Chapter 37

As Markham shuffled his notes, he became keenly aware of how the anticipation in the room suddenly ratcheted up a notch—could almost feel the other agents zeroing in on him and adjusting their antennae.

“Now then,” he said, “I’ll ask all of you to entertain the line of reasoning that led us to whom we believe to be the ‘I’ in ‘I have returned.’ The Leo slide, please.”

Schaap obliged, and Markham rose from his chair, thrust his hands in his pockets, and walked casually to the far end of the conference table.

“On the screen,” he began, “is the traditional version of the constellation Leo. Schaap and I, with the assistance of our consultant in the classical studies department at NC State, began our research into the ancient cultures represented by the writing found on Donovan and Canning. Our consultant quickly pointed out that, in all of these cultures, not only do we see strong astrological traditions dating back to the beginnings of their written history but also the lion figuring prominently in their respective mythologies.

“Next we began to look specifically for mythological tra- ditions connected to the time of year when Leo is the most visible: spring, when the lion returns once again to become visible among the stars. In other words, we took the phrase ‘I have returned’ as literally as possible. Schaap?”

“The most obvious place to look first was with the Ancient Egyptians,” he said. “Pretty much everybody is familiar with the way their gods are portrayed. You know, half animal, half human. But before we even began looking for a spring connection, our classical studies expert suggested we look somewhere else.”

“Right,” said Markham. “Given the history of each of the ancient cultures at the center of our investigation, as well as the documented borrowing and cross-fertilization of religions and mythologies between those cultures, our consultant said an Egyptian deity would be a stretch. Meaning, if we worked from the premise that the Impaler used each of the six ancient scripts to literally speak to a lion god or a mutation of such within those cultures—or perhaps, even to speak as the god himself—a through-line of an Egyptian deity would not work.”

“Now you’re losing me,” said Big Joe Connelly.

Markham was about to answer, but Alan Gates interrupted him: “May I, Sam?”

“Sure,” Markham said, taken aback.

“You see,” Gates began, “many scholars believe that, specifically with regard to Middle Eastern religions, one can trace similarities and borrowings from one religion to the next. For example, in the Christian religion, some scholars believe that the story of Jesus Christ’s resurrection was adapted from the Egyptian myth of Osiris, who was also believed to have been murdered and resurrected. Legitimate scholarship or academic conspiracy theory, depending on your point of view. Nonetheless, if I follow Agent Markham correctly, he’s saying that if one were to look for such a god emanating from the Egyptians—that is, a lion god that could have permeated and/or mutated within all the ancient religions represented by the scripts on Donovan and Canning—well, you’re saying such an Egyptian god doesn’t exist, right, Sam?”

“That’s exactly right,” Markham said. “Especially since there is a better candidate that not only can be traced between all the mythologies in question, but that also fits nicely with a return in the spring. Next slide, please.”

Schaap clicked the remote, and the screen wiped into a drawing of what appeared to be two separate stone tablets. The first tablet was divided into three rows, each containing a procession of half-human animal-headed deities. A lion-headed god with strange ears in the center of the bottom row was slightly larger than the rest of the figures. The most terrifying image, however, was at the top: the head of a roaring lion peeking over the border of the tablet itself. The other tablet showed the rear of the lion. It stood on eagle-clawed hindquarters with a pair of large wings on its back.

“What you’re looking at,” Markham said, “is an artist’s rendering of the front and back of the Hell Plaque, or Lamashtu Plaque as some scholars call it. The original is in the Louvre, is made of bronze, and dates from the Neo-Assyrian period between the tenth and seventh centuries BC. It’s believed to be a type of healing artifact that was hung over the bed to ward off sickness. Most scholars agree that the lion-headed figure with the donkey ears at the center of the plaque is the demon Lamashtu, who in ancient times was thought to bring pestilence and disease. The lion-headed figure peeking over the top of the plaque in both the front and rear views is believed to be her husband, the demon Pazuzu, who was invoked to make Lamashtu go away.

“Upon its discovery, however, the artifact was originally thought to have represented the Babylonian goddess Eresh-kigal on her journey through the underworld. The lion-headed figure at the top was thus believed to be the Babylonian god Nergal, Lord of the Underworld and Ereshkigal’s husband. Some scholars still cling to this original notion, and thus it is Nergal to whom I ’d like to draw your attention. Next slide, please.”

A drawing of a winged, sphinxlike figure with a long-bearded human head labeled Nineveh, 800–700 B.C.

“In some manifestations, Nergal is often portrayed an-thropomorphically—with a man’s head and the body of a winged lion. Next slide, please.”

Another drawing, from a stone tablet, with a lion-headed deity between two other gods—a procession of some kind, in which one of the more human-looking gods holds a long spear. Markham could feel the agents lean forward.

“In this case,” Markham said, “the portrayal is reversed, more Egyptian, and we see Nergal with the head of a lion, wings, and the body of a man. I’ll hold off on commenting on the long spear for now. But, in addition to presiding over the Underworld, Nergal appears in his early manifestations to have been a solar deity, as well as a god of war and pestilence. He also became associated with the destruction brought on by the summer solstice, the dead season in the Mesopotamian planting cycle, and was often referred to as the Raging Prince. His main center of worship in Ancient Babylonia was the city of Kutha, now known as the archaeological site Tel Ibrahim in Iraq.

“Like the Ancient Egyptians, lions and lionlike gods figured prominently in Ancient Babylonian mythology. Indeed, many scholars specifically trace Nergal’s mutation throughout nearly all Middle Eastern religions, including Judaism, in which he was first identified with Satan, only later on to be demoted to one of Satan’s demons. In fact, Nergal is mentioned by name in the Bible’s Second Book of Kings.

“However,” Markham continued, “given the obscurity of the god Nergal in the collective consciousness, Schaap and I were somewhat skeptical until our classical studies expert convinced us that only Nergal could give us the through-line we were looking for. Many scholars argue that the ancient Greeks adapted Nergal into Ares, their god of war—better known as the Roman Mars—and associated him with the red planet just as the Assyrians did when they assimilated Ner-gal into their culture. Furthermore, our man at NC State went on to tell us that scholars believe the cult at Kutha followed an annual worship cycle of Nergal in the spring to ensure a bountiful harvest and to pacify the god into showing them some mercy during the summer.”

“The spring,” said Big Joe Connelly. “The return of Leo to the nighttime sky.”

“That’s right,” said Markham. “And so we too must come back to Leo.”

The screen wiped into a complex astronomy chart.

“Now,” Markham said, “upon closer examination of Leo and its pattern across the sky from winter into spring into summer, Schaap and I found something interesting. If you look carefully at the chart on the screen, you’ll notice the sun gets progressively closer to appearing in Leo until it enters the constellation around the middle of August. The summer solstice, the very moment when Nergal is said to wreak havoc on mankind, occurs on June 21st this year. Since the hottest of the Mesopotamian months are July and August, that the sun and Leo should be connected at this time is only fitting. You’ll remember, scholars believe Nergal in his early Babylonian manifestation was a solar deity. However—next slide, please.”

A close-up of Mars in the constellation Leo with the dates June 3–July 22, 2006.

“If you look at the trajectory of Mars, that very planet that the Ancient Assyrian astronomers came to identify with Nergal himself, you’ll see that this year Mars, the god of war, will appear in the constellation Leo at the height of the summer solstice. Mars transits Leo only once every two years.

“If one were to look at the current progression of Mars toward Leo in conjunction with how the murders have progressed in methodological detail, it opens up the possibility that, in the Impaler’s mind, he and Nergal are progressing toward each other, too. Perhaps the Impaler is trying to join with the god. Or more likely, in my opinion, perhaps he sees himself as a sort of Leo Minor, progressing with him toward his return. Leo consists of nine stars, Leo Minor is often represented by only three. Both return to the springtime sky at roughly the same time. And since the gravestone I discovered at Willow Brook is both plural and directly west of the spot at which Rodriguez and Guerrera were sacrificed, perhaps our boy sees himself as a servant to Nergal, a right-hand man, if you will, facilitating his return—which, of course, will all go down during the summer solstice. Now, what exactly will happen when Nergal returns? Well, your guess is as good as mine at this point. Clear slides for questions, please.”

Silence, everyone thinking—some confused, some disbelieving.

“You really think the Impaler could’ve made all these connections?” Mr. Spock asked finally.

“Yes, I do,” Markham said. “After all, when you look at the bigger picture from the Impaler’s point of view, it’s all about connections, isn’t it? What is a constellation if nothing more than a primitive game of connect the dots? Singularly, the stars don’t make sense. One must see them in relation to one another in order for the picture to come into focus. I have a feeling our boy looks for dots everywhere; messages that he connects to what he surely sees as the return of Ner-gal.”

“Such thought processes are common in extreme cases of paranoid delusions,” Underhill added. “I hesitate to diagnose our boy as a schizophrenic, but there’s a strong possibility he might be suffering from such a psychosis. His delusions of grandeur are one thing, but in addition to the messages he believes he’s receiving, he may also have auditory, perhaps even visual hallucinations—hears voices, sees visions in which the god tells him to do things.”

“But the act of impalement,” Mr. Spock said. “Even if what you’re saying is true, other than that long spear in one of the slides, I still don’t see how this god Nergal connects to the killer’s desire to impale his victims.”

“Neither did I at first,” Markham said. “Like you, when I was first assigned to this case I was given a brief overview of the history of impalement as a form of execution. If you’ll recall, impalement was common in the Middle East during ancient times—next slide, please.”

A photograph of a stone tablet labeled, Neo-Assyrian, 6th century BCE.

“On this relief we see three men being impaled by a pair of soldiers. It’s a depiction of the Babylonian conquest of Judea, in which hundreds of Judeans were impaled by the king Nebuchadnezzar in the late seventh century BC. Incidentally, the Persian king Darius would return the favor later in the sixth century BC, when he is said to have impaled three thousand Babylonians. This Babylonian connection in and of itself is a compelling enough tie-in to Nergal. However, it was our man at NC State again who sealed the deal for us. No pun intended. Schaap?”

An audible gasp filled the conference room as the last of the slides appeared.

“What you’re looking at,” Markham said, “is a photograph of an ancient cylinder seal and its impression. Seals such as this one from Ancient Babylonia were usually engraved with a type of picture story, and were thus used to roll reliefs onto a soft surface such as the clay you see before you. This seal is believed to date back to about two thousand years before the birth of Christ. It was seized along with some other artifacts by Italian customs agents about a month ago, and is thought to have been stolen from one of the many unguarded archaeological sites looted at the beginning of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Although the other artifacts with which the seal was found were stolen from the Baghdad Museum, officials there are not exactly sure from which site the seal was stolen—perhaps an unknown site somewhere near the dig at Tel Ibrahim.

“Although crudely rendered,” Markham continued, “the seal is a stunning discovery. Made of limestone, it’s unusually large for this type of artifact; about two inches in length with a two-inch diameter. The imagery is unprecedented in that it seems to represent some kind of sacrifice being paid to the god Nergal. The procession of lion-headed figures holding the spears with the dangling humans are thought to be his priests; the fierce-looking creature at the end, the one with the human head and the winged body of a lion, is Ner-gal himself. Relatively little iconography of Nergal has survived, making this perhaps one of the most important archaeological discoveries for Ancient Babylonian scholars in recent years.”

“Extraordinary,” said Dr. Underhill. “A marriage of the lion imagery and the impalement; almost an instruction manual of how to sacrifice to the god. And as Nergal was the ruler of Hell, perhaps the impaled victims on the seal are undesirables, criminals, or even heretics in the eyes of the cult at Kutha.”

“Perhaps,” Markham said, “but the Babylonian concept of the Underworld was different than, say, the Christian concept of Hell. Nevertheless, it wasn’t a pretty place; and most likely the Impaler’s concept of Hell would be influenced by contemporary Christian notions, as well as the fact that Ner- gal mutated into one of Satan’s demons.” Big Joe raised his hand again. “Go ahead, Joe.”

“Then, if as you say, Nergal was the ruler of Hell, do you think then that the victim profile has something to do with Hell, too? I mean, do you think the Impaler sees his victims as sinners?”

“That’s exactly what I think,” Markham said, “which brings us to the last of the Impaler’s selection criteria: the act of sin. Homosexuality, in the Impaler’s eyes, is a sin; and Randall Donovan might represent to him corruption or greed or dishonesty. If we look at the Impaler’s victim profile as males who bear the mark of the lion and who have sinned, all four victims are thus connected. All four of them are worthy of hell from the killer’s perspective; and thus are worthy of sacrifice to him, the Prince of Hell.”

It was Alan Gates who spoke next.

“Your consultant at NC State, did he indicate to you if the seal depicts an actual ritual at Kutha, as opposed to some ancient Babylonian myth lost to history?”

“No,” said Markham. “Not much is known about the ancient city or the types of rituals performed there. However, it is believed that the temple at Kutha came to be seen as a physical representation of the Babylonian Underworld itself. The temple doors, the doorway to hell, if you will.”

“How did the seal end up in Italy?” asked Big Joe Connelly.

“Interpol isn’t exactly sure. Many of the smuggling operations out of Iraq are pretty complex. Interpol’s been trying to trace the artifact’s route since it was discovered last month, but they’ve reached a dead end in Jordan. It was our man at NC State who led us to the picture of the newly recovered seal. He was part of the original National Geographic team that went over to Iraq to assess the damage to the country’s archaeological treasures back in 2003, and he now receives a monthly update of recovered items from both Interpol and the Baghdad Museum.”

“So you think the killer was inspired by this artifact?” Mr. Spock asked.

“Yes, I do,” Markham said. “The similarities between the imagery and the killer’s MO are too compelling to ignore. Furthermore, the seal is the only known artifact in the archaeological record where we see a depiction of human sacrifice to the god Nergal.”

“But you said the authorities learned of the seal’s existence only a month ago,” Mr. Spock said smugly. “The Impaler murdered Rodriguez and Guerrera at the end of January—well over two months ago.”

“That’s exactly my point,” Markham said. “I think the Im-paler knew about the seal long before the authorities did.”