Lieutenant Collet helped himself to a Perrier from Teabing's refrigerator and strode back outthrough the drawing room. Rather than accompanying Fache to London where the action was, hewas now baby-sitting the PTS team that had spread out through Chateau Villette.
So far, the evidence they had uncovered was unhelpful: a single bullet buried in the floor; a paperwith several symbols scrawled on it along with the words blade and chalice; and a bloody spikedbelt that PTS had told Collet was associated with the conservative Catholic group Opus Dei, whichhad caused a stir recently when a news program exposed their aggressive recruiting practices inParis.
Collet sighed. Good luck making sense of this unlikely mélange.
Moving down a lavish hallway, Collet entered the vast ballroom study, where the chief PTSexaminer was busy dusting for fingerprints. He was a corpulent man in suspenders.
Anything?" Collet asked, entering.
The examiner shook his head. "Nothing new. Multiple sets matching those in the rest of the house.""How about the prints on the cilice belt?""Interpol is still working. I uploaded everything we found."Collet motioned to two sealed evidence bags on the desk. "And this?"The man shrugged. "Force of habit. I bag anything peculiar."Collet walked over. Peculiar
This Brit's a strange one," the examiner said. "Have a look at this." He sifted through the evidencebags and selected one, handing it to Collet.
The photo showed the main entrance of a Gothic cathedral—the traditional, recessed archway,narrowing through multiple, ribbed layers to a small doorway.
Collet studied the photo and turned. "This is peculiar?""Turn it over."On the back, Collet found notations scrawled in English, describing a cathedral's long hollow naveas a secret pagan tribute to a woman's womb. This was strange. The notation describing thecathedral's doorway, however, was what startled him. "Hold on! He thinks a cathedral's entrancerepresents a woman's..."The examiner nodded. "Complete with receding labial ridges and a nice little cinquefoil clitorisabove the doorway." He sighed. "Kind of makes you want to go back to church."Collet picked up the second evidence bag. Through the plastic, he could see a large glossyphotograph of what appeared to be an old document. The heading at the top read
Les Dossiers Secrets—Number 4° lm1 249"What's this?" Collet asked.
No idea. He's got copies of it all over the place, so I bagged it."Collet studied the document.
PRIEURE DE SIGN—LES NAUTONIERS/GRAND MASTERSJEAN DE GISORS1188-1220MARIE DE SAINT-CLAIR1220-1266GUILLAUME DE GlSORS1266-1307EDOUARD DE BAR1307-1336JEANNE DE BAR1336-1351JEAN DE SAINT-CLAIR1351-1366BLANCE D'EVREUX1366-1398NICOLAS FLAMEL1398-1418RENE D'ANJOU1418-1480IOLANDE DE BAR1480-1483SANDRO BOTTICELLI1483-1510LEONARDO DA VINCI1510-1519CONNETABLE DE BOURBON1519-1527FERDINAND DE GONZAQUE1527-1575LOUIS DE NEVERS1575-1595ROBERT FLUDD1595-1637J. VALENTIN ANDREA1637-1654ROBERT BOYLE1654-1691ISAAC NEWTON1691-1727CHARLES RADCLYFFE1727-1746CHARLES DE LORRAINE1746-1780MAXIMILIAN DE LORRAINE1780-1801CHARLES NODIER1801-1844VICTOR HUGO1844-1885CLAUDE DEBUSSY1885-1918JEAN COCTEAU1918-1963Prieuré de Sion? Collet wondered.
Lieutenant?" Another agent stuck his head in. "The switchboard has an urgent call for CaptainFache, but they can't reach him. Will you take it?"Collet returned to the kitchen and took the call.
It was André Vernet.
The banker's refined accent did little to mask the tension in his voice. "I thought Captain Fache saidhe would call me, but I have not yet heard from him.""The captain is quite busy," Collet replied. "May I help you?""I was assured I would be kept abreast of your progress tonight."For a moment, Collet thought he recognized the timbre of the man's voice, but he couldn't quiteplace it. "Monsieur Vernet, I am currently in charge of the Paris investigation. My name isLieutenant Collet."There was a long pause on the line. "Lieutenant, I have another call coming in. Please excuse me. Iwill call you later." He hung up.
For several seconds, Collet held the receiver. Then it dawned on him. I knew I recognized thatvoice! The revelation made him gasp.
The armored car driver.
With the fake Rolex.
Collet now understood why the banker had hung up so quickly. Vernet had remembered the nameLieutenant Collet—the officer he blatantly lied to earlier tonight.
Collet pondered the implications of this bizarre development. Vernet is involved. Instinctively, heknew he should call Fache. Emotionally, he knew this lucky break was going to be his moment toshine.
He immediately called Interpol and requested every shred of information they could find on theDepository Bank of Zurich and its president, André Vernet.
PTS
PTS
PTS
lm"249.
J.
