It’s Latin, he said, “and since this is the tomb of Peter, let’s try this.” He reached inside and began shuffling the tiles, spelling out ‘super hanc petram.’ “Upon this rock,” he said as he slid the last tile into place.
There was no time to wonder if Stone’s solution was the correct one. The room began to shake. Maddock felt the floor move beneath his feet and he grabbed Dima and leaped back. Bones and Stone moved to the side and the four of them watched as a manhole sized circle, its edge invisible until this moment, slowly turned and descended, revealing an opening in the floor.
“I guess that was it,” Stone said.
“Nice job on the puzzle,” Maddock replied. “Now, let’s see what’s down there.”
Chapter 30
Maddock slipped down into the hole, which was only about two meters deep. He hit the ground and looked around. Walled by the same ancient rock that comprised the crypt above them, the passageway in which he now stood descended at a steep angle. Not waiting for the others, he moved on, working his way down until he reached a stone staircase. He paused at the top while the others caught up.
“You know, this underground passageway stuff is getting old,” Bones said.
“If the past few years are any indication, it’s our destiny to explore them all.”
“I guess. So what’s down there?”
The staircase led down into what appeared to be an antechamber with a tiled floor and a high ceiling. On the far side of the room stood a door, but it was not at all what Maddock had expected to find beneath an ancient crypt.
“Holy crap. That thing is high tech,” Bones said.
The door was modern, made of sturdy metal. On the wall to its left hung a security device, some sort of card reader by the look of it. And above the door a security camera looked down on the antechamber.
“I suppose if the Vatican really does keep their super secret books down here, they rely on more than puzzles and trapdoors to protect them.” Maddock turned to look at the others. “This changes things. Even if we can get past that door, we have to assume security will know we are here and will send men in after us.”
“And even if we get away, our faces will be captured on camera,” Dima said. “We will be international criminals.”
“I can get us past the door,” Stone said.
“And I can take care that camera if you’ve got some lipstick on you,” Bones said to Dima.
“How about lip balm?” Dima reached into her pocket and pulled out a tube of ChapStick. “I figured I wouldn’t need to try and look beautiful on this trip.”
“Like you even need to try.” Bones gave her a wink and took the tube of lip balm. “Perfect.” Bones moved to the far side of the staircase, hugged the wall, and hurried down. When he reached the antechamber he again pressed himself against the wall and circled the room, remaining out of sight of the camera as he made his way to the door. When he arrived at the door, he uncapped the lip balm, reached up, and coated the camera lens with the waxy substance.
“I’m sure that raised an alarm somewhere,” Maddock said. “We’d better hurry.”
Stone was down the stairs and across the antechamber in a flash, his long legs eating up the ground in great strides. He took out an object the size of a credit card with a short cord attached to it. He slid it into the security card reader and plugged the other end of the cord into a cell phone-sized object. He tapped a few buttons, the screen on his device flashed in a series of numbers scrolled across. Maddock held his breath until the light on the card reader flashed green and the door swung open.