After a long rehearsal session with Agent Mighty in his hilltop aerie, the Bee Palace, the orders came to move. A package arrived this morning bearing one word on the letter inside: "Paris". It included a plane ticket and a cross key. The key is brass and the word inscribed on it is 'Royaume". It looks very old.
There is an old story about a lock called the Grenfell Bolt, which was named after Dr. Grenfell, who discovered a three thousand year old garbage pile in Egypt. Among the leather fasteners and other castaway items were papyrus maps and updates to the Bible. The entire cache was moved to Oxford University in Cambridge where the world celebrated then forgot that the one of the world's major religions had a version upgrade. All of it was transferred to Oxford except for one small three thousand year old map, which the good doctor pocketed. Dr. Grenfell was an atheist with a musical bent. On this small papyrus was the description of a location and the dimensions of a lock that protected the hiding place of King David's Lyre, which was the official instrument of the Temple of Solomon. It was an instrument stolen from the pagans of Greece, and it was imbued with the ability to allow the dead to speak through whoever played it. King David renamed the Lyre and apparently used it to seduce his audience, who believed he was blessed with preternatural talent. When the Temple was destroyed, the Lyre was secreted to Gaul and hidden in a hillside. The door to the Lyre's chamber was fastened with a lock that disintegrates the entire room and it's contents to rock if it is entered with a key that is not exactly correct in dimension.
Dr. Grenfell was determined to open that lock and play the Hades Hit Parade.
I heard through newsgroups and contacts that Grenfell's family had fallen into disarray due to the good Doctor's mania abut the papyrus. He managed to duplicate the ancient lock in his lab and he attempted over 20,000 versions of the key. the first 19,999 were failures, but the final attempt was successful. Grenfell was so happy to open the lock that he died on the spot, exhausted. His goodly and angrily neglected Soosy wife buried the now open lock and its perfect key with Grenfell in the family crypt at Westminster Abbey.
Apparently someone liberated the key. If what I am holding moves the tumblers I think it will move, Paris should be quite interesting indeed.
Plus I will rendevous with Mei Wei. Again. Above is a tourist's snapshot of my favorite French National. Notice the effect she has on the locals.
There is a song in all of this. Wait and see. I will send pictures as well.
Agent 777
