The Sacred Vault

together.

The moment was broken by the trill of the intercom. ‘Nina?’ said Lola. ‘Mac and Mr Jindal are here.’

Nina extricated herself from Eddie’s arms, surprised. ‘I didn’t know they were in town.’

‘Mac was with Alderley down in Washington for some intelligence debrief - he told me he’d see us before he flew back home. No idea Kit was here, though.’

The familiar Scottish and Indian voices reached them before the visitors themselves: ‘. . . with both of them on the team, they would easily be able to stand up to India,’ said Mac.

‘But how can you know? Scotland have never played in a Test match,’ Kit replied. He tapped on the open door, entering as Nina waved them in. ‘Hello! Good to see you both again.’

‘And you,’ said Nina. She noticed he was limping. ‘How’s the leg?’

‘Better, thank you. I can walk without a crutch now, which is a great relief! It still hurts, but it will heal completely soon.’

‘Already back at work at Interpol, are you?’ Eddie asked him as he shook hands with his old friend and mentor.

‘Yes - which is why I am here. But I will tell you in a minute. After Mac admits that I am right about Sachin Tendulkar being the greatest cricketer of all time.’ He grinned at the Scot.

Eddie shook his head. ‘Not more bloody cricket.’

‘You should learn from this lad, Eddie,’ said Mac. ‘He’s very sharp and capable. And polite and respectful, too. Even if his grasp of the facts about sport is somewhat tenuous.’ Now it was Kit’s turn to shake his head.

‘So what brings you here, Kit?’ asked Nina.

‘Well, the first thing is that I wanted to tell you I have been promoted! I am now the Chief Investigator of the Cultural Property Crime Unit.’

Eddie patted him on the back. ‘Nice one, mate. Congratulations!’

‘Well deserved, I think,’ Nina added.

Kit smiled. ‘Thank you. But the other thing is that I will be working with you again in the future. I have been appointed Interpol’s official liaison with the IHA in matters of cultural property crime. I just came from a meeting with the UN’s Mr Penrose - he will give you all the details, but I wanted to tell you in person. And I also wanted to bring you our first new joint case.’

He took a box from the briefcase he was carrying and opened it - to reveal the purple statuette Nina had seen amongst the Khoil’s collection of stolen treasures. ‘Interpol has not been able to identify its true owner, and so far we have found nothing in the Khoils’ records about it either. It’s possible Fernandez’s gang killed its owner, so its theft was never reported.’

‘Or,’ Eddie suggested, ‘maybe it wasn’t reported because whoever they nicked it from didn’t want anyone to know they had it in the first place.’

‘Why would anyone want to keep it a secret?’ asked Nina. ‘Nobody knows anything about it.’

‘The Khoils must have known, otherwise why would they have stolen it?’ said Kit. He looked across the room to the statuette’s not-quite-twin in the display case. ‘But now that you have two of them to examine, perhaps you will know too. I persuaded Interpol that you and the IHA were the best hope of identifying it.’ He handed the box to Nina and closed his briefcase.

‘Uh, thanks,’ she said, slightly taken aback by the unexpected ‘gift’.

‘Are you staying in New York?’ Eddie asked. ‘I’m afraid I can’t,’ Kit told him. ‘I have to fly back to Lyon right away - my new job somehow has a large pile of paperwork waiting for me already!’

‘I know how that feels,’ said Nina, putting the box on her desk. ‘Well, congratulations on the promotion, Kit. Hope we see you again soon. Okay, not too soon, as that’d mean some archaeological treasure’s been stolen . . . but you know what I mean.’

‘I think I do,’ he said with a grin. ‘Goodbye, my friends.’ He shook everyone’s hand, then departed.

‘What about you, Mac?’ said Nina. ‘Do you have to rush off too?’

Mac gestured towards 44th Street beyond the window. ‘Only as far as the Delacourt Hotel.’ He gave Eddie a wry look. ‘I thought after the trouble last time I was there, I should give them the custom as compensation. But after that, I’d rather hoped you’d both join me for dinner tonight.’

‘We’d love to,’ said Nina.

‘I’m always up for some good nosh,’ Eddie added.

‘Superb. In that case, I’d better go and check in. If there’s anywhere you particularly recommend, give me a call. After all,’ a smile, ‘I know you have my number. Since that’s how you saved the world!’

‘Again,’ said Nina. ‘We really should start billing for services rendered.’

Mac laughed, then his smile became even warmer as he shook Eddie’s hand. ‘You know, I thought when I first met you - God, what is it, almost sixteen years ago now? - that you had far more potential than met the eye. People like Stikes thought you were just a troublemaker, but sometimes we need somebody who’ll stir things up. I’m proud, I’m honoured, that you proved me right. Well done, Eddie. Damn good work.’

Eddie stood straighter, beaming. ‘Thanks, Mac. That means a lot.’

Mac released him, then kissed Nina’s cheek. ‘And you’ve done a fantastic job of civilising him. I wouldn’t have thought it possible—’

‘Oi!’ Eddie protested.

‘—but achieving the impossible seems to be one of your talents. Keep it up.’ He went to the door. ‘I’ll see you both later.’

Nina waved as he departed, then turned to her husband, smirking. ‘Aw, look at you. You’re so happy and proud. It’s sweet. It’s like you just got praise from your dad.’

She had meant it in a humorous way, the tactlessness only striking her after the words left her mouth. But rather than responding with irritation as he had before, Eddie appeared contemplative. ‘What is it?’ she asked.

‘You just made me think about Shankarpa and Girilal - about them getting to talk to each other one last time. And about Zec, wanting his son to know he’d done the right thing.’ He picked up the phone. Nina saw that the first two digits he dialled were 44 - the international code for the United Kingdom. ‘Hi, Elizabeth,’ he said when he got an answer. ‘It’s me. Yeah, yeah, I’m fine; I’ll tell you all about it later. Just a quick call - can you give me Dad’s phone number?’

The surprised response from the other end of the line was loud enough even for Nina to hear. Eddie listened with rising annoyance to his sister’s gloating at his change of heart. ‘No - no, I’m not saying I’m gonna call him,’ he interrupted. ‘Just that I wanted his number. In case I need it. Which I don’t right now, okay? So, you got the number?’ He took a pen from Nina’s desk and wrote it down. ‘Okay, thanks. Talk to you again soon. Give my love to Holly and Nan, will you? Bye.’

‘So are you going to call him?’ Nina asked with a sly smile.

‘Don’t you bloody start.’ He pocketed the paper.

‘What about dinner, then? Italian? French? Thai?’

He grinned. ‘I could murder an Indian.’

Kit walked through the gates of United Nations Plaza on to First Avenue’s busy sidewalk. He took out his phone, glanced round to make sure nobody was paying him any particular attention, then entered a number and made a call.

A brusque, impatient response. ‘Yes.’

‘Sir, it’s Jindal,’ he said. ‘I’ve just left the United Nations. Pushing to be assigned to the case paid off - the IHA now has the two statues. As the new liaison between Interpol and the IHA, I will be in a position to monitor their investigation.’

He had hoped to receive some praise, but was unsurprised when none was forthcoming. ‘You think Dr Wilde will be able to find the third?’

‘If anyone can, she can. I’m sure of it.’

‘I hope so, Jindal.’ The implication of threat was understated, but clear. ‘Is your cover still secure?’

‘Yes, sir. Nobody at Interpol or the IHA suspects that I’m working for the Group. If anything, the events in Delhi have given me more freedom to operate.’

‘Good. Keep us informed of Dr Wilde’s progress. As soon as she locates the third statue . . . the plan can