Peter Winzeler was bored. As much as he disliked admitting it, he knew he hadn’t beaten himself up year after year in law school to deal with letters before action, insurance policies, and tax exemption clauses. Several billable hours had passed, responding to a client query on a MAC clause, reviewing the final draft of a letter of demand, and educating a client’s in-house legal counsel on how not to file an annual report – a full 15-minute period he had every intention of charging on. He had instinctively been waiting for an opportunity. An opportunity that would give his professional life some meaning.
And now, he found himself wondering, whether the meeting he’d had that morning, crazy as it had sounded, could feed his ambitions. He needed new clients, after all – clients with new business, deep pockets, and no inhibitions. What bothered him was that they were likely bankers. Yet, at the same time, he knew he wouldn’t get as far as he desired in his career if he were to swear off all financial service professionals. Perhaps the ‘benefit of the doubt,’ as it were, was in order… But before entertaining the thought beyond his lunch break, he’d have to have reliable information that would hopefully make what he had heard at least plausible.
He needed a source he could trust. He couldn’t get back to Grimavi just yet. And for a minute, he was unsure whether Nina had taken his phone number. But then he remembered the letter. He still had the letter. He picked up his phone and dialed a number. The phone rang around six times before he heard the message tone of his old friend, now a history professor at the University of Lucerne:
“Ciao! You’ve reached the voicemail of Danilo Albero,” the recording answered in a heavy Swiss-Italian accent. “Leave your message after the tone, and I will get back to you as soon as I can.”
Winzeler had met Albero while they were both studying at Zürich University. Even though Albero was four years older than him, they had clicked at once, both being fond of idealistic worldviews and long-legged women. They had had fiery philosophical discussions of all sorts while eating together at the Mensa or having coffee breaks at the glass-domed Lichthof of the university.
The tone sounded.
“Dani, it’s that old friend of yours, Peter. How are you?” Winzeler spoke. “Listen, I have a bit of a case on my hands straight up your alley…”
“Peter Winzeler?” a voice answered, cutting him off. “Is that really you? I thought you’d finally suffocated under a pile of angry women.”
Winzeler grinned, burying his back into his chair to relax.
“Point taken. I haven’t been in touch over the past couple of months. How’ve you been, Dani? How’s that gorgeous teaching assistant of yours?”
“Eh, well, you know… Nothing changes much here. And as for Renée, Winzeler, come to think of it, it’s actually you that I have to blame for my scheduling problems…”
“Ah, she quit, didn’t she? Can’t say I blame her with the company you choose to keep, Dani,” Winzeler said. He’d missed his old friend.
“Ha, very funny… I’ll be better off when you finally get married and stop dating my secretaries… and students, for that matter.” His tone of voice changed. “But seriously, Peter, listen, I have a lecture in about twenty minutes. Can I get back to you in around two hours when I’m done?”
“I wish Dani, but I’m afraid I’ll have to leave before that.” This was a lie forged by simple impatience. Like his friend, the professor, Winzeler also had twenty minutes until his next engagement and by that time, he wanted to have a clear mind.
“This’ll only take a few minutes. You think you could spare that much time before another controversial lecture?”
“Well, it’s about globalization this time, so nothing too exciting. I guess I could give you five minutes to entertain me.”
Winzeler smiled with satisfaction.
“I have this rather peculiar case that I got this morning, Dani. What do you know of the Knights Templar?”
Albero exhaled loudly into the speaker. And then:
“Well, of all the questions… Originally, the Knights Templar were a small group of so-called warrior monks, nine I think, who, at the beginning of the crusades, decided to build a force to help protect the pilgrims on their way from Europe to the Holy Lands. When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were given lodging by the King of Jerusalem in a wing of the royal palace on the Temple Mount in the captured Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Temple Mount had a mystique because it was above what was believed to be the ruins of the Temple of Solomon, so they came to be known as the Knights Templar. At first, they had few financial resources and relied on donations to survive. As far as I can recall, they stayed in Jerusalem for a time, apparently digging under the Temple and not really protecting anyone. I don’t know how many pilgrims nine men could have protected anyway. Then, suddenly, one day, as they up and came, they up and left for Europe. In France, an important Church figure, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, who was…”
“Any relation to the St. Bernard dog?” Winzeler suddenly interjected.
The professor fell silent for a second and then answered:
“Not that I know of… Where are you going with this?”
“Never mind then,” Winzeler wanted them back on track. “You were saying?”
Recalling his chain of thought quickly, Albero continued:
“Well, with the help of Bernard of Clairvaux, who was actually a relative of two of the knights, the Knights Templar were officially approved and endorsed by the Church at the Council of Troyes. Suddenly, they became a favored charity throughout Christendom, receiving money, land, businesses, and noble-born sons from families eager to help with the fight in the Holy Lands. A few years later, the Pope even exempted them from obedience to local laws, which meant they could pass freely through all borders, were not required to pay any taxes, and were exempt from all authority except that of the Pope.” Then, Albero had to check his watch. “Long story short, Peter, within the shortest time, the Knights Templar became rich enough to lend money to the kings of Europe. So much so that their fate was sealed when the King of France, Philippe IV, whom the French called Philippe Le Bel, had them arrested. He finally annihilated them by burning them at the stake in Paris, in order not to pay his debts. Is that enough for you for now?”
“Almost,” Winzeler said, distracted. “How do you think they got that rich that fast?”
Albero, a true lecturer and lover of history, could not help himself from continuing:
“Well, there have been many rumors. Some say they found a treasure under Temple Mount; others say they found the Treasure of Solomon itself. Even items such as the Holy Grail or the bowl of John the Baptist…”
“What do you think?” Winzeler insisted.
Albero thought for a second.
“I think all those rumors are unsubstantiated rubbish. Material for second-class novelists. Apart from the donations and exemptions I mentioned earlier, the Knights Templar established an early version of what we might call ‘international global banking,’” he then said.
And there it was. Banking.
“After the capture of Jerusalem, European pilgrims wanted to travel to the Holy Lands, leaving their estates for safekeeping. So, the Knights Templar invented trust funds. And the route to Jerusalem was full of dangers. Pilgrims were mugged in curved corners, stolen from, raped… And they needed some means to keep their money safe until they reached their destination. So, the Knights Templar established a system much like the travelers’ checks. Pilgrims would deposit their money at one of the Knights Templar castles or strongholds, which could be found all over Europe, and, in return, receive an encrypted deed. This document could only be read by the Templars, using a decryption device, after which the deposited money would be paid out.”
“In the 12th century?” Winzeler raised his brow.
“They were able to build such perfect mechanisms that it was impossible to decrypt a letter encoded with one of their encryption devices,” Albero reassured him.
“What kind of mechanism are we talking about?”
“Like that of precision watches,” Albero told him. And then he rechecked the time.
On the other end of the line, Winzeler was silent, heavy in thought. But Albero was getting desperate to leave.
“They seemingly amassed such a fortune with their banking operations that they built up a Europe-wide, cross-border empire that even included a huge fleet of ships to carry pilgrims to the Holy Lands straight from Italy,” Albero impulsively added. “I’ve really got to go, Peter. Shall I call you back later?”
Winzeler thought for a second.
“No need,” he announced then. “Just one last question, I’ll be fast.”
Albero hesitated. But he was tempted.
“Fast,” he forced.
“Do you know of any connection between the Knights Templar and the formation of Switzerland?”
The line went quiet again.
“Well…” Albero evaluated. “No, not that history speaks of. It is mentioned that the Knights Templar later continued in Portugal as the Knights of Christ… They also seem to have appeared in Scotland, where they are supposed to have started modern-day Scottish Freemasonry. There are even rumors that the Knights Templar traveled to America, before Columbus, and spread further to many regions. However, for all I know, I’ve never heard of a supposed connection between the Knights Templar and Switzerland… Even though, Peter,” Albero paused for a second. “I must admit, that is a rather fascinating proposition…”
There was a smile in Albero’s secretive last words Winzeler could hear.
“I’ll let you be now, Dani. Take care of yourself,” he told his friend.
“And you as well, Peter Winzeler,” he quickly answered.
The line went silent.
