Read Online In Tongues of the Dead by Brad Kelln - Free Book Online

closed.”
    â€œI work here,” the priest managed to say. “I was called down.”
    â€œGot some id?”
    Father McCallum showed his badge, and the officer held the door open for him.
    The priest stepped into the Beinecke, expecting a flurry of activity, but the library was quiet. Too quiet.
    â€œHello?” His voice echoed in the cavernous area.
    Garrett Eastman came through the doorway behind the security station. “Mr. McCallum,” he snapped. “Come in here, please.”
    â€œWhere is everyone? Why are there police outside?”
    Garrett Eastman waited for the priest to join him behind the security desk then ushered him into the back room, explaining, “The police are searching the building, looking for clues or whatever it is that they do in such situations.”
    â€œBut what is the situation?” Father McCallum asked.
    â€œSomeone has stolen the Voynich manuscript.”
    The Voynich! I knew it!
“What? How?”
    â€œ
How
is what we want to know. As the curator of the ancient collections you know all about our security in the Voynich display area. I believe you are one of the few who even had keys to the cases.”
    He started to protest. “But I didn’t —”
    â€œOh, stop,” Garrett interrupted. “You aren’t a suspect. At least not yet.”
    Father McCallum had been in the library’s security nerve center only once, during the compulsory tour on his first day of work. The two men stopped near a control panel. A library security guard sat at the panel, and two police officers stoodnext to him. Above the controls were rows of monitors showing different views of the library.
    â€œRoll the tape,” Eastman said without introducing Father McCallum to anyone.
    The security guard punched a few buttons, and they all watched as a uniformed security guard walked into the library.
    â€œYou can see he’s carrying something to put the Voynich in — look right there.” The guard pointed to a large black portfolio visible on the screen.
    The view blurred into fast forward and then switched and Father McCallum watched the guard on the screen walk to the main security desk, reach under, and pull out a set of keys.
    â€œThat’s where Larry gets the keys to the Voynich room. He knows what he’s doing,” the library guard announced.
    â€œLarry?” Father McCallum asked.
    â€œLarry Zarinski,” Eastman said. “He’s been with us for only a few months but came with a stellar résumé, which included other posts at the university. He’d been in a car accident and was off on medical leave but made a miraculous recovery and decided to keep working. That’s when he applied here at the library.”
    â€œThe car accident must’ve rattled this guy’s brains loose,” one of the officers quipped.
    The camera view blurred and switched again as the guard fast forwarded, and they all watched Larry walk through the library to the Voynich room. He used the keys to enter, and the camera view switched again.
    On the screen, Larry set the portfolio down then moved to the case and started to rattle the lid. Then he stepped away from the case and held his arms up.
    â€œYou can see his lips moving here.” The guard again pointed at the screen. “I wish we had audio on these cameras.”
    The screen went blank.
    â€œWhat happened?” Father McCallum asked. “Where’s the picture?”
    â€œThat’s all we got,” Eastman said glumly. “For some reason the camera went dead, and all we have for the next ten minutes is static.”
    â€œWhat about when he leaves? Do we see him leave?”
    Eastman nodded at the monitor. The static stopped, the guard slowed the film to normal speed, and Father McCallum saw the hall outside the Voynich display room. There was a slight blur of motion, as though the door was opening, and then the picture went