Jason compared the two. The photo’s main architectural landmarks certainly appeared to match the sketch—though the passing centuries had changed the religious site somewhat.
Bailey lifted one brow toward Jason and Monk. Plainly, the father had already deciphered this bit of the mystery. By getting confirmation from Yelagin, it suggested the bishop was willing to cooperate and not stonewall them.
Still, Jason had a question. “I’m familiar enough with the legends of the lost Golden Library. But, Bishop Yelagin, why did you ask about it when you saw this sketch just now?”
“Mostly because I know Monsignor Borrelli had been intent to look for clues that could tie the cache of books to the lost library. If he had sent this photo with such haste to the Vatican, it would suggest he had discovered something.” The bishop frowned with clear disappointment. “Yet, I don’t understand why he wouldn’t have shared it with me. We had been on good terms, especially as I allowed him to accompany the archaeology team down into the vault.”
“You said this wasmostlythe reason that you made a connection to the Golden Library,” Jason pressed him. “What else made you think so?”
Yelagin pointed to the sketch glowing on the tablet. “The Holy Trinity Lavra was one of the locations outside of Moscow that many believe could be where Ivan the Terrible hid his library.”
Bailey studied the tablet closer. “I thought everyone was convinced it was lost somewhere under the city.”
“That was the consensus for a long time,” Yelagin agreed. “The most ardent advocate for this location was a Russian archaeologist—Ignatius Stelletskii—who spent all his life looking for the Golden Library under Moscow. He searched until his death in 1949. Perhaps based on his lack of success, the search eventually extended outward. Since the 1990s, others have been looking farther afield. Mostly scouring any sites with historical ties to Ivan the Terrible.”
“Like where?” Bailey asked.
The bishop ticked them off on his fingers. “Alexandrov, which was the capital of Ivan’s fiefdom. The village of Dyakovo, where a secret door was discovered that led underground beneath the Church of St. John the Baptist.”
Jason nodded to the tablet. “And the Trinity Lavra? It’s connected to Ivan the Terrible?”
“Certainly,” Yelagin acknowledged. “Ivan moved his court to Sergiyev Posad during the latter years of his reign. He was even the one who ordered the construction of the Lavra’s Dormition Cathedral—what’s now called the Cathedral of the Assumption. Ivan modeled it after the cathedral of the same name on the Kremlin grounds.”
“And you say people have already searched the town, looking for the Golden Library?” Bailey asked.
“With no more success than anyone else.”
Jason glanced over to Monk and Father Bailey. He read the hope in their eyes. Those other searchers didn’t have what they had: the annotations and drawings from an old Greek text.
Could it be an encrypted map, one pointing to a hidden location within the Trinity Lavra?
With that prospect in mind, Jason was anxious to leave and settle into their rooms at the Vatican’s embassy. He had some ideas that might help them analyze those series of photos in greater depth.
A new voice joined their discussion. “All of this? Is it somehow tied to my brother’s murder?”
Jason turned to find Sister Anna approaching them. Her expression had hardened out of sorrow into a red-cheeked anger.
“Possibly,” Bailey admitted. “If someone caught wind of such a discovery—a clue to the possible location of the Golden Library, a treasure house of inestimable value—they might have sought to steal it.”
“You mentioned the Trinity Lavra and the town of Sergiyev Posad,” she said as she reached them. “Just this morning, I heard of a new excavation that just started there. It has the whole town stirred up.”
Yelagin’s brow furrowed. “I was not informed of such a project. How did you—?”
“The sisters in the convent at Sergiyev Posad are well aware of all that happens within their town. And gossip travels quickly. They were abuzz with news of this excavation—and rightly so.”
“Why?” Jason asked, drawing her eyes, which were an arresting azure blue. “Were the excavators looking for the Golden Library?”
She frowned. “No. The rumor is that they were searching for an early copy of the Tikhvin Icon. Maybe the very earliest—if not the original.”
She said the last with a note of trepidation.
Jason narrowed his eyes. He recognized that name, but before he could ponder it further, Monk interjected.
“What is this icon?” he asked.
Yelagin explained, “It’s Russia’s most venerated relic, a holy icon said to have been painted by the Apostle Luke. It shows the Virgin Mary holding the Christ child in her lap. Many miracles and healings have been attributed to it.”
“I don’t understand,” Monk said. “Has it gone missing?”
