“Tuesday,” was all he said.

“Precisely!” agreed Franklin in astonishment. “What made you think of it?”

“And what does it mean?” asked Quincy breathlessly.

“The message was not about something that would happen on a Tuesday,” Jefferson explained. “Nor was it about a Tuesday. No—just as the doctor’s Annapolis frères had meant to communicate to him—the message is ‘Tuesday’!”

“Ah, oui!” said Mme Helvetius in comprehension. “The Day of Fire!”

“Tuesday,” Jefferson added for John Quincy, “was the day in the ancient calendar dedicated to fire. Delphi was the Greek temple of fire, conquered by Apollo, the sun god. The number three forms a triangle, a pyramid, a temple of fire, as its name suggests. And while there are many music scales that contain three flats or sharps, the E that Dr. Franklin mentioned is the only one of these carved above the door of the Delphi temple—a sign so ancient that no one has ever learned what it signified…”

“And do not forget,” chimed in Mme Helvetius, “we French have a royal family descended from a Sun King, too! But, like others, this light does not burn so brightly any longer. Perhaps it is time to replace it with a new flame.”

“Good Lord!” cried Jefferson. “You are both speaking of revolution! A revolution in France! In Europe! Tuesday really does refer to fire—and Mars, the god of war!”

“I’m afraid,” said Franklin, “that I am a very old revolutionary. You know what they say of revolutionaries—‘Once it is over, we must vanish, for the fire that destroys cannot build.’ But you, my noble colleague, have wits so full of fire they’ve made your hair fiery red!” He patted Jefferson on the shoulder. “Do not forget, my friend—three knocks, three bells, three points that form a triangle. A square of triangles creates a pyramid of fire. The conflagration is coming. We’ve already lit the match! Now, come join our colleagues—and may the god Mars protect us all!”

Franklin headed with Mme Helvetius down the stone steps to the pier, but he added to Jefferson, “When you yourself are Sun King, which may be sooner than you think, you must not pause while crossing that fiery river Styx. Just remember, you can always call upon friends, as long as you can hum a tune!”

And Franklin and Mme Helvetius went off down the steps in front of the others, singing “Frère Jacques,” all the way.

* * * * *

Author Biography

KATHERINE NEVILLE was for many years an international consultant and computer expert, numbering among her clients and employers the Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, OPEC, IBM, the Algerian government and the Bank of America. She has also been a professional model, portrait painter and commercial photographer. Neville’s books The Eight, A Calculated Risk and The Magic Circle are bestsellers in more than thirty languages. She is a sponsoring founder of the International Thriller Writers, an annual cochair of the Authors Guild Foundation banquet in New York, and lives in Virginia, Washington, DC, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Find more at katherineneville.com.