Four of the stone tombs have had their ornate lids removed and bodies are visible. As well as skeletons, each coffin contains photographs, jewellery, letters and mementos of the individual’s life.
‘This is all one family,’ he explains. ‘Son, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.’
She looks closer and sees they are all laid out in the grey tunics and tights she imagines knights wore beneath their armour. Three red lions run over cloth where hearts once pounded. Across the ripples of bony rib cages lie iron crosses of the exact type that started her investigation.
‘The old gentleman who ran the antiques store in Maryland was killed by people trying to plunder and destroy the tombs of our knights in America. Three crosses like those you are looking at were stolen from our mausoleum near Glastonbury, inside the Meshomasic State Forest in Connecticut. I can take you there and show you, if you wish me to validate what I’m telling you.’
She looks across the bodies. ‘No need. I believe you.’
‘The man who robbed those tombs was once one of us. A trusted member of our group. Now, he seeks to destroy everything we stand for.’
‘Why such a change of heart?’
‘Money. Greed. Weakness and desperation. All the usual factors in the downfall of a man like him.’
‘But how can a couple of stolen crosses represent so big a threat to you?’
‘The people who are paying him want to destroy us. To do that they need to prove we exist. Exposing the graveyards is laying our history bare to the world. We cannot allow them to name the knights. Our order would die.’
Mitzi begins to see the dangers. ‘So I guess you got injunctions on Professor Mallory because you feared he was also about to expose you?’
‘Let’s say that some of the links he was making were too close for comfort. He could have begun a chain reaction that we might not have been able to stop.’
‘And the murders I’m working on…’ — there’s scepticism in her voice — ‘are they all down to this mysterious grave-robbing ex-knight of yours?’
Owain knows he’s being tested. ‘Not all. George Dalton will be here in the morning and he will be able to discuss in detail the homicide you have connected him to.’
‘And you think by bringing me down here, showing me all this and telling me those things, I’m going to view his answers — perhaps his admissions — in a different light?’
‘That’s exactly what I hope you’ll do.’
‘Then I’m afraid that despite all your research, you really don’t know me at all, Sir Owain. In my book, murder is murder. No excuses. No escape. Not if you’re a petty crook who made a mistake, or if you’re a finely educated diplomat who really should have known a whole lot better. Now can you get me a ride home? My stomach thinks my throat’s been cut and you don’t want to see what happens when I get any hungrier than this.’
113
It’s gone midnight by the time Mitzi gets back to the guesthouse.
The night manager, a greasy-haired thin man, says there’s no chance of anything to eat before breakfast.
‘What kind of freakin’ country is this? Life doesn’t run nine to five any more — you should know that yourself.’
‘I’m very sorry, madam.’
‘Sorry doesn’t fill my goddamned stomach.’ She stomps upstairs to her room.
Everything in the minibar is ridiculously expensive.
She guiltily opens two packs of candy and a small bottle of white wine. Her completely unsatisfactory supper costs twenty English pounds. She daren’t even convert it into dollars.
By the time she gets into bed, she’s calm enough to call her sister. To her surprise, Amber is beyond excited because Ruth’s promised to take them to the Bay Aquarium tomorrow, which apparently is made up of more than three hundred feet of underwater tunnels where you can see more than twenty thousand fish.
Mitzi would kill to see a fish. A big juicy trout. Grilled with a slice of lemon and maybe sides of fries and vegetables.
She finishes the call and turns off the phone and looks up to the heavens. ‘You listening, God? I really need your blessing and some deep and decent sleep.’ Just to make sure, she takes the last of the painkillers the hospital gave her and hunkers down beneath the sheets.
114
Owain Gwyn pours a glass of Vieux cognac and carries it from the walnut cabinet at the back of his office to his desk.
On his monitor is an icon marked NIGHTBRIEF. For once, he finds the intel hard to digest. His mind is on other matters. Not just the Californian cop and her homicide crusade but also Mardrid, Marchetti, the terror attacks in the US and UK. Jennifer’s pregnancy. Her relationship with Beaucoup.
His own mortality.
Time is running out. His time. He has to make sure the Order is in good shape to run without him.
The secure phone to New York rings and breaks him from his thoughts. ‘Hello.’
‘I hoped I’d catch you before you turned in.’ Gareth Madoc’s voice is raw from working days without sleep. ‘Our girl got a tracker on Khalid Korshidi.’
‘Well done.’
‘It gets better. He led us to a safe house out in East Flatbush. We got ears on the place, and it was a good job we had. There were already three other people in the basement. One of them was Imam Yousef Mousavi.’
The name is enough for Owain to put down his cognac. ‘You’re certain?’
‘We’ve run voice recognition software on the recordings. We’re ninety per cent sure.’
‘Did anyone use his name?’
‘No. But Nabil Tabrizi was there and he referred to him as Imam. Antun always believed Nabil reported to Mousavi.’
‘Who was the other person? You said there were three others.’
‘We don’t know, but the imam was in overall command. He led the conversations and was most reverently spoken to.’
‘The CIA and CTU would sell their souls just to get their hands on Mousavi, let alone anyone above him. Please tell me they spoke about something more important than the price of halal meat.’
‘Trinity.’
‘What?’
‘That’s what the “unknown” said. Hang on; I’ve got the transcript here. He said, and I quote: “In forty-eight hours’ time the Trinity will be no more.” Then the “unknown” asked if they all understood what was being demanded of them. They said they did. After that everything quickly slid into prayers.’
‘I’m just trying to make sense of this Trinity reference. Did the Americans get anything helpful from the men they locked up after the raid on Nabil’s body shop?’
‘I spoke to the CIA about an hour ago. They’ve got nothing so far.’
‘Pity. Trinity sounds religious but it could mean three of anything. Remember that intelligence we had about al-Qaeda targeting sports stars?’
‘I do, it was a hit list based on Forbes top earners.’
‘See if we’ve got three stars together anywhere soon.’
Gareth makes a note to himself.
Owain has another thought. ‘I’ll get some of our analysts to draw up a matrix that shows the movement of all leading politicians, sports heroes and religious leaders over the next twenty-four hours.’
‘At least you know the new Pope will be safe.’
‘I hope so. I’ll be with him in Wales for the first papal visit for more than thirty years and not even the Devil himself will be able to get through security down there.’
‘I’m sure you’re right.’
‘Any developments with the Korshidi girl?’
‘A little. I’ve pushed her to fit the recorders while her father is out. If he’s as important as she says he is, then we may get lucky.’