The Medusa Stone

Chapter 29

Costa motioned with his cup, directing Don to Purdue and Nina just outside his initial peripheral vision.

“Oh! Group action. Nice,” Don said, looking impressed. After being briefly greeted by them, he told Purdue to check in his tan leather valise for some snacks. He offered it in exchange for a strong cup of black, bitter caffeine. Meanwhile, the others were still trying to unravel the details.

“How will we know which gas chamber to search?” Purdue asked.

“Let me see,” Nina wondered, taking a moment to run through her studies on the German labor and death camps. Her large dark eyes jogged to and fro above her as she made mental notes, trying to narrow down specifics. “Stammlager. The death camp… um, Auschwitz I, the main one… that one was…”

Purdue retrieved some of Don’s shortbreads that he purchased before they left for the warehouse, handing the biscuits out to the others to have with their coffee while Nina slowly recalled the facts she could remember off the top of her head.

“Ah!” she exclaimed suddenly. “Now I remember! The first attempts at killing people with the pesticide… with Cyclone B, in other words, was at Block 11. Block 11 was best known as the torture building, where they also employed the Boger swing apparatus for violent interrogations.”

“Block 11,” Costa repeated.

“Aye,” she affirmed.

“So we will go there tomorrow?” Costa asked Purdue.

“If Don is up to it,” Purdue answered, knowing full well that his friend would not spend another day immobilized. Donovan Graham was the most active, restless and curious beast Purdue had ever known. The man had a lust for exploration second only to Purdue’s, but by far outweighed the inventor’s zeal and fitness.

“I’ll race you,” Don grunted.

“Right, that’s it then,” Purdue smiled. “We will travel across the border to Auschwitz. I will take care of the permits and check with Alex to make sure we can use the vehicle to cross without incident.”

His cell phone rang. With many complaints from Don about the high tone, Purdue reported to the group, “It’s Professor Barry,” and answered the call. While they kept their voices low, Nina explained to Don the details he had missed while he was sleeping.

Not a single word escaped Purdue as he listened for over a minute to the instructions from the caller. Pallid and stunned, he did not move until his companions realized that something was amiss and grew silent. Purdue was not easily scared or intimidated, but Nina recognized a sickening expression on his face, one she had seen before. Her heart raced, and her belly ached with concern because that was how Purdue acted most of the time before he had disappeared for those many months. It was the same demeanor he displayed while he was Renatus, his title as forced leader of the Order of the Black Sun over two years ago.

He swallowed hard and ended the call.

“Oh Jesus, no,” Nina inadvertently uttered. He knew that she was spot on with her assumption, even though neither of the others knew his more sordid history. She laid her hand on his and looked deep into his eyes, seeing an enormous burden there.

“Heidmann? Did they hear from Heidmann?” Don asked, sparking a shrewd look from Costa at the mention. Purdue shook his head.

“Helen and her assistant have been abducted by the Black Sun,” Purdue conveyed weakly. Nina’s face was pale, and she almost forgot to breathe for a moment.

“What do they want?” she asked gently.

Seeming at once exhausted, Purdue sighed, “They want the Medusa stone.”

Tension filled the room as he carried on. “I cannot let them hurt Helen or Claire. We will have to separate without the Black Sun’s knowledge. Tomorrow Don and Costa can still travel with you, Nina, to find the Medusa stone,” he said resolutely.

“Absolutely, Dave. You can count on us,” Nina firmly assured him.

“In the meantime, I will return to the British Museum to see if I can figure out who has them, exactly,” Purdue told them, looking bitterly upset. “That way we can get the stone and use our combined efforts to thwart these bastards. We have done it before, and we can do it again. But unfortunately, there is more.”

Confusion abounded, but there was more to shock some with.

“Soula Fidikos has been killed,” he barely uttered with a shaking voice.

“What?” Costa exclaimed. “What did you say?” His voice peaked in volume as the disbelief punished his comprehension. “That cannot be!”

“Did you know her?’ Nina asked.

Costa did not notice that his reaction was quite hefty, but now it was too late to pretend he was not deeply shocked by the news. “Y-yes, I–I did know her. We were good friends, Soula and I. I worked for her once or twice as consultant on her antiquities procurements. Oh my God… Soula.”

“I’m so sorry, Costa,” Don said, using the professor’s real name for the first time in respect. “If there is anything you need…” he offered.

“Thank you, Don,” Costa said, looking both brooding and sorrowful. “David, how did it happen? Did they say?”

Purdue cocked his head. “This is difficult. I am not sure you want to know.”

Costa’s voice was as heavy as his disposition. “Tell me. Please, David.”

“She was killed by the Euryale stone, Costa. I am so sorry,” Purdue forced out. It was devastating to him as well to share this awful turn of events. “Soula was a colleague and friend of mine for three years. I can’t believe this. My God.”

“How is it that they have the Euryale stone?” Costa asked out loud, falling back into his chair.

“You know about the stone?” Nina asked, putting him on the spot right there. Again, he did not realize that he was supposed to keep his knowledge of the stones secret.

“Well, no…” he hesitated, but his ability to recover aided in his charade. “From my knowledge of Greek Mythology naturally I know that Medusa had two sisters, one of which was called Euryale.” He elected to steer the conversation in a way he did not intend originally. But now he had to, in order to sound as uninformed as he was supposed to be. “That means there is a third stone out there?”

“Yes, Nina and I deducted that initially after we returned from the warehouse,” Purdue admitted, having no idea that they were in fact in the presence of the third deadly stone that killed Dr. James Heidmann mere hours before.