“So Ellyson was interested in retracing Hannibal ’s path?” asked Harvath.

“That was the way it seemed, and the more time Bernard spent with him, the more Dr. Ellyson began to trust him,” said Marie. “He was a lonely man. He had no wife, no family. Many evenings, he kept Bernard up all night so he wouldn’t have to drink alone. The doctor would tell Bernard stories about how Hannibal had almost succeeded in changing the face of history.”

“What did he mean by that?” Jillian eagerly asked.

“He believed Hannibal ’s army was bringing with them a magic weapon that could completely decimate the Romans-men, women, children, even their animals. This idea is completely crazy. A magic weapon which kills people and also their animals?”

“How did Ellyson know this? Where did he get his information? Was it from Burnham?”

“Bernard wondered the same thing. Like me, he was also beginning to think Ellyson was crazy. Of course, we were being paid good money, but at some point the money was not so important. Ellyson was, how do you say? Obsessed.

“One night, after they had been drinking, Bernard forgot himself and told the archeologist that he thought he was crazy. They had been searching for some time and had found nothing. Ellyson was furious that Bernard did not believe in him. He made Bernard go upstairs with him to the room he used as his office so he could show him his proof.”

“Proof?” repeated Harvath. “What kind of proof?”

“In the office, Bernard watched Dr. Ellyson take the key he kept on a chain around his neck and open a metal attaché case. Inside was a book made from pages of very old papyrus. According to the archeologist, the pages were written in ancient Greek and were a firsthand account of Hannibal ’s journey over the Alps.”

Jillian turned to Harvath and said, “The Silenus manuscript. Silenus was the Greek war correspondent who spent all his time amongst Hannibal ’s different soldiers. That must be what it was.”

“Not only were there Greeks with Hannibal, but Roman spies as well. From what Dr. Ellyson learned, word of Hannibal ’s attack had been circulating for some time. It wasn’t the attack itself that the Romans were most concerned with, but rather the magic weapon the Carthaginians were said to be bringing with them; and the Romans found a way to stop this magic weapon from ever reaching Rome.”

“How?”

“The Roman spies paid some of the Carthaginian soldiers to betray Hannibal. The men responsible for guarding the magic weapon were killed as they slept, and their bodies and beasts swept off the face of the mountain by a terrible avalanche.”

“Did Ellyson ever say how the book came into his possession?” asked Harvath.

“Mais oui,” replied Marie. “Of this, the man was very proud. He told Bernard he had discovered it himself.”

“Where?” said Jillian.

“At first, he would not say. It was as if maybe he was embarrassed or something. But you have to know Bernard. There was something very special about him. He was a very powerful man, and other men were drawn to him. He was like a rock. He never judged them, and for that, they felt that they could unburden their souls to him.”

“And Dr. Ellyson?” asked Harvath. “He unburdened himself to Bernard?”

“With the help of two bottles of Chateau Margaux,” said Marie. “One night the doctor must have had a vision of Christ because he un-burdened himself of all his sins. He admitted to Bernard many things we already knew about him. He admitted the drinking, the gambling, and of course the women, but it was the thing he saved for last which was the most interesting.”

“Which was?”

“Dr. Donald Ellyson was a thief.”

“A thief?” echoed Harvath.

Marie smiled and said, “He had assembled quite a personal collection of antiquities over the years. The only ones that were of any value were the ones that were stolen.”

Harvath shook his head knowingly. It didn’t surprise him that in the frothy pool of international malfeasance, two floaters like Rayburn and Ellyson had managed to bump up against each other and had found a way to improve their shitty lot in life by throwing in together. “What did your husband think of all this?”

Marie Lavoine laughed. “Bernard found it quite amusing. The funny thing about Dr. Ellyson was that he had basically stolen from everyone else’s archeological discoveries his entire life, but the minute he made his very own find, he unequivocally forbade my husband and Maurice to steal from him.”

“Wait a second,” said Jillian. “His find? What did he find?”

“Dr. Ellyson was a better archeologist than he thought. With the help of the book in that attaché case, he found part of Hannibal ’s army.”

“Which part? Which part of the army did he find?”

“The part the Romans paid a fortune to make sure never made it to Rome.”

THIRTY-SEVEN

Neither Harvath nor Alcott could believe it. Ellyson’s find was absolutely amazing. “He found it here? In the Alps?” asked Jillian.

“Yes, somewhere near the Traversette.”

“Where exactly?”

“I don’t know. Bernard never told me. He only told me about the discovery itself.”

“How soon was this before they disappeared?” asked Harvath.

“Two weeks, maybe more. They had only just begun to excavate the site. It was located in a very deep ice chasm that was extremely difficult to get their equipment into.”

“I’m confused. You said Ellyson forbade Bernard and the other man working with him-”

“Maurice.”

“Right. Ellyson forbade your husband and Maurice from stealing objects from the site, but they did, didn’t they?” said Harvath. “That’s how the artifacts came into your possession.”

“No,” replied Lavoine. “They did not steal anything. Dr. Ellyson was extremely concerned with what he called the structural integrity of the site. An avalanche, a shift in the ice-it wouldn’t have taken much for everything to be lost.”

Jillian looked at the woman and asked, “So what did they do?”

“Dr. Ellyson catalogued everything. Very carefully, he recorded where each piece had been found, and then Bernard and Maurice helped carry them back here. The smaller artifacts were easy enough to transport; it was the bigger ones they were just starting to decide how to handle when they disappeared.”

“So Ellyson reported his find to Burnham, and that’s how he knew you had them.”

“The artifacts? No, Dr. Ellyson said the artifacts were none of Burnham’s business.”

“But Burnham was funding the expedition.”

“Ellyson didn’t care. He said Monsieur Burnham was only interested in one thing from the dig, and since that was all their agreement called for, that was all he was going to get. Anything above and beyond that, Dr. Ellyson said Monsieur Burnham had no right to.”

“And what was the one thing Burnham was interested in?” asked Jillian.

Lavoine had no idea. She just turned up her palms and shrugged her shoulders.

“How did the man claiming to be Burnham even figure out then that you had the artifacts?” asked Harvath.

“Because I told him. As I said, we haven’t had many customers since Bernard disappeared. The bank still must be paid, and I have very little money left. So, I offered Monsieur Burnham a chance to buy the artifacts from me.”

“But technically he had funded the expedition. Those would have rightfully belonged to him and his institute. What if he had gone to the police?”

“I didn’t care. I lost my husband. My life was ruined. Besides, I knew Monsieur Burnham wouldn’t want anything to do with the police. As I told you, Dr. Ellyson was very secretive and always kept the door to the room he used as an office locked. He had every copy of the key, and even I wasn’t allowed in there to clean. When he, Bernard, and Maurice failed to return, I had my neighbor help me take the door off the hinges. On the other side, there was absolutely nothing. No sign of the boxes of books and papers he had brought to the hotel with him. No computer. No attaché case, nothing. Someone had been in the hotel and had taken every single thing out of that room. Who else would have done that but Monsieur Burnham?”