The Boudicca Parchments

Chapter 3

In the hut at the edge of the dig site, the man was standing over the body and agonizing with indecision. The mobile phone showed that the message had gone through. Whether the recipient had seen it was another matter. He looked at the image and saw that it was blurred.

Will he be able to read it?

The man realized that even if the recipient couldn’t read the text, it was clear enough to arouse his curiosity. And that meant that he would follow it up. So the question was, what to do next?

Right now he found himself with a body and this presented him with both a problem and an opportunity.

From his pocket, he removed another phone and selected a name from an address book. He pressed the button and his phone called a number in Israel.

“Hallo?” said an old man at the other end of the line.

“It’s Morgan… Sam Morgan.”

“I know. Why are you calling me at this time?”

Irascible as ever. That was the only adjective to describe the man. And “foreign” of course. Even from the few words that he had spoken, the thick accent stood out.

“We’ve got a problem. I’m at the dig site. One of the digging team found a scroll.”

“Why did you wait till this unearthly hour to call me?”

“Because he only just found it.”

“What, now? What time is it there?”

“Nearly midnight. He was digging after hours. I think he wasn’t part of the official team. But I know him. He’s a sleazy little man called Martin Costa.”

“And where is he now?”

“I’ve dealt with him.”

“How?”

“Permanently.”

“Then why did you call me?”

“Because he took a picture of it with his mobile phone and sent it to some one else?”

“Do we know who?”

Morgan hesitated for a moment. This was it — the crossing of the Rubicon moment.

“Yes. A man called Daniel Klein.”

“And who is this Daniel Klein?”

“He’s a professor or Semitic languages at University College London.”

“And you think he’ll be able to interpret the scroll?”

“The image was too blurred. He probably won’t be able to read the writing.”

“Then I return to my earlier question. Why did you call?”

“Because if he can read even part of it, then it’ll arouse his curiosity and he might start snooping around.”

“Well then I suggest you deal with this Mr. Klein.”