Tomorrow We Die by Shawn Grady Read Free Book Online Page B

found on the Internet that morning.
    He straightened. “Well, for one thing, he sure was determined to tell you that. So much so that he fought off the grave to say it.”
    I hadn’t thought of it that way. “It’s just so out of left field. I’m probably making too much out of nothing.”
    He nodded. “Perhaps.” He took his glasses from his head and examined them. “When searching for the unknown, it is best to start with what we know.”
    “But where do you go from there?”
    He sat back in his chair. “I’ve often found that when answers elude me, I need to cut deeper to see the story. Simon Letell related to you a message that coincides with an ancient Latin palindrome square.”
    “Right.”
    “How ancient?”
    “Oldest depiction found is in Pompeii, from 79 AD.”
    “And many scholars believe it is early Christian in origin?”
    “There’s debate, but yes.”
    “And if I take all the letters from that square and use them once, I can form a cross that says, ‘Our Father’ in Latin with two Greek A’s and two O’s left over.”
    “Right.”
    “And you think that it’s some kind of code persecuted Christians used?”
    “Yes. Back when they had to meet in secret.”
    “Because they were persecuted.” He looked as if he’d reached a conclusion.
    “Right . . .”
    “So, if we attribute what we know about these early Christians to Simon Letell, then we may have just learned something about him.”
    “You think Simon was being persecuted?”
    “Assuming he was not simply insane or just disoriented, then it is a possibility.”
    I stared at the tile floor. “He was speaking in code?”
    “Because he was forced underground, perhaps?”
    I shook my head. “This seems really farfetched.”
    He fingered strands of his bushy white eyebrow and grinned. “Only one way to find out for sure.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Find Martin.”

CHAPTER 08
    Bones couldn’t stop laughing.
    We sat in the parking lot outside the morgue. “I’m glad you’re amused by all this.” I put my foot on the dash. “Mind if I use your laptop?”
    He put on a cockney accent. “Right. Whatever you need, Inspector.”
    I felt like saying, “What does that make you? Dr. Watson?” But it was a lame comeback, so I just kept quiet. I got out, opened the outside cabinet where Bones kept his laptop bag and brought it back in. I opened the Web browser, and his home page popped up. In the Search field I entered the names Simon Letell and Martin.
    Bones raised an eyebrow. “Yahtzee?”
    “So now you’re interested?”
    “I have been equally interested and entertained.”
    I scanned the search results. One match. “Yeah. I found something.” “What?”
    “Simon Letell and a Richard Martin are mentioned together on the UNR Web site.” I followed the link and scrolled down the page. “Looks like Simon was a well-educated man . . . earned his master’s degree in chemistry alongside Richard Martin some years back. Martin went on to earn his doctorate and is . . . presently professor at the chemistry school.”
    “At UNR?”
    “At UNR.”
    Bones dropped the transmission in drive.
    “What are you doing?”
    “Taking you to the university.”
    “We already pulled strings just to be here.”
    “Don’t worry. I’ve got it covered.”
    A sustained tone let out from the radio. I let my feet down off the dash and pulled out the map book.
    “All units, this is an informational broadcast only. Please extend your congratulations to our own paramedic/soon to be UNR Med School lackey, Jonathan Trestle. Great job, Jonathan! Aprisa dispatch clear.”
    A scattering of radio mic clicks from other rigs gave the sound of static applause.
    I smiled and looked at the floor. “Someone put you up to that?”
    Bones extended his hand across the center console. “Congratulations, bud. It won’t be the same out here without you. Just keep your head out of your you know what when you’re an ER doc. All right?”
    We shook.
    “Now .