— The Widow's Children? — Candice repeated the question, nodding her head to the left, trying to remember.
— What's certain is that I know what it's about. I think I heard about them when I was a college student... Could it be The Children of the Light?
She had doubts. Actually, I'm not really sure... Maybe it was something similar... Then she made the observation, in an inquisitive way.
— But what does that have to do with Geovanna or Jorge's death?" Greg thought for a few seconds before answering. He didn't even know where to start.
— Candy, listen to me very carefully... — He left the glass on the table before sitting down next to her. — These creatures who murdered Viana, as well as the cause of the crime itself, are closely related to the manuscript he brought from Toledo.
— You told me something about a document — she vaguely recalled — even though I can't understand the connection between a medieval text and the death of an innocent and peaceful paleographer.
— The parchment was encrypted… — she confessed. — They killed him because he had found the key to the cryptogram, deciphering the secret hidden in the words. They cut out his tongue, or rather, ripped it out from the root under his chin for translating the manuscript.
— That's terrible! — she exclaimed in horror. — But... what does his death have to do with you? — she wanted to know, increasingly restless.
— The same Jorge, before he died, sent Geovanna and me a copy via email… — she realized her forehead was wet with sweat. — Do you understand now why I didn't want to tell you anything?
Candice turned pale when she heard those words. She still didn't understand what had happened, but she could already get a rough idea. They had murdered Viana for investigating a text whose contents should remain secret, and they would do the same again if anyone tried again.
The terrible thing was not exactly the gruesome detail of the torn out tongue, something quite unpleasant in itself, but the fact that Gregory Evans had a copy of the parchment and that made it seem like he was also under threat of death. For a moment, he remembered the sword of Damocles hanging from a horsehair over his head, in this case, his ex-boyfriend's.
— You'd better tell me everything, from the beginning. Alice has just gone through the looking glass and fallen face down into the world of Oz. In two words: I'm lost! — Perplexed, he looked at her and exploded, certain that he was not in control of the new situation.
— No sarcasm, please, Candy! I must repeat that this is not a joke! — he shouted.
— Of course it's not! — Candice shouted, in turn, letting herself be carried away by the nervousness she felt. — Can you imagine how I feel after hearing him tell all these atrocities? Do you think that the best thing for a romantic encounter is a story of mysterious crimes and secret codes? Oh my! My knees are still shaking...
— This is not a romantic encounter — she said through her teeth.
After breathing deeply for a few seconds, she dared to ask a new question:
— What does Geovanna have to do with all this?
— She and Viana were lovers.
— What? — Candice could not believe what she had just heard. — But this is absurd!
— Nothing will seem the same to you as before, as soon as you hear what I have to tell you.
Wasting no more time, Greg told her what had happened at the auction house. He told the story without omitting details, just as Geovanna had told him, warning her that her future at the auction house... and perhaps even their lives... depended on the discretion of both of them.