The Cup

CHAPTER 18

Lamont looked out through Elizabeth's office windows at a foot of new snow covering the grounds.

"Sometimes I wonder why I ever left Georgia," he said.

"They have snow in Georgia," Ronnie said.

"Not like this, not often."

"They're predicting a bad winter on the East Coast," Stephanie said.

"What else is new?"

Steph sat in a chair beside Elizabeth's desk, leaning back to take some pressure off her swollen belly. She didn't look comfortable. Her complexion was marred with red blotches.

"You look like you're getting ready to pop," Ronnie said.

"Can't be too soon for me. The baby has been kicking the heck out of me lately."

"When are you due?"

"The last week in November, but we might've gotten the dates wrong. It feels like it will be sooner."

Elizabeth tapped her pen on her desk. "All right. Let's talk about Sweden. Nick, there have been developments since you got back."

"That doesn't surprise me." Nick shifted his position on the couch to get more comfortable. "I don't think Bergstrom was the only Swede involved in that smuggling operation."

"You may be right. Gabriel is dead."

"Selena packs a mean kick."

"That's not what killed him. Someone gave him a shot of potassium cyanide."

"That'll do it," Lamont said.

"That's not all. The mosaic tile you found in Bergstrom's house has gone missing. It was supposed to be in the police evidence locker, but it's gone."

"I told you so," Selena said to Nick.

Elizabeth looked at the two of them. "You thought something like this might happen?"

Selena nodded. "I wanted to keep the tile but Nick overruled me. I thought it might help explain why Bergstrom was killed."

"It might have been to stop him from talking about the smuggling operation," Stephanie said.

Nick nodded. "That's possible."

"What about the other guy, the Italian?" Ronnie asked. "Anything on him?"

"There's nothing in the criminal database about him," Steph said. "I'm working on it."

"The Swedish police matched the bullets that killed Bergstrom and the Italian to Gabriel's pistol," Elizabeth said.

"I'm wondering about Gabriel," Nick said. "He had time to leave but he was still there."

Selena said, "Maybe he was looking for that tile."

Nick nodded. "Now that it's gone missing, you could be right."

Elizabeth said, "A clue to finding the Grail would be enough motive to murder Bergstrom."

"You believe the Grail's real?" Lamont asked. "I think it's a myth."

"A lot of myths have a basis in fact," Selena said. "We know Christ ate and drank with the disciples before the Romans took Him. Even if most of what we know about the Grail is a myth, He would've used a plain cup to drink from, just like the one on the tile."

"It's a Swedish problem now," Nick said. "It doesn't concern us any longer."

"I'm afraid it does," Elizabeth said. "Think about it. What would happen if ISIS found the Grail? What about that prophecy in the scroll? Half the world is ready to explode and the Grail could light the fuse."

"You think finding the Grail would start a new holy war?"

"I don't know, but I don't want to find out the hard way. Steph, I want you to look for anything you can find about the priest on the tile, Anastasius. What happened to him after Theodosius died? Where did he go? There must be something about him."

"There are some collections of early Christian documents I can search through," Stephanie said. "If Anastasius was confessor to Theodosius, he might be mentioned."

"I've been thinking about that gold ring," Selena said. "Bellini was wearing a large gold signet ring. It was unusual."

"I noticed that. It's in one of the pictures Ronnie took," Stephanie said.

"It was quite large, round, with a sword and a cup. The cup could be a representation of the Grail. There was a Latin inscription on it."

"What did it say?"

"I don't know, I got distracted by everything that was happening."

"It must be religious," Elizabeth said. "Steph, find out what you can about it. It will tell us more about Bellini. I want to know why he was there."

"Got it."

"In the meantime, the rest of you get some range time in. I don't want you getting rusty."

"We going somewhere anytime soon?" Lamont asked.

"You never know," Elizabeth said.