CHAPTER 50
— FATHER GREEN, BUT what a pleasant surprise! — Nicole said, showing joy when waking up after a terrible night of sleep.
— Please, Roman — Greg said — sit with us!
— We'll soon understand why the password we found failed to prevent access to the New York Stock Exchange's Custody Bank.
The first part of the riddle comprised the first four sentences:
— Note that the keywords are in capital letters Mundo, Novo, Bolsa, Touro, which led us to conclude that it was the New York Stock Exchange. The second part refers to a work of art created by an artist protected by a Caesar. In this case, we conclude that it was Michelangelo, hired by Caesar. Pope Julius II was the patron, protector of artists in the 15th century, who commissioned Michelangelo to create the sculptures that would decorate his tomb.
— So we come to the only work of art completed by Michelangelo for the tomb of Julius II: the Moses — concluded Green.
— Yes.
— Now we have the dilemma that we imagined that the date of creation of the statue would be the password to access the contents of the vault.
— That's the problem, Father Green — the girl continued.
Greg nodded and continued to look back on the case to see if he could find any flaws in the whole story.
— We imagined that the key to the enigma for access to the custody bank was the number of letters that make up the name of the Hebrew patriarch; which, once added to the inauguration date of the monument in 1515, would form the access code to the Stock Exchange's Custody Bank.
— There must be something about this statue that we can't see. At first it seemed to us that everything was going well, we knew about the safe and the key, now we are not so sure.
Roman was now looking at Nicole's photographs of the statue of Moses.
— Perhaps the password for the vault in the custodial bank isn't exactly Moses — said Greg — but something about him, something about him or his construction or the purposes Michelangelo carved it for.
— Like this?
— I believe that the password is here somewhere hidden in this statue, however, the big question is that to discover it we would have to see it as your grandfather saw it, and that seems to me, in theory, an unlikely task. How could we understand what his grandfather saw in a statue like this?
— You mean to say that in order to discover the whereabouts of the Golden Book, we would have to understand how my grandfather thought?
— I believe so, the riddle only brings us to this statue and no other indication we could fall back on.
— But that would be a divine task — exclaimed Father Roman. — No man could penetrate another person's mind by discerning his particular way of seeing things!
— That really is impossible — Nicole agreed.
— The only thing I've learned in life — Greg said — is that people call it impossible until someone goes out there and proves them all wrong.
— Maybe not! observed Nicole, returning from deep thought.
— If your grandfather's objective was merely to conceal the book from the Brotherhood of the Serpent, there would be no need to elaborate on the riddle.
— But if he didn't work out the riddle the book would be lost forever anyway — observed the priest.
— Exactly! With the enigma we can see that Hulmann's intention was that the book would not be lost, but would be found by the right people, in this case, his own family.
— Yes, but still, we're in the dark — Nicole said. — The fact that I'm your granddaughter doesn't help us much. We are completely lost!
— So it seems to us — concluded Roman Green.
— By the right people...
— Wait — he said to Nicole — at no point did my grandfather claim that the right people to find the Golden Book were his family members!
— Like this?
— Yes — agreed the young woman, sketching a smile — but as I remember the letter, it doesn't say that I would find the Golden Book...
— How not? — Protested the priest — if the letter was addressed to your mother!
— I know — replied the young woman — what I mean is that, for my grandfather, the Golden Book would not necessarily be found by my mother!
— I don't understand anymore! — What do you mean by that? If your grandfather's letter was addressed to your mother, it stands to reason that it would be up to her to find the Golden Book!
— Not necessarily!
— How not? — Green now turned curiously to Nicole.
— I still don't understand what you're getting at!
The young woman quickly opened it, showing Green an excerpt from the letter:
I will no longer be with you when you read this letter, so meditate patiently on what I will reveal to you. Do not act solely with human wisdom, but with the wisdom of a true Christian spirit. If you do this, your spirit will be illuminated and you will become the guardian of one of the greatest mysteries of humanity: The Golden Book of Atlantis.
— Do not only behave with human wisdom, but with the wisdom of a true Christian spirit! repeated Roman Green.
— This really is it! — Nick is correct — said Gregory Evans — His grandfather addressed the letter so that his mother could discover the whereabouts of the Golden Book, but set a condition: the book would only be found if the person looking for it had this requirement, that is, a Christian mindset. This really was a stroke of genius, only someone who thought like a Christian could understand the meaning of the riddles he posed, leaving the Brotherhood of the Serpent completely excluded from the possibility of finding the book!
— This then enables us to understand Hulmann's mind. He even left us an indication to discover the whereabouts of the book. We will only have to look at the statue of Moses with the eyes of an ardent Christian! Otherwise we won't understand the clues he left!
— Okay, but what does that mean? — asked Gregory — who can explain to me how to look at the riddle like a true Christian spirit and how that might help us to find a password hidden in the statue of Moses by Michelangelo?
— This is the question! — Green replied — and turning to the young woman — what is it about the statue of Michelangelo that catches your attention, Nick? I ask this because, being a history student, as well as possessing a sensitive spirit, you seem to me the best person to solve this question.
Nicole pored over the photographs spread out on the table for a moment.
— Hmm!
His eyes roamed over every detail of the vigorous statue:
— This statue reveals great vigor as if the patriarch of Israel had the energy of a Hercules. Now, what most calls my attention are those protuberances on his forehead: it seems that the sculptor's intention was to endow the biblical prophet with horns. This is, without a doubt, what catches my attention the most. I can even say that I feel a certain revolt when I see the great patriarch portrayed with the demonic appearance!
— I had the same impression — said Roman Green, completely beaming — but I asked Nick what she felt so I could confirm my belief.
— And what is she, Father Green? — asked Greg.
— The key to discovering the New York Stock Exchange Custody Bank password is in the head!
— Yes, Father Green — Nicole confirmed — we believe the password is in your head, but tell us, Father, what is it?
— No, young lady, you don't understand! — The password is not in my head — said the priest, smiling — it is in the head of the statue of Moses!
— On the head of the statue of Moses? — But how?
— There's your grandfather's genius, Nick — Green continued.
— So he used the only part of the statue of Moses that would cause a person identified with the Christian to be uneasy:
— The horns on the statue's head! — Greg and Nicole said in unison.
— Exactly, young lady! — To an ordinary person this detail would go unnoticed, but to a Christian, he is perplexed to say the least!
— Fine — agreed Gregory — but how is the password on the head of the statue of Moses?
— Hulmann's ingenuity is simply perfect — continued the Father — the horns on the statue are not due to Michelangelo's feeling of revolt against Pope Julius II, giving the impression that the artist wanted to take revenge by demonizing the order of the proud pontiff. The horns are due exactly to a translation error in the Vulgate!
—Vulgate? Gregory asked even more confused.
— The Vulgate is St. Jerome's translation of the Holy Bible — Nicole explained.
— That's right — agreed Green — now when St. Jerome translated the Holy Scriptures into Latin, he made a mistake by confusing the verb qaran, which in Hebrew means to shine ; with the noun qeren, whose meaning is exactly that of horn! That is why the great artist transferred the error of the translation of St. Jerome into his statue.
— And that's exactly where Nick's grandfather wanted us to be. This detail would go unnoticed by a member of the Brotherhood of the Serpent, but never by a Christian who would be outraged by an apparent offense to the biblical patriarch! — continued the young woman while picking up a Bible covered with illuminations — here it is, in the book of Exodus.
— Look — continued the young woman — this whole text refers to the mystery of the biblical passage in which the prophet Moses, upon receiving the tablets of the law, had his face resplendent.
— I still don't understand the relationship of this biblical text to the password of the custodial bank — murmured Gregory Evans.
— It's simple — Nicole argued — do you remember the reason why the password we had previously indicated could not be the correct one?
— A digit was missing — exclaimed Gregory.
— Exactly — replied the woman — now see Exodus 34:29-35, it has exactly eleven digits!
— Now all we have to do is forward this last password to my mother and the Senator and wait!
— That's all we have left, Nick, wait... wait and hope we've got it right now — Greg replied hopefully.