A porter loaded all their bags onto a cart and wheeled it into the lobby while the two other passengers crawled out of the vehicle and tried to decompress their spines.
Thea called gaily out the window to them, “Parking is so difficult here that I must leave you for a while. I will give you half an hour to check in and then will come back here to collect you.”
“We have to climb back in?” Griffin couldn’t suppress a quaver in his voice as he asked the question.
Thea gave a sunny little smile. “It will be much more comfortable for you without the luggage. You will see.”
Griffin waved half-heartedly and went to join his associates.
As they walked toward the reception desk, Cassie asked, “Is it just me or does she seem a little odd?”
Erik snorted. “That chick left odd in the dust about ten miles back.”
“Then how come she’s a trove keeper?” Cassie appealed to Griffin for an answer. “Whose idea was that?”
“It was the decision of the Etruscan council which used to oversee the finds here. I’ve been told that she has an encyclopedic knowledge of the Maltese temples. The fact that she’s a native is also a distinct advantage.”
“Maybe it’s just a people skills thing.” Cassie played devil’s advocate. “If she’s that gung ho on research, she probably needs to spend a lot of time inside her own head.”
“Quite possibly,” Griffin admitted.
“People skills are overrated,” Erik said.
“And the representative from Surlyville weighs in.” Cassie laughed.
“I don’t care how many trips she takes to la-la land as long as she has some useful intel for us.”
“True,” the pythia agreed. “Guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
Griffin reached the reception counter first. He leaned over and confidentially asked the clerk, “By any chance does the hotel retain a chiropractor on staff?”
Chapter 23 – Touch and Go
As promised, Thea reappeared half an hour later, and the trio dutifully wedged themselves back into her car.
“Where to now?” Cassie asked.
“We are going to my office. It is not very far from here. Nothing in Valletta is very far from anything else.”
“We’re not going to the trove?” Cassie tried not to sound disappointed.
“There is no trove yet,” Thea replied. “Whatever was collected is being stored in a warehouse by the docks.”
“What?” The pythia registered surprise.
“Sadly, Thea is correct,” Griffin agreed. “She’s only recently been put in charge of organizing a trove here.”
“It’s all very...” The trove keeper paused, searching for the right word. “Overwhelming.”
Without warning, she turned off the main road and maneuvered the car alongside the curb. “We are here,” she announced.
They had parked on a narrow side street that seemed to climb upward toward the sky. There were no trees or patches of grass—simply wall to wall stone. All the buildings were two stories high and adjoined each other in one continuous structure of beige brick snaking its way up the hill. The cobblestone pavement matched the color of the houses.
“This way.” Thea led them up the block and stopped in front of a wooden door which had been painted verdigris. She unlocked it and climbed an ancient stairway to another door on the second floor. They entered what appeared to be a loft. It was a spacious room with high ceilings and tall uncurtained windows streaming with daylight. The lower panes were open, allowing a gentle breeze to circulate inside.
“Oh dear,” Griffin said, trying not to sound appalled. The room was choked with books and loose papers which fluttered in the draft from the open window. In addition to the bookcases and filing cabinets lining the walls, most of the floor space was covered with stacks of books, maps, and papers strewn about haphazardly. A rickety metal table had been set up against one wall with a computer resting on it.
“Let us sit down and talk now.” Thea navigated her way around several piles of books and unceremoniously flounced down onto the only bare space on the floor in the center of the room. The trio of relic hunters exchanged dubious glances and followed her lead.
They all sat cross-legged in a circle. Thea gazed around in silence at her visitors for a few seconds, her brown eyes magnified by her glasses. She seemed oblivious to their discomfort when she asked earnestly, “Now you must tell me how I can help you.”
“Right then,” Griffin launched in. “We’re hoping you can guide us through the temples on Malta and Gozo. We’re looking for a particular set of symbols carved into the rock somewhere. They would look something like this.” He reached into his briefcase and handed her the replica of the granite key.
She studied the markings for only a few seconds. “Some of these markings are Linear B, are they not?” She glanced at the scrivener for confirmation.
Clearly impressed, he affirmed, “Yes, you’re quite right.”
Cassie sighed. “If we’d had her with us on our first gig, she might have saved you a couple of months of guesswork.”
Griffin smiled ruefully and then continued with his explanation. “Thea, we don’t expect to find the Linear B symbols carved here but have a look at these others.” He pointed to the side of the key with the lily symbol.
The trove keeper frowned. “Then I have bad news for you.” Her tone was apologetic. “They do not exist in any of the temples here. I know every rock in every structure. You will not find them.”
“Every rock?” Erik repeated skeptically.
“Yes.” Thea nodded without a trace of uncertainty. “I know every rock in every temple. These symbols are not anywhere here.”
“Perhaps you’ll indulge our curiosity,” Griffin hinted gently, “and allow us to look just the same.”
“Oh, of course, as you wish,” the trove keeper readily assented.
Turning to Cassie, Erik asked, “You’d be able to pick up a vibe if the Minoans were here, right?”
“I think so,” the pythia agreed. “When we were checking the megaliths in Turkey I must have figured how to lock onto their
