Morelli took a piece of crusty bread and broke it in half. “Did you know Sir Isaac Newton believed there was a hidden code in the Bible that would reveal the future?”
“You’re kidding! I never knew that about him.”
“When Newton’s biographer went through his papers at Cambridge, he was amazed to find that the father of modern physics was obsessed with the subject. Newton even learned Hebrew and spent most of his life trying to find it. For centuries, many have suspected there was some kind of code in the Bible, but now, Leo, with the advent of computers, we can finally see what many have suspected was there all along.”
Leo pushed his plate away. “Now that I think back on it, I remember hearing somewhere that the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli prime minister, was predicted by some kind of code recently discovered in the Bible.”
“The encoded message not only foretold his assassination, but the year he would be murdered. The name of the assassin, Amir, was spelled out on the same page of the Bible above Rabin’s name. The Prime Minister had been warned beforehand by the researchers who found the encoded message, but he shook them off when they presented the evidence to him. He refused to believe it. We also found the name of every American president and the years they were in office. Lev’s team knew who was going to win the last presidential election before it was even held. Hundreds of other events are also encoded in the Bible. Both World Wars, the Holocaust, men landing on the moon, 9/11, the Gulf War, even the exact date of the collision of the Shoemaker-Levi comet with Jupiter. All are encoded in the Bible.”
Both priests reclined in their chairs and sipped their wine as the waiter arrived with the second course. The perfectly cooked rabbit was swimming in a rich, dark sauce that Father Leo had been trying to duplicate for years with little success. Leo savored the tender meat along with the sauce he had coveted for so long. He had been thinking about this meal ever since he stepped off the plane.
“So,” Leo said, “what about this mysterious chapel that you mentioned in the letter? Have you found any proof that it actually exists?”
“The first indication of the chapel’s existence surfaced a year ago when we found a single reference in the code to a very holy Christian chapel buried for almost two thousand years. Then, the day before I sent for you, Lev’s team discovered two additional encoded passages. The first passage placed the chapel right here in Rome, but the second passage had more chilling implications. It linked this secret chapel to the end of days as prophesized in Revelation.”
“What’s the Church’s position in all of this?”
“I have no idea.”
“Haven’t you discussed it with anyone at the Vatican?”
“Only a few trusted friends know about my work, and I’ve asked them not to discuss it with anyone else for now.”
“That sounds a little ominous. Why not?”
“Because there are powers, maybe even evil ones, that don’t want us to know about the chapel’s existence.”
Father Leo stopped eating. “Did you really just say evil powers?”
“There is a section encoded in the Book of Genesis with the words against mankind written in Hebrew. It appears vertically on the page. The word Satan is spelled out horizontally over it two thirds of the way down, forming an upside-down cross in the middle of the page. You would not be able see this in the English version of the Bible. You can only see it in the original Hebrew. Lev Wasserman and I believe this finding is a clear indication that there are forces aligned against those of us who work in God’s name. We also found another encoded message in a different section that clearly states this malevolent force is now embedded within our own church.”
Leo sat back in his chair and tried to make sense of everything Morelli had just told him. The implications were frightening but tantalizing at the same time. A code in the Bible that foretold the future could be considered secular proof of God’s existence.
Morelli looked around before leaning over the table so that only Leo could hear him. “Things are beginning to happen quickly now, Leo. A few hours ago, we found a reference to an ancient Christian seal that apparently points to the chapel’s location under the Basilica.”
“A seal? Where?”
“Not a clue, but according to what we read in the code, it’s very special and we’ll have no trouble recognizing it when we see it. The team in Israel has gone to a twenty-four hour schedule in their search for a description. Everyone on the team, including myself, has encrypted software installed in their computers that searches for coded words and sentences hidden within the Bible. I’ve entered the words seal, chapel, seal under the Vatican, plus hundreds of other combinations, but nothing has surfaced yet. It can be an exhaustive process, Leo, but if you use the computer program and let it run through all the various sequences, the code soon reveals itself.”
Leo took a sip of wine and gazed across the piazza over Morelli’s shoulder. In the distance, he spotted a tall man dressed in a black cassock and wearing the crimson skull cap of a cardinal. It was Marcus Lundahl, and he was walking in their direction. The cardinal was accompanied by his ever-present assistant, Father Emilio, a short, quiet man with thinning hair that contrasted with heavy dark eyebrows.
Following Leo’s gaze, Morelli swiveled in his chair and swore a silent oath before turning back toward Leo.
“What’s wrong, Anthony?”
“No one’s supposed to know you’re here.”
“What?”
Morelli shot Leo a cautionary look as they both dropped their napkins and stood to greet the cardinal. “I didn’t tell anyone I sent for you. Just follow my lead and remember not to mention anything about the chapel.”
The cardinal stopped in front of their table and, without a word, extended his hand. Ritual and etiquette required lower-ranking priests to kiss the ring of a cardinal out of respect for his rank as a Prince of the Church. He studied the two priests like a cat watching a doomed insect run across a carpet as they bent to kiss the large gold ring. “Good evening, Fathers. I apologize for interrupting your meal.”
“Good evening, Your Eminence. Won’t you join us?” Morelli cast a sideways glance at Leo. “You remember our old classmate, Father Leo, don’t you, sir?”
“Yes, of course. It’s nice to see you back in Rome, Father. I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t stay. I’m late for a meeting. Why don’t you come by my office the day after tomorrow, Leopold? We can have lunch, and I can catch up on news from America.”
“That is most kind, sir. I look forward to it.”
The tension generated by the unexpected encounter with the cardinal and his assistant was as thick as the rain-induced humidity hanging in the warm air.
“A pleasure as always to see you too, Father Morelli. I hear you have been busy under my feet lately.”
“I beg your pardon, Eminence?”
“I’m referring to your recent excavation under the Basilica. Father Emilio likes to keep me posted on your work.” The cardinal smiled at Morelli. “See to it you don’t knock anything loose that would cause the entire church to cave in.”
Morelli glanced at Emilio before turning back toward Lundahl. “Oh, no, sir. I’m very careful in my digging, Eminence.”
“I’m sure that you are, Father,” Lundahl’s expression was like a blank canvas.
The cardinal’s usually stone-faced assistant was now glaring at Leo. “I didn’t realize you had business in Rome, Father. You usually notify us before you come.”
“He wanted to surprise me,” Morelli said quickly.
The assistant’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, it is a surprise.”
“We’re just happy to see you again, Leopold,” the cardinal said, raising his hand in front of Emilio. “Call my secretary and put yourself on my schedule.”
“I will, sir. It was good seeing you again.”
With that, Lundahl was off, taking long steps as he crossed the cobblestoned piazza while his assistant tried to keep up.