“We need to see the priest in charge,” Locke told the interpreter.
Chirnian nodded and went to find him. A few minutes later, a priest with a friendly face emerged from the church. He didn’t speak English, but through Chirnian, he introduced himself, shaking Locke’s hand.
“I am Father Yezik Tatilian. How can I help you?”
“Father Tatilian,” Locke said, “my name is Tyler Locke. I’m an engineer from America. Thank you for meeting with us.”
“Are you interested in the architectural history of our monastery?”
“In a way. Have you ever met an archaeologist named Hasad Arvadi?”
Dilara didn’t realize she was holding her breath, hoping that this was the final key to finding her father, until the priest shook his head.
“We have many scientists and historians who come to study the monastery,” he said, “so it’s not surprising I don’t remember him.”
Locke pointed at Dilara, who couldn’t hide her disappointment. “Dr. Kenner is his daughter. We have reason to believe he was here.”
“I’m sorry,” the priest said. “His name isn’t familiar.”
Locke took Dilara’s digital camera and, using the LCD screen, showed the priest an old photo of Arvadi from his days as a college professor.
Father Tatilian shrugged. Locke showed him two more photos, one of Garrett from Forbes magazine and the other of Cutter from the TEC security camera.
The priest didn’t recognize either of them. “Perhaps if you tell me why you are looking for them, it may help my memory.”
Locke looked at Dilara, who nodded. They had to tell him at some point if they were going to get his cooperation.
“We have reason to believe that your monastery holds a secret chamber, one that even you may not be aware of.”
The priest laughed. “This monastery has been here for thousands of years. I’m sure I would know if there was such a chamber. And I assure you there isn’t.”
Locke showed him a picture of the scroll. “This is an ancient document Hasad Arvadi found in northern Iraq. Dr. Kenner has translated it, and it tells of a map to Noah’s Ark located somewhere in Khor Virap.”
The interpreter, Chirnian, paused, not sure if he had heard correctly. When he saw that Locke was serious, he translated. Father Tatilian smiled.
“We often have treasure hunters come through here, searching for the blessed remains of Noah’s Ark, but no one has asked for a map before.”
“Dr. Kenner’s father went missing three years ago. We think he was murdered.”
That wiped the smile from the priest’s face. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Father Tatilian,” Locke said, “did anything unusual happen here three years ago?”
“Yes,” the priest said warily. “Very unusual. Two novitiates had made a pilgrimage at that time and were staying at the monastery. One of them was killed, and the other went missing. He was never found.”
“How was the novitiate killed?”
“Shot. The police investigated, but no one was ever arrested. The case remains unsolved.”
“Any motives?”
“Robbery, most likely. I entered Khor Virap one morning and found the body.”
“It had to be Garrett,” Grant said.
“You know who might be behind this?” the priest said.
“Possibly,” Locke said. “Can you tell me exactly what happened?”
“There isn’t much to tell. It occurred at night when the monastery was closed. Brother Dipigian was found with two shots to the head. We never saw Brother Kalanian again. We assumed he had been kidnapped. For what reason, we couldn’t fathom, and we never received a ransom demand. Not that we could pay much. We take honoraria for weddings and other parties held here, but most of it goes to the monastery’s upkeep.”
“Where was the body found?”
“That was the oddest thing. It was in the pit.”
“The one that held St. Gregory captive?” Dilara said.
“Yes. But if it was a robbery, it was a strange place to take him. As a holy shrine, the pit of St. Gregory is unsurpassed, but there is nothing of value in there. A few candles in an alcove, that’s all.”
Dilara gasped. “An alcove?” The scroll mentioned a cove. The Hebrew could be translated many different ways, including alcove.
“It’s where pilgrims can pay tribute.”
“The fifth and seventh stone from the cove reveals,” Dilara said to Locke, who immediately saw what she meant.
“Father,” he said, “please show us to the pit of St. Gregory.”
At the top of the hill overlooking the courtyard of Khor Virap, Garrett focused binoculars on the figures two hundred yards away. He saw Locke, Westfield, and Kenner with someone who appeared to be an interpreter talking to the priest. He lay next to Svetlana Petrova and Dan Cutter, who cradled a Russian VAL silenced sniper rifle that fired subsonic 9mm rounds. Cutter had acquired the hard-to-get rifle in Armenia along with their other weapons.
“Do you want me to take them out?” Cutter asked.
Garrett had already been to the Ark’s location, and if he’d been able to get inside it, he’d already be long gone with the second amulet. But when he had arrived at the site of the Ark, he realized Hasad Arvadi had tricked him. The old man had been crafty, leaving out key information that would have made the Ark accessible.
When Garrett couldn’t get into the Ark, the next step had been to return to Khor Virap. There must have been additional information about how to get into the Ark that Arvadi had concealed from Garrett. The plan was to photograph every square inch of the map to make sure they missed nothing, and Garrett would find another translator to tell him what the map really said. Finding a qualified translator might take time, so to ensure no one followed in his footsteps, he would obliterate the map.
Garrett and Cutter had been lying in wait to make their move on the monastery, just like they’d done three years before. Then to Garrett’s surprise, Locke and the others had appeared.
Although their arrival had jolted him, he quickly reassessed the situation and realized it might be to his advantage.
“Hold your fire,” Garrett said to Cutter. “Maybe we can get Tyler Locke and Dilara Kenner to do our work for us.”
If Dilara was as skilled an archaeologist as her father, she would be able to decipher the map’s text and uncover what her father had not divulged to Garrett. Garrett would know as soon as they emerged from the pit if they had seen the map and determined the Ark’s location. Then it would just be a matter of following them to the Ark and killing them all once they had shown him the way inside.
SIXTY
The priest led them away from the church in the central courtyard to the small St. Gevorg chapel. It was after 5:30 at this point, and the monastery was closed, so the tourists had been escorted out. They had the chapel to themselves.
To the right of the altar Locke saw a hole with steep aluminum stairs leading down. Father Tatilian climbed down backwards, and the rest followed.
The pit was a cistern, vaguely round, with rough gray stone walls. Even with five of them, there was plenty of room, although it would get stuffy quickly with just the hole above to circulate air. The space was larger than what Locke had imagined when he had heard it was a prison cell, but then again, he couldn’t imagine being confined within it for 13 years. It was a miracle that Grigor didn’t go insane during that time. Maybe that was one of the
