Dead Past

linguist friend of mine. He parsed the sentence and analyzed the content. From him I found out it was probably in a book of the twenties, thirties, possibly forties, maybe earlier, but probably not later. He also suggested that it would be in a book that covered art, technology, and science because of the content and the syntax. From there I called on a few librarian friends. We found a list of authors who wrote in that domain in the right time frame and looked at some of their work. The style seemed most like the work of a man named Henry Smith Williams. We looked at a collection of his books. His main work was a history of science, but we didn’t find the sentence in those volumes. Then we found a series of Wonder Books. It was in the ninth volume, about art and science.”
    “I’m impressed,” said Neva. “You had to read all of those books?”
    “There were several of us and we are all fast readers—we mainly scanned the pages looking for the word palimpsests .”
    “The index didn’t help?” asked Jin.
    “Didn’t have one,” said Kendel.
    “Kendel, this is a great job,” said Diane. “I’m absolutely amazed. I thought it would be a long shot.”
    “I’m glad I can keep my reputation intact. Really, it was harder finding the crystal skull.”
    Kendel stood. “I just got back in, so I’m going home to rest on my laurels for a while before I come back to work. Oh, one of my librarian friends said that someone in the Bartram library was looking for books about palimpsests and became quite cross when the librarians couldn’t find the book she wanted. Interesting coincidence, I thought.”
    “It is, indeed,” said Diane. The voice she heard in the library, she thought.
    David escorted Kendel to the door.
    “I’m impressed with the people you have working for you,” said Frank.
    “So am I,” said Diane. “Kendel has headhunters after her all the time. One of these days they’re going to be able to lure her away. I hope that’s not for a long time.”
    David came back and sat down and sighed.
    “What?” asked Neva.
    “Nothing. I just wish I could get a woman like that to date me,” he said.
    “Have you asked her out?” said Neva.
    “No. I just told you, women like that don’t go out with guys like me,” he said.
    “I’m not even going to go there,” said Neva. “She puts her panty hose on just like the rest of us. Ask her out. You may be pleasantly surprised. If she says no, then you get to complain to us for the rest of the year—it’s a win-win situation for you.”
    “May I look at the book?” said Frank.
    Diane handed it over to him. She had been flipping through the pages, looking for inspiration. The key was in the phrase, she was sure, but how eluded her.
    Frank took the book and turned to page fifteen. Diane watched him reading the entire page. While Jin and David were explaining to Neva how some women are just unapproachable, Frank took the book to the computer. From her vantage point it looked like he was trying out a couple of words—with no success. Then she saw the familiar twinkle in his eye. She watched for a moment before she spoke up.
    “You have it, don’t you?” she said.
    The others looked at her, then Frank.
    “What?” said Jin. “When we weren’t looking?”
    He jumped up and started to go over to the computer for a look, but Frank was already printing something out. He brought it to the table.
    “What was the word?” asked Diane.
    “Roman,” said Frank.
    “Roman? How did you come up with that?” said Jin. He took the book and looked at the page.
    “It was actually the simplest part of the cipher. The sentence has nine words. I went nine lines down from the key sentence and nine words over. The word was Roman, so I gave it a try and . . . here we are.
    With a flourish he tossed the printout on the table. It spun around and slid almost off before Jin caught it. He read it out loud.
The private family cemetery of James Vann Llewellyn in the city of Glendale-Marsh Florida Three feet under the headstone of Leander Llewellyn
    A cheer went up from all of them and Jin patted Frank on the back.
    “It’s real, then?” said Neva.
    “The message is decipherable,” said Frank. “Whether or not there is a buried treasure there is anyone’s guess.”
    “Now what?” said Jin. “We go look for the treasure?”
    “No,” said Diane. “The treasure isn’t our concern. We need to find the murderers. Jin, you call the authorities in—where