24.

Hacker’s End

Saturday, March 30 - 4:00p.m.

Mike decided he needed to decipher the manuscripts Craig had sent him, and find the scroll Joe had talked about. He knew Professor Bailey could help him do that, but she would also ask him where he got the documents. He didn’t want to lie to her, but if he told her the truth–that her own student, Craig, hacked his way into the Vatican and stole them–Craig would get in trouble. He also knew that getting Craig’s buy-in would be difficult because he had been acting paranoid and secretive about the whole affair from day one. He decided it might be simpler to find another scholar who could read the documents.

He spent some time on the Internet searching in vain for Biblical scholars and experts in deciphering ancient manuscripts. When he typed too few keywords into the search engines, he got thousands of web pages, all of which were irrelevant. When he entered too many keywords, it came up with nothing at all. Finally, out of sheer frustration, he found the napkin where Craig had written his phone number, and dialed.

After two rings, a man answered. “Hello?”

Mike figured Craig probably had a roommate, but this guy sounded older than a student. He said, “Hi. Is Craig there?”

The older man asked, “May I ask who is calling?”

“Mike Tomson.”

“Well, I’m sorry to have to tell you this, Mr. Tomson, but your friend Craig is dead. I’m detective Roberson, Las Vegas police.”

Mike was shocked. “Dead? What happened?”

“He and his mother were murdered. Would you mind coming down to the precinct to answer some questions?”

“Yeah. Sure.”

Later, when the police questioned Mike, they asked him all the questions he expected and he answered them as simply as he could: What was his relationship with Craig? He befriended him after a gig. Why was he calling Craig? To ask him a computer question. Did he know anyone who might have done this? No. Where was he at the time of the murder? With Jennifer.

Mike didn’t find out much about the investigation into Craig’s murder during his interrogation because, although they didn’t want to admit it, the police had little to go on. They had found no fingerprints or footprints, and no stray hairs or other DNA samples at the murder scene. All they had was a couple of 38 caliber slugs. The scene didn’t have any of the characteristics of a crime of passion. It looked like a professional hit, and that meant that someone wanted Craig dead. But Craig was just an ordinary student, so who would want that? When he left the police station, he was still in shock but grateful that they hadn’t asked any questions about e-mail.

As Mike drove back to his apartment on his Harley, he couldn’t help but worry. The police didn’t have any theories as to why Craig was murdered, but he did. The only thing that made Craig different from every other student in the world–as far as Mike knew–was that he had hacked his way past Vatican security, and according to Bailey, the Vatican was very protective.

Now he wondered: If Craig had been murdered because of the manuscripts, was his life in danger too? And if he brought the manuscripts to Professor Bailey, would that endanger her life as well?

Excerpt from The Gospel According to Mike

He said, “When God blew the blessed breath of Her divine Spirit into your lungs, she filled you with her holiness and love, just as She did with Jesus and all the masters who came before. The difference is: the masters saw God in all people and all things, and you do not. Follow the silence inside to Her loving voice.”