Solomon's Gold

CHAPTER 5

After she learned what was written on the scroll, Elizabeth called a meeting of the team. As usual, they met in Elizabeth's office, sitting on the long couch across from her. Stephanie was off to the side of Elizabeth's desk with her laptop.

Anyone with common sense would know it was unwise to upset the people sitting on that couch. The long scar running across Lamont's face made him look like someone you didn't want to meet at night on a lonely street. Ronnie Peete had a kind of quiet menace about him that was completely at odds with his generous nature. Nick gave off the energy of someone who could explode into action at any moment. Even Selena was not exempt. Once you got past the distraction of her good looks and obvious athleticism, you could sense a watchful wariness that missed nothing.

"Selena," Elizabeth said, "tell us what you found on the scroll."

"Not another damn scroll," Lamont said. "The last one was nothing but trouble."

"This one will be too," Selena said.

"What scroll?" Ronnie asked.

"It was found in Jordan back in the 1920s," Selena said, "but nobody knew it. It was inside a sealed pot that wasn't opened until recently."

She explained about Friedman's request and the Jewish Museum.

"The scroll was written in code. I couldn't make sense of the meaning until Steph and I gave it to Freddie. It took him almost no time at all to crack it."

"Figures," Lamont said.

"It was written by King Solomon. No one's ever seen anything written by him. You can't imagine how important this is."

"Solomon again," Lamont grumbled.

"King Solomon? What does it say?" Ronnie asked.

"It's a bombshell," Selena said. "Nobody ever dreamed something like this existed. Solomon begins by saying that he doesn't think his son Rehoboam will be able to keep the kingdom together."

"The kingdom?" Ronnie asked.

"The kingdom of Israel. As a matter of fact, he was right. After Solomon died, it fragmented. Solomon goes on to say that he can't share the secret of his father's tomb with Rehoboam. His father was King David. Then he says that half the wealth raised by David to build the Temple is buried with him. He's talking about the First Temple, the one destroyed by the Babylonians, four hundred years later."

"Wait a minute," Nick said. "Isn't David's tomb in Jerusalem?"

"That's where it's supposed to be," Selena said. "But the scroll says different. That alone is enough to upset everyone."

"What does it mean, half the wealth that was raised to build the temple?" Ronnie asked. "How much wealth?"

"There are two sources that describe the money raised. One is in the Bible, in Chronicles. The other source is the Roman historian, Josephus. Chronicles says that a hundred thousand talents of gold and a million talents of silver were raised. Josephus says it was a tenth of that, but it's still a lot of gold and silver."

"What does a talent weigh?"

"No one's quite sure. It varies according to culture, but a biblical talent probably weighed around seventy-five pounds. It could be more, or a little less. Even if we take the lower figure that Josephus mentions, that would be five thousand talents of gold. Three hundred and seventy-five thousand pounds. Almost nineteen hundred tons. "

Lamont whistled. "All that gold is hidden in David's tomb?"

"According to the scroll, half of it. Solomon was afraid that when he died no one would know where it was. He gives instructions on how to find it. That explains why it's written in code. The scroll says to follow a path that begins in the Wilderness of Zin."

"The Wilderness of Sin? Where's that?" Nick asked.

"Sounds like a wild place to visit," Lamont said.

"Not sin, Zin," Selena said. "The Wilderness of Zin is part of the Negev desert, in the south of Israel. It spills over into Jordan."

"So all someone has to do is follow the instructions if they want to find the tomb and the loot?" Ronnie said. "That sounds too good to be true."

"It is," Selena said. "Part of the scroll is missing. What's there gives the starting point and directions to something called the first marker. It says to follow in the steps of Moses. It ends with a warning, but the scroll is damaged at that point. There's no way to tell what that means."

"Oh, man," Lamont said. "I can see where this is going."

"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked.

"Come on, Director. The bones of a biblical king guarding tons of gold? You're going to send us out to try and find it, aren't you?"

Elizabeth smiled. "As a matter of fact, I was thinking of doing exactly that."

"How are we supposed to find it, assuming it still exists?" Nick asked.

Selena said, "The scroll says the path begins at Bir es Seba, near the well of the Patriarch. That has to mean the well of Abraham."

"Where's Bir es Seba?"

"The modern name is Beersheba. It's a city in southern Israel, in the Negev desert. Beersheba is at the edge of the Wilderness of Zin. "

"What does it mean, following the steps of Moses?" Ronnie asked.

"It's probably referring to the biblical journey of Moses when he led the Jews out of Egypt," Selena said. "Part of that journey led through Beersheba and south through the Arabah Valley on the border of Jordan."

Nick shook his head. "How do we keep getting involved in these biblical stories?"

"I don't have an answer for that," Selena said. "Ask your buddy Adam, next time you see him."

"He's not my buddy, whatever else he is."

Elizabeth tapped her pen on the desk. "If there is any possibility the tomb exists, it needs to be found."

"We're not equipped for that," Nick said. "It could be anywhere. It would take an archaeological expedition to find and recover it."

"That could be arranged," Selena said.

"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked.

"I could fund it. I can't think of a better use for the money."

"You're not an archaeologist," Nick said.

"No, but Alan Friedman is. He'd jump at a chance to go looking for this. Can you imagine what it would mean to find the tomb of King David? Not to mention the gold?"

"I can imagine the trouble it would create. Why do we need an archaeologist?"

"For one thing, he can authenticate anything we do come across. For another, it lends us a respectable cover if anybody asks. He is the Director of the Jewish Museum, after all."

"Us?"

"You don't think I'd let you go looking for something like this and stay here, do you?"

"Selena…"

"This isn't like parachuting into Syria or looking for terrorists hiding in the mountains. All we'll be doing is driving around the desert looking for a tomb. How dangerous can that be?"

"Have you told Friedman about the scroll yet?" Elizabeth asked.

"I wanted to talk with you first."

"You think he'll want to go looking, based on the scroll?"

"I'm certain of it."

They waited while Elizabeth thought about it.

"We have to pursue this," she said. "It's too important. The last thing the Muslims would want is for Israel to find the tomb of David and part of the money that built the First Temple. It would be proof that Israel and the temple existed long before Mohammed came along, which of course they deny."

"Those people are nuts," Lamont said. "Where do they think all those big stones in the Wailing Wall came from?"

Elizabeth continued. "This is the sort of thing that can lead to war over there."

"Give us the Gulfstream," Nick said. "We'll fly in and follow the clues on that scroll. We should know pretty quick if we're going to get anywhere or if it's all a wild goose chase."

"You're dreaming if you think you can just fly into Ben-Gurion and head off into the desert," Elizabeth said. "As soon as you set foot on Israeli soil, Mossad and Shin Bet will start asking questions. They'll never believe you're there on a simple archaeological expedition. After all the times you've been in Israel and everything that's happened there, they're going to want to know exactly what you're doing. You're going to have to tell them."

"If we tell them, they'll take the whole thing over."

"What do you expect me to say? Of course they'll want to take it over. It's their country and their history. If you do find anything, it belongs to Israel. The only possible way is to play it straight with the authorities."

"It would be better if we didn't tell them," Selena said.

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. "Why?"

"You said yourself that once word gets out it will raise tensions. Telling the Israelis is the best way I can think of to let everybody know what's on that scroll. When it comes to leaks, Tel Aviv is as bad as Washington."

"Nothing's as bad as Washington," Nick said.

"Do you have a better plan?" Elizabeth asked.

"I could stall Friedman and we could go ourselves. Disguised. We've done it before."

"You're the one who said you needed Friedman to lend credibility."

"That's if we travel openly."

"Security in Israel is tighter than a gnat's ass," Lamont said. "No way we're gonna sneak around in the desert without getting caught."

"He's right," Ronnie said. "Out in the open is the only way to go. We could be in country for weeks. There's no cover and we can't avoid their patrols."

"Director, can you can talk to someone over there and smooth the way?" Nick said. "If they want to put minders with us, maybe we can minimize the Israeli presence."

"That might be doable," Elizabeth said.

"Do you want me to talk to Friedman?" Selena asked.

"How long would it take to get ready?" Elizabeth said.

"Not long. An exploratory expedition doesn't require a full team with equipment, like you'd need for a dig. "

"Okay. Go ahead and give him a call."

"I'll go downstairs and do it now."