‘In the case of the hidden science texts, we believe that the information they contain could be invaluable to the whole of humanity. They could hold the answers to disease, famine . . .’
‘That’s what Lauren said,’ said Jake unhappily. He sighed. ‘I’m guessing that with all the hoo-ha that’s going on, the book that was dug up at the site is the first one ever found.’
Munro shook his head.
‘No,’ he said. ‘I know of at least one that’s been discovered, and I believe there have been others that have been found, but kept hidden.’
‘Who by?’ asked Jake.
‘I would suggest your own people,’ said Munro.
‘My own people?’ asked Jake, puzzled.
‘The Department of Science. That’s what they did with this book, isn’t it? The one that was dug up at the site.’
Jake hesitated. That was exactly what had happened. And if they’d done that with this particular book . . .
Suddenly the implication of what Munro had just said struck Jake. I know of at least one. ‘You’ve got one,’ he challenged.
Munro nodded. ‘We found one for one of our clients. Nothing startling. Not like the text that I understand you saw dug up, Jake. The one we found is about the science of optics. Basically, creating spectacles to help those with poor vision.’ He smiled. ‘But the miraculous aspect of it is that it was written in 200 BC. Yours was on the rapid growth of fungal spores, I believe.’
‘That’s what Lauren said,’ replied Jake. ‘By some guy called . . .’ he struggled to recall the name. ‘El Izmir something . . .’
‘El Izmir Al Tabul. The greening of the desert,’ said Munro. ‘Creating food from fungal spores.’ He nodded thoughtfully. ‘It’s on our list.’
Jake studied Munro suspiciously.
‘You’ve got a list?’
‘Yes,’ said Munro. ‘One we’ve compiled over many years, based on rumours of what the secret library contained.’
‘Lauren’s got a list like that,’ said Jake.
‘We’d like to take a look at it,’ said Munro. ‘Compare the two lists.’
‘Let’s find her first,’ said Jake grimly.
‘We’re working on that already,’ said Munro calmly. ‘As you’ve already pointed out, we are a very large and very rich organisation. As a law firm, one of our briefs is to trace people. The private investigators we employ are second to none. If anyone can find Ms Graham, they can.’
‘They need to do it before whoever killed Carl gets to her.’
Munro hesitated. He’s about to tell me that Lauren killed Carl, thought Jake. Then Munro obviously changed his mind.
‘Let’s worry about that later,’ he said. ‘Can we return to why we had you freed?’
‘The book,’ said Jake.
‘The book.’ Munro nodded. ‘The El Izmir. The one you and Ms Graham rescued from Hadley Park last night.’
He knows, Jake said to himself. He’s not just guessing. In the same way that Gareth knew, and those two men who grabbed me in the street. And Penny Johnson. Everyone involved in this case knows that Lauren and I got the book. How? Was it the image of Lauren and him on the CCTV, even though he had been masked? Then another thought struck him.
‘This book you found for your clients – the one about optics . . .’
‘Yes,’ said Munro.
‘There’s nothing about it having been found on the internet. If there had been, Lauren would have known. She’s been trying to trace this hidden library for years, even to find one book from it just so she can prove it exists.’
‘A very worthy ambition,’ said Munro.
‘So why haven’t you announced this book you found to the world? If what you say is true, about wanting to share the knowledge with everyone.’
‘We thought about that,’ said Munro. ‘But then we reasoned, if we did and word got out that it was one of the Malichea hidden books, every crackpot would be out searching and digging. And who knows where these books might end up? In the hands of crooks, or governments who want to keep them hidden.’
‘But you’re keeping this one hidden,’ persisted Jake.
‘Believe me, Jake, if it had anything new to show the world, we would reveal it. We would give that information to the world, freely. But, unlike the text you found, all our book says about optical sciences is already known.’
Jake studied Munro. Despite the man’s easy manner, the frank way he spoke about everything and the way he’d answered all of his questions, Jake had an uneasy feeling there was something being hidden.