The Lafayette Sword by Eric Giacometti Read Free Book Online

be back tomorrow.”
    The torturer picked up the candle and let the hot wax stream down the woman’s abdomen. She screamed int o the gag.
    He blew out the candle. “Until tomorrow.”

19
    Grand Orient Masonic Hall
    Evening of the initiation
    G uy Andrivaux climbed onto the stage and moved aside a sheet of plywood. The plywood had concealed a wall hanging. He pushed back the hanging, pulled out a lighter, and held the flame over an opening. The flame faintly illuminated a stone staircase.
    â€œFollow me. This hidden passage leads to the museum storage area. Few brothers know about it.”
    â€œI’ll go first,” Marcas said, already heading down the stairs. At the bottom, he took out his own lighter and looked around. The space was full of crates and furniture from var ious eras.
    â€œNo trace of the killer,” he told Andrivaux, who had joined him. “Is there an emerge ncy exit?”
    â€œNo. There was, but it was walled up when we were correcting our flooding problem. I think I know where our man went, though. Come with me.”
    Andrivaux walked over to the wall on their right. In its center was a steel rectangle embossed with a tree in what looked like a cemetery filled wit h crosses.
    â€œI suppose you recognize this symbol, which was carved by one of our anonymous brothers,” Andri vaux said.
    â€œYes, an acacia tree planted to find Master Hiram’s body after he w as slain.”
    â€œYou know your classics,” the grand secretary said, running his hand along the branches of the tree. He pressed on e of them.
    The sound of stone scraping stone filled the room as a gaping hole appeared in the floor. Andrivaux held out his lighter again, illuminating an ir on ladder.
    â€œWhat’s that?” Mar cas asked.
    â€œA secret passage that probably dates to the nineteenth century, when Cardinal Richelieu’s former mansion was converted to Freemason headquarters. I found the plans in some documents mixed in with the archives the Nazis stole from us during the war. You remember. We got them back not so long ago.”
    Marcas nodded. He did, indeed, remember. The archives had caused much blood to flow. He leaned over the hole. “Is it my imagination, or do I see a light at the bottom of this well of souls?”
    â€œThere’s an old electric installation that I had a brother restore last year. I wanted to surprise the grand master. I thought the brother electrician and I were the only ones who knew about it. But apparently our killer is aware o f it too.”
    â€œWhere does t his lead?”
    â€œThere are three underground passages leading out from the bottom of the ladder. One goes north, to the sewage pipes under the Rue Lafayette, if my calculations are correct. The second goes south and ends at a bricked-up wall, undoubtedly under the Rue de la Grange-Batelière. T he third…”
    Marcas was preparing to head down into the darkness when the grand secretary grabbe d his arm.
    â€œWait. Let me go ahead of you. I’m familiar with it, and you aren’t. There are two flashlights at the bottom of th e ladder.”
    The two man entered the dark hole, one after the other.
    â€œBe careful,” Marcas told Andrivaux. “Our man could be do wn there.”
    â€œI doubt that he stayed down here very long. If he knows about this, I’m sure he knows how to get out. The third passage runs more than a kilometer. It goes eastward, toward the Trinity neighborhood, and connects with a hallway leading to the catacombs. That is, if you believe the archives.
    Marcas followed Andrivaux, making sure the Taser was still on his belt. “How do you think he managed to close the passageway after himself?”
    â€œHe must know th e secret.”
    â€œWha t secret?”
    â€œThere’s a mechanism at the seventh rung of the ladder. You press it, and the stone closes over the opening.”
    â€œWhat do you do to open it fr om