Read Online Return (Matt Turner Series Book 3) by Michael Siemsen - Free Book Online Page A

of four. A deteriorated row of engraved symbols covered most of the camera-facing side, and they were not the characters Matt had expected.
    He said aloud, “That’s odd.”
    “Yes, yes!” Ostrovsky cheered. “Odd indeed!”
    Matt forwarded the image to his personal email address. He put the phone back to his ear just as Markus asked again if Matt was still there. Time to turn on the poorly restrained interest. “I’m here. So what exactly do you think this thing is? What’s the significance? I see it’s inscribed in different languages. Markus mentioned the Library of Alexandria earlier.”
    “That’s correct, Matthew,” Markus said. “It’s believed that, prior to one of the many disasters befalling the great library, a group of patrons evacuated some or all of its treasured scrolls to a secret location. In the face of a prolonged invasion, this artifact was intended to guide a later generation of Alexandrians to the hidden site.”
    Matt glanced again at the image on his phone. Ostrovsky had surely had it translated by now. “Assuming this group and evacuation are a real thing, what led you to believe a recovery didn’t occur as planned? The Museum and Library were rebuilt multiple times, existing for several hundred years.”
    Ostrovsky cut in, his tone swollen with pride. “Because, Matthew, a piece has been sealed tight, exactly where it was originally hidden, for nearly two thousand years. It’s never been seen, except by those who hided it, myself, and a few others in past two weeks.”
    Matt lay back on his bed and slid his free hand under his head. “I doubt that.”
    “Why?” Ostrovsky demanded. “Why do you doubt?”
    Because I found this thing on eBay. Because you bought it off eBay. Because the person who alerted you to its existence only did so because I pointed them to it. Evidently, you and The Gray share certain sources, and, unfortunately, they didn’t first seek their finder’s fee from The Gray. But let’s just go with the visual evidence in the photo …
    “The wear on the object. Some of the characters are almost completely rubbed away. That doesn’t happen to granite that’s been sealed inside some protective casing. I don’t know … maybe if there were chemicals-”
    Markus interrupted, “You’re surely correct, Matthew. But Mr. Ostrovsky is referring to the second artifact. A sister piece to the one I sent you. It’s in pristine condition, appearing today as perfect as when it was made.”
    Both keystones…
    Matt deliberated, half-hearing Markus as he went on about the objects, details Matt had known for a few years, such as the three engraved languages: Greek, Demotic, and Hieratic—dialects as accessible to Matt as English. But the symbols in this photo were different from those Matt had known. He’d accepted the information he’d read in imprints—that all three keystones had been engraved with the same messages. The pic on eBay had happened to be of a side that matched the others. This new side in the photo—new to him, anyway—read: song hymn Thonis .
    “Regardless,” Matt continued the skeptic act. “These ‘patrons’ of yours could’ve simply fetched their hidden treasure two, five, even twenty years later, and they’d have no need to use these stone pieces as guides. They’d know exactly where they hid these scrolls. Or their children, or grandchildren. You get what I’m saying? You’re assuming too much from very little information.”
    A slurp from the other end of the line. Ostrovsky chuckled. “He is such the wise one, no?”
    “Matthew,” Markus said. “The piece I speak of—the one sealed away, the perfect one—was moved from some prior hideaway to the one where it was recovered, two centuries after it was made. The keepers of this secret were still keeping it, generations later.”
    Yes, they were. Crap … Just how much do you know?
    Matt began, “Well, then … maybe you’ve got something there. But look, if all you need is a