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permissible, even purification of the body. The term Jehan Arthus had used echoed in Flamel’s mind, causing him to shiver.
    He heard the key turn. The torture r entered.
    â€œFlamel, do you have wax?”
    â€œYes, to seal letters—”
    â€œGive it to me.”
    The copyist held out a red stick. The torturer grabbed a candle.
    â€œWax seals not only letters, Flamel, but al so words.”
    A stifled scream filled the room. Flamel instinctively turned around and almos t vomited.
    The torturer was pouring wax into the young woman’s ears. Her face was twisted in terror and pain, and her arms and legs were shaking violently. It was as if she was being lashed by an invisi ble whip.
    The smoking wax continued to flow, and the smell of burning flesh filled the room. Then she stopped moving. The torturer looked up.
    â€œThis way she won’t hear what I hav e to say.”
    â€œYou could have just plugged her ears with a cloth.”
    â€œYou will not question my methods,” the torturer hissed. “Do you un derstand?”
    Flamel felt the blood drain from his face.
    â€œYou know nothing about this quest for the truth. The king’s envoy has required that I spare the woman’s life. If she hears that, she will nev er speak.”
    â€œBut how can she speak if she doesn’t hear your q uestions?”
    The torturer let out a raspy laugh.“But I don’t have any q uestions.”
    â€œI don’t un derstand.”
    The torturer grabbed the breast ripper and tested its points. “I never ask q uestions.”
    â€œBut why?”
    â€œTo test my suspects. To force them to say everything. If they don’t know what I’m looking for, they won’t know what to hide.”
    He clicked the brea st ripper.
    â€œAnd so your suspects say more.”
    The torturer tore off the gag and ripped the wax out o f one ear.
    â€œPrepare to write, Maste r Flamel.”



PART TWO
    When a secret is revealed, it is the fault of the man who confided it.
    â€” Jean de La Bruyère , Les Caractères

Confide your secrets only to those who have sought to guess them.
    â€” Comtesse Diane de Beausacq , Femme de lettres

27
    Present day
    Aurora Source to all Aurora
    Weekly bulletin sent by encrypted e-mail to all members of the Aur ora group.
    Trading price . The price of gold has been stable for two weeks, but Aurora Singapore has issued an alert.
    Reserves . Aurora Cap analyzed worldwide gold reserves. Annual gold mine production currenlty stands at 2,530 tons. Annual worldwide gold demand (for jewelry, financial markets, and industrial applications) is 3,200 tons. Worldwide gold reserves are 48,000 tons. Key supply countries include South Africa, 19,000 tons; the United States, 5,600 tons; Australia, 5,000 tons; and China , unknown.
    New estimate for the year the world’s gold reserves will be depleted: 2027. We confirm our previous analysis. Future gold shortages will cause an unprecedented rise in prices. Gold prices are expected to soar to as much as twenty times their present level, especially once the international media start focusing on this issue. Aurora Zurich’s simulation suggests that gold purchases worldwide will explode. I quote from their confidential report: “People will rush to purchase gold jewelry, coins, and bars… With its imminent extinction, gold will once again become a sa fe haven.”
    Other . Our agent in the Security and Intervention Department relayed the identity of the German gold-bar seller to the Peruvian authorities: Roberto Guttierez, AKA Gunther Müller, son of Obersturmbannführer Müller, who fled to South America before he could be officially charged with war crimes. The elder Müller died in 1999 in Lima. Ten gold bars were found in Guttier ez’s home.
    Operation Burning Desert has kicked off in Kuwait.

28
    Bichat Hospital, Paris
    Present day
    W hite. Everything was white—with one exception. The