When Northampton County Council met Oct. 1, the wall behind Mat Benol was bare. He had been hanging a plaque containing the Ten Commandments before every meeting, but the lock was broken on the cabinet in which he stored the Decalogue. So he was unable to retrieve it.

This was the second plaque Benol had purchased at a cost of $100. The first one vanished sometime in August. Prior to that, a set of the Ten Commandments hammered into the wall by Ron Angle also mysteriously disappeared.

Fortunately for Benol, his plaque was still in the cabinet where the lock was broken off, and Council Clerk Linda Zembo retrieved and stored it for him at a secret location.

So prior to the Oct. 15 meeting, Benol hung the plaque on the wall. He took it down as soon as the meeting ended, but declines to reveal the sanctum sanctorum where he is storing the Law of Moses.

The mystery concerning a Ten Commandments plaque in Northampton County Council’s chambers continues. This time, Benol is unable to get to it.