The Eighth Scroll by Laurence B. Brown

Author:Laurence B. Brown
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Christian, Thriller
ISBN: 9781419673238
Publisher: Booksurge
Published: 2007-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

Michael spent the next three days expanding the reference section of his mind from the stacks in the Oxford libraries. He spent the most time in the smaller libraries, where a tail would be easier to spot. His plan was simple. He didn’t believe Rachael was killed for just asking questions. She’d visited each of the five professors on her letter list, but wasn’t killed until she threatened them with exposure. The best way to find her killer was to do the same thing: visit them one by one, making himself a willing decoy. If he didn’t pick up a whiff of danger after a few days, he’d move to the next on the list.

After three days he’d seen nothing untoward, and moved to the Old Bodleian Library, Oxford University’s main research library. Disappointed to find the 1817 edition of Heinz Zahrnt’s The Historical Jesus in use, he approached the Religion desk to file a reserve slip. Second in line, he continued flipping pages on the volume in his hand while half-listening to the conversation in front of him.

“Excuse me, but I need this translated,” a freshman type asked the librarian behind the counter. “Where can I find a translation office dealing in German?”

“Do you need an official translation, or will an informal read suffice?” the woman responded, with an accent that was unmistakably American.

American? Michael wondered absentmindedly. What’s an American doing working here?

“I’m verifying a quote,” the kid in front of him said. “I need to know if my source got the translation right.”

“Here, let me take a look.”

“You’re joking,” the kid said in a voice two octaves higher. “Now that’s what I call service!”

Michael reached the end of his book, tucked it under his arm and, finding his view obscured by the freshman’s broad back, looked around impatiently for an available librarian.

The woman’s voice resumed. “Let’s see, this is recorded from Pope Innocent III in 1199— But this isn’t German, it’s Latin. An understandable mistake, given the authors’ names.”

Good. My turn. Michael faced forward again.

“In that case, how’s your Latin?” the young man joked as he reached for the book.

“Not as good as my German, but I can scrape by.”

Michael turned another impatient half-circle to check the other reference counters, but stopped moving when he heard, “Okay, here goes. ‘The mysteries of the faith are not to be explained rashly to anyone.’ Now, please understand, I’m taking some liberties. This word here is literally translated ‘vulgar’—an archaic term for ‘commoners.’ However, most wouldn’t understand that term . . .”

Michael took a half step to the side to peer around the young man’s shoulder.

“. . . So perhaps we’d better use ‘anyone’ in this case. Okay, let’s see what’s next.” Her head was bent to an open book on the counter, her face obscured, her finger on the text. A small brass nametag on her blouse introduced her as June Cody.

Without consciously intending the words to pass his lips, Michael said, “‘The mysteries of the faith are not to be explained rashly to anyone.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.