The Black Sun Conspiracy

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“Sam! Get out of bed, you lazy sod!”

Unwillingly Sam forced himself to throw back the covers and pull on his clothes. The smell of cooking hit him full force as soon as he opened his bedroom door. Suddenly it seemed like a very long time since last night’s soup.

The scene in the kitchen was oddly calm and almost unnervingly domestic. Purdue was at the stove, a large mixing bowl and a pile of chopped ingredients by his side and a sizzling pan in his hand. Nina was setting out mugs of tea as Sam entered. She greeted him with a smile and then walked straight past him to get some plates.

“What’s going on here?” Sam asked, a little dazed. “When did things become so… normal?”

Nina handed the first plate to Purdue, who tipped the first of the omelets onto it. She passed it to Sam. “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we may die” she grinned.

Sam dropped his head into his hands. “It’s too early… And it’s usually too early for you, too. Why are you so bloody cheerful at this hour?”

“Because I’ve been up for ages, so the caffeine’s had a while to kick in.” She took a gulp of tea. “In all honesty, though, I’m just feeling a lot better after last night. Less fearful, I suppose. Just understanding things a bit better… it makes me feel like I’ve got a little bit of control, you know? Toast?”

“Give me time to wake up and I might agree with you,” Sam groaned. “And yes, please.”

By the time they had finished breakfast, Sam felt infinitely better. Purdue was by far the best cook out of the three of them, and the over-sweetened tea had worked its magic on Sam’s mood. The others no longer seemed quite as offensively upbeat as they had been. Now he began to see that Nina’s mood genuinely had lifted, and he was inclined to agree that understanding their danger made it seem less overwhelming. Evidently she had made her choice, and she had decided to follow Purdue.

“I spent a lot of last night thinking about what Axelle had said,” Nina explained when Sam at last brought the topic up. “Honestly, if our only options are to join some sinister organization under duress or trust that we’ll be safe if we find this painting that they want, I’d rather get treasure-hunting. I had enough of their recruitment games at Parashant, and I didn’t like what I saw there. As you well know I am well aware of the ludicrous and sinister methods they can resort to when they feel threatened,” she said, pushing back her sleeve so Sam could see the circular scar where the Black Sun’s redhead monster Lita and her team of Nazi doctors practiced their depravity on Nina when she was captive in the Hebrides. “I have a feeling that trying to join their ranks would end just as well as it did that time — with me trapped in some underground cell or racing against an insidious virus coursing through my veins,” Nina smiled brightly, but both men knew what hell Nina had been through at the hands of the organization.

“Besides,” she pressed on, pouring more tea, “What she was saying about our safety being in Purdue’s gift… it’s no different to it being in anyone else’s, really. Even if we could persuade them to accept us, we’d be under constant scrutiny, constant threat of having it revoked… Can you see either of us lasting five minutes under those circumstances? Really?”

Sam was inclined to agree. Purdue was dangerous, but at least he was the devil they knew. He was also sure that Nina had considered, as he had, that approaching the Order risked incurring Purdue’s enmity, and if they were not accepted by the Black Sun that would leave them with nothing but enemies.

At last, Purdue spoke. “Thank you both,” he said, his voice soft and his expression sincere. “I realize that you are both placing an immense amount of trust in me. And I realize that it is not entirely your free choice. I will not fail you. My priority is to get us all home as soon as possible, and I appreciate your help. Now, if everyone is finished, we must make a start on the next clue. Do you have the map?”

Nina nodded. “It’s in my coat pocket. Give me a minute.” She rose from the table and went to fetch it. Sam watched Purdue watching her go. ‘What happened between them last night?’ he wondered. ‘I’ve never seen them like this.’

A minute later Nina returned, her face ashen and her coat in her hand. “It’s not there. I had it last night. I remember putting the tube in my pocket just before we started to run.”

“In that case it’s either fallen out as we ran or it’s in the back of Axelle’s car,” Sam said. “Can we contact her?”

Purdue shook his head. “I doubt we’ll see her before tonight, which means we lose a day. Time is of the essence — as Axelle said, the Order of the Black Sun will not stop looking for us until they have been appeased. Can you describe what was on the map?”

Between the two of them, Sam and Nina remembered most of the details. They described the layout of the lakes and the characteristics of the house as clearly as they could, while Purdue unfolded his tablet and used it to search through a map of Bruges. As Nina described the odd arrangement of arches beneath the house, he smiled. “I think I have it,” he said, then held up the tablet for them to see. “Did it look like this?”

Sure enough, the image on the screen was exactly like the drawing on the map. The distinctive roof, the small windows, the water flowing past. “It’s a water mill,” said Purdue, “or at least it was. We shall find it in the Minnewaterpark, not far from here. Let us just hope that at this time of year, the park will be quiet.”

It was quiet, or at least quiet enough for their purposes. A handful of tourists prepared to brave the cold were scattered around the park, most of them watching the swans gliding across the lake. Fortunately the swans had been considerate enough to congregate at the far end, some distance from the little mill house, keeping the number of potential observers to a minimum. The house itself was instantly recognizable, a curious little place surrounded by shrubs and willow trees, with a small stream flowing past it at the front.

“Do we knock?” Sam asked. “Break in? What’s the plan?”

“The mark on the map was in one of the arches,” said Nina. “So presumably whatever we’re looking for is under the house.”

Purdue leaned over the rail, looking down at the arches. “In that case we shall have to find a way to get inside and hope that the position of the mark indicates a basement or a cellar.”

“You don’t think we’re looking for something underwater, do you?”

“I sincerely hope not. Searching beneath the water would require equipment we do not have and could only be carried out unnoticed at night. Let us hope that none of us need risk hypothermia to solve this one…”

A quick circuit of the building revealed no public entrances and nothing to indicate that it was anything other than someone’s private residence. It was as orderly and pristine as a show home, with a kitchen and a study visible through some of the windows. On other windows, the curtains were closed, giving no clue as to their contents or whether there was anyone inside. Knocking at the door yielded no results, but through the glass panes they could see that it was locked from the inside and the key was still there.

With a quick jerk of the elbow Sam knocked out one of the little panes and reached through to turn the key. The door creaked and groaned but swung open without too much trouble, letting them into a narrow, silent hallway. The house had the cold, damp feeling or a property that had not been regularly occupied for a long time, yet there was no dust, no cobwebs. The place was clearly being cared for, even if no-one was living or working there.

Laying a cautious hand on the heavy iron handle of the first door on their left, Purdue led the way into a darkened room. He flicked the light switch, revealing an unfurnished space with peeling off-white paint. It was a stark contrast to the neatness of the hallway. In the middle of the room was a cheap brown rug, half pushed back to reveal the outline of a trapdoor and a thick metal ring.

Sam took hold of the ring and pulled, but the trapdoor did not move. He tried again, this time with more force. He could not shift it. He looked to Purdue and Nina. “Any ideas?”

Purdue dropped to his knees and began to examine the edges of the trapdoor, looking for any sign of weakness. He leaned down, peering through his glasses, his nose inches from the floor.

“What was that?” Sam asked.

“What?” Purdue was up and alert at once.

“Lean back down again.”

Purdue did as Sam asked. All three of them were listening carefully. As Purdue got close to the floor, they heard a click.

“I think that’s it unlocking,” said Sam. “What’s triggering it? What have you got on you?”

Purdue’s face lit up in delighted realization. He unzipped his jacket and pulled out the reliquary. “This,” he smiled. “I think this is the trigger. Step over there.” He pushed Sam off the trapdoor and touched the carved box against the handle. The faint click sounded again, underneath the boards. Purdue seized the handle and pulled up on it. This time it opened, revealing a ladder down to the basement.

While Purdue held his tablet aloft, using it to light the space beneath, Sam climbed down the ladder and fumbled around until he found the light. A single unshaded bulb flooded the basement with a warm glow. A wide window was set into the exposed brick of the walls, looking directly into the murky depths of the stream outside, and the sound of the rushing water beyond the glass filled the air. At the far end of the room stood an imposing door, and in the center, carefully laid out, was the soaked, strangled corpse of Axelle.