‘What?’ Rahn said. This hunt had more twists and turns than the Gorges of Galamus! ‘Fleury?’ He looked about him in the darkness and at that moment he heard the sound of the door to the church closing. Rahn took himself down the nave but by the time he was at the door he could hear the Peugeot starting and before he could reach her, she had taken off.
‘Don’t tell me you left the keys in the car, Rahn!’ It was Deodat beside him.
‘Why would she do that?’ Rahn stood in the deathly cold feeling perplexed, watching as the tail-lights of the auto disappeared into the rain and fog.
‘I’m not surprised,’ Deodat said.
‘What did you mean by “Fleury”?’ Rahn looked at him, feeling a wave of vertigo and a sudden reviving of that bee in his ear.
‘I found out from Beliere – or whatever his name is – that she is a direct relative of Gabriele Fleury, daughter of Marie de Nègre Hautpoul-Blanchefort! Marie Blanchefort had three daughters: Elisabeth, Gabriele and Mary. From what you say, she chose to leave her inheritance in the hands of Abbé Bigou instead. The mademoiselle is after what she feels is rightfully hers – the treasure of the Cathars.’ He paused. ‘Now I think she’s realised that she is in way over her head and, if she’s smart, she’ll keep driving all the way to Italy.’
‘And we were almost close,’ La Dame said, wistfully.
‘Oh that’s right, you’re here,’ Deodat bemoaned, turning to him.
‘It’s a pleasure to see you too, Deodat,’ La Dame said. ‘So, what now?’
‘Well,’ Rahn said, ‘the parchment clue in this church is missing, so, unless we can figure out what JCKAL means, we have nothing to go on. Besides, you’re alive, Deodat, and now the imperative to find the treasure is no longer there.’
‘What nonsense!’ Deodat retorted.
‘But we’ve hit a dead end!’ Rahn countered.
‘Have we? I don’t believe so . . .’ Deodat said, happily, looking like the cat that swallowed the goldfish. ‘I think you were right about the list, ingeniously right. Think for a moment. There are five churches on the list; why is that, when there should be six?’
Rahn looked at Deodat’s darkly lit face. ‘Because Cros hadn’t found the parchment at Saint-Just-et-le-Bézu!’
‘Exactly so! Let’s go over it: Cros knew of the parchment at Rennes-le-Château and I think this Abbé Gélis you mentioned must have found the parchment hidden in this church and he either sold it or gave it to Cros. And I don’t think Cros gave it to the Bishop of Carcassonne; I feel certain of that. He kept it and made it his life’s task to find the rest of the parchments. That would explain his obsession with puzzles. Now, the original parchment, he knew, was at Rennes-le-Château, that’s one church; there was the parchment he didn’t find at Saint-Justet-le-Bézu, that’s the second church; this was the third church, Coustassa; so that leaves three more. Each parchment led to another. But here’s the interesting part – years ago, Cros and I had a discussion on the tarot; remember I mentioned that to you before, Rahn? He was looking for information regarding the pope card. I remember it because it was so unusual. I gave him Éliphas Levi’s book and he kept it for months. This is connected to it – I’m certain of it.’
‘How?’
‘Well, in my estimation, the family Perillos chose a circle of churches that were close enough for the priests to know one another, then they created an elaborate cipher and the master word to solving it was hidden in a painting by Poussin. The first church, Saunière’s church, contained the original parchment given to Bigou by Marie de Hautpoul-Blanchefort on her deathbed. This parchment revealed the second church in which a second parchment revealed the third church and so on. Ingenious really! And if the chain was broken, it could be picked up at another point along the line, simply by understanding the rule.’
‘What rule?’
‘In every case the parchment was hidden in a church in which there could be found some connection, even if slight, to the tarot. Rennes-le-Château has its devil, the fifteenth card; Saint-Just-et-le-Bézu its goddess, the twenty-first card; and this church, Coustassa, has two pillars on either side of the altar, which to me signifies Joachim and Boaz, the second card. And I realise only now why Cros wanted Éliphas Levi’s book. I believe that something in the parchment in this church must have led to the church at Rennes-les-Bains.’
‘Why Rennes-les-Bains?’ La Dame asked.