the alcove was the image of a figure wearing a toga, and, though badly weathered, enough detail was still visible to see the outline of long hair suggesting it was female. What was more important, was what she was holding in her right hand.
Reaching half way up the body was a representation of a staff, on top of which stood the worn remains smaller figure. The pole was thicker than you would assume a staff to be and on closer inspection, they could make out that it was enwrapped with some sort of vine or serpent.
‘That’s it,’ said India in awe. ‘That’s the Palladium!’
‘Are you sure?’ asked Brandon.
‘Well, obviously it’s not the actual palladium,’ said India, ‘But certainly a representation of it. The statuette of Pallus Athena atop the staff is weathered away, but you can see where it once was.’
‘Fair play, India,’ said Brandon. ‘It seems you were right. It looks like Rubria might have brought the Palladium here all that time ago, after all.’
‘Doesn’t tell us where it is now though,’ said India.
Brandon snapped to his senses.
‘No time for that,’ he said, ‘We’ve got the proof we needed, now lets get out of here.’ He helped her towards the perimeter wall, supporting her weight as she limped along. Within a few minutes they were in the car.
‘Where are we going?’ asked India
‘Get that foot seen to first,’ he answered, Then somewhere to rest until we make some sense of this.’
The car sped away into the encroaching darkness, the occupants conscious that they were getting closer to solving the mystery, but completely unaware they were being watched from the church tower.
Jason Venezelos sat in the one room of the squalid bed-sit he had called home for the past few weeks. It was dirty, sparsely furnished, and smelled badly of the recent, down on their luck occupants who had hidden away from the prying eyes of society as they plied their trade in sex and drugs. Ordinarily, he would not have even considered such a place, but the back street location in the sleazy part of town and the greed of the landlord who was only interested in the money he offered, meant it was perfect for his needs, anonymity.
He paid in cash, kept his head down and made sure he did not draw attention to himself, eating at grubby takeaways and changing his routine daily as he went about his business.
When they had first arrived in England, he and his brother has rented a small flat but when Peter failed to return one evening he knew there was a possibility that he had been caught or worse. The brothers had made a pact, that should anything happen to either, then the other would continue in their quest so he had left the flat in a hurry and found the sleazy bed-sit in a nearby town.
The two Greek brothers had been in the UK for six months, following the leads they had been given back in Rome. At first it had been exciting and they had embarked on their quest in a haze of patriotism. However, after the first few weeks the trail had grown cold and their enquiries had drawn nothing new. The lack of progress was frustrating and they were on the point of giving up when fate stepped in to lend them a hand. Jason Venezelos had been researching their own country’s history, taking advantage of the free internet access in the local library when a Google search pulled up the image of a very interesting coin. Further investigation had revealed the owner was looking for identification and valuation, but to Jason, it was priceless and exactly what they had been looking for. A couple of false e mails later they had managed to set up a meeting with the man with a view to purchasing the coin.
That’s when it had started to go so wrong. The man had refused to sell and the conversation had got heated. In the end a scuffle broke out and only the intervention of a passer by stopped the fight getting worse. The brothers had ran but soon doubled back and followed him back to his home, For several days they watched him, never managing to get close, but, finally, the opportunity arose when he had visited a library and showed the coin to the librarian. When he left the library the brothers made their move but Peter had lost his temper and used his knife on the man. They immediately knew the wound was fatal, and what made matters worse, was the fact that he didn’t have the coin after all but had left it in the library.
Everything was going wrong but despite his pleas to his brother to flee the country and return home, Peter had insisted on returning that night and breaking into the library to retrieve the coin, torching the building to hide their tracks.
Jason sliced off another wafer of cheese from the block he had bought the night before, chewing slowly as he stared at a spider making its way across the peeling wallpaper. Since that night the situation had escalated. A policeman was obviously on their trail and Peter had set out one night to warn him off, and that was the last he had seen of his brother. In the meantime, Jason had relocated to this slum and kept his head down. He finished his meal before throwing the remains across the room. He picked up his rucksack and left the room without a backward glance. He knew that whatever happened, he wouldn’t be returning here again.
Chapter 23
England 2010
Brandon sat opposite India at the hotel breakfast table. They had booked two rooms the previous night on Brandon’s credit card.
‘You look awful,’ said Brandon.
‘Thanks a bunch,’ answered India.
‘I mean tired,’ said Brandon, ‘Didn’t you sleep?’
‘Not much. The past few days are catching up with me.’
‘Me too. I think we are so close yet are missing something obvious. Everything keeps spinning around in my head, making no sense.
They both made small talk as they ate their breakfast. Brandon got stuck in to a cooked breakfast while India made do with fruit and muesli.
‘Not having a fry up?’ asked Brandon.
‘Not hungry!’ said India, ‘There must be something obvious we are missing, a vital piece of the jigsaw. If we could just find out what that is, I am sure everything would just fall into place.’
‘Well, that’s just it,’ said Brandon, ‘It’s always the last piece of any investigation that closes the deal.’ He smiled up at the waitress as she cleared the table.
‘Could we have some more coffee please?’ he asked.
‘Certainly sir,’ she answered, ‘Anything else?’
‘Yes,’ interrupted India, ‘Could we have some paper and a pen.’
‘Of course,’ said the waitress, ‘I’ll bring them straight over.’
‘Paper and pen?’ queried Brandon through a mouth full of toast.
‘I just need to write things down,’ she said, ‘To make some sense of what we know.’
‘Let’s go elsewhere,’ said Brandon. ‘I’d rather speak in private. You never know who’s listening.’
‘Your room?’ asked India.
‘I’d rather not,’ said Brandon awkwardly. ‘It’s a bit messy.
India laughed.
‘That doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Brandon, feigning hurt feelings.
‘We just spent three days sharing a room in Greece, remember?’
‘I thought I was very tidy,’ said Brandon.
‘If that’s what you call tidy, then God only knows what your room is like without me to tidy it up,’ laughed India. ‘Okay, my room it is.’
A few minutes later they were in India’s room. She made a couple of coffees while Brandon sat at the dressing table, painfully aware of the heady mix of soap and perfume that still lingered in the beautiful woman’s room. India brought the coffees over.
‘Budge up!’ she said, nudging him with her hip.
