The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury

Author:Raymond Khoury
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Theft from museums, Treasure hunting, Action & Adventure, Secrets, Government investigators, Suspense fiction, Fiction, Historical, United States - Officials and employees, Suspense, Templars, Thrillers, Vatican City, Theft from museums - New York (State) - New York, Women archaeologists, Catholic Church, Government investigators - New York (State) - New York
ISBN: 9780451219954
Publisher: Signet Books
Published: 2006-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

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Chapter 48

Tess's mind was still roaming the Mameluke hinterland when Jansson's voice interrupted her medieval sojourn and yanked her right back down to earth.

"We have to assume Vance has translated this too by now," he stated gruffly.

Reilly nodded without hesitation. "Absolutely."

She remembered where she was and, still clutching the printout, she studied the faces around her. They didn't seem as caught up in the sublimity of the moment as she was. It was different for her. This extraordinary and private insight into the lives, actions, thoughts, and deaths of these legendary men touched her deeply. On another level, it was also confirmation of everything her instincts had been harping at since the night of the raid. Her whole body was tingling with anticipation. This could be her Troy, her Tutankhamen. She wondered whether any of those sitting there were at all galvanized by what the printout in their hands hinted at, or whether they were simply interested in the letter because of how it might help them solve a particularly vexing case.

Jansson's expression left no doubt as to which one it was. "Okay, so we still don't know what we're talking about here," he went on, "apart from the fact that whatever it is, it's small enough to be carried around in a shoulder pouch—but at least we know where he's going. Fonsalis? Jansson flashed Kendricks a questioning look.

"Sorry," Kendricks answered somberly. "Can't help you there. I've got a bunch of guys working on it, but so far they're hitting a wall. We haven't found any records of it anywhere."

Jansson frowned, clearly annoyed. "Nothing?"

"No. Not yet anyway. We're talking thirteenth-century Europe here. They didn't exactly have MapQuest back then. Mapmaking was a very crude, primitive exercise, and, as it is, very few charts from the period have survived, to say nothing of written texts. We're working our way through whatever writings we have from then onward, everything up to this day—letters, journals, that kind of thing. It's gonna take time."

Tess watched Jansson sink back into his seat and run a hand up the back of his head. His face clouded. The man clearly didn't take kindly to being thwarted on anything having to do with hard, researchable data.

"So maybe Vance hasn't figured it out yet either," Aparo offered.

Tess hesitated before stepping in. "I wouldn't count on it. It's his area of expertise. References to somewhere like that may not come up in widely published works that you might have in your database. They're more likely to be found in some obscure manuscript of the time, the kind of rare book that someone like Vance would know where to find."

Jansson studied her, seemingly mulling it over for a moment. Seated next to him was De Angelis. His gaze was locked on her. She couldn't read him, though. Surely, of all the people in the room, he had to appreciate the value of what they'd just had the privilege of participating in. But he hadn't shown any signs of wonder and hadn't said a word throughout the meeting.

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