Langdon looked down at the stone pyramid. «I apologize that I’m frustrating you,» he said. «I’ve simply always thought of the Masonic Pyramid as a myth.»
«Does it not seem perfectly fitting to you that a map created by stonemasons would be carved in stone? throughout history, our most important guideposts have always been carved in stone — including the tablets god gave moses — ten commandments to guide our human conduct.»
«I understand, and yet it is always referred to as the
«Yes,
«I’m sorry?»
Bellamy looked almost amused as he turned in his seat, glancing up at the second-tier balcony, where sixteen bronze statues peered down at them. «Do you see Moses?»
Langdon gazed up at the library’s celebrated statue of Moses. «Yes.»
«He has horns.»
«I’m aware of that.»
«But do you know
Like most teachers, Langdon did not enjoy being lectured to. The Moses above them had horns for the same reason
«It was a simple mistake,» Langdon replied. «A mistranslation by Saint Jerome around four hundred A.D.» Bellamy looked impressed. «Exactly. A mistranslation. And the result is. . poor Moses is now misshapen for all history.»
«Misshapen» was a nice way to put it. Langdon, as a child, had been terrified when he saw Michelangelo’s diabolical «horned Moses»—the centerpiece of Rome’s Basilica of St. Peter in Chains.
«I mention the horned Moses,» Bellamy now said, «to illustrate how a single word, misunderstood, can rewrite history.»
«In the case of the Masonic Pyramid,» Bellamy continued, «people heard whispers about a ‘legend.’ and the idea stuck. the
«That’s true, but you’re losing me here.»
«Robert, the Masonic Pyramid is a
Langdon fell silent.
«I humbly submit,» Bellamy said, «that your towering Masonic Pyramid is only
Silence hung between the two men for several seconds.
Langdon felt an unexpected pulse of excitement as he looked down at the pyramid, seeing it in a new light. His eyes moved again to the Masonic cipher. «But this code. . it seems so. .»
«Simple?»
Langdon nodded. «Almost
Bellamy smiled and retrieved a pencil and paper for Langdon. «Then perhaps you should enlighten us?»
Langdon felt uneasy about reading the code, and yet considering the circumstances, it seemed a minor betrayal of Peter’s trust. Moreover, whatever the engraving said, he could not imagine that it unveiled a secret hiding place of anything at all. . much less that of one of history’s greatest treasures.
Langdon accepted the pencil from Bellamy and tapped it on his chin as he studied the cipher. The code was so simple that he barely needed pencil and paper. Even so, he wanted to ensure he made no mistakes, and so he dutifully put pencil to paper and wrote down the most common decryption key for a Masonic cipher. The key consisted of four grids — two plain and two dotted — with the alphabet running through them in order. Each letter of the alphabet was now positioned inside a uniquely shaped «enclosure» or «pen.» The shape of each letter’s
The scheme was so simple, it was almost infantile.
Langdon double-checked his handiwork. Feeling confident the decryption key was correct, he now turned his attention back to the code inscribed on the pyramid. To decipher it, all he had to do was to find the matching shape on his decryption key and write down the letter inside it.
The first character on the pyramid looked like a down arrow or a chalice. Langdon quickly found the chalice-shaped segment on the decryption key. It was located in the lower left-hand corner and enclosed the letter
Langdon wrote down
The next symbol on the pyramid was a dotted square missing its right side. That shape on the decryption grid enclosed the letter
He wrote down
The third symbol was a simple square, which enclosed the letter
Langdon wrote down
He continued, picking up speed until he had completed the entire grid.
now, as he gazed down at his finished translation, langdon let out a puzzled sigh.
Bellamy’s face showed the hint of a smile. «As you know, Professor, the Ancient Mysteries are reserved only for the truly enlightened.»
«Right,» Langdon said, frowning.
CHAPTER 50
In a basement office deep inside cia headquarters in langley, virginia, the same sixteen-character masonic cipher glowed brightly on a high-definition computer monitor. senior os analyst nola kaye sat alone and studied the image that had been e-mailed to her ten minutes ago by her boss, director inoue sato.
