Adrian’s eyelids shot open, and his spine suddenly straightened, the effects of the alcohol no match for the burst of fear in his veins. He stared at the door, and at the desk in front of it—hoping that it was enough. The knocking started up again, even louder—and then was followed by the sound of metal against the door’s lock.

“Go away,” Adrian shouted. “I’ve already called the police.”

The lock lasted less than three seconds; the knob twisted, and then someone was pushing at the door with a shoulder. The desk moved an inch, then another.

“I said go away.”

“Professor Jensen,” a voice he recognized echoed through the crack in the door. “We found something we need to show you. On the Constitution.”

Jensen swallowed, then coughed.

“How did you find me?”

“Google,” Hailey, undoubtedly still in her tennis skirt, said. “You have kind of a distinct look. Wasn’t hard to track down your office. If you weren’t here, we planned to wait for you. Figured you’d show up sooner or later.”

Adrian closed his eyes. He didn’t want anything to do with this anymore. Maybe Charles had seen himself as some sort of swashbuckling historian, but Adrian was a serious scholar. He thought about redialing the police—but then he realized, with a start, what the woman had just said.

“You found something on the Constitution?”

There was a grunt from the other side, presumably the man in the denim shirt, still leaning on the door.

“Are you going to open this thing?” Hailey said. “Or do we have to break it down?”

Adrian exhaled again, even more dramatically—then struggled up from the couch and went to work on the antique desk.

*  *  *

“‘And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year,’” Adrian whispered, half to himself, as he leaned over the object in the gold box, which was now sitting on the mahogany of his antique desk, “‘and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof…’”

“The Bible, right?” Nick said. “It was the only book my dad owned, though he didn’t read it often.”

Adrian didn’t look up, though he was mildly surprised the denim man had placed the quotation.

“Leviticus 25:10,” Adrian said. “Though I think just as many people know it from the bell as they do from their trusty King James.”