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RENNES-LE-CHATEAU, FRANCE

11:30 AM

MALONE TURNED THE RENTAL CAR EAST OFF THE MAIN HIGHWAY, just outside Couiza, and started up a twisting incline The rising road offered stunning vistas of nearby tawny hillsides thick with summer rock roses, lavender, and thy like gaunt fingers, rose in the distance The land, as far as the eye could see, oozed the roles frohts to prey on their foe

He and Stephanie had left Copenhagen around four AM and flown to Paris, where they caught the first Air France shuttle of the day south for Toulouse An hour later they were on the ground and uedoc

On the way Stephanie told hie that stood fifteen hundred feet atop the bleakGauls were the first to inhabit the hilltop, drawn by the prospect of being able to see for miles across the expansive Aude River valley But it was the Visigoths in the fifth century who built a citadel and adopted the ancient Celtic name for the location--Rhedae, whichthe place into a trading center Two hundred years later, when the Visigoths were driven south into Spain, the Franks converted Rhedae into a royal city By the thirteenth century, though, the town’s status had declined, and toward the end of the Albigensian Crusade it was razed Ownership passed through several wealthy houses of both France and Spain, eventually resting with one of Simon de Montfort’s lieutenants, who founded a barony The family built themselves a chateau, around which a tiny haed from Rhedae to Rennes-le-Chateau Their issue ruled the land and the town until 1781, when the last heir, Marie d’Hautpoul de Blanchefort, died

"Before her death, it was said that she passed on a great secret," Stephanie had said, "one that her family kept for centuries She was childless and her husband died before her, so with no one left, she told the secret to her confessor, the abbe Antoine Bigou, as the parish priest for Rennes"

Now, as Malone stared ahead at the last bend in the narrow road, he iined what it must have been like to live then in such a remote place The isolated valleys foritives and restless pilgriion had becoination, a ers, a place where writers with a unique vision could forge a reputation

Like Lars Nelle

The town caate fran warned FOUILLES INTERDITES Excavating prohibited

"They had to post a notice about digging?" he asked

Stephanie nodded "Years ago, people were shoveling dirt in every corner looking for treasure Even dynaht dis were packed tight, like books on a shelf, many with pitched roofs, thick doors, and rusted iron verandas A narrow and flinty grand rue wound up a short incline People with backpacks and Michelin Green Guides hugged the walls on either side, parading single-file back and forth Malone saw a couple of stores, a bookshop, and a restaurant Alleys led off the s, but not many The entire toas less than five hundred yards across

"Only about a hundred people live here full tih fifty thousand visit each year"

"Lars had quite an effect"

"More than I ever realized"

She pointed ahead and directed hi rosaries,visitors

"They co to believe in the impossible"

Up another incline and he parked the Peugeot in a sandy lot Two buses were already there, their driversA water tower rose to one side, its tattered stone adorned with a zodiac sign

"The crowds come early," Stephanie said as they climbed out "Here to see the domaine d’Abbe Sauniere The priest’s domain--what he built with all that mysterious treasure he supposedly found"

Malone stepped close to a waist-high rock wall The panorama below, a patchwork of field, forest, valley, and rock, stretched for reen hills were dotted with chestnut and oak He checked his bearings The great bulk of the snowcapped Pyrenees blocked the southern horizon A stiff wind howled from the west, thankfully warht A hundred feet away the neo-Gothic toith its crenellated roof and single round turret, had graced the cover of e of a cliff, gri belvedere stretched frolasshouse, then to another cluster of olden stone buildings, each topped with orange-tiled roofs People milled back and forth on the ra the valleys below

"The tower is the Tour Magdala Quite a sight, isn’t it?" Stephanie asked

"Seeht, too"

To the right of the Magdala rose an orna that also seemed from another locale

"The Villa Bethanie," she said "Sauniere built it, too"

He noted the name Bethany "That’s biblical In the Holy Land It meant ’house with an answer’ "

She nodded "Sauniere was clever with nas behind them "Lars’s house is down that alley Before we head there, I have to do so As alk, let me tell you about what happened here in 1891 What I read about last week What brought this place back froer Sauniere pondered the daunting task before hioth ruins and consecrated in 1059 Now, eight centuries later, the inside was in ruin, thanks to a roof that leaked as if it weren’t there The walls the away It would take both patience and staht himself up to the task

He was a husky man, muscular, broad-shouldered, with a head of close-cropped black hair His one endearing feature, which he used to his advantage, was the cleft in his chin It added a whimsical air to the stiff countenance of his black eyes and thick eyebrows Born and raised a few raphy of the Corbieres well From childhood he’d been familiar with Rennes-le-Chateau Its church, dedicated to St Mary Magdalene, had been in liined that one day its many problems would be his

"A lanced at the ree"

Another ion’s state architect had recently reco be razed, but Sauniere would never allow that to happen So about the old church demanded that it be saved

"It will take much money to complete the repairs," Rousset said

"Enormous amounts of money" He added a se "But we shall make this house worthy of the Lord"

What he did not say was that he’d already secured a fair amount of funds A bequest from one of his predecessors had left six hundred francs especially for repairs He’d also ed to convince the town council to loan him another fourteen hundred francs But the bulk of his o Three thousand francs had been donated by the countess of Chambord, theof Henri, the last Bourbon claimant to the defunct French throne At the tireat deal of attention to himself with anti-republican sers in his parishioners The govern his yearly stipend and de that he be fired Instead the bishop suspended hiht the attention of the countess, who’d h an intermediary

"Where do we start?" Rousset asked

He’d given that lass s had already been replaced and a new porch, outside the main entrance, would be completed shortly Certainly the north wall, where Babou orking, must be mended, a new pulpit installed, and the roof replaced But he knehere they in with the altar"

A curious look came to Rousset’s face

"The people’s focus is there," Sauniere said

"As you say, Abbe"

He liked the respect his older parishioners showed hiht Over the past five years he’d come to like Rennes He was near home, with plenty of opportunities to study Scriptures and perfect his Latin, Greek, and Hebrew He also enjoyed trekking in theBut the ti constructive

He approached the altar

The top hite marble pitted by water that had rained down for centuries fro The slab was supported by two ornate coluoth crosses and Greek letters

"We shall replace the top and the pillars," he declared

"How, Abbe?" Rousset asked "There is no e can lift that"

He pointed to where Babou stood "Use the sledgehaht the heavy tool over and surveyed his task Then, with a great heave, Babou hoisted the hammer and crashed it down onto the center of the altar The thick top cracked, but the stone did not give way

"It’s solid," Babou said

"Again," Sauniere said with a flourish

Another blow and the li into each other between the still standing pillars

"Finish," he said

The two pieces were quickly busted into many

He bent down "Let’s haul all this away"

"We’ll get it, Abbe," Babou said, setting the sledgehammer aside "You pile it for us"

The two e chunks and headed for the door

"Take it around to the cemetery and stack it We should have use for it there," he called out to them

As they left, he noticed that both pillars had survived the demolition With a swipe he cleared dust and debris away from the crown of one On the other a piece of limestone still lay, and, when he tossed the chunk into the pile, he noticed beneath, in the crown of the pillar, a shallow er than the pal pin, but inside the cavity he caught sight of a glimmer

He bent close and carefully bleay the dust

Yes, solass vial

Not htly wider, the top sealed with crimson wax He looked close and saw that the vessel contained a rolled piece of paper He wondered how long it had been there He was not aware of any recent work done to the altar, so it o

He freed the object fro," Stephanie said

Malone nodded "I read Lars’s books, too But I thought Sauniere was supposed to have found three parches"