Daniel, half in shock, sank down next to him.
Chris studied the scion through narrowed eyes. “I see by your chalky complexion that I’m finally getting through but make no mistake. This isn’t about sibling rivalry. Letting Joshua get the better of you isn’t your biggest problem.”
“It’s a huge problem.” Daniel’s voice rose in pitch. “He’s a terrible person. There’s no telling what he would do if he gained our father’s trust. He could hurt so many people.”
The librarian nodded solemnly. “I agree. A guy like that could do a lot of damage. Even more than you realize.” He paused to let the words sink in.
The scion frowned. “I don’t understand. As terrible as that would be, Joshua could only harm members of our congregation. He has no control over anything else.”
“Not even if he was put in charge of the artifact retrieval?” Chris’s tone held a note of calculated innocence. “What do you think he’d do if he crossed paths with those three thieves you’ve told me so much about?”
The scion’s eyes flew open in wild alarm. “He’d kill them. Even if he didn’t murder them himself, he wouldn’t hesitate to give the order.”
“If you keep pulling a Rip Van Winkle, those three deaths will all be on you,” the librarian concluded ominously.
Daniel slumped forward and sank his head into his hands. “Oh my God! It would be a disaster. For everyone.”
Chris gave a thin smile of satisfaction. “I see the big picture has come into focus at last.” He reached over and rubbed Daniel’s shoulder. “Of course, none of that needs to happen if you’d get off your ass and do something about it.”
The scion sat up abruptly. He turned sideways to face Chris. “You’re absolutely right. I have to begin right now!”
“That’s more like it.” The librarian nodded approvingly. “I’ll go so far as to spout a cliché and say, ‘no time like the present.’ I don’t suppose you remember the riddle off the top of your head...”
Daniel paused to consider. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do recall the words. Funny how often I’ve turned that puzzle over in my mind. Here it is: ‘The kindred stir upon the high sharp peak where the river flows red to the serpent’s heart. Under the lawgiver’s glare, its coils tremble in the mirror at the lion’s feet.’”
Chris wrinkled his forehead. “Wow, that’s a heaping bowl full of alphabet soup.”
“I did manage to figure out a few things,” Daniel reassured him. “I know the first line refers to the doves from the previous riddle and I’m fairly certain the location in question is the eastern Himalayas. That region is the source of Asia’s major rivers.”
The librarian appeared lost in thought.
“Did you hear what I said?”
“Eastern Himalayas,” Chris murmured. “Rivers with headwaters in the eastern Himalayas.” He treated Daniel to one of his dazzling smiles. “I think I’ve got a shortcut to solving the first line.”
“So quickly?”
The librarian shrugged. “If you’d bothered to share that riddle with me earlier, we could have cracked the whole clue by now.”
“Sorry.” Daniel ducked his head.
Chris ruffled his hair. “Cheer up, Danny Boy. That artifact’s as good as found. It just so happens that the Reference Department received an interesting gift about a month ago. Around 1900, there was an explorer who came from a rich family on the North Shore. A hundred years ago, if you had a lot of money and a lot of time to kill, I guess you became an explorer. Anyway, he spent decades traveling through the Himalayas and kept detailed accounts of the places he visited. His family recently donated his journals to the library. They haven’t been catalogued yet, but I can slip a few volumes out of storage when nobody is looking. Between the two of us, we ought to be able to find that river you’re looking for.”
Daniel stood up. “How wonderful. When can we start?”
Chris stood as well. “This afternoon.”
“Why not now?” the scion insisted eagerly.
The librarian looked pointedly at his watch and then at Daniel. “Because now it really is lunch time.”
Chapter 21—What’s Around the Bend
At eight o’clock the next morning, Cassie entered the hotel dining room where her three colleagues were already seated. She took a chair beside Rou.
The girl eyed her with concern. “Better now?”
“Way better.” The pythia gave a bright smile. “Rested and ready for action.”
The others relaxed visibly at her words. Her display the previous day must have worried them more than she’d realized.
Cassie was on the point of summoning a waitress when Griffin hastened to pour her a cup of strong black coffee.
“I took the liberty of ordering a pot for the two of us to share. The rest of the clientele seems to favor tea for some odd reason.”
“Ah, java.” She raised the cup gratefully to her lips. “What would I do without you?”
“Were you addressing that last comment to your beverage or to me?” the scrivener inquired playfully.
“A little bit of both, I guess,” the pythia retorted slyly as she took another sip.
A few minutes later, a waitress arrived with what had become the group’s standard breakfast order—baozi and congee. This consisted of steamed dumplings stuffed with sweet bean paste accompanied by bowls of rice porridge. Cassie had developed a fondness for both dishes during their stay.
After allowing them all a few moments to start their meal, Cassie broached the topic uppermost in her mind. “Has Griffin told you about my latest theory?”
“I thought I might let you do the honors.” The scrivener passed her the coffee pot.
“OK then. Here it is.” The pythia addressed her comments to the Zhangs as she refilled her cup. “Last night when I was scanning a map of China, I got a really strong hunch that the Minoans took a route along the Yangtze River and ended up around a place called Lijiang. Any reason why they might have gone there?”
At her words, Jun stopped chewing. He appeared thunderstruck. “Yes, of course. That
