The Curse of the Thirty Denarii is the nineteenth Blake and Mortimer book in the series. The story was written by Jean Van Hamme. Its completion was delayed with the death of the artist, René Sterne, on 15 November 2006. The book was completed by Sterne's girlfriend Chantal de Spiegeleer and was released on 20 November 2009. It is a two-part installment containing "The Manuscript of Nicodemus" (Le manuscrit de Nicodemus) as part 1 and "The Gate of Orpheus" (La porte d'Orphée) as part 2. It tells of the search for the 30 pieces of silver paid to Judas Iscariot for his betrayal of Jesus. Plot Volume I Following an earthquake in the South of the Peloponnese, a shepherd boy discovered the remains of a fifth-century Christian chapel. There are ancient manuscripts and a lead reliquary. Two weeks later, in Jacksonville, Pennsylvania, a commando helicopter breaks out Colonel Olrik from a high-security prison. The same night, in London, Captain Francis Blake, head of MI5, is made aware of this spectacular escape and goes to the United States to help the FBI track Olrik down, while his friend Professor Philip Mortimer receives a letter from the doctor Géorgios Markopoulos, curator of the Archaeological Museum of Athens, asking for his help on an extraordinary case. A few days later, Olrik wakes aboard the Arax where he finds his lackey, Jack. The owner of the yacht, the wealthy businessman Belos Beloukian, wants to hire him for a case that opposes Mortimer. At the same time, Mortimer lands in Athens where he is greeted by Eleni Philippides, the niece and Assistant to Dr. Markopoulos. While they drive to the Museum, a thug gets a flat tire from the car of Eleni to delay. But the impromptu arrival of Jim Radcliff, correspondent for the Philadelphia Chronicle (parody of Philadelphia Inquirer) and engaged to Eleni, allows them to hit the road. In the Museum, they discover the unconscious Dr. Markopoulos in his office and an individual masked fleeing with a metal box. Mortimer begins a pursuit of the Lincoln of the two thieves until a thunderstorm suddenly causes an accident in the car. The Professor retrieves the box as well as a stater of the reign of the Emperor Tiberius, putting immediately an end to the storm, then returns to the Museum. Meanwhile, at the headquarters of the FBI in Washington, Blake is meeting with John