The Prophecy

61

Keller sat forward in his chair. As he did, everyone leaned closer. They realized he was about to share a secret that had been guarded for more than 400 years, a secret penned by Nostradamus himself. None of them wanted to miss a word.

‘I was the first customer in the bank that day,’ Keller explained. ‘I couldn’t sleep the night before, so I drove to Geneva quite early and sat in my car until Capital Savings opened. Frankly, I’ve been anxious for several months now — but not for the reasons you might expect. I felt very little excitement about the contents of the box. How could it possibly live up to three decades of expectations? In truth, I simply wanted it out of my life. However, I was afraid I was going to open it and there would be a letter telling me to pass its contents onto my children. Obviously, that would have been a major problem since I don’t have any.’ Keller smirked at his own comment. ‘Despite my need for closure, I didn’t feel comfortable opening it in a viewing room at the bank. I thought my family had protected the box for a hundred years. The least I could do was wait another hour and open it in the safety of my own home.’

‘You opened it here?’ Ulster asked.

Keller nodded. ‘Two weeks ago today.’

‘Do you still have it? I would love to see it.’

‘In a moment,’ he assured them, ‘but not until I’ve fulfilled my obligation. Not until I tell you everything you’re supposed to be told.’

Megan stared at him. ‘Why us?’

‘Because you were the ones who showed up,’ he answered cryptically. ‘The four of you were chosen for a reason beyond my understanding, by a man who died long ago. I am not a prophet, nor a medium of any kind. I am simply a proxy. I’ve been given a job, which I intend to do to the best of my ability. But after today, I will be done with this nonsense for ever.’

For some reason, Payne grimaced when he heard the word ‘chosen’. Somehow it made him feel like a pawn in a game he didn’t want to play. Thinking back, he realized the word had also been used in the letter to Megan. According to the translation, she had been ‘chosen for her place in time’ — whatever that meant. Now Keller was using it to describe them. If the foursome had been picked, Payne wondered why, and by whom. Could it actually have been Nostradamus? Or was there something else going on that was beyond his current understanding?

Keller continued, ‘As soon as I returned home, I took a few minutes to examine the box. Even though it had been in my possession for years, I’d never taken the time to study it. I know that probably sounds strange, but I thought the more I knew about it, the more fixated I would become. And I didn’t want to be tempted to open it. Hell, I didn’t even want to think about it.’

His voice faded slightly. The last few years had been difficult for Keller. In some ways he had felt like an addict, always battling a demon he couldn’t kill but could only push away. No matter where he went or what he did, temptation was always lurking.

‘At first I thought I would have to pry the lid open, but then I noticed the corners of the box. Three numbers had been carved into each. One on the top, and one on each side. That’s when I realized the corners were tiny pyramids that could be turned like knobs. Over the years the wood must have warped slightly, which made the knobs seem like solid corners, but once I worked out what they were, I applied enough pressure and spun them like dials on a lock.’

‘What are the numbers?’ Ulster demanded.

‘Somehow I knew I would be asked.’ Keller reached into his vest pocket, pulled out a list, and handed it to Ulster. It contained four sets of three numbers. Each number had been placed in a column that had been labelled by the corner’s location on the box.

Ulster studied the chart as Megan and Jones looked on. Meanwhile, Payne remained focused on his surroundings. Although he felt safe, it didn’t mean they were safe. Every once in a while he would get up from his chair and walk over to the window where he scanned the street. Eventually, he decided to remain standing near the front door. Close enough to listen to Keller, but in a much stronger tactical position.

‘Did you figure out the combination?’ Megan asked.

A smile surfaced on Keller’s face. ‘As I mentioned earlier, numbers are a passion of mine. I have always loved the power that they possess. They are often overlooked, yet they bring structure to a world filled with chaos. I find beauty in that.’ He pointed at the list. ‘After creating that chart, it didn’t take long for certain numbers to stand out. Four in particular.’

‘Which four?’

‘Twelve, one, twenty, and nine.’

The foursome pondered the numbers, trying to understand their significance. Eventually it was Ulster who expressed his confusion. ‘What do they represent?’

Keller smiled even wider, temporarily forgetting all the anguish the box had brought him over the years. After all this time, he was proud his expertise was being put to good use. ‘They represent the date that I was supposed to open the box.’

‘The date?’ Ulster said, glancing back at the list.

Keller explained his discovery. ‘Each of the knobs has a meaning. One knob represents the month. One represents the day. One represents the year’s prefix. The other represents the suffix.’

Megan was confused by the terminology. ‘What do you mean by prefix and suffix?’

‘Fifteen represents the fifteen hundreds. Nineteen represents the nineteen hundreds.’

‘I get it,’ she said. ‘And twenty represents this century.’

Keller nodded. ‘As soon as I determined their meaning, I twisted the dials until the numbers on the top of the box read twelve, one, twenty, and nine representing December the first of this year — the date I was supposed to open the box.’

‘What happened next?’ Jones wondered.

‘I immediately heard a click on the inside, and the lid popped free.’

Ulster grinned. ‘A puzzle box! How marvellous!’

Megan furrowed her brow. ‘What’s a puzzle box?’

‘They are wonderful contraptions that can only be opened through a precise series of movements and manipulations,’ Ulster explained. ‘Sometimes the codes are rather simple, and other times they are unbelievably complex. I have seen some from Japan, known as himitsu-bako, that require more than two hundred movements to unlock the interior. Occasionally, it’s not even movement that is required. Some puzzle boxes require pressure on certain parts of the wood to activate other mechanisms on the inside. Thankfully, by comparison, it seems we have gotten off rather easy. Then again, I can’t remember any puzzle boxes being built as early as the sixteenth century. Perhaps this box is the first of its kind.’

‘Do you think it’s my treasure?’ she asked, and then instantly regretted it. Keller had spent most of his life protecting the box, only to give it to her. She imagined it would upset him to hear it might be worth a fortune.

Ulster shrugged. ‘That depends on the contents of the box. What did you find inside?’

Keller answered. ‘I found a letter written by Nostradamus.’

‘Oh,’ she said in understanding, ‘the letter you sent to me.’

Keller grimaced as confusion filled his face. He had no idea what she was talking about. ‘To you? I didn’t send anything to you.’

‘What do you mean?’ she demanded.

‘The letter I found was written to me.’