get hold of the sphere in time for the conjunction, and without it their efforts would be futile. However, the leader of the Order, a man I have never met and whose identity has remained a secret, found out about Newton's manuscript and the information it contained — among other things, a linear version of the inscription.'
It was time for another cigarette. 'Let me explain. I said there was an inscription on the sphere. It consists of a single line of Egyptian hieroglyphs etched in a spiral around the sphere from one pole to the other. The makers of the sphere were keen to prevent the knowledge contained within the inscription reaching anyone but the initiated. So they used a cunning form of encryption called steganography — in other words, a physical code. What I mean is that the message, the incantation that must be used in the ritual, had to be read on the sphere by looking at the symbols vertically from top to bottom, not around the spiral. It's an ancient technique called a scytale.
'This is fine if you have the sphere, but only Newton and the Guardians have ever possessed it. The document I found in New York, Newton's manuscript, contains a copy of the inscription translated into Latin, but it was transcribed in linear form, making it more or less useless. I studied mathematics, remember? And I specialised in encryption. The leader of the current Order knew this. I was offered a job that I could not refuse. I had no idea what they were trying to do — well, at least not until I got the manuscript.
'It took me almost a year to decipher the linear inscription. The missing clue was the size of the sphere. If you know that then you can turn the linear inscription into a spiral again and read down the lines to retrieve the message. Newton left no record of the dimensions of the sphere, so you could guess for ever and never get a true interpretation. The only other way to crack the code was by using the most advanced decryption methods and a very expensive computer. I was given the equipment and, well, the rest was up here.' Charlie tapped his head. 'Being a genius has its uses.
'Throughout the time I was trying to crack the code I was under constant pressure from representatives of the Order. But I was also making it my business to find out as much as I could about what they were planning to do with the code. I have never managed to establish who the members are. Nor who their leader is. Everything was done through messengers and by encrypted e-mail. But, having discovered their intentions, I wanted out.
'Just two weeks ago I delivered the decryption. But what the Order have is quite useless. They are not aware of this yet and they are still killing. Two more young women will die in a little over twenty-four hours unless the Order is stopped.'
Charlie took a long contemplative puff of his cigarette. 'Laura, it's up to you now. I hope you can enlist the help of others you trust. There's not much more I can do to help except to tell you what I've learned, so here it is.
'Although Newton did not possess the technology needed to preserve the organs for the ceremony, he did have several advantages over the present-day members of the Order of the Black Sphinx. Most importantly, he had the sphere. Also, when the Order was broken up by the Guardians in 1690 they lost almost all their records — and Boyle and the others made sure that the hidden entrance to the labyrinth through Hertford College was sealed up. The Guardians created a new entry point, the location of which you will have to figure out from other clues I will give you. This leads via a long tunnel to the original labyrinth under the Bodleian.
'This means that Milliner in 1851 was facing three grave problems. He didn't have the sphere but was working from a mysterious copy of the linear inscription, probably a copy that Boyle's brother James had managed to keep from the Guardians back in 1690. He also had no clear idea how to preserve the organs he had started to gather in Oxford and, finally, he did not know how to enter the labyrinth — the Hertford College entry point was no more. And of course he was not privy to the secrets of the Guardians, so he could not have learned of the newer entrance made after Newton's time. To get round this, Milliner did something quite extraordinary. He had known for years about the miles of tunnels under the Bodleian. Even in Victorian times these tunnels were extensive. Through his intimate knowledge of the occult and the traditions of the Order of the Black Sphinx he had a clear idea of the location of the ancient chamber in which the ceremony was to be held. So he financed a little private construction — or, rather, ^construction — work, which involved linking up the nearest tunnels to those leading to the chamber. The work was carried out in the late 1840s, and the poor architect employed by Milliner was found hanged a month after the job was completed. The police believed he had committed suicide.'
Charlie started to cough and could not stop. 'God,' he said after a while, 'I really must give up these bloody things. I have a strong feeling,' he went on, 'that the present-day members of the Order have no idea how to reach the chamber through the labyrinth of the Guardians, but they have the route that Milliner created which bypasses the labyrinth altogether. It would be impossible to get to the chamber from the surface or to escape the tunnels again without a map, and as far as I know there is only one copy of this and it is kept safely hidden by the Order.
'Well,' Charlie said, with a long sigh. 'I've almost reached the end of this strange monologue. I hope you understand a little more of the background. I wish I could be there with you to help you, but. . Well, anyway, all I can offer are some clues. This DVD also contains valuable information that will help you. After this message is over, put the disc in your computer. You'll have to decipher my message, a personal one for you, Laura, which will stop anyone else breaking in. Once you are through, you'll find information that will help you translate Newton's manuscript, and from this you will find the current entrance to the labyrinth. Once there, you're pretty much on your own. I have no idea what the Guardians' defences are, nor how you can pass through the labyrinth by completing the three tests created by the ancients. Unfortunately, although Newton had passed through it successfully himself with the aid of Ripley's manuscript, and then later with du Duillier and Boyle the Younger, he left almost no hints about the labyrinth in his document.
'Farewell, Laura. I hope when you see this I'll still be alive and sunning myself on some exotic beach. Maybe when this is all over we can get together and catch up on old times, just like we did when I came to New York. Bye, Sweet Pea.'
The screen went blank. Philip and Laura were both so absorbed with their thoughts that they didn't hear Jo open the front door and come into the room.
Laura looked up. 'Oh, hi, honey,' she said distractedly.
'Good programme?' Jo asked, eyebrows raised. 'It's a message from Charlie.' Jo looked at her mother with blank incomprehension.
'A recording he made just before he died. It explains an awful lot.' Laura clicked the remote and the DVD began to play again.
'So what are we waiting for?' Jo said when it was over. 'Let's try the computer.'
Philip put the DVD in the drive and the screen lit up to display a short message:
Enter ' 1' and answer.
Philip hit the ' 1' key and a new line of text appeared:
LAURA, YOU LIKED IT THAT EVENING
Philip turned to look at Laura, an eyebrow raised. 'Well?'
'Well, what? What the hell is that supposed to mean?'
'It's the personal clue Charlie mentioned. The answer will be something obvious only to you.' 'Did you and Charlie. .?' Philip said. 'Oh, please.' 'Well, I just. .'
'He must be referring to New York,' Laura said. 'That's the only time I've seen him in the evening for twenty years. We went to Harry's Grill on West 34th Street.' She stopped for a moment and looked blankly at the screen, trying to recall the evening.
'Was there anything special about it?' Philip asked.
'The creme brulee was pretty amazing.'
'Let's try it,' Jo said.
Philip typed in 'creme brulee' and the screen went blank for a moment before a new message appeared.
WARM, BUT SORRY. JUST TWO TRIES LEFT
'Shit,' Philip exclaimed.
'What? I thought that was it,' Laura hissed and turned to her daughter.
Jo shrugged. 'Too easy, obviously. Then, pulling over a chair, she leaned across Philip. 'OK, we've got two more chances and that's it. We'd better take this a little more carefully.'
'But it's impossible,' Laura said. 'It could be anything.'
'Yeah, but it's a personal code, Mom, something you would know right away.'
'That's why I suggested 'creme brulee', Jo. .'
'OK,' Philip said. 'Let's think. Charlie's clue is YOU ENJOYED IT THAT EVENING. What else could he mean?
