Sign Of The Cross by Chris Kuzneski Read Free Book Online

walls of the chamber were adorned with a series of first-century frescoes, each remarkably similar in theme and color to the paintings that they’d seen in the original room.
    ‘My God!’ Boyd gasped. ‘Will you look at this place? The engineers of ancient Rome were truly ahead of their time. As I mentioned earlier, a large number of their structures remain standing today. Still, we’re quite lucky this place was never disturbed by drilling, soil erosion, or even the shifting of tectonic plates. One small earthquake would’ve covered this site forever.’
    Maria frowned at the possibility. ‘What do you say I do some more filming before something like that happens?’
    ‘That sounds great, my dear. That’ll give me a chance to examine these chests.’
    With the touch of a button, she began her work, documenting the chamber from left to right while slowly moving toward the back corner. She started with the frescoes, concentrating on one colorful image after another before shifting her focus toward the vaulted ceiling and the dozens of chests that filled the room.
    Little did she know that one of them contained the most important discovery of all time.
    A secret that would change her life – and the history of the world – forever.

9
    Father Erik Jansen. From the Vatican. Crucified. At Hamlet’s castle.
    Nick Dial knew the media was going to have a field day with this story unless he was able to eliminate the Shakespeare angle right away. There was nothing he could do with the religious aspect – a priest being crucified was hard to explain – but eliminating Hamlet was a possibility.
    Unfortunately, Dial didn’t know much about literature, so he decided to call Henri Toulon, the assistant director of the Homicide Division. Toulon was a wine-loving Frenchman who had the ability to speak at length on every subject under the sun. Whether it was quantum physics, soccer statistics, or a recipe for fondue, Toulon was the man with the answers.
    Dial said, ‘Hey, Henri, it’s Nick. Do you have a minute?’
    Toulon answered with a hoarse, ‘But of course.’
    ‘Man, are you feeling all right? You sound a bit under the weather.’
    ‘
Oui
, I’m fine. It was a late night. Again.’
    Dial smiled, not the least bit surprised that Toulon was hungover. His late-night carousing was one of the main reasons that Dial had been promoted ahead of him. That plus Interpol’s desire to have an American as the head of a division, a rarity in the European-dominated organization. ‘Out of curiosity, how much do you know about Shakespeare?’
    ‘More than his own mother.’
    ‘And what about the Bible?’
    ‘More than Dan Brown. Why do you ask?’
    Dial filled him in on the case and told him what he was looking for. Why was Jansen kidnapped in Rome but killed in Denmark?
    Toulon answered, ‘Religion played an important role in Shakespeare’s world, yet I can’t think of a single character who was crucified. That would have been heresy back then.’
    ‘Then ignore the crucifixion and focus on the murder. Besides the location, can you think of any connections to
Hamlet
?’
    ‘The thing that grabs my attention is the sign above the cross. Whoever painted that was brilliant. Is “FATHER” referring to God, a character in Shakespeare’s play, or the killer’s actual father? At first glance, I’d assume it’s referring to
Hamlet
. The plot follows Prince Hamlet as he avenges the death of the king – a son getting revenge for his father. Sounds perfect to me. Until you examine the method of execution. In my mind, crucifixion screams of Christ, not Shakespeare. If the killer cared about
Hamlet
, he would have chosen the sword.’
    ‘So this is about religion?’
    ‘Not necessarily. It could be about the killer’s father or the victim’s father. But that’s why the sign is so brilliant. You’ll have to track down all these possibilities, whether you like it or not. For all we know, the killer is simply messing with