The colorful angels who greet guests at the door point in different directions creating an angular upside down number 4. These four female robed angels are held up by the red demonio whose head has been repaired. The parchments read, "I shall destroy this demon guardian at noonday", perhaps a treasure hunter took this phrase literally thinking that there was gold within the plaster statue. Hammott used a color photo of the original statue because the direction of his gaze was an important clue and the face had been somewhat altered. The right hand seems to have held a trident since it forms a circle. This pose reminded Ben of the "Circle Spring" - the "Source du Cercle" near the famous landmark rock called the "Devil`s Armchair" with its chiselled seat. When superimposed on this boulder throne, the crouch of the red statue fits perfectly as if he were seated on it. The left hand was also an instruction. After much digging and measuring, Hammott read the left hand as a measure using the angle of the thumb as the direction and the four fingers meaning 4X the upside down 4 of the angels. He dug down and found an engraved rock with the initials of Sauniere "BS" which are the same initials in black on red used as a signet on the angels` statue. One of the angels is pointing right to it.

On the rock there was carved a 4 and an arrow. Ben had to replace the rock in the ground to see where the arrow led, which was nowhere. He had to look back along the shaft to see a small cave where he dug down to find a plain rock and then a wine bottle. The bottle was sealed with red wax and contained a diagram written by the priest in red ink. As he cleaned the bottle, he imagined Sauniere drinking the wine it once held.

Finally the mystery of El Diablo at the door is solved. He greets visitors because of the name of the rock. His gestures are directions oriented to the terrain around the rock as if he were seated upon it, so he has to be the devil at the door to fit the title of the Devil`s Armchair landmark.

"The Grotto of the Magdalene"

The Abbe spent a lot of time hiking in the mountains around his church. He carried back with him light volcanic tufa stone with which he constructed his garden grotto on the church grounds. This grotto mimics the area in the hills where another bottle was buried. His outdoor statue of Mary Magdalene holds a cross horizontally as if it is a pointer. The measurement from the cross she holds to the grotto is the same length as from the 2nd rock clue to the bottle up in the wilderness. This 2nd carved rock displays a wiggly "S" which replicates the crooked path to be taken to find the blown glass bottle dated to 1890 - 1900. Sauniere`s garden grotto exactly depicts the setting of the 2nd bottle clue!

"The Cave from the Window"

The beautiful Tower Magdala overlooks the valley. Its slender Gothic window looks directly out towards a cave in the mountain facing Rennes-le-Chateau, it is called "The cave of the Magdalene". It was Ben Hammott who noticed it and went up to explore. He has saved the details of his search and the maps that he found for his upcoming book, but his methodology and his brilliant puzzle solving skills are evidence of the authenticity of his 1rst century finds.

Next time: Ben discovers a Templar Tomb using more of the clues from inside of the church.

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