The Hunt for Excalibur

14 Serendipity

Purdue could not wait to sit at the newly acquired table. From the still stacked inventory of alcohol, he selected a vintage Armagnac and beamed as he placed the bottle and three glasses on the hand-sanded table surface. “Chateau de Laubade,” he announced.

“Wow,” Ava smiled, “which year?”

“1941, I’d say,” Bernard jumped ahead of Purdue. He relished his host’s surprise.

“A man who knows his liquor,” Purdue remarked.

“A man who knows his antiques,” Bernard added charmingly. His sister did not appreciate his cavalier manner toward Purdue, but she kept wearing her smile to appease the master of Wrichtishousis. While Purdue poured the drinks, the butler entered. Charles wished to know if he and the staff should proceed to shelf the wines and spirits in the new cabinet.

“No, no thank you, Charles,” Purdue replied amicably. “Once our guests have taken their leave, I will let you know and then you can start stacking the goods for a nice display.”

“Very well, sir,” Charles agreed with a brief nod. His eyes lingered on the ravishing woman, but for once, she was not the object of his mistrust. It was her black clad brother and his snide expression and wandering eyes that made Charles uncomfortable. Unfortunately, it was not his place to judge and he left the room to attend to the rest of his duties. He listened to the merriment fade behind him, wondering what kind of disaster the latest strangers would cause after winning Purdue’s trust.

In the dining hall, as it was now called, Purdue made the usual gesture of toast and blessing before the three partook of the vintage libation he had poured to seal their successful deal.

“So, now that you have rid yourselves of the latest consignment, what is the next step for London Bridge Collectables?” Purdue asked with interest. Of course, his interest was not in the company’s future, but the availability of the beautiful Ava. Tactfully as always, he had hidden his true inquiry underneath a feigned engrossment.

Ava shrugged, casting a brief glance to her brother. “Well, we have, thanks to you, made enough to retire and invest in other ventures. I do not speak for Bern, but as far as I am concerned, I am weary of the ups and downs of the acquisition business.”

Bernard appeared unperturbed. “You will miss the thrill.”

“I am done with the thrill,” she defended plainly, not bothering to afford her brother eye contact. “Some good things only last as long as they stay safe and I have triggered too many traps in the last few years to keep risking getting my hide worn,” she cocked her head, “so to speak.”

Another loud vibration came from Purdue’s pocket, where he had stored his phone in all the excitement of the delivery. “Oh, shit, I forgot,” he muttered, jumping slightly at the sudden sensation. “Excuse me.”

He checked the message Nina had sent, containing yet another picture of the artifact Brian gave her for safekeeping while the doctor attended to him. At a first glance the sheath held no special appearance or charm, but as he swept the screen to the other photographs, Purdue found the piece oddly engaging. He recalled Nina’s account, but did not repeat it to his guests. Instead, he saw the reminder of the photo as uncanny serendipity.

“Wait a minute,” he said, smiling at Ava and Bernard, “your company also does appraisals, do you not?”

“We do,” Bernard replied quickly, before his sister could dilute their skillset with what he deemed emotional outbursts. “Why? Is there something you need to have evaluated?”

Purdue grinned. “As a matter of fact, I do.”

“I thought we were going to wean ourselves from the business, Bern,” Ava said with a fake smile.

“So?” he scoffed. “Weaning is a gradual process and we have only just started weaning, Ava.”

Purdue could sense the tension between them, but he ignored it, for Nina’s sake. He passed the phone along to Bernard with Nina’s photographs on display, watching the dark clad man’s reaction closely as he leaned forward on the table. To Purdue’s surprise, Bernard’s expression turned from smug to stunned, but the shift was practically imperceptible.

“See anything worth talking about there?” Purdue smiled, expecting a scoff. Charles may not have thought so, but the master of Wrichtishousis was a better judge of character than he got credit for. A scoff was exactly what he got from the illuminated expert, but he knew it was a bluff.

“Ah, well, it is not exactly the Holy Grail,” Bernard sighed, “but I would say it is worth looking into.” Without a glance at his sister, Bernard looked up at Purdue. “Of course, I would have to see it in person before I can really valuate it. Can you get it to my office? Or I can come here, if you want to arrange a meeting?”

“Bernard,” Ava pressed politely, but Bernard ignored her completely. Purdue did not condone Bernard’s snubbing, but even the most coquettish invitation from a woman could not entice him like the prospect of conquering a lost historical treasure. He too, ignored Ava’s insistence to learn more about the possibilities held by the photographed relic.

“I do not see why not. First, of course, I would have to procure the item,” Purdue said.

“Who has it now?” Bernard asked casually.

Ava was furious at being undermined like this. She poured more Armagnac and chugged it down in fury, but she held her tongue and listened to their discussion.

“Actually, I do not know. A close friend of mine asked me to give her some input on the piece, but honestly, I have no idea where she acquired it… or whether she has,” Purdue explained roughly. On his part, he also kept his answers ambiguous until he knew more.

“A credible friend?” Bernard asked snidely, inferring that Purdue did not keep company with true experts.

“Yes, in fact. She is a well-respected historian with over a decade in high-end advisory positions, including university lectures conducted all over the world. Maybe you have heard of her. One Dr. Nina Gould.”

Bernard’s eyes froze in place for a moment. “Alright, then,” he sighed. “Call me when you have it here and I will come by. It would be great to meet Dr. Gould as well, so please feel free to invite her to join us.”

“Talk about serendipity!” Purdue raved. “I have invited her for drinks tomorrow, actually. If that is not kismet, I don’t know what is.”

“Perfect!” Bernard smiled, baring his teeth for the first time. “It is a date!”

Ava rolled her eyes and pursed her lips, seething at both men. She had heard of Dr. Gould before, mostly from colleagues in the business or via David Purdue’s celebrity. Expeditions he arranged and led usually consisted of several experts and Nina Gould was a permanent feature among them.

“Aw well, since the two of you are getting all chummy, I think I shall call ‘n taxi and head home,” Ava announced. She gathered up her coat and took up the leather binder she had brought along containing the collection documents, provenances and receipts.

“Nonsense!” Purdue protested, suddenly painfully aware of his misdemeanor. “Please stay for a while, my dear.”

Already seasoned with alcohol and rejection, she flashed Purdue a resenting smirk. “No, thank you. I have a personal life to attend to, you know.” She sneered at her brother, “Arrangements to make and so on.”

“Oh, come now, Ava,” Purdue coaxed. “At least allow my driver to take you home then. Please. Do join us tomorrow evening.”

Pretending to be hardheaded at first, Ava finally yielded to Purdue’s offer of being chauffeured home.

“Charles, can you summon Harold with the town car, please?” Purdue asked his butler.

“Certainly, sir,” Charles affirmed. Purdue was rushing after the hastened steps of the beautiful woman he unintentionally jilted in conversation, his hand barely reaching the small of her back as he accompanied her. “Let me walk you to the car.” Gracefully, he lifted an umbrella from the pewter container in passing and offered it to her.

Bernard stayed behind, watching the whipped billionaire grovel after his sister. He smiled. As soon as Purdue and Ava vanished around the doorway, exiting the mansion into the rain, he pulled out his cell phone and hastily dialed a number on speed dial.

“Hello!” he greeted under his breath.

“You know you are not supposed to call me today,” the man on the other side of the line warned.

“I know the rules, dammit, but this could not wait. You will not believe what I came upon!” he bragged, playing with a priceless platinum absinthe spoon between his fingers.

“A few ounces of respect for superiors?” came the sarcastic answer, but Bernard Somerset’s skin was thicker than pig shit on a rhino hide.

“Guess again,” he told the clearly annoyed man. “I just saw a picture of a missing piece from… wait for it… the infamous Hall Collection!”

At once, Bernard finally got the desired effect. “What?” the man exclaimed. “Where? Do you have it in your possession?”

“No, but I know who does,” Bernard grinned. His eyes stayed glued to the open door and the darkening evening beyond, making sure to see Purdue when he returned. “You know, I bet you that it is some poor sod who scored from the Hall robbery that night, trying to fence this stuff.”

“Are you sure it is from the Hall collection?” the man asked urgently.

“Positive. This looks like one of the Hall-Bormann relics from World War II. Bloody amateurs. I am surprised she was not stupid enough to take it to a pawn shop!” Bernard chuckled coldly.

“Funny you should make that precise remark, Somerset,” the man said. “That is exactly what happened here today. We are at Alan Silver’s pawn shop right now as we speak, Bernard, appraising a few items brought in for him to fence.”

Blood-curdling screams echoed in the background, making even the cold-hearted Bernard grimace. He listened, but could not make out anything the pleading victim was saying through his coughing and blood spitting.

“Man, I cannot believe anyone is that stupid,” Bernard stammered as his arrogance suddenly melted in the sight of realization. He had neglected to remember how cruel the man was.

“So, you are telling me that a sheath from the Hall hoard is out there somewhere?” he asked Bernard.

“Aye, saw it with my own eyes on a cell phone picture,” Bernard whispered.

“That means that my new best friend here has, in fact, not declared all his loot to us after all!” the man shouted gravely into the room from where the screams had come. “Could it be that he and you, Silver, have a separate deal on the side?” the man thundered at the pleading men in his company.

Bernard cringed for the victims’ sakes, almost feeling sorry for them as he listened to Major Rian wreak hell upon them on the other side of the phone line. The major took a moment and spoke directly to Bernard once more. “Get the sheath at all costs, Somerset! Or you will be the next ornament in my billiards room.”

“I will, sir,” Bernard promised. “Tomorrow I will meet the famous Dr. Nina Gould. If she does not bring the scabbard, the great Wrichtishousis will become Edinburgh’s Taj Mahal.”