Mal’akh Breaks into the Solomon Estate and Attacks the Family

Mal’akh Breaks into the Solomon Estate and Attacks the Family marks two assaults on the Solomon estate in Potomac, both driven by the intruder’s pursuit of the Masonic Pyramid. The first ends with Peter Solomon shooting the attacker, who survives and adopts the identity Mal’akh; a later Christmas Day break-in takes Isabel Solomon’s life and forces Peter to reconsider how the pyramid is protected.

The Pyramid and the First Break-In

The first assault follows a period of restless searching. Living in a villa on Syros Island, Andros has acquired wealth, physical beauty, education, and a life of pleasure, yet finds himself as empty as he had felt in prison. A late-night television program about Freemasonry revives a memory of a mysterious pyramid that Zachary Solomon had heard about from his father. Andros concludes that the story may be true—and that Zachary, though dead, may still lead him to something valuable.

Three weeks later, Andros goes to the Solomon estate in Potomac, timing his arrival carefully. Through the conservatory glass, he sees Peter Solomon talking with his sister, Katherine Solomon. Before entering, Andros puts on a ski mask and takes cocaine, which he has not used in a long time; he carries a handgun and unlocks the door with an old key. His greeting makes the intrusion unmistakable. He has come for the pyramid, but the break-in does not go as planned.

Pursuit to the Ravine

Instead of leaving with the object he seeks, Andros flees across the snow-covered lawn after being hit by birdshot. Peter pursues him with a pistol. Andros runs through the woods along a trail beside a ravine, passing oak trees and following the sound of a waterfall. The trail ends abruptly above an icy river. Across the ravine it continues, but the bridge is gone; the boulder beside the path bears a child’s crude carving. The missing crossing turns Andros’s escape route into a dead end.

When Andros turns back, Peter is close behind. The two face each other on the narrow path, with the drop at Andros’s back. Peter explains that Zachary’s bridge has long since rotted away and that Zachary alone used to come that far down the trail. The setting makes the family’s past physically present: the ruined crossing is a remnant of Zachary’s childhood, while Peter’s pursuit brings the estrangement and loss between father and son into the confrontation.

Peter and Andros at the Dead End

Peter demands to know why Andros killed his son. Andros dismisses Zachary as a drug addict and argues that Peter, by leaving his son in prison when he could have secured his release, bears responsibility for his death. Peter rejects the accusation. The dispute is not merely about the pyramid or the attempted burglary; it forces Peter to confront the guilt and anger surrounding Zachary’s fate, while Andros uses that pain to provoke him.

As Peter approaches with his gun aimed at Andros, the intruder recognizes that he is badly hurt and has nowhere to go. He tells Peter that he knows Peter is not someone who kills in cold blood, then warns that shooting him will leave Peter haunted. Peter fires. The apparent resolution is deceptive: Andros survives the encounter. The gunshot leaves lasting scars, and he later conceals them beneath the symbols of his new identity. He interprets survival as a transformation and calls himself Mal’akh, treating the ravine encounter as a step toward a final stage in his journey.

The Christmas-Day Attack and Its Consequences

The first confrontation does not end the danger to the Solomons. Six years later, on Christmas Day, an enormous man claiming to have killed Zachary in prison breaks into the estate. He, too, has come for the pyramid, but the consequence is not its removal: Isabel Solomon loses her life. The second intrusion converts the earlier threat into a devastating family loss and shows that separating the pyramid from its pursuers has not kept the household safe.

Days later, Peter summons Warren Bellamy and admits that he should have listened to him. Bellamy brings the small cube-shaped package containing the capstone, still wrapped in faded brown paper and tied with twine bearing the wax seal of Peter’s ring. With the pyramid and capstone brought closer together than they should be, Peter asks Bellamy to find another person to watch over the capstone without telling him who that person is. Bellamy recommends hiding the pyramid in the Capitol Building subbasement, a place he considers especially secure and symbolically fitting at the heart of the nation. The attacks thus change the guardianship of the Masonic Pyramid: the family tragedy drives Peter and Bellamy to move its separated parts into safer keeping.