GREGORY EVANS HEARD the Widow's instructions fragment by fragment, in fits and starts. It was as if his body were in a trance or numbed by some drug. His movements were mechanical and slow, like those of a robot programmed to obey. He saw Candice at the other end of the stairs, right on the side that faced the set of naves surrounding the main altar. He also noticed that on each of the white, polished steps was written the astronomical symbol of the alchemical planets — the same one they had found on the pedestal beneath the Velez chapel.
His companion's feet climbed up onto the first step, which represented the sun. Gregory did the same, and in that instant, everything around him disappeared. He was no longer in what had been the temple of the lost city of Enoch, but in his grandparents' house, and it was his twelfth birthday.
The guests had just arrived — most of his school friends, accompanied by their parents. Gregory Evans was upset with his mother because she had only provided one cake and not two, as he had desired. That was why his body hadn't lost any of its sixty kilos, which was excessive for a boy his age, but he couldn't help it; eating was one of his favorite pastimes. He didn't care about his obesity, which he'd become after joining the army.
As a result of his refusal to buy the two cakes, he decided to gorge himself on sandwiches and soda. However, that didn't satisfy him, so he ate another half-dozen cream puffs. And when it came time for the cake, he fought over the largest piece with one of the invited boys. His mother had to apologize, as always, every time her son indulged his insatiable appetite.
That time, however, after the party ended, he felt unwell. His stomach couldn't handle the amount of food he had eaten, and he ended up vomiting everything he had eaten. A digestive system malfunction forced his parents to take him to the nearest hospital. He recalled being on the verge of death and vowing never to eat that way again. That was how he overcame the sin of gluttony.
The detective returned to the Throne Room. The vision of a moment from his childhood had triggered a serious emotional crisis within him. His feelings were now raw. He felt as helpless as when he was an introverted little boy, relieving his anxiety by eating incessantly. His own life seemed pathetic.
Candice climbed another step, and Greg's foot moved in the same way. It seemed as if their movements were synchronized.
Now came the phase of the ladder represented by the Moon.
It was hot, perhaps too hot. He took his naps lying on the couch at home, waiting for nightfall so he could go to the beach with his friends. That summer, he was turning eighteen and had achieved excellent grades on the entrance exam — two compelling reasons to make the holidays a restful, healing time. There was nothing better than spending the days wandering around.
Someone rang the doorbell. Greg was home alone, as his parents had left about ten minutes earlier. So he decided to ignore the unwelcome visitor, as getting up from the couch would be a futile effort that would disturb his rest. The doorbell rang again... and again, after a long pause. Greg, for his part, was careless, allowing the person to leave after waiting for a long time. He didn't care at all. He thought it might have been a neighbor seeking advice from his mother or, worse yet, an encyclopedia salesman.
The next day, he learned, precisely from one of his neighbors, that a representative of a famous tobacco brand had been there distributing some coupons to the building's owners for a million-dollar raffle.
The irony, in this case, was that after the drawing, the winner was the accountant who lived next door. Apparently, the previous afternoon, the person who had rung the doorbell, finding no one to answer the Evanses' door, handed the ticket to his neighbor, who pocketed the substantial sum of two million dollars.
The helplessness and anger Greg felt that day made him see life differently. Since then, he has never again succumbed to the deceptive charm of laziness.
Returning to the present took an effort comparable to waking from a beautiful dream. He felt a lump in his throat. Examining his conscience was not a pleasant task, and that was what it was all about. The ladder was God's means of freeing man from sins, through remembrance.
First gluttony, then sloth. He bet his life that he would soon have to confront another of the deadly sins. Candice and he climbed a new rung together. It was Mercury, the ancient god of commerce.