“We should tell Kendrick about this,” she said.
“A conversation I’m very much looking forward to,” he murmured.
“You could just tell him you made some inquiries and that one of your many informants told you about the stairwell.There’s no need for Kendrick to know we were here.”
“You’re right.”Adrian bent to give her a kiss, then glanced toward the lock.“Any chance you can breach it?”
“I’ll give it a try but the size and age of it makes me skeptical.”She crouched in front of the gate as best as she could in the narrow space.“Hold the light steady so I can see.”
He did as she asked while she worked her pins.
Metal scraped against metal, the sound jarring in the otherwise silent space.It took a few minutes but then a click sounded.Samantha sighed and pushed the gate open, then straightened to her full height.“Let’s go.”
She followed him to the opposite side, staying near his larger frame as darkness closed in behind her.The feel of one blade strapped against her right thigh and the knowledge that others were hidden upon her person settled her pulse to a steady beat.
Whatever they might encounter down here, she’d be prepared.
“I doubt we’re still under St.George’s,” Adrian muttered after a while.“We’ve been walking too long and the candle is half burned.We’ll need to retrace our steps soon if we want to light our path.”
“Just a little bit farther,” she said.“I refuse to believe this tunnel has no purpose.”
“Maybe it did a long time ago and has since been abandoned.That would explain the locked gate.”
“So would any need to keep prying eyes away from what may be hidden down here.”
“You’re not wrong but it’s also possible that we’re on a false trail.Let’s not forget, we came here looking for a place where a surgeon might have conducted experiments on people.I doubt he’d have done so down here.”
He made an excellent point yet she could not shake the feeling that something wasn’t right about this place.Then again…
“Maybe I’m letting the idea of secret tunnels linked to nefarious deeds get the better of me.You’re probably right and I really don’t want to get stranded without any light so w—”
“Hold on.”
“What is it?”
He didn’t reply but kept on moving, leading her into a large, round space.Stepping farther inside, he swept the candle to one side then to the other in an effort to get a sense of the place.
It looked like a large stone chamber, so ancient in appearance Samantha wondered if it might date back all the way to the Romans.
“Wait,” she said when the light landed on an uneven shape for a moment before once again moving away.“Over there to your right.What is that?”
Adrian sent the light back in the direction she requested and walked toward the object she’d spotted.It appeared to be a massive candelabra filled with partially burnt candles.He started to light them.
“You realize this wouldn’t be here if this space were not being used,” she said.
“The question now, I suppose, is what it’s used for.”The room lit up a little bit more with each additional flame he provided.“Can you spot any clues?”
She scanned the chamber and took note of what appeared to be disturbances on the dirt floor.
“I need more light if I’m to study this in greater detail,” she said while Adrian crossed to the opposite side of the room.“It does appear as though several people may have been here recently.It would make an excellent place for clandestine meetings.”
Additional light swept toward her from the left, and she saw that Adrian had found another candelabra.A quick assessment of the room revealed two more.Once lit, the room would be fairly bright.
“Have you seen the carvings on the wall?”Adrian asked.
Samantha had noted some sort of design, but had yet to discern what it depicted.“I’ll take a closer look.”
“There’s also another tunnel on this side, providing access from a different location.”He finished lighting the second candelabra and crossed to where she stood examining what appeared to be Latin words, meticulously carved into the stone wall.“Into whatever houses I enter, I will go into them for the benefit of the sick.”
