This book is the story of an accidental discovery. It started out as part of a routine site analysis for a seaside resort at a place called Puerto Francés on the Southern shores of the Caribbean. Questions about some unusual landforms progressively led us to bring to light one the most epic episodes in the development of modern society. Following the thread that brought us to unravel the secrets of an immensely far-reaching clandestine operation in the early renaissance was somewhat reminiscent of Cliff Stoll’s wonderful ‘The Cuckoo’s Egg’. At the same time the narrative structure, with a mystery nested in an enigma wrapped in a charade, was akin to peeling the layers of an onion much as William of Baskerville did in Umberto Eco’s ‘The Name of the Rose’. Only this is not fiction.