‘Is it any easier to believe that someone in Iran hired those mercenaries?’
Before Miriam could respond, Lourds lightly kicked her foot under the table. She ducked her head and returned her attention to her plate.
Namati focused on Lourds. ‘You remember Yitzhak Rabin?’
‘Of course.’ The Israeli politician and military general had been assassinated while serving as prime minister in his country. Yigal Amir, a right-wing Israeli radical, killed Rabin for signing the Oslo Accords, which had come out of the first face-to-face arrangement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization.
‘He was, perhaps, a message for our time.’
‘What message?’
‘That the Jewish and Islamic worlds are not yet ready to come to an arrangement that will leave both happy.’ Namati shrugged. ‘Lev was still a believer, and I loved him for it, but I also feared for him.’
‘I hope that’s not true.’
‘Would it be better if the men behind his murder were Islamic extremists?’
For a moment, Lourds was tempted to tell the man they had proof that Lev’s death had come through orders of the Ayatollah. The anger over his friend’s death burned harshly in him. But he curbed it, knowing saying that to anyone who might be connected to the Revolutionary Guard could get him killed.
‘No. It wouldn’t be better.’ Lourds glanced at the front of the restaurant as their chelo kebabs arrived.
Reza sat in the foyer and talked on a cell phone. As Lourds inhaled the aroma of the flame-broiled beef on a bed of basmati rice, he glanced through one of the restaurant windows and spotted a black car with two men in it parked across the street.
He tried to remember if they’d been there before and couldn’t. However, it was unusual for two men to sit inside a vehicle in the heat. The temperature had almost reached a hundred degrees. He glanced at Miriam and saw she had noticed the men as well.
42
Alice called while Lourds was at his desk in the hotel room, poring over the mysterious book. The fact that the answer — and a map — lurked somewhere within its pages felt unnerving. Everything was within his grasp, yet he couldn’t close his hand around any of it.
He welcomed the distraction of the phone call. ‘How have you been?’
‘Well enough.’ Alice sounded exhausted.
Lourds stood and paced as he talked. Concentrating on tomes and scrolls was backbreaking labor, made even harder when the frustration levels peaked.
‘You’re safe?’ He lifted the curtain and looked outside, surprised at how dark it was. He’d spent the afternoon with Namati, Miriam, and Reza, taking in the sights of Tehran as the professor pointed them out. Then he’d returned with Miriam to the hotel and taken a nap. He’d been working on the book ever since.
‘I am. I absconded with several million euros and hired a private security company out of Britain. All ex-SAS soldiers who don’t think highly of Klaus’s pro-Iran position. I’m thinking of the money as my early divorce settlement.’
Lourds chuckled. ‘Just remember that Von Volker is a dangerous man.’
‘I’m safe, but I worry about you, Thomas. You’re the one sticking your head in the lion’s mouth. I saw what happened at Ben Gurion.’
‘We came through it all right.’
‘I didn’t see much of the young lady accompanying you, but she looks very pretty.’
‘I hadn’t noticed.’
Alice laughed. ‘For a world-renowned linguist, you lie pathetically.’
Feeling a little uncomfortable, Lourds chuckled. ‘All right. Perhaps I have noticed. She took me shopping today.’
‘Seductress.’
‘Actually, our clothes burned up in the taxi, and we were pressed for time.’
‘A woman only takes a man shopping for one reason. To have him watch her dress.’
‘I believe there are two reasons. I offered to pick up the tab since she’s a college student, and replacing the clothing would have been a hardship for her.’
‘How very gallant of you. I suppose you insisted on going along to see how your money was being spent.’
‘Nope. I tried to stay at the hotel and squeeze in another couple hours of sleep. She insisted I go along to save time. Or to give her more time.’
‘Then I return to my initial supposition. You were getting vamped.’
‘I didn’t feel as though I was getting vamped. I usually know these things.’
‘I beg to differ. As I recall, even with the history between us, I had to make the first moves and even flag them for your attention.’
Lourds sighed. ‘Okay, okay, stop. I’m tired, and I’m not at my best for wordplay. I’m still trying to wrap my head around this book Lev found, and I’m getting my butt kicked.’
‘No help in Tehran?’
‘Not really. Maybe I should say, not so far. Lev left a note that made him sound like he was convinced the professor I’ve been in contact with here knew something or had something.’
‘Then maybe I can help brighten your day.’
Smiling, Lourds paced a little more energetically. ‘You found something?’
‘Perhaps. I went through the Islamic artifacts as you suggested. As it turned out, Lev had collected seven figurines of al-Buraq.’
‘Special fascination?’
‘According to his records, which Klaus also arranged to get, five of these figurines were recent purchases. Do you have a timeline on when Lev found the book you’re translating?’
Lourds checked the notes in his journal. ‘Lev acquired the book in Cairo in January of this year.’
‘Five of these figurines were collected from the month of May. The most recent acquisition was in July.’
‘Why the interest in al-Buraq?’
‘He was the winged horse that took Mohammad to the Al-Aqsa Mosque.’
‘But that’s not enough—’
‘A further detail of interest: all five of these figurines are supposedly modeled on an artifact sculpted by one of the builders who worked on the Dome of the Rock. A man named … Sahih al-Maliki.’
‘I saw that name mentioned in the book, but I haven’t had time to research him. He was just listed as one of the men who helped build the Dome of the Rock.’
‘I researched al-Maliki.’
‘Good woman.’
‘There’s not much information on him. In addition to helping build the Dome of the Rock, he left behind a few sculptures.’
‘More flying horses?’
‘Al-Maliki only made the one al-Buraq. Want to guess who owns it?’
Lourds sat in his chair and felt as though a lightning bolt had zinged through him when the pieces started dropping into place in his mind. ‘Professor Hashem Nabi Namati.’
Alice sounded surprised. ‘You already knew that? Lev spent seven weeks tracking the manifest on that piece.’
‘I didn’t know that, but I saw a statue of al-Buraq on one of the shelves in Namati’s office only a few hours ago. I suspect Lev saw it too, and that’s why he verified the authenticity of the piece. Is there any mention of why Lev went to such trouble?’
‘No, but there is something odd in Lev’s notes. He took rubbings of all seven al-Buraqs in his possession. There are also rubbings of other flying horses as well. Lev was searching for something.’
‘Yes.’ Lourds sat at the desk and pondered the pages of the book, imagining how the statue of al-Buraq in Namati’s office would look across the pages. From his estimation, the statue would fit from top to bottom.
‘You’re quiet all of a sudden.’
‘I’m thinking.’
‘Care to share?’
Lourds took a deep breath and let it out. ‘I think I know how this book was coded, and I think Lev had figured it out, too. In order to confirm it, however, I’m going to have to get Professor Namati’s statue.’