The Trinity Game

man, and I gotta tell ya, there’s no electronic manipulation here. The guy is really doing it. Kinda freaking me out, but I’ve got no explanation. Never seen anything like it. If you need anything else, let me know.
    -Gerry
    So Trinity had figured out a trick that had never been done before. Well, why not? There were many monikers you could hang on the man—childish, egocentric, immoral—but you could never call him stupid.
    Daniel double-clicked on one of the attached transcript files, and it opened on his screen. Another weather report, Trinity warning of torrential rains in Charleston.
    Torrential.
Daniel couldn’t remember seeing that word in the transcripts Nick had given him. He opened the corresponding audio file from Gerry, listened.
Torrential
—no mistaking it. He checked the broadcast date, pulled the corresponding transcript from his case file. In Giuseppe’s transcript, Trinity never said torrential…because in the transcript, Trinity called for sunshine. And it was one of the predictions Trinity had supposedly gotten wrong.
    But Trinity hadn’t called for sunshine; he’d called for rain.
    A chill ran down Daniel’s arms as he flipped through his folder, pulling the transcript of Trinity’s next failed prediction.

    Two hours later, Daniel sat stunned, trying to understand. He’d checked and double-checked, read and listened and re-listened. Surfed the Internet for weather news and sports scores and more.
    Trinity’s predictions, so far, had all come true.
    All of them.
    Maybe Trinity had some meteorologist at the national weather service on his payroll…but how to explain the sports predictions? The games couldn’t all be fixed, could they? And what about the traffic accidents? Daniel thought about it for a long while. Then he hit “Reply” on Gerry’s e-mail.
    From: [email protected]
    To: [email protected]
    Subject: RE: What we’ve learned…
    Gerry,
    Thanks so much for your help with this. During the week, Trinity’s show is a repeat—but there’s a new episode starting each Sunday. Could you record and decode tomorrow’s show? I can do the transcription, but if you could just send me the reversed audio file, that would be a big help.
    Thanks again,
    D.
    Daniel shut down his laptop, trying to make sense of things. He came up with more questions than answers. But two things seemed certain:
    However he was doing it, Tim Trinity was predicting the future accurately, every single time.
    And the Vatican’s transcripts had been altered to hide that fact.

T he television studio-cum-church was packed with believers in their Sunday best, and Tim Trinity stood tall on the stage, reveling in the applause and flashing his pearly whites. The canned music faded away as he slowly brought his hands together like a prayer. The crowd fell silent.
    Daniel sat in the back row, taking it all in. He had to admit, his uncle wasn’t just good—he was a master. He’d seen many talented grifters at work on the tent revival circuit, many more preaching on television. But nobody
owned
the stage like Tim Trinity.
    Trinity let the silence linger, then flipped a page of his blue Bible, which sat before him on the lectern. When he spoke, his voice boomed to the rafters. “
Jesus
said—Matthew 13:45—‘The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.’”
    He scooped up the Bible, grinned out at the crowd, and scratched his head in mock confusion. “One pearl of great value? Now just what in the heck is he
talkin
’ about?”
    The audience laughed easily.
    “The pearl, my friends, is
salvation
. Salvation is the pearl of the
highest
value.” Trinity started pacing the stage as a handful of
Amens
came up from the crowd. “But some of you are likethe rich man who came to Jesus and asked what good deed he must do to get into heaven. You remember the one. The man was already virtuous, kept all of God’s laws, so Jesus told him to sell all his possessions and become a disciple. And the rich man went away, grieving, for he had many possessions. What he failed to understand—and what y’all
need
to understand—is that spiritual salvation brings with it
all
the material wealth you could ever hope for! Salvation is—
always and in all ways
—the pearl of great value.
Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
”
    Daniel shifted