Boyd Morrison - The Midas Code

“We believe that is a lion’s paw, which would indicate that the figure is Herakles.” Lumley moved to the opposite side and indicated two female torsos, one lying against the other. “No one has been able to determine with certainty who these figures represent, but I favor the theory that it is Aphrodite relaxing upon her mother, Dione.”

The seat of Herakles and the feet of Aphrodite will show the way.

Grant looked beneath the statues and saw that they were supported by a marble base.

“What should be under the statues?” he asked.

“They would rest on the pediment itself, which rests atop the pillars.”

“So the seat of Herakles and the feet of Aphrodite are reference points. For what?”

“It may help if I knew what you’re looking for.”

Grant couldn’t reveal the link of Midas, but he knew that being too evasive would only raise more questions. He hesitated while he decided what to reveal.

“We think this may be a clue to finding a map,” he finally said. “Maybe something about the architecture of the Parthenon.”

“A map? How interesting. Perhaps the golden rectangle is important.”

“How?”

“Architects consider it the most perfect rectangle because it is so pleasing to the eye. Golden rectangles are a recurring feature in the design of the Parthenon. The symbol phi, which represents the golden ratio, is named after the Parthenon’s architect, Phidias. Let me show you.”

Lumley took a notebook from his pocket and drew a line and then a dot two-thirds along its length. He labeled the longer section A and the shorter one B. “In the golden ratio, A divided by B is equivalent to the sum of A plus B divided by A.” He drew a rectangle whose sides were length A on the short side and length A plus B on the long. “A golden rectangle has sides proportional to the golden ratio, which makes it aesthetically pleasing.”

“And the Parthenon is built in that layout?” Grant asked.

“No, but the facades of the Parthenon are in the shape of a golden rectangle, and one can see many more of them in the spaces between the columns making up the facade.”

Grant would bring up Lumley’s speculation with Tyler and Stacy, but he had no inkling of how it would help them find the map.

“Thanks a lot, Dr. Lumley,” he said, shaking Lumley’s hand. “If I have any more questions, is it all right if I call you?”

“Of course.” He gave Grant his cell-phone number. “Any time of the day or night.”

Grant turned to leave, but Lumley tapped his arm to stop him.

“Mr. Westfield, may I ask if your manuscript will be displayed anywhere in the near future? It will provide fascinating insight into the culture of ancient Greece.”

“I don’t know what the plans for the document are.”

“It would be a shame if such an important piece of history were not studied by appropriate scholars. Our museum would treat it with great care.”

“I’m sure it’ll get a good home.”

“On the other hand, if you are interested in selling it, I know a buyer eager to purchase it.”

“What do you mean?”

“That is, of course, unless you’d care to lend or donate it to the museum.”

Why would Lumley have a buyer lined up for the manuscript already? Unless…

Grant grabbed Lumley’s arm. “You haven’t told anyone about this, have you?” Lumley winced at the pressure, and Grant released him.

“I’m terribly sorry,” Lumley said, “but my contact has been looking for this codex for quite some time. She has indicated that she would pay a handsome price to anyone who could proffer a deal for it.”

“You would sell it?” Grant asked in astonishment.

Lumley cast his eyes down in embarrassment, like a chastened teenage boy who’d been caught joyriding in his father’s car.

“Facilitating the sale is a better way of putting it,” Lumley said. “Being a curator is not a high-paying profession, and my divorce has been messy and quite costly. I thought there would be no harm-”

“When did you tell her?”

“While you were waiting. I assure you, I have the best of intentions.”

But she might not, Grant thought as he scanned the gallery for anyone who looked out of place.

“Who is she?”

Lumley bit his lip. “Her name is Gia Cavano. She simply paid me a retainer to keep watch for this kind of document. I do hope I haven’t inconvenienced you.”

Grant recognized the name immediately. Orr’s childhood friend Gia. She was using her contact with Lumley to keep an eye out for the codex.

As Grant reached for his phone to text Tyler that Cavano was now onto them, he spotted a huge man in a gray suit studiously reading a museum map. Twice in one minute, he glanced up and looked at each person in the gallery, but his eyes stayed on Grant just a little longer. Amid the tourists in shorts and rain jackets, the dark-haired muscleman looked as out of place as a wolf at a sheep ranch.

Grant thought he was just being paranoid until a third surreptitious glance in his direction convinced him that someone really might be out to get him. And he’d bet that someone was hired by Gia Cavano.

F or the past ten minutes, Tyler and Stacy had listened to Cavano explain her background with Orr, and Tyler didn’t like what he was hearing, mainly because it showed how much bad blood there was between them.

Jordan Orr was Gia Cavano’s second cousin on her mother’s side. When Orr was just a boy, his family decided to take a trip back to his grandparents’ home region of Campania. Cavano’s parents welcomed them and hosted the three of them for two weeks while the Orrs visited Naples. It was during that time that Cavano and Orr went exploring and stumbled onto the Midas treasure.

The Orrs returned to the United States, planning to come back to Italy every year or two, but Cavano didn’t hear from Orr again until many years after his parents died. She said it had never occurred to the authorities to send him back to Italy to live with his extended family. And by the time Cavano was an adult, and ready to follow up on what she’d seen in the tunnels, she couldn’t track Orr down.

Five years ago, Orr took a trip to Europe and reconnected with Cavano. Only then did he learn that an Italian Ministry of Health building had been built atop the original entrance to the tunnel they’d discovered. It would take major demolition to cut through the foundation, and days more to map out the tunnels before finding the chamber again. But Orr and Cavano remembered the well opening they’d seen and realized that there might be another way in. He proposed that they search for this entrance to the vault.

For three years, they combed through every available historical document that had even a passing reference to Midas or gold, but they could find no mention of the Midas chamber.

Then the Archimedes manuscript and the golden hand were discovered in an English landholder’s attic and made headlines around the world. When she and Orr saw the golden hand, which matched the statue in the Midas chamber, they knew the one line from the manuscript that had been released to the public was not just a fable.

He who controls this map controls the riches of Midas.

The codex would lead them to the treasure map. Orr and Cavano realized that they would have no chance to get the manuscript once the auction house’s appraisal and cataloguing were completed and the document’s full contents were known. So they came up with the plan to steal it before the appraisal was done.

The heist went off without a hitch and then… nothing. She had provided the muscle, including two men who had been loyal to her and reported Orr’s movements back to her without his knowledge, but everyone in the crew had disappeared without a trace. Cavano assumed the escape boat had gone down at sea with all hands.