Matthew sat in the waiting room on a futon couch, apparently unaware of anything around him. Jake was in his leather chair; Benicio was on the client couch. They were watching Matthew.
“So, who is he?” Jake asked.
Benicio hesitated. “His name is Matthew. He’s autistic. I’m trying to help him.”
“Help him what?”
“It’s complicated,” Benicio said. “I don’t even know where to begin.”
“On the phone you said you were in trouble with the church.”
“I think I am. They want the boy.”
“But you work for the church, don’t you? Last I heard, you were a priest.”
Benicio smiled. “I still am.” Pause. “I think.” He sighed, then told Jake everything. For twenty minutes both men forgot about the boy in the waiting room. When the priest stopped, there was a long silence.
“So why does the Vatican think Matthew can read the book?” Jake asked, scratching his head. He was watching Matthew again. He was pretty sure the boy hadn’t moved.
“I think it might have something to do with speaking in tongues. The church has been waiting for years, decades, for the right person to come along, someone who could read the book. Maybe this child is the right person. That’s what I’m supposed to be investigating.”
“And?” Jake prompted.
“He might be able to read it. Unfortunately, the Voynich manuscript was stolen before I got to New Haven, so I couldn’t test that theory. But there’s definitely something odd going on.”
“The book was stolen? From the Yale library?”
“Yep.”
“Wouldn’t that be pretty tough to do?”
“I think so,” said Benicio.
Jake waited for more explanation but saw he wouldn’t get any. “So, if the book’s gone, now what?”
“I don’t know. Apparently, there are copies of the whole book available online as well as other info on the Voynich. I haven’t had a chance to check.”
“Okay, but what about this kid? How could he read a book nobody else can?”
“Well, as I said, he’s autistic. That’s why I thought of you. I took the college classes, but I don’t remember much about autism. I was hoping you kept up to date on your child psych.”
“Nope. I’ve only worked with a few kids.” He and Benicio watched Matthew. The boy never moved a muscle.
Benicio sighed, then said, “I suspect the church is afraid of what’s in the manuscript. I think they don’t want anyone to read it, ever. I think they’ll do anything to keep that from happening.”
“Anything?” Jake asked in a stagy, ominous voice.
Benicio nodded.
Jake was suddenly serious. “They want to kill the boy?”
“I can’t be sure.”
“And so you just took him? That’s why you’re in trouble with the church — you kidnapped the kid?”
“I felt I didn’t have a choice. His foster parents were going to sell him for ten thousand dollars — then the Vatican sent those goons to get him, and the goons probably killed Father McCallum. I liked the old guy, Jake. He’s spent his whole life working for the Vatican, watching the book, and the church tries to kill him. None of this is right. I needed help. And there’s no one I trust more than you.”
Both men looked at Matthew. He hadn’t moved.
When Jake spoke, his voice was calm and measured. “Tell me again how this boy could read an unknown language.”
“I’ve been thinking about that. Do you remember we learned about speech development in our child courses? I think he can see patterns in the book that no one else can see.” Benicio waited for an acknowledgment, but when there was none he continued. “Do you remember anything about speech development from our child courses?”
“Vaguely.”
“Well, I remembered reading about how complicated speech development is for young children, yet they pick it up so easily. Learning the rules of a language and being able to apply them by the age of two or three — it’s nothing short of a miracle.”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way,” Jake said slowly, “but you’re right.”
“Psychology tells us that humans are born with two unusual gifts: speech and written language. Humans are pre-wired to speak and read.”
Jake nodded.
“Well, why should our brains be pre-wired for only one language? Maybe some people’s minds are built to understand other languages, but because those languages are obscure or not used anymore, those people don’t even know about their special gift.”
“So there might be things we could read automatically, without any training? Our brains are ready to interpret languages we’ve never even seen?”
“Yes,” Benicio said excitedly. “That’s exactly what I mean! Language is an automatic process. Our minds read and understand things, and we don’t have to do any work.” He leaned over and took a piece of paper and a pen from the desk, wrote a few lines then handed the paper to Jake. “What does this say?”
U wn’t hve any prblm rdng ths.
Rdng is a fnny thng nd we do it automtclly.
Jake read it out loud and smiled. “I see what you’re saying. Our minds automatically try to make sense out of the world around us, fill in gaps and put meaning where there isn’t any. And we do that even with language.”
“And that isn’t a learned ability,” Benicio said. “Neither is speaking in tongues — it’s a phenomenon that borrows from the way our brains are wired to interpret meaning in things around us. Looking at it in that way, the phenomenon of recognizing a language we don’t understand isn’t so bizarre. It’s really a matter of using natural mechanisms that are already programmed.”
“Okay,” Jake said, “but why is the book so important?”
“Because it’s about that Old Testament stuff, about angels having sex with women and the women giving birth to human angels. The church thinks Matthew is half angel and half man.”
“No wonder you wanted to get the kid away from them.”
Benicio nodded.
“So what can I do?” Jake asked.
“I wish I knew, my friend. I needed to get Matthew away. I knew the church was coming for him, and to be quite honest I’ve felt a little over my head with an autistic child. I thought you’d be better equipped to advise me.”
“Because I have children of my own, or because I work as a clinical psychologist?”
“Both.”
“You know I’d do anything for you. If you guys want to stay at the house or borrow my car or whatever — name it. The one thing I don’t have much of right now is time. Wyatt’s in the hospital and going for surgery tomorrow.”
“I understand.” Benicio stood. “I know everything will work out with Wyatt. I’m sure of it. You should focus your energy there.”
“No. I’ll help you any way I can. I’m just saying —”
“That’s fine,” Benicio interrupted. “I’ve got a few things to check on. Then I’ll call you.”
“You know what, I’ve got just a couple more patients to deal with and then I could spare a little time. Why don’t the three of us go look up this Voynich on the Internet. I can meet you at Dalhousie University and we can use my computer account there.”
Benicio didn’t look convinced.
“I really am interested,” Jake continued. “We can check this thing out online and then you and the boy will come stay at my place.”
Relief washed over Benicio. “Thank you very much, Jake. I knew I could count on you.”
“Now get out of here so I can finish up. I’ll meet you in front of the Dal library in two hours.”
Benicio looked like he was going to say something more, but stopped. He turned and moved to the waiting room. Matthew fell into step with Benicio and they left.