Washington, D.C.
Ed zoomed in on the screen and Alex said, “This is incredible.”
Natalie, sitting directly behind, watched each detail. “Incredible what?” she asked.
Ed began writing down the Hebrew words listed next to Tavnit and did his best to decipher them. “Here, put these into the translation program.”
“So,” Natalie said, “the book of lists is like a treasure hunt?”
“Not sure yet,” Ed said, leaning in to see what Alex had come up with. “If the tavnit is a plan or drawing, it appears to be hidden at the location listed but...” Ed paused and refocused on the map.
“If you have something, let it out,” Alex said.
“Ah-h,” Ed replied, reading Alex’s translations. He then pointed to the screen, “Go ahead and read for Natalie what you have.” Glancing back down at his paper, Alex began reading,
“At the outlet of the North East corner of the temple-
The reign of TEHUTI-
The divine number-
The Tavnit shall be placed.”
He finished reading and leaned back, “I think we are going to need help with this one.”
Natalie glanced at both of them, “What do you mean?”
“Lately, and not to confuse you,” Ed explained, “most of our translations have been more of the ancient type where we could reference our database, but the Masons are legendary in their use of secret messages.”
She looked confused. “Okay, so how do we proceed?”
Ed lifted his PDA and scrolled through his numbers. He handed it to Alex and said, “This is the direct line of our trusted KGB Masonic historian.”
“Good choice,” Alex said, glancing at Natalie. “Vladimir Kalinchenko.” He turned to Ed, “Are you suggesting we simply call him?”
“Russian?” she asked.
“Yes, my dear,” Ed said, “he has a knack of getting right to the point without a lot of mumbo jumbo concerning Masonic mysteries. Yes, let’s just call him. He will see the standard encrypted number on his caller identification and determine its just one of us.”
Alex laughed, “Exactly, who else would be calling him at this late hour.” He then pressed the call button and pressed the speakerphone icon. He placed the PDA onto the table and let go.
After a few rings the loud, flamboyant, Russian accent of Vladimir came over the small speakers, “Oh Jesus, oh Jesus! It’s you!”
Ed leaned in, “How are you doing, my friend?”
“Upset with you! The world is on fire, the explosion in D.C., the massacres, just dreadful. You don’t call, you don’t write, you just leave me worried.”
“I don’t know what news has reached you,” Ed said tentatively.
“I heard about the university massacre, yes. It’s awful.”
Alex leaned in. “We suspect the Brotherhood.”
“Ah, Alex, it’s good to hear your voice and you sound good.”
“Doing my best to stay in the fight.”
A long silence. “As it is,” Vladimir said, “what is it that I can do for you? Let me guess, a Masonic mystery has emerged?”
Alex spoke up, “You got that right.”
Ed continued, “A group of old skeletons was discovered in a large chamber below Washington, D.C. shortly before the explosion. We examined the bones and discovered several clues etched onto them that led us to yet another location.”
“Where you found more clues,” Vladimir added.
“Yes,” Natalie enthusiastically chimed in looking at Ed.
Ed nodded and she continued, “Each of the skeletons had a ring with the number 19 on it.”
“I see,” Vladimir said, and then asked, “Do you know much about the chamber’s origins?”
“At this time, no,” Ed replied, “but we are speculating that it predated the construction of the city, including the White House.”
“That’s more than two hundred years ago,” Vladimir said with surprise in his voice.
Ed waved his finger giving the message to keep Vladimir on track. He leaned in, “Vladimir, the message on the skeletons led us to an old Hebrew book, and another clue led us to this passage within the book,” and Ed began reading,
“At the outlet of the North East corner of the temple-
The reign of TEHUTI-
The divine number-
The Tavnit shall be placed.”
Vladimir repeated it as Ed figured he was writing it down. After a few seconds, he came back on, “Very, very, very interesting. This short phrase has several very significant meanings; please wait for a moment while I grab some books.”
Ed leaned back, crossed his arms, and said, “We owe him a lot. It was he who deciphered the clues that led all of us to D.C. to begin searching for the bomb.”
“Really?”Alex replied. “Unfortunately, I missed that one.”
Vladimir’s voice crackled over the speakers, “This, my friends, is a complicated sequence of clues.”
“It appears simple enough,” Alex said, “but it’s usually the simplistic ones that cause the most problems.”
“Allow me to start with this,” Vladimir said. “Where was the book found?”
Ed released a slight laugh and leaned forward. “In a graveyard.”
The sound of turning pages emanated from the speakers. After a few seconds, Vladimir said, “I will speculate that the book was discovered inside a casket?”
“No, it was more like a stone container,” Ed answered.
More pages were heard turning. After a few seconds he came back on, “I have bad news for you.”
Ed quickly shot Alex a glance and replied, “Yes?”
“You found the book in a stone container, within a graveyard, yes?”
“Yes,” Ed said.
“Listen carefully, my friends. I want you to take this with as much seriousness as you can. You have just discovered an ancient temple.”
Natalie sat up straighter, her eyes darting from Alex to Ed and settling on the small PDA on the table.
Alex spoke first, “Okay, keep going.”
“Trust me on this,” Vladimir said. “But I have one more question. Was the stone container discovered in the northeast corner of the graveyard?”
“It most certainly was,” Ed answered.
“Was there anything else in the container?”
“A key along with a skull-and-crossbones,” Alex answered.
“I am going to open a bottle of claret to celebrate,” Vladimir announced.
“Hold on,” Ed said. “What have you come up with?”
“Forgive my premature excitement, but the container is what Masons call a cornerstone. To eliminate any questions about why it’s there, the skull-and-crossbones answers that. It is a Knights Templar symbol and their battle flag.”
“Wow,” Natalie blurted out.
“Don’t be surprised,” Vladimir said. “Therefore, before I explain further, may I inquire who is the young lady blessed with the presence of Ed and Alex?”
Ed leaned in, “This young lady is Natalie, who is our new assistant.”
“Hello,” she said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise,” Vladimir replied. “I sensed excitement in your voice at the mention of the Knights Templar.”
“I have been fascinated with the Templars for years and I am writing a college thesis on the possibility of them being here in America before Columbus.”
A subtle laugh could be heard through the small speakers. “Well,” Vladimir continued, “allow me to enlighten you on a little Masonic secret.”
“Please,” she said.
“Being taken in by Ed and his team, you amply qualify to hear this. Therefore, an understanding of the Inquisition would be a good start for you.”
“The inquisition?”
“Ah-h, to drink like a Templar,” Vladimir said, “was a common saying in England in the thirteen hundreds. Unfortunately, a couple of the knights, mostly inebriated, were accused of dancing on the Christian cross, upsetting a few heads of state, most notably King Philippe IV of France.”
“But that was never proven,” Natalie said.
“Thank you for saying that,” Vladimir replied. “Confessions of the crime were produced from torture. Most people, including historians, are unaware that the Knights Templar were the most powerful organization of its day and posed a grave threat. I personally believe that King Philippe manufactured the entire story against the Templars. Being power-obsessed, he had already kidnapped and murdered one Pope, Boniface VIII, and poisoned another, Benedict XI. Then hijacked the entire Catholic Church, uprooting it from Rome and relocating it to Avignon, France—called the Avignon captivity. An amusing point,” Vladimir continued, “is that King Philippe petitioned and was outright rejected as an honorary Templar.”
“Good Lord,” Natalie blurted out. “I never knew that.”
“Yes,” Vladimir said. “Most historians don’t know that and King Philippe’s attack on the Templars was a mix of humiliation, greed, and vindictiveness.”
Alex tapped the table and interjected, “We’re getting
off-track.”
“Bear with me,” Vladimir answered. “Remember the initial raids on the Templars began on October 13, 1307.”
“Friday the 13th,” Natalie added.
“Which is still a superstitious day even today,” Ed said.
Vladimir continued, “During the Inquisition of the Templars one must understand that there were two groups. The first were the German Templar Knights. They showed up to the inquisitor’s court, fully armed and ready to defend themselves from their would-be judges. Intimidated, the judges exonerated them as innocent. The others were the fugitive Templars that escaped.”
Ed frowned. “Are you suggesting that this graveyard is a Templar site?”
“More than that, your honor; I am suggesting that this could be the most important Templar find in North America thus far.”
“Go on,” Alex said.
“Because,” Vladimir continued, “there is one important mystery that has never been solved.”
After a brief pause building anticipation, Natalie spoke up first, “What is it?”
Vladimir continued, “Following King Philippe’s initial onslaught in France, several years passed before the rest of Europe followed suit, getting rid of the Templars. That gave plenty of time for the Templar Knights to prepare for a mass exodus with their treasure.”
“And you’re suggesting this location is a hypothetical destination?” Alex asked.
“Yes, I am,” Vladimir said. “The unsolved mystery of the millennium is the disappearance of the Templar Fleet.”
Natalie perked up, “The Templar fleet?”
“Precisely,” Vladimir said. “It was known that they had a fairly sizable seabearing fleet used to ferry pilgrims and supplies throughout the Mediterranean, but following the raids there are no records whatsoever
of where they escaped to.”
“Okay, that makes sense,” Natalie said.
Ed turned to Natalie, “You are studying the Knights Templar here in America, and surely you covered something of the Templar fleet?”
She shook her head, “Not really. The hypothesis of their landings or how they got here is still a mystery. The theory is they followed old Viking route and that’s it.”
Vladimir continued, “Well here is a little-known fact that will tickle you. In Portugal, the Templars were cleared of the charges and simply changed their name to the Knights of Christ. What is interesting about this fact is that ships of the Knights of Christ, including Columbus’ three cruises to the New World, all flew under the familiar Templars red patte cross.”
“That, I am familiar with,” Natalie said.
“Well yes, most people are, but rarely would ask why would Columbus use a Templar flag?” Vladimir continued, “I shall take it one step further. Christopher Columbus may not have been a card-carrying Templar, but was married to the daughter of a high-ranking one and she had access to his secret seafaring maps.”
Alex leaned forward, “Are you suggesting a digging expedition?”
“Most certainly, yes,” Vladimir paused again as more pages could be heard turning. He continued, “I will tell you now that a temple is either buried there or was once there. Therefore, the mystery right now as I see it, is deciphering the Masonic clue as it relates to this gravesite. Before I go any further, is there any way you can excavate the graveyard around the cornerstone?”
“At this late hour,” Ed said. “I would gather to say yes, but in order to hide our presence there the answer would be, not yet.”
“The reason why I am asking is that Masons of the past—specifically the Knights Templar—have routinely hidden secrets in plain sight in and under graveyards.”
“That makes sense,” Natalie said. “Digging up graveyards is generally taboo.”
“So I am asking myself,” Vladimir continued, “what could this secret passage be relating to? If the stone container is in fact the cornerstone of a hidden or past temple, then the search must begin precisely at that spot.” More pages could be heard turning. “Because, I will also proclaim that the Templars have buried treasure there and or near there.”
Natalie put her hand over her mouth. “Treasure they brought over from Europe.”
Ed glanced at the map, and nodded, “Then we shall begin there.”
Vladimir fell silent for a moment and then said, “Getting back to the clues—TEHUTI is an Egyptian god that is also known as Thoth. Now the reign of Thoth according to Manetho reigned for 1,560 years.”
“Huh,” Natalie said.
Alex chimed in, “I see where you’re heading with this.” He glanced at Natalie, “If I recall, Manetho was the designated Egyptian historian around 300BC.”
“Correct,” Vladimir said. “You have to remember that when deciphering Masonic codes, you generally need to go with ancient accounts of history, no matter how extreme it appears.”
“Okay,” Natalie said.
“The divine number of Thoth is 52,” Vladimir continued. “In addition, the number 52 is also coincidentally very close to the Egyptian measurement of a cubit.”
“Oh,” Ed said writing that down.
After a few seconds, Vladimir asked, “Have you deciphered the meaning of Tavnit?”
“It’s a Hebrew word,” Alex answered, “that translates as some type of plan or model of something.”
“Well,” Vladimir said, “whatever it is, if they hid it, it must be very important.”
As Ed drew on the map, he said, “Vladimir, what I am doing is measuring from the center of the cornerstone due north beginning at 360 degrees.”
“Yes,” Vladimir replied, “that is exactly what I would recommend. Then begin your search in various degrees from that point.”
Alex observed Ed doodling and asked, “How far out?”
The sound of Vladimir sighing emanated out of the small speakers, “I would...take...” He paused for a moment, “Take the reign of 1560 years and multiply it by 52.”
Natalie punched the numbers into her cell phone and said, “I’m not following you guys at all but that comes to 81,120, or roughly 2,600 feet for us nonmetric types.”
“Thank you,” Ed said recording the numbers. He did his best to convert the precise location of the cornerstone on the satellite map and then convert the proper distances. He then turned the map, “This is what I am recommending. I created a reference point by aligning the graveyard which looks to be lined up with north and south. Therefore, I took the cornerstone and aligned it up with due north as 360 degrees and drew a circle around it. I then divided it...”
Vladimir interrupted him. “Wait, I just had an idea. Why don’t you also minus the sacred number 52 from 360 degrees which would make it 308 degrees in each direction, and draw a line from there and see what it intersects.”
Ed spent a few moments performing the task. He then leaned into the PDA and said, “Going east, south, and west ends up in flat farmland, but in the northern direction we have a hill, or more accurately a long crest of a hill.” Ed then read to him the coordinates of the cornerstone.
After a brief pause, Vladimir said sternly, “That’s it.”
Alex leaned forward. “And how did you decide that so fast?”
“I’m lost,” Natalie added.
“What, you don’t know?” Vladimir asked sarcastically.
“Enlighten us,” Alex said.
Natalie chimed in and asked, “The Masons always build on high ground?”
Alex turned to Natalie, “So you don’t say.”
She shrugged. “Sorry, I guessed.”
“That’s quite all right,” Alex added, returning his attention to the PDA. “Well?”
“I agree,” Ed said. “I suggest beginning our search in the hills.”