Pope's Assassin Read Free Page B

must have lain close to a fi re on some cold night, or someone may have held it, with criminal intentions, over a flame. Whatever the reason, the burn had not damaged the text that Ben Isaac knew by heart and sometimes recited to himself in the language in which it was written, a dead lan guage for most people, on nights he couldn't sleep. Those nights.
         Rome, year 4 of the reign of Claudius, Yeshua ben Joseph, immigrant from Galilee, confirms he is the owner of a parcel of land outside the walls of the city.
        He couldn't fail to be moved every time he saw that piece of parch ment with those letters written by a Roman scribe about a man who would change the course of history for billions of people over the cen turies. Jesus himself, son of Joseph, grandson of Jacob, heir of David the great, Solomon the wise, the patriarch Abraham, according to ancient legend.
        He pressed a small green button below the glass which beeped before sliding open. Ben Isaac lifted the document very carefully, as if it were a newborn baby, and brought it close to his eyes. What emotion! Touching an object that Jesus himself might have touched two thou sand years before. How privileged he was. He could touch it whenever he wanted. If a pope had succeeded in putting his hands on this docu ment, any pope, he would have immediately been accused of sacrilege. But Ben Isaac confirmed it was authentic, he knew it as true.
        He returned the parchment to its place and pushed the button to return the glass to its protective position. He moved on to the middle case, in which a much older parchment lay, degraded in some parts, so that some of the written characters could not be seen. But it was possible to read the essential message, which he remembered every day with a shiver and didn't have the courage to read aloud. He didn't want to touch this, never wanted to. The parchment was many years older than the other, but more important. It wasn't a simple legal authoriza tion, but a gospel known only to two people: Ben Isaac and a learned man whom he had approached to interpret the text, under a pact of silence. Ben Isaac was an expert at this. He let nothing slip.
        The last showcase held two documents on letterhead paper, with the papal coat of arms at the top. Both texts were in English and easy to read.

    November 8, 1960 Vatican City
         I grant Ben Isaac, citizen of Israel, resident of London, a concession over the parchments found in the Qumran valley for a period of twenty-five years. While this agreement is in force, neither party will make the discoveries public. The Holy See will not attempt in any way to recover the documents, which it considers its own by right. At the end of the fixed time my successor and those of Ben Isaac will have to arrange a new agreement.
                                  God be with you.
                                  John P.P. XXIII
                                  Ben Isaac (and three illegible
                                  signatures)

        The other document was similar, with a different coat of arms and a shorter text.

    November 8, 1985 Vatican City
         I grant an extension of the agreement of November 8, 1960, for the identical term, at the end of which new arrangements will be made by the heirs.
                                  Agreed to and signed by
                                  John Paul P.P. II
                                  Ben Isaac (and fi ve illegible
                                  signatures)
        Ben Isaac read and reread the documents. He remembered the nego tiations. The cardinals, the prelates, the apostolic nuncios, the simple priests who came and went for two years with recommendations, offers, trivial details, curses,