2 The Dante Connection (20 page)

A malicious smile pulled at the corners of Colin’s mouth. “He can stay next door. There is a beautiful extra room.”

As expected Manny’s face turned red and for the next ten minutes the two men argued viciously. Personally I didn’t care where Manny stayed. As long as he was safe and someone was looking after him. Despite Vinnie’s antagonism towards Manny, he would enjoy taking care of and irritating Manny. Francine would enjoy the task even more.

The arguing in the hospital room grew tedious. I walked away from the bed and stared at the television. The new president was addressing journalists at a news conference. Staff and bodyguards were squeezed in next to him on stage. It was a triumphant day for him. He had managed to get a new bill passed, something that would bring change to the country’s economic situation. Needless to say some journalists were aggressive in their attempts to solicit answers from the head of the nation.

My mind wandered away from the controversial politics on television. For the first time since I had witnessed the explosion of the bomb, I let my thoughts roam. The more I thought about it, the more questions came to mind. Questions much more important than the argument still going on behind me.

“Have you heard anything more about the bomb?” I asked as I turned around. Colin and Manny ceased their verbal assault on each other and looked at me.

“I spoke to Edward earlier. He came by. Why?”

“What did he say about the bomb?” I frowned. “Where was Edward? Why wasn’t he there? And what about the young man next to you when the bomb exploded? Is he okay?”

“Slow down with the questions, Doc. Edward and his team were on a different assignment. This young chap was supposed to be almost as good as Edward.”

“He screwed up?” Colin asked.

‘They don’t know yet what went wrong. Edward hinted at not following SOP. There will be a full investigation and the young guy has been suspended. And to answer your question, Doc, he’s okay. He wore a bleeding blast suit, didn’t he?”

“How was it detonated?” Colin asked.

“Remotely. They’ve determined that the range could not have been farther than twenty-five metres.”

“That’s inside the museum,” I said. “Didn’t the police evacuate everyone?”

“They did,” Manny said. “Only members of the bomb squad and the police were in the building at the time of the explosion.”

“The bomber is a policeman.” I shook my head. “No, it doesn’t make sense. Maybe he only wore the uniform to gain access, but none of the clues we have right now indicate that he has any connection to law enforcement.”

“Generally policemen are not as poetic as this guy,” Colin said.

Manny shrugged. “I agree with you on this one, Frey. There are always exceptions though.”

“Have they looked at the security videos?” I asked. “Have they determined who was out of place there?”

“I didn’t ask. As soon as I get out of this hell hole, I’ll find out.” He looked at his hands and sighed. “I might need some help making phone calls.”

“I’m sure Francine will get you set up with all kinds of hands-free gadgets,” Colin said. The more I thought about it, the more his suggestion for Manny to stay next door carried merit. I decided not to say it and risk another ten-minute argument.

“What about that post-it note? I can’t imagine it survived the explosion.”

“It didn’t,” Manny said. “Can you remember what was written on it?”

“You weren’t close enough for me to get a good look. I never saw it. Do you remember anything?”

“It looked like a bunch of Roman numerals to me. For the life of me, I can’t remember what they were.”

“Hold on,” Colin said and took out his smartphone. Within seconds, he spoke into it. “Hey, honey. Quick question. Did you by any chance record the whole thing this morning? Hm-mm. Great. Thanks. Yeah, see you guys later.”

He tapped the screen and looked at us. “Francine recorded everything that we had seen this morning. She is busy working on the visuals to get clearer images, especially the post-it note.”

“That is fantastic,” I said. “I was worried that we had lost that clue.”

“There was another clue for you, Doc.” Manny pushed himself up again using his elbows. His hand must have touched something, because he winced with a shudder. “Bloody hell, it hurts.”

‘Then stop moving, idiot.” Despite Colin’s harsh tone and words, I witnessed concern softening his eyes.

“Tell me about the other clue.” If I got them to focus on the case, they might not argue again.

“Edward said that there
was a little blast-proof box attached inside the casing behind the painting. Inside the box was a sheet of paper with rows of numbers like on the other bomb.”

“Can I get a copy of that?”

“I’ll get the bomb guys to email it to you. They’re pretty worried about these bombs in the city. There are all kinds of talks about terrorists and extremists. We won’t have any problem getting the police’s cooperation. Everyone just wants this to stop.”

The expression on Manny’s face caused adrenaline to make my stomach feel as if it suddenly hollowed out. I felt the need to hold on to something to keep myself anchored. I walked closer to the bed and put my hand on the covers.

“What is wrong, Manny? What are you not telling me?”

I didn’t think his pained expression and closed eyes were connected to physical pain. It had to be bad and I braced myself for whatever he would say.

“The casing was clever. It was made so that it looked different when it was x-rayed. It was something with lead and something else too. Edward explained it with lots of fancy-shmancy words. But the important part is that inside the casing was a delivery device that has these guys’ panties in a twist.”

“English, please. What delivery device?”

“It was empty, thank God, but the delivery device is perfect for a biological.”

“Are you saying that it could have been a biological weapon released into the air?” Colin asked, his voice tight.

“That is the gist of it, yes.” Manny closed his eyes again. He might pretend that he was okay, but there were enough indications to let me know he was suffering physically. He opened his eyes and looked at me. “Doc, we have to stop this. It’s getting bigger and worse as time goes on.”

“I know, Manny. As soon as I get home and have access to the videos and the notes, I’ll work at figuring this out.” I refused to allow my mind freedom to think about the possible consequences of a biological bomb. I had no doubt that thinking about that would debilitate me to the point of intellectual paralysis. I needed to be useful. I needed to solve this mystery.

“If there is anyone who can do it, it is you. Anything you need, Doc. We have to stop this.”

“We have to figure out who is involved in this and what their motivations are,” I said. “Why I am being targeted and by whom. Then we’ll be able to stop them.”

There was so much to think about. A burning desire to be in front of my computer pushed at me. Already a few connections were hovering around my conscious mind. But first I had to follow an idea that made me eminently proud of myself. Even Phillip would be impressed.

“Did you say I can have anything I need?” I asked.

“Anything, Doc.”

“I need you to stay next door, be safe, allow us to help you and not instigate violent verbal disagreements with Vinnie and Colin.” I moved a bit closer to the head of the bed, ignoring Manny’s disapproving expression. “When the time comes, I will ask you to listen and you must.”

Suspicion replaced the disapproval. “Listen to what?”

“Whatever I ask you to.”

He was quiet for a few seconds. “Don’t I always listen to you?”

“No. You often jump to conclusions and judgements. Strong arguments are often needed to get your attention. This time I would want you to listen first.”

“I can do that.” He frowned at me. “Why do you think listening would be more difficult for me than staying with a gang of criminals?”

“I’m not going to argue with you. I’m going home now to figure out how we can stop this.”

I didn’t wait for either man to respond. The reason I had come to the hospital was to see with my own eyes that Manny was okay. He was. Not even verbal sparring with him could keep my attention away from the white walls, the smells and sounds of the hospital. Pressure in my chest gave me plenty of warning and I wasn’t planning on having any more episodes today. Hopefully not in the foreseeable future.

Colin fell into step next to me only a few metres from Manny’s room. “I told him his transport will be here soon. He’s not happy, but he’ll stay next door.”

I waited until we were outside in the crisp winter air before I turned to Colin. “You are being cruel to him.”

“Harmless cruelty, Jenny. Harmless.” He smiled and I realised how seldom I had seen genuine smiles from him. Only for a moment did I feel guilty that I was glad that teasing Manny could take away the pain that I saw in Colin’s eyes. After this case, I would speak to Phillip. He might know what I could do to make Colin smile more. Maybe he could recommend some books that I could read.

Chapter EIGHTEEN

“Those are the last numbers,” I said. I had been in front of my computer from the moment we had arrived back at my apartment. It had taken a frustrating and exasperating two hours before the bomb squad had emailed me a scanned copy of the code left in the blast-proof box. Colin had stormed in from his bedroom when I called him rather frantically to help me with the code. “Does it make sense? What does it say?”

“Again just a jumble of words, Jenny.” Colin threw the notepad on the table. “We need to take a break. It’s past eleven already.”

“You take a break. I need to find the key to this code.” We had already tried four different ways of decoding the numbers. All failed attempts. Emotional exhaustion weighed heavily on me, but I did not want to give up in favour of sleep. “I will try another way.”

“This book might not hold the key this time. Check your email again.”

I opened my inbox and also checked the spam box. “Nothing. There isn’t another package. It must be this book.”

Colin stood up. “I’m going to take a quick shower. When I get back, you are going to bed. We can get back to this tomorrow morning after a night’s rest.”

I ignored him, leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes. If he wanted to give up, he was welcome to. I was determined to not allow my fatigue to halt any progress in preventing a potential disaster. Mozart filled my mind and I surrendered to its soothing sounds. I could only hope this tried and tested method would bring clarity to my problem-solving mind.

“Up we go.” Colin’s voice was gentle and close to my ear. I opened my eyes the moment he slid his hands under my knees and my upper back, and lifted me effortlessly against his chest. Every muscle in my body stiffened.

“What are you doing?” My voice was hoarse and it felt like I had just come out of a deep sleep, not a Mozart mind-moment.

“Taking you to bed.” He started walking to my bedroom.

“Put me down. I can walk there.” I didn’t struggle in his hold, too scared that I might hurt his leg or that he would drop me. And my body felt lame with exhaustion.

“Oh, hush. We’re almost there.” He walked straight to my bed and gently lowered me until I felt the soft bedding under me. I couldn’t recall ever being on my bed fully dressed. He sat down next to me and leaned a bit closer. “You are going to take off your clothes, get under the covers and sleep. No arguing.”

“You didn’t have to carry me. You could’ve just woken me up.” I tried to sit up, but his warning look stopped me.

“You were tired enough to sleep upright in your chair, Jenny. I was hoping to not wake you up at all.”

“How did you know I was sleeping?” He had never before thought I was sleeping when I was in my head, working out some complex issue.

He smiled. “Your head was tilted to the side and your mouth was a bit open. I think I even heard a snore or two. Now stop arguing with me and promise me that you’ll go to sleep.”

I closed my eyes and resisted a groan. I was wavering between annoyance and embarrassment that Colin had caught me sleeping in a chair. With my mouth open no less. “Okay, fine, I’ll go to sleep.”

He touched my hand and I opened my eyes. He was still smiling. “Sweet dreams, Jenny.”

“You too.” I knew this had been the right response when his smile deepened. He blinked once slowly and left my room. Only when my bedroom door clicked closed behind him did all my muscles relax into my bed. I didn’t stay there for too long. I knew that it would take less than a minute for me to fall asleep and I needed to go through my nightly ritual to ensure a restful night.

When I woke up to the faint smell of coffee, I felt refreshed and grateful to Colin for insisting that I took a break. A quick glance at the clock on my bedside table told me that it was half past six. I had slept almost seven hours. A very good night indeed. The knowledge that I might have a good path to the clue rushed me through the shower and into the kitchen.

Colin was watching television and drinking coffee. He too looked rested when he smiled at me. “You look much better. You slept well?”

“I did, thanks.” I watched the coffee machine sputter coffee into my mug. “I think I know how to decode the numbers.”

“See,” he said as he stood up and walked into the kitchen. “I knew you needed a good night’s rest. You should always listen to me. I’m always right.”

“Unfortunately I can’t agree with you. I could always listen to you, but you aren’t always right. I’m smarter than you and I’m not even always right.”

Colin struggled to swallow his coffee before laughing. He nodded while still chuckling. “Of course you would take that seriously. I was just teasing, Jenny. I know I’m not always right.”

I wondered how much of my surprise at the lightness in his tone and eyes showed on my face. It wasn’t only surprise that I experienced though. Relief also made me feel lighter. It had been less than a week since Colin came back into my life. In that week I had observed the anguish in his eyes diminish a little bit every day. This morning he almost seemed like the old Colin who had first broken into my apartment.

“Teasing.” I had been too distracted by the pleasant change in his mood to have noticed the nonverbal cues.

“Yes, teasing.” He nodded towards the dining room table. “So, what have you got for us?”

I turned off the coffee machine, took my mug and walked to the table. “I have no rational reason to be so convinced of this, but I strongly believe that this book is the key to the second code. We just need to find how to fit it in there. So far we tried the original Ottendorf cipher with the letters, we tried the words, and we tried the words like in the first clue. What we haven’t tried is working the numbers backwards.”

Colin sat down next to me, pulled the notepad closer and shrugged. “Why the hell not? Let’s take it from the bottom to the top.”

We spent an unproductive two hours trying every which way to decipher this code. It felt like an exact repeat of the previous time. I pressed my fingers hard against my temples. “I’m missing something.”

Our second attempt to break the code had given us a string of letters. Out of sheer desperation I turned to my laptop and entered them in the URL bar.

“What are you doing?” Colin asked.

“Taking a chance–”

“Oh my God, Jenny.” His voice lifted in excitement as he moved closer. A webpage had opened. It was a simple black background with gold lettering in an antique font taking up most of the page. We stared at it.

“This sentence must make sense to them,” I said, still staring. “Thus it should make sense to us once we find the context.”

“What context can be found in this? ‘The world will know that wronged men stood against a tyrant, that the righteous stood against the protected arrogant, and before this battle was over, even a god-king and his queen can bleed.’”

Familiar scratching sounds at my front door drew my attention as the door opened. Vinnie stepped through the door with an unfamiliar expression on his face. He appeared taller than usual, the smile around his mouth and eyes making the long scar on his face stand out even more. Following closely behind him was a clearly irritated Manny.

Vinnie was wearing his usual outfit of combat pants, this time dark brown. His long-sleeved black T-shirt stretched tight over his muscular torso. If I had not known his kind heart, I would have been intimidated by the strength and danger he exuded. Next to him Manny looked like a homeless man. Clean, but definitely homeless. Usually the rumpled look only extended to his undone top button, off-centre tie and wrinkled coat. This morning even his pants were wrinkled. Dark rings under his eyes added to the numerous little cuts and the burn on his cheek to make him look worse for wear.

“Good morning, sunshines.” Vinnie was in a good mood. Studying the two men, I surmised that the lift in his tone came from having Manny in his territory. Most likely taking great pleasure in challenging Manny’s patience. Even now I was surprised that Manny had agreed to moving in next door. I knew he would never go anywhere he didn’t want to. That led me to the question of his motivation for staying with two people he considered criminals, one of whom he highly disliked.

“Morning, Vinnie. Manny, did you sleep well?” I asked, proud of my social skills.

Manny walked straight to the table and fell into a chair. “The arsehole kept waking me up, so no. I did not sleep well. I’m tired.”

“And cranky,” Vinnie said from the kitchen. He was taking ingredients from the fridge, no doubt to start making breakfast. “Gramps here has no appreciation for the tender care I have been giving him. He cussed at me and called me all kinds of names every time I woke his sorry arse up to make sure he doesn’t go into a coma. Ungrateful old man.”

Colin made no effort to cover his smile which made Manny scowl even more. I dropped my head forward with a sigh. “Please don’t irritate each other. I don’t know how to handle a situation like this and we have much more important things to focus on. We need to find the context of this cryptic sentence.”

Manny sat up. “What cryptic sentence? Did you decode those numbers?”

“Jenny figured it out,” Colin said, his smile and lightness gone. He looked at the laptop monitor and cleared his throat. “‘The world will know that wronged men stood against a tyrant, that the righteous stood against the protected arrogant, and before this battle was over, even a god-king and his queen can bleed.’”

“What the bloody hell does that mean?” Manny lifted his bandaged hands in a questioning gesture. Seeing his hands made me realise how unsuited I was in caring for people. So much for being proud of my social skills.

“Um, how are you feeling, Manny?” Instead of concerned, my voice sounded businesslike. I softened my tone. “How are your hands?”

“Fine.” Manny frowned at me and waved one of his bandaged hands at me. “Tell me more about this sentence. What have you figured out so far?”

“Not much,” I said. “All I can think of is that this sounds very much like an act of revenge.”

“It is from
300
.” Vinnie walked closer, holding a mixing bowl against his chest and whisking the contents with fast expertise. “King Leonidas said this to Xerxes.”

“Are you talking about King Leonidas who led a small army of about three hundred men to confront King Xerxes’ army at Thermopylae?” I asked.

“Wow.” Vinnie’s eyes widened. “I never would’ve figured you to be the kind of gal to watch those movies.”

“What movies?” I asked. “I’m talking about fifth-century history. What are you talking about?”

“Only the coolest movie ever, Jen-girl.” Vinnie briefly stopped whisking to glance at the front door as Francine entered. “Ah, you’re here. Tell them how cool Gerald Butler is in
300
, Francine.”

“That hottie?” Her posture changed from her usual model poise to a sensual stroll as she walked to the table. “Ooh, in that movie he was the sexiest thing on screen for almost three years. That body.”

“Enough!” Manny’s hands hovered above the table. It looked like he wanted to slam them on the table, but that would have caused considerable agony. “I don’t care about the actors. Tell us about this king.”

“Xerxes is the bad guy in this movie,” Vinnie said. “Well, I suppose in real life too since the movie was based on history. Anyway, he had an argument with Leonidas who said to him that…”

Vinnie looked at Francine and both of them spoke at the same time. “‘The world will know that free men stood against a tyrant, that few stood against many, and before this battle was over, even a god-king can bleed.’”

They ended their quotation in loud, dramatic voices. Vinnie had taken the whisk out of the bowl and held it up in the air like a sceptre. I flinched when batter dripped from it onto my pristine floors. Colin chuckled and Manny looked disgusted.

“Are those the exact words from the movie?” I asked, glaring at the two round drops on the floor. “You’re going to have to clean that, Vinnie.”

“No probs, Jen-girl.” Vinnie lowered his hand and started whisking again. “Of course those are the exact words. A true
300
fan would never misquote King Leonidas.”

“There are significant differences between that quote and this sentence,” I said and took the notepad from Colin. “He used ‘wronged men’ instead of ‘free men’, the ‘righteous’ instead of ‘few’, ‘protected arrogant’ instead of ‘tyrant’ and he added ‘his queen’ to the promise that they can bleed. This must have meaning to the bomber.”

“What meaning?” Francine asked as she sat down next to Manny.

“That’s the million-dollar question,” Colin said. On his request Francine repeated the movie quotation and he wrote it down on the notepad. “Okay, so I would guess that he felt that he was wronged and that he’s righteous. Also that this tyrannical god-king is arrogant, protected and has a wife. Does that make sense to anyone?”

“I agree with your assumption,” I said. “I’m pretty sure that the king and his queen are symbolic rather than real. It must represent someone in power, someone powerful enough to have some form of immunity against prosecution for committing some wrongdoing.”

“Bloody bleeding hell.” Manny slumped back in the chair. “That is almost every single politician and rich man on this planet. And a large number of criminals.”