Read Online Seeders: A Novel by A. J. Colucci - Free Book Online Page A

course it is,” Ginny spat, holding the paper up to Isabelle. “What other star do we seek?”
    “I have to agree,” Bonacelli said. “It was found in a box that could have held the diamond.” He opened the spring lid to show an empty case. It was covered in blue velvet, lined in silk, and obviously made for jewelry.
    Isabelle stared at the riddle. “I suppose The Book could be a reference to the Bible.”
    Jules snickered. “George certainly believed in God, but he despised religion. He thought that all living things—plants, insects, animals—came from a single consciousness. I’m fairly certain he didn’t own a Bible.”
    “You’d be wrong,” Ginny replied. “George spoke about getting married in church. He even picked out a burial site in the woods for the two of us, and engraved a headstone with a cross.”
    “Of course, you can’t dismiss the possibility that it’s gibberish,” Bonacelli said. “George was in a terrible state that day, I can attest to that. Regardless, I’ll need your signatures.” He handed the will to Isabelle first and when all three heirs had signed, he made duplicates at a copy machine.
    “May I see the riddle?” Luke asked.
    Ginny hesitated, but gave it to the boy.
    Luke repeated the words, and then pondered them aloud, “For one thing, there’s no proper punctuation and goddess should be capitalized … There’s no Hanus in any mythology I’ve studied—Greek, Roman, Indian, Persian—”
    Isabelle asked, “How many goddesses are there?”
    “If you go back to the first writings of the Sumerians all the way to the present, historians have recorded about forty-six hundred supernatural beings, of which there are about twenty-nine hundred true deities. From those, about fourteen hundred fall into the category of ‘goddess,’ but that’s not including Hindus, who believe there’s a god for every Hindu, so that’s like half a billion right there.”
    “Oh, never mind all that,” Ginny said with a scowl.
    “Luke, you’re such a dweeb,” Monica said.
    He frowned at her. “I don’t see you helping.”
    She snatched the paper from his hand. “You people are so lame. This is obviously a treasure map, and like any treasure map you just have to follow the instructions. It says right here, walk west of the woods and east of High Peak.”
    Luke squinted at the map of Sparrow Island on the wall behind Mr. Bonacelli. “West of the woods, huh? That’s Canada. And east of High Peak would be France.”
    “He’s right,” Isabelle said. “Those are opposite ends of the island. Either way, you’d fall into the ocean.”
    Jules shook his head. “All these ideas are too rudimentary. George’s riddles were very clever. The answer wouldn’t lie in a sentence or two, but the entire passage as a whole.”
    “Give it back to me.” Ginny swiped the paper from Monica and read silently this time, mouthing each word. “Oh, bloody hell! What if I can’t figure out this riddle?”
    “I think it best you try.” Bonacelli put the original will in his briefcase and distributed the copies.
    “So what’s the diamond worth?” Monica asked.
    Bonacelli told her it was appraised at $350,000. “It’s quite rare. One of the few red diamonds in the world. Nearly one carat.”
    “It must have been insured,” Isabelle said.
    “No. Nothing George owned is insured. Too costly. Plus, he had trouble getting insurance with his … legal difficulties.”
    Ginny eyed the lawyer suspiciously. “How do I know you didn’t take the diamond yourself? After you found George dead in the water?”
    Jules gasped.
    Monica laughed.
    Bonacelli released a sigh while packing up his belongings. “I suppose you don’t. However, if you check my impeccable résumé, you’ll find I’m an extremely well-paid attorney for some very influential clients. The act of searching over a deceased man’s island for his only valuable possession is far below my character and completely illegal to boot. My