Page 60 (1/2)

He opened the door and cli To Remi he said, “Why don’t you wait here? Slide into the driver’s seat and keep your eyes peeled We’ll just be a minute”

He and Umberto walked to the fence and hopped over

Cohbors, Laurent’s crypt was ser than a walk-in closet and barely four feet tall, but, walking around to the front side, Saround a few feet Three h-heooden door Saht from his pocket and shined it on the lock while U owls, and the full lanced back at Sam and smiled nervously

“Keep an eye out,” Sam said

He walked down the steps and through the door and found hilow of his flashlight, spiders scra his hand like a blade Sam slowly cut the curtain down the center; desiccated flies and moths pattered on the stone floor Sam stepped inside

The space ht feet wide and sht he heard the faint scratching of tiny claws on stone, then silence In the center the sarcophagus, which was devoid of either h platforus to the rear wall, then placed the flashlight between his teeth and gave the lid a tentative shove It was lighter than he’d anticipated, sliding a couple inches with a hollow grating sound

Sarabbed the projecting end and walked the lid around until it was sitting perpendicular to the sarcophagus He shined his light inside

“Nice to finally meet you, Monsieur Laurent,” he whispered

Arnaud Laurent, now nothing more than a skeleton, had been buried in what Sam assueneral, co between his black-booted feet was a wooden box the size of a large hardcover book Sam carefully lifted the box free, blew off the layer of dust covering it, then knelt down and placed it on the floor

Inside he found an ivory comb, a flattened uessed was blood, a few old locket inside which he found a picture of a woman—Laurent’s wife, Marie, he assumed—and finally, a palm-sized brown leather book

Breath held, Saently opened the book at its ht a line of shapes:

“Bingo,” he whispered

He returned the other items to the box, returned it to its place between Laurent’s feet, and was about to close the lid when his flashlight glinted off soed between Laurent’s boot and the wall of the sarcophagus hat looked like a thumb-sized steel chisel Sam fished it out It was a die stamp, he realized, a type of stone chisel One end was flattened like the head of a nail; the other end was concave with a knife-edged border He shined his flashlight into the indentation It was the outline of a cicada

“Thank you, General,” Sao”

He pocketed the stamp, closed the lid, and stepped out