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settled into a chair. Everything was designed to Rizzo’s scale, though his
     desktop and the meeting table were set at an average height.
    Rizzo grabbed the chair from his desk and rolled it toward them. He pushed a lever,
     and the chair body dropped, allowing him to easily climb aboard. Pushing another lever,
     Sammy popped up to eye level. “Okay, so it’s not library business. Thank God. I need
     something interesting to keep me from going completely nuts.”
    Rodriguez looked sideways to Bohannon, who gave him a resigned nod of his head. “Sammy
     . . .” Rodriguez hesitated, trying to shape into words what he needed to say. “I’ve
     known you a long time . . .”
    “Wait a minute,” Sammy interjected, his voice a threat. “I’m Gracie’s god-father.
     And remember, I’m the one who keeps Deirdre company all summer while you camp out
     at Yankee Stadium. So if you’re gonna tell me you’ve got another woman, I don’t want
     to hear another word. If you’re here to borrow money, it’s got to be less than six
     figures. Or if Bohannon here is in the CIA and you’re recruiting me to infiltrate
     Al Qaeda in Pakistan, I’ll think about it.”
    Rizzo glared menacingly first at Rodriguez, then at Bohannon.
    Despite himself, Bohannon burst out laughing, only to be immediately joined by both
     Rizzo and Rodriguez.
    “Sammy, you are nuts,” Rodriguez said.
    “Okay, come on, whatcha got for me?” Sammy asked, rubbing together his knobbled hands.
    Sobering up, Rodriguez looked at his old friend. “Tom and I have found something that
     I don’t understand, something we’re trying to figure out. But, Sammy, there’re a few
     things I’ve got to tell you before we get started. One is, we’re not going to tell
     you everything. Forgive me. I trust you with my life; you know that. But I need you
     to trust me. You don’t want to know it all. So, if you push too far, I’m just gonna
     shut down.”
    Rizzo nodded his head in agreement, even more intrigued.
    “Second, I’ve brought you only a portion of what we found. It’s a small portion, a
     rough copy that I made myself. But I hope it’s enough for you to help us get started.
     And lastly, I need you to promise, seriously, that you won’t breathe a word of this
     to anyone, especially not anyone here at the library.”
    Sammy Rizzo, head cocked to one side, contemplated the request, but only for a heartbeat.
     “You’ve got my word.”
    “Okay,” said Joe.
    Rodriguez reached into the inside pocket of his sport coat and pulled out the paper
     on which he had painstakingly copied a small portion of the scroll’s text. He unfolded
     it and turned it around so Sammy could take a look. “Have you ever seen anything like
     this?” Rodriguez continued to hold the paper while Rizzo scanned it intensely, leaning
     in from his chair.
    “Hmm . . . let’s put it over here on the table,” Sammy said. He swiveled his chair
     toward the elevated section of the desk and snapped on one of the large, hooded lamps.
    Rodriguez spread the paper on the table, pinning down its edges.
    “Been a long time,” Sammy said, slowly grazing his fingers over the symbols written
     on the paper. “Been a long time.”
    Rizzo dropped off his chair, toward a low set of shelves. Sorting through a stack
     of binders, Sammy pulled one clear. He grabbed his chair and rolled it in front of
     the computer screen. Bohannon noticed the specially rigged keyboard and mouse combination
     that swung out to meet the chair. Rizzo’s fingers flew over the keyboard, darting
     in and out of Web sites, opening and closing pages.
    “If this is what I believe it is, it is very rare,” he said without looking over his
     shoulder. “Makes me wonder where you got it. And what—Wait, here it is. Joe, take
     a look at this.”
    Sammy pushed himself away from the computer terminal so Bohannon and Rodriguez could
     move closer and get a better look at the screen.
    Before their eyes were