Ashe’s hunch had been right. Herr Gerhard Fitzthum of Fitzthum & Nietzsche recalled the face. He was sure: this was the man who called himself Mustapha Atbash. This was the man who had arranged the lease in Altona, Hamburg.
Colonel Aslan had set up the whole apartment.
All morning Karla Lindars had tried to reach Aslan in his Istanbul office. No one was answering the phone. The switchboard operator in Ümraniye could give no information. Ashe tried Aslan’s mobile: no answer.
And all the time, the contents of the Baba Sheykh’s curious speech raced round Ashe’s mind. Had the Baba Sheykh quit Istanbul because of al-Qasr? Or could it be that the warning was somehow connected to the Baba Sheykh’s speech?
Tired of making Ashe coffee, Karla stood in front of his desk, put her hands on her hips and screamed his name.
‘Good. I’ve got your attention. Toby, I have come to listen. I have come to be mummy.’
‘That’s all I bloody need!’
‘Maybe it is, at this moment. Just tell me what is going on in your head? And see if I can help, just a bit. First, what, if I may ask, is in that document there?’
‘Which one?’
‘The one you’ve been fiddling with since last night. The one you had in the bathroom. The one you had at breakfast. That one. There. What’s it all about?’
‘That, darling Karla, is a very original account of the origins and development of Freemasonry. Freshly swiped from the United Grand Lodge of England.’
‘So, kindly explain its contents. It will make you feel better.’
Ashe took a deep breath. ‘All right. The Grand Lodge of England was the first “Grand Lodge” of Freemasonry anywhere in the world. According to its Constitutions, which were published in 1723, four Lodges got together in a Covent Garden pub in 1716, and decided to join together as a “Grand Lodge” the following year. What does that tell you?’
‘I don’t know. What are you driving at?’
‘There were four Lodges. Then there was a Grand Lodge. When did Freemasonry start?’
‘Oh, I get it! For four Lodges to come together, there must have already been Freemasonry in 1716 – before there was a “Grand Lodge”.’
‘Right. Freemasonry already existed. It was an adjunct to the skilled trade of masonry and architecture. A “freemason” was the English term for one who worked in “freestone”. And freestone was another name for sandstone and limestone that was good for carving. Try carving granite and you’ll see what I mean. These freestone masons, or “freemasons”, belonged to companies. By the time of James I, the London Company of Freemasons had been active for some two centuries. They fixed their own wages, and had their own rituals and traditions.’
‘OK. Did you get this from the Baba Sheykh’s speech?’
‘No. This is just basic history.’
‘Basic!’
‘And the Baba Sheykh, it turns out, knows it much better than I do. Now, some time between that alleged meeting of four London Lodges in 1716, and the year 1723, when the supposedly new organisation published its Constitutions, something odd happened. The so-called “Grand Lodge” removed the old stipulation that an actual working stonemason should be present at the meetings of Lodges of Accepted Masons.’
‘Hold on. Why’s that odd? And what’s an “Accepted Mason”? And why weren’t all the members working masons?’
‘I’m coming to that. Before the new “Grand Lodge”, special meetings were held in the City of London by the leaders of the London Masons’ Company, formerly known as the London Company of Freemasons. Senior master masons, what we would now call “architects”, could attend, as well as gentlemen with an interest in the practical and mystical aspects of building and geometry. They were usually friends of senior members of the Masons’ Company. We know from records that one very special meeting was called an “Acception”.’
‘Is that where “Accepted” Mason comes from?’
‘Right. Scholars think that it was at this meeting – the Acception – that brother masons celebrated something symbolic about their craft: a higher, more esoteric insight, based on very old traditions of masonry. Evidence suggests that the spiritual and intellectual aspects of architecture were more of a focus at these meetings. When you’d been initiated at the meeting, you became “accepted”. That is, you’d accepted something.’
‘What’s this spiritual and intellectual side you speak of, Toby? Weird stuff?’
‘I’ll let the Baba Sheykh enlighten us on this matter in a minute, Karla. But first I want you to understand why it is so significant that the so-called “Grand Lodge” separated itself from the science, art and trade of masonry.’
‘Are you saying that they hijacked the Acception meetings from the old order of craft Masonry?’
‘You’re very quick on the uptake today, Karla. There’s a body of evidence to suggest that yes, something of the sort happened. Because by 1730, English Freemasonry had become a self-contained Order available for export – and it was completely separate from the trade. So something fundamental had obviously occurred.’
‘Fascinating. But if I was organising a new Order, I think I’d want people to know it was very old.’
‘That’s one of the contradictory things about modern British Freemasonry. By the time of Queen Victoria, leading Freemasons were distinguishing between “speculative” and “operative” Freemasonry. Grand Lodge Freemasonry was “speculative”, which seems to have meant “symbolic and philosophical”, whereas the old builders, carvers and architects knew only “operative” masonry. That way, the new Order could have its cake and eat it! True Freemasonry started with the Grand Lodge, but it was also very ancient! Operative equals old; speculative equals new.’
‘Sounds like a class distinction. Tradesmen’s entrance and all that.’
‘Well, the Victorian era saw Masonry in England becoming more and more a bourgeois phenomenon: a badge of acceptability in some quarters.’
‘Yuck!’
‘Quite. Or one could say Freemasonry had become positive social cement with a healthy interest in charity. Anyway, back to the contradictions… It was not discouraged during all that time for Freemasons to think of themselves as belonging to an Order with roots in academically respectable ancient civilisations – Greek, Roman, Egyptian, even Druid, with their links to Stonehenge. That sort of thing came to be tolerated as part of the romantic ethos of “the Craft” – as the brotherhood of Freemasons is known. But by the twentieth century, leading members of Grand Lodge began to disassociate themselves from this picture. They began to stress that there was a very clear line to be drawn between what preceded Grand Lodge Freemasonry, and what came after it. Effectively, real “speculative” Masonry was the intellectual property of the United Grand Lodge of England.’
‘OK. So what does the Baba Sheykh have to say on the subject?’
‘Frankly, Karla, in a strange and subtle way, he throws a massive spanner in the works.’
‘How so?’
‘This sparkling genius – for such I think he is – has gone right back to first principles. What is this spiritual side of Freemasonry? Where did it come from? Where does it come from?’
‘I can’t wait. Just let me get another coffee.’
Ashe looked up at the picture of the Yezidi girls for inspiration. On the sheykh’s lips the speech would have sounded like the words of an old prophet, speaking from far distant times to a lost and confused present.
Karla came up behind him and squeezed his shoulders. ‘I can’t tell you, Toby, how attractive you are when I can actually see you thinking.’
Ashe took her hand and kissed it. ‘You’re a good listener. And you ask sensible questions.’
‘Thank you, Professor. And here’s another one. What’s all this got to do with the Baba Sheykh?’