The Mystery of Mariamne Tower
by
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Then suddenly, Jake’s pleasant past thoughts exploded in a noisy frenzy. He jerked around as he heard loud, frantic commotion beyond his office door. A frightened voice yelled out in panic in his secretary’s office. Jake shoved his brown leather chair out of the way and leaped around the end of his oak desk, rushing toward the outburst. He snatched open his office door. He found Hannah, his pretty wife and secretary, standing suspended in a daze in the middle of her office, with the main office door to the corridor yawning wide open.
“Hannah! What just happened?” Jake asked in a frenzy.
Hannah stood there with confusion draped all over her. “I’m not real sure,” she chanted, in a trance. “A pudgy tornado just blasted through here.” She turned toward Jake, her golden brown hair swept across her forehead. In semi-shock she stated, “Suddenly the office door flew open and your friend Pudge rushes in here all covered in sweat and all confused. He’s talking a mile a minute. He says something about helping some man and the next thing he knew he was up to his ears in trouble. Then he pleaded for you to meet him out behind Caleb’s Doughnut Shop in the alley tonight at sundown.”
“What! Pudge in trouble? That can’t be right! Did he tell you what kind of trouble?”
“No, the last thing he said was, ‘They’re right on my tail! Can’t stay!’ And then he bolted out of here as fast as the wind. Jake, Pudge was really, really scared!”
“Well, we both know Pudge is a straight arrow, since he’s become a Christian,” Jake stated. “He gave up his life of crime a long time ago. So, I can’t image what kind of trouble he could be in.”
Hannah stared at Jake. “Wait a minute. The only major trouble in Jerusalem recently was that daring, daylight robbery of the money from the Temple collection boxes. You don’t suppose…”
“No, I don’t,” the detective interrupted. “Pudge would never do that! He has gone straight. He has Jesus as his guide, now, and I know for a fact Pudge is about as committed a Christian as I have seen.”
“I was just supposing,” she shrugged. “That news about the robbery has been the buzz of the city all day and the authorities are tearing the city apart looking for the crooks.”
Jake shook his head. “No, the robbery and Pudge just can’t have a connection,” Jake stated, rubbing his square, bearded chin with the back of his thumb. “For sure, I’ll meet Pudge tonight and find out what the set up is. He’s in trouble. No doubt about it. Pudge doesn’t get flustered too easily. So, it must be something really bad.”
“Well, you know you gotta help him,” Hannah insisted. “He’s your friend. He’s pulled your feet outa the fire a time or two in the past.”
“More than a time or two,” Jake stated with an admiring expression. “He’s saved my life. Yeah, I owe him big time. What time is it now?’
“It’s about five o’clock. That’s still about two hours before sundown.”
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About the Book
A robbery of 10, 000 denarii from the Temple in Jerusalem has just shocked the whole city. One high ranking Pharisee has disappeared after being badly injured during the robbery. Now, an innocent man is being accused of murder. Detective Jake Jezreel desperately attempts to ferret out the truth and help clear the innocent man of the crime. Jake will do anything to help the innocent man, because they are the closest of friends, even to the point of hiding out his friend to protect him from the angry mob. There are twists and turns in this tale involving deception, an angry gang, and a frantic, climactic chase on top of the wall of Jerusalem. This story exemplifies the power of personal loyalty between friends, especially Christian friends.
About the Author
Donald Craig Miller has been writing Christian papers for local churches and newsletters for 50 years. His Christian writing was a result of attending a Billy Graham writing school in Minneapolis in 1971. This experience encouraged him to develop his already growing desire to write and redirect his desire toward glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ in his writings. Through the cooperation of pastors, he has been able to write for church newsletters and bulletin inserts for churches in the Dayton, Ohio area and more recently in the Macon and Warner Robins, Georgia area. Donald Craig Miller also has been a Bible teacher for over 50 years, teaching in Sunday School and church settings, in home Bible studies, and as a lay preacher. He found Christ through The Navigators while stationed at Kadena AFB in Okinawa. Not long after accepting Christ, Mr. Miller realized that God had gifted him with the gift of teaching. From then on his great desire has been to dig scriptural truth from the Bible and pass it on to other Christians, much like Ezra of the Old Testament. Based on these years of teaching, the life of Christ has especially come alive for Mr. Miller. His desire is to translate his passion for the life of Christ into the lives of his readers. In his first book, Trailing the Bloody Footprints, Mr. Miller’s desire was to awaken a new, fresh love for Jesus Christ using the novel approach of seeing Jesus through the eyes of a first century detective, Jake Jezreel. In his sequel, Terror Outside The Door (The Persecution of Jesus Christ), Mr. Miller continues the story through the eyes of the same first century detective. The reader is launched into the early church’s desperate fight for survival, as the religious leaders attack, attempting to destroy Christianity. In the third entry into the Jake Jezreel Adventures, The Mystery of the Black Diamond, Mr. Miller portrays his first century detective as a man, growing in his faith, who is trying everyday to live for the Lord Jesus. His faith journey carries him to Samaria, in search of a missing Christian pastor and a mysterious Black Diamond. Only through a nerve-racking climax at the Hippodrome chariot races in Caesarea will God bring the answers Jake is looking for. In The Mystery of Mariamne Tower, Mr. Miller exemplifies the power of personal loyalty between friends, especially Christian friends. Mr. Miller’s desire is for the reader to find a place of affinity with the detective as he struggles with everyday choices and in his learning to grow in his love for Jesus.