The Messiah Secret

‘According to the Bible, it was made by Moses following the orders of God, to act as a repository for the original Ten Commandments, so I suppose you could say that the place “from whence it came” was most likely Mount Sinai. That was where Moses was meant to have received the Covenant.’

‘And Mount Sinai is where, exactly?’

‘Somewhere in the Middle East, but there are several different suggestions as to exactly where.’

‘So if the Ark was taken and hidden somewhere on a mountain in the Middle East, where the hell would you start looking for it? I’m assuming you didn’t find anywhere conveniently named the Valley of the Flowers when you were doing your research?’

‘Actually, I found quite a lot of them,’ Angela replied, ‘but none of them were located at any site that could conceivably have been mistaken for Mount Sinai.’

Bronson nodded. ‘And with all the activity in the Middle East – by archaeologists as well as by invading armies – it would have to be a really well-hidden “place of stone” that could have escaped detection over the last two millennia. And if anyone had found the Ark, I presume we’d know about it by now.’

‘Almost certainly.’

‘OK,’ Bronson said, ‘here’s a thought. I know you said that finding out where Mohalla was didn’t really matter, but actually I think it might be worth doing. We’re talking two thousand years ago, when the fastest way to move something like the Ark would be in a horse-drawn cart that might cover twenty or thirty miles a day. I know the piece of text says that Isaac and his mates “journeyed long and far”, but that would be “long and far” in the context of that time. If they travelled for a solid week and managed thirty miles a day, which would be pretty good going, they’d still only have covered about two hundred miles. I think if we can find out where Mohalla is, we’ll have a much better idea about where to start looking for the “place of stone”.’

Angela was silent for a few moments, then she looked across at him, a slight smile on her face. ‘Actually, Chris,’ she said, ‘that’s a pretty good thought. These days we’re so used to the concept of high-speed travel – five hundred miles a day in a fast car, ten times that distance in an aircraft – that you have to take a couple of steps back to really appreciate the difficulties involved in covering any distance at all that long ago. Right, we’ll have to find Mohalla.’

Bronson sat back and stretched his legs. It had been a long hard day, and he knew there was some way yet to go. ‘I’ve just had another thought,’ he said, ‘and I’ll make you a prediction.’

‘What?’

‘You told me that Bartholomew Wendell-Carfax died suddenly?’

‘Yes. He had a heart attack at home, when he was in the middle of preparing for yet another expedition to search for the treasure.’

‘And he’d had those two pictures painted a short time before?’

Angela nodded.

‘Maybe the biggest clue of all has been staring us in the face all along. Why do you think Bartholomew chose those two subjects for the portraits?’

‘Because he needed to be able to hide the Persian text in the paintings, and those two costumes were ideal for that purpose.’

‘Well, I think Bartholomew had a sense of humour. I think he was looking forward to pointing out the Persian writing in the paintings to his son, and I also think he’d finally found out exactly where Mohalla is or was, and the paintings tell us that as well.’

‘How?’ Angela asked.

‘It’s right in front of you. Just look at the pictures again.’

Angela flicked back through the images stored on her laptop, found the ones that showed the two paintings and stared at them, one after the other.

‘It might be obvious to you, Chris, but it certainly isn’t to me.’

‘Think it through. Bartholomew could have chosen any number of subjects that would have allowed him to hide the Persian text, so why did he choose these two?’

‘I’ve no idea, and if you don’t tell me this instant, I’m going to— ’

‘India,’ Bronson said simply. ‘In one picture he looks like an Indian maharaja, and in the other like an Indian chief. The paintings are linked, obviously, because each one has about half of the Persian text on it, but apart from that the only common feature is the subject material. And that’s two things – both the paintings show Bartholomew and both of them link him with India.’

Angela shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, Chris, but that’s just too obvious.’

Bronson grinned. ‘I disagree,’ he said. ‘And I’ll make you a bet that when you do dig up some reference to Mohalla, you’ll find that it’s somewhere in India.’

Sitting in a plastic chair on the opposite side of the airport lounge, completely hidden behind a copy of the Wall Street Journal that he’d purchased from the airport shop, JJ Donovan slightly adjusted the position of the shotgun mike resting on his lap as the sound in his earphones – they looked like the type you use with an iPod – faded slightly.