Episode 51

As Joseph re-entered the room, Martin and Mary looked like they hadn’t moved an inch since he had left, but the lack of liquid in Martin’s glass, and the empty one that sat beside it, indicated that he had bent his elbow at least once during Joseph’s absence.

  “Can I offer you another drink?” Joseph offered, “or would you prefer a coffee?’

  “You most certainly can; the non-caffeine one of course.” Martin giggled as he used his index finger to tap on his most recent emptied glass, “This one used to be rather pleasant to the taste, but it doesn’t work any more.”

  “You think?” Joseph asked with a laugh as he handed Mary the diary, “I think that it’s done a fine job.  Would you like a fresh drink, Mary, or would you prefer that hot chocolate?”

  “In retrospect, I think that I could do with a stiff drink,” Mary replied, “I will have my hot chocolate when I retire for the night.  In the meantime a martini would be lovely, thank you, Joseph. 

  Joseph headed over to the bar, and when he came back he set the three drinks down on the table, then reached into his pocket and retrieved the ruby that he had obtained from Rosetta’s bed and placed it on the table.

  “What’s this?”  Mary’s eyes, which had appeared glued to the diary, suddenly lit up at the sight of the precious jewel.  She could not help herself and immediately picked it up to admire it and feel it in her hands.

  “It was lying under Rosetta’s neck.”  Joseph replied.

  “Was it now?”  Martin enquired, “May I see it, please?”

  Mary reluctantly handed it over.  “That’s the story of my life.  As soon as I get my hands on something precious, somebody wants to take it away from me,” she sighed, looking at Joseph as she spoke.

  “You never know what life may eventually offer.”  Joseph advised and his words brought a smile to Mary’s face.

  “You might just be right there, Joseph.” Mary replied with a smile, “You might just be right.”  Then she went back to her reading.

  “You know, this is very old.” Martin noted, “Very old.”

  “I thought that they were all old.  Don’t they take thousands of years to form?”  Joseph remarked flippantly.”   

  “They do, but I was referring to the way it has been cut.”  

  “Is it worth much?” Mary asked eagerly as she re-emerged from the diary.

  “I shouldn’t think so.  I don’t think that Rosetta would be too worried about losing it.  She knows her jewels … and I can’t see this being one of her favourites … unless she had it for sentimental reasons.  It seems cut for a special purpose rather than a necklace.  See how the sides are shaped … like it’s designed to fit into something; there’s been no work on this side except to smooth it so it will stick, I imagine.  I can’t see why Rosetta hid it under the pillow; it certainly doesn’t seem a piece of jewellery that she would ever consider worrying about if she lost it.” 

  “Looks pretty good to me.”  Mary noted whimsically.

  “Actually, it was on the sheet, just under her neck … I thought perhaps she may have had it clasped in her hand when we put her to bed and it fell out when her body relaxed.”

  Martin simply shrugged and put the ruby back on the table.  “Got me beat, old chap, but it certainly doesn’t seem her cup of tea.”

  Joseph looked at the ruby and sighed as his mind screamed, ‘There has to be a reason for it being there, but what is it?’   However, for the moment he decided to push his uncertainties aside; there were other things that needed his attention.  But he could not completely dismiss the concern the ruby was giving him … and even more worrying for him was that he had no idea why it was troubling him.  So worrying it soon got to the point where he returned his full attention to the matter, an action that did not take long for Martin and Mary to begin to notice his mental absence from the table.

  “Joseph, are you with us?  You look like you left the room, but forgot to take your body with you.”  Mary’s voice brought Joseph’s mind back to the table and he grinned sheepishly in embarrassment as he realised that his mind had totally drifted off.

  “Sorry.  How’s the interpretation going, Mary?”  Joseph enquired as he fought desperately to return his mind to the present moment, “Getting anywhere fast?”

  “Are you sure that you are alright?”  Martin asked, “You really seemed to be completely in a world of your own just now.”

  “I’m sorry.  I just can’t seem to get the ruby out of my mind. It somehow seems important to me, but I have no idea why.  However I am really beginning to feel that it has something to do with what happened to Vittorio.  We found the remains of a ruby in a pile of ashes that I believe were his final remains.  Now we find another one mysteriously turning up in bed with a comatose friend of ours.  It doesn’t make any sense.   Perhaps it is a warning from somebody who thinks we know more than we do.”

  Silence ruled the environment for several seconds before Martin finally spoke.  “You could be right, Joseph.  There has been quite a lot of unusual activity taking place around us over the past two days, but I am afraid that I have no more answers than you do.  We will just have to play it by ear at the moment; at least until we can see a clearer path to follow.  However, at the moment, all that we have to try and learn something that might help us is the diary, so, Mary, have you had time to find anything that may be of interest to us?”

  “Some, perhaps … I don’t know what Rosetta has already deciphered for you.  But I can tell you that the author has not got the easiest handwriting that I have ever tried to read.  But he does sketch very well.   He has some excellent drawings of the barn and a lot of the antiquated things that are in it like the old tractor, but as far as his writing goes, well, that does leave a lot to be desired.  Here, have a look at these illustrations.”

  Mary handed the diary to Martin who glanced over the various pages that housed the professor’s interpretation of the outside of the farmhouse and its garden, and a selection of paraphernalia that had taken up space in the interior of the barn, but quickly lost interest in it.

  “Very pretty, but I can’t see anything that we might have missed in our search.”  Martin mumbled as he passed the book to Joseph who was instantly in admiration of what he saw.   

  Although the drawings were rather minuscule due to the restrictions of the size of the diary, Joseph immediately recognised many of the items that hung from the beams and ceilings, and things that were placed around the interior of the huge building.   The details were so life like it was like looking into a photo.  Especially the tractor and the oddity of all the ropes and chains that lay neatly placed over the top of its engine; odd only because of their neatness in comparison to the huge pile of mixed rubbish that towered upwards, almost to the top of the tractor on its right hand side.  Old milk containers and a horse dray sat side by side with long lengths of timber poles and old batteries, while a variety of tea chests and damaged fence posts lay on top of them.  Rusty rolls of chicken wire lay even further up the ever-growing pile, and they in turn were supporting large corrugated sheets of tin covered with what appeared to be flattened bags of compost and manure that looked as if they had simply been thrown on the pile and left to rot wherever they fell.  There seemed to be no sense in the structure of the pile and Joseph remembered wondering how the pile hadn’t fallen down ages ago when he had first come across it a couple of days ago.   

  And as he thought about the barn, something in the diary sketching triggered a half remembered thought.  He began to look a bit harder at the illustrations and accepted them as exact replications of what he saw in the barn on the day that they had first arrived at the farm. And that, in turn, reminded him of something he had seen that day that he found to be somewhat mystifying; something that seemed  purposely manufactured, but without any offering to its end use. 

  Leaning against a support column that stood between the unencumbered tractor and the grotesquely unsanitary pile of rubbish stood a pole around one inch thick and tall enough to reach the beam that ran across the room well above both the rubbish pile and the tractor.  And when Joseph had had a second look at the pole he had noticed there had been some form of binding on the tip, but he was uncertain what its reason for existence was and assumed there was something attached to the pole which was on the side facing the pole.  Now, when he looked at the drawing he noticed that there was also either a length of string, or some very thin rope, running down from the tip of the pole that fell to the ground some very short distance from the bottom end of the pole.  Joseph was surprised he hadn’t noticed the cord when he was in the farm, but then it dawned on him the dark, criss-crossing, shadows in the barn had most likely hidden it from sight.

  He wondered it it had been a crudely built fly fishing rod.  ‘You could catch a big fish with that one.’ He thought to himself.                               

  “You are right, Mary, they are very good.” Joseph agreed as he handed the diary back to her, “and you are also right about his writing skills.   Rosetta referred to his writing as chicken scratchings.”  

  “That’s very apt.  So far most of it is as we already know.  The professor indicates that a local had told him about the statue and then goes on to corroborate what Vittorio told us about how it got here to Trenthamville.  There is a mention, later in the diary, where he says that he thought that he had seen the man who had brought the statue to their attention, here in Trenthamville.”

  “He doesn’t happen to mention the name of this chap, does he?”  Joseph asked without much hope.

  “Actually, he does…. his name is Raji.”

  “Raji!”  Joseph and Martin repeated in total astonishment.

  “Yes, as far as I can make out.  Why?  Is it important?”   

   “Yes, it is, Mary.  So now it all starts to fit together.” Martin replied, “Raji arranged for the discovery in order to have Rosetta’s father move the statue to here in Trenthamville … or some other equally innocuous place in the country where he could steal it.  The question was, did he strike it lucky when the statue was brought here to Trenthamville … or did the Punjani somehow influence his decision seeing this is where the supposed portal exists. It probably doesn’t matter, but I am curious.  Anyway, I assume Raji couldn’t find it at the farm when he attempted to take possession … so he got us to search for it.  But why would he kill Vittorio and attack Rosetta and her father before he got his hands on it?  For that matter, why not question the professor instead of drugging him in the first place?”

  “You are right, Martin … as we keep telling ourselves it doesn’t make a lot of sense.  You don’t suppose that there is somebody else after the statue and they are simply putting the pressure on to us to find it faster so they can steal it from us before we have a chance to give it to the Punjani?  Perhaps the Punjani don’t have an antidote, and they will attempt to steal the statue once we find it so they don’t have to honour their agreement.  Perhaps Raji has another bidder for the statue, somebody who will pay more.  There are too many questions … and all without any chance of an answer.  

  “I just remembered,” Mary offered, before going back to the diary, “Frank told me that was the name of the gentleman that had been making inquiries at the garage a little while back, and he said that there were some other Middle Eastern looking gentlemen with him.  Though he did say that they probably all came from the city – London he thought.  Come to think of it, Doctor James also said that most of the Punjani lived in this country now.”

  “Well that makes a lot of sense, then.”  Joseph stated, “Think about it.  A clan loses their master’s idol to places unknown. Then suddenly, hundreds of years later, it is located, but it is out in the middle of nowhere.  According to the stories that we have heard, the descendants of the original clan are all extremely wealthy, and that meant they could afford to pay to have the statue dug up and moved to wherever they felt safe with it.  So why go through such an elaborate hoax to have it moved overseas?  My guess is, if they have all moved over here, then it is quite likely that they couldn’t do it themselves.  They may not have had any friends left in their old country; maybe they never had any to start with.  When the statue suddenly turned up again, somehow they made contact with Raji, or perhaps Raji made contact with them, and a deal was made with him to arrange for it to be delivered to them in England.  I think getting it to Trenthamville may have been a bonus to them; a serendipitous moment if you wish, or perhaps even ‘suggested’ to Rosetta’s father without his realising it.

  It is more than likely the discovery was made by accident, and this Raji is an opportunist who saw a chance to have it moved over here at somebody else’s expense while he scouted around for the highest bidder.   Now it’s so close to being found he’s shaking off anybody connected with the artifacts, which is why Vittorio was killed.  Rosetta was probably drugged simply to make us work harder and faster at finding the statue.”

  “But why would he kill Vittorio, even if he had the goods?   In his condition he was no danger to Raji.”  Martin asked.

  “To destroy any trail or knowledge of his involvement, perhaps; the new employer that he is dealing with may not wish anyone to become familiar with how they came into possession of the statue and the knife.  Or even that they exist for that matter.  If this was the case, it would be best for Raji to destroy all connections he has had in this matter … and that will include us, no doubt.”

  “Oh, great.  But why kill him before they found it?”

  “Ah!  That’s the only flaw that I have in my own argument.  But the diary confirmed my thoughts that Vittorio and the Rosetta’s father were told about the statue … and there has to be a logical reason for why they were told – and it has to have something to do with the fact that it would be brought here to Trenthamville.

  “You are very close.” The trio nearly jumped out of their collective skins as they swung around to face the perpetrator of this unexpected intrusion into their private conversation, and got their second shock when their eyes took in the image of William Jones as he began to unexpectedly pull up a seat and join them.

  “The Punjani” William continued without interruption, “expected it to be brought into this country, and the safest and the easiest way to get it through customs was through Professor Tuscanni’s credentials and influence.  The fact that Professor Tuscanni was in the neighbourhood when the statue was discovered was simply co-incidental, but there is always somebody out in the desert testing their luck and the Punjaniti were simply fortuitous that it was him and not one of the far bigger museum financed expeditions.  A small, privately financed expedition made it easier for Raji to make contact with them and obtain their co-operation,whereas a museum sponsored expedition would have been much more difficult to control.  But having it being brought here, to the village, was a pleasant surprise for them, ; a huge bonus.  The Punjaniti hadn’t really cared where it ended up, just as long as it was in England, but a farm in Trenthamville was a bonus for them because collecting it would be so much easier to do as far as they were concerned.  I do apologise for listening in to your conversation.  I had a reason to speak to you, and when I inadvertently heard what you were talking about I had to let you go on so you would be in the right frame of mind to hear what I am going to tell you.

  I know that you were dubious about what I told you earlier, because I myself hadn’t been told enough to fully convince you.”

  “And you have now?”  Mary, who was still sceptical of William’s supposed ability, placed just enough sarcasm into the tone of her voice to bring a smile to William’s face which threw Mary slightly off balance.

   “Vittorio is dead,” William began, the smile still on his face as he directed his reply at Mary, but softened in respect to the occasion.  “He died of spontaneous combustion in a manner of speaking.  The Punjani don’t know that he is dead yet, nor are they likely to find out because it will not be reported.   Reported as missing, perhaps, but not in detail because nobody but you three, and myself, are ever likely to know the facts.  The policeman that was protecting Vittorio had left him unattended while he went downstairs to collect a pizza he had ordered.  When he came back to the room, Vittorio was missing and there was a bit of a mess where the bed had been, but the policeman thought that the bed itself may have been moved out of the room after the various apparatus had been unhooked from Vittorio.  He wasn’t sure exactly what had happened, but he thought either he could have been wheeled out of the hospital to a waiting van that the policeman swore he heard departing the hospital as he was approaching the room … or he could  have used it to smash down the door and hide the bed in another room.  The policeman went off in search of him both inside the hospital, and the surrounding grounds, and that was where he was when the fire brigade arrived.  The policeman was surprised by their arrival as he had not heard the alarms going off in the hospital, and the fire brigade crew were uncertain what had set off the alarm at the station, as there was no fire burning anywhere in the hospital as far as they could find.  They quickly convinced themselves that the alarm at the station had been caused by a malfunction and only took in a cursory search of the upper levels from the ground floor level, searching for a sign of fire or a smell of smoke.  Neither of which they came across.

  As a result of their half-hearted search they did not see the remnants of the charred, dismembered door that lay on the walk-way outside room fifteen on level two; nor did they see the mess inside the room.

  Meanwhile, the policeman had rung the inspector and reported the errant Vittorio as a runaway without explaining the details.  The inspector put out all points bulletin for the missing man, and breathed a sigh of relief as he reached into the bottom drawer of his desk where he extracted a large bottle of scotch and poured himself a large drink and proposed a toast of farewell to Vittorio.

  ‘Well, Vitorrio, old boy.  I hope you get found shortly for your health’s sake, but, for the moment, you are no longer under my jurisdiction. You are now officially a missing person, and no longer a person of interest.’ That was the inspector’s exact words.” 

  “And do you know what actually happened to Vittorio, William?”  Martin asked. 

  “No.  I have only been told what I have told you.  I have no idea whether the guardians know what happened, though I suspect that they do.  Why they are keeping it a secret from me, I can only guess at.” 

  “And what is your guess?”  Martin requested. 

William paused momentarily, grimaced, then spoke slowly. 

  “I think it is imperative for the three of you to approach your immediate future with care and caution.  Or at least one of you needs to; whichever one of you is deemed to be the chosen one.  I think that your

dealings with the creature will continue for some time … regardless of whether you find the missing statue or not.  If that is true, then you will be dealing with something that you have no experience with, yet you are more than likely to have the ability to survive.  Buried somewhere within the deepest part of your heart and soul you have the necessary strength, but you need information to ensure that you make the right decisions … and you need to gain it by your own observations and experiences.  To give you a one hundred percent insight into what you may be going to face in the future may easily throw fear into your heart, or, at the very least, give you false expectations of what you will need to do to defend yourself … and how to do it.  I would expect that the guardians would think you would do better in battle, and be much safer, unhindered by knowledge of outcome which may not eventuate.”

  William’s offerings gave cause to the trio to reflect on his words, and silence ruled the table for several long seconds until Joseph decided it was time to change direction in the current conversation.  This was a conversation that he was not having brought to the fore.  Nor was he the least bit interested in advising all that were present that he was the chosen one according to Arkerious.  It was not a title that he appreciated, but the depth of danger that he assumed it carried was not something that he wanted to share with his friends lest it place them `in danger.

  ” Que sera, sera, as someone once pointed out to me..  Joseph said with a smile in Mary’s direction,  “So, William, the police are no longer interested in poor old Vittorio?”

  “No.  Not for the moment. They don’t know what you suspect.  Why didn’t you tell me about the farm?  It could have been you two you know.”

  “You know why we didn’t tell you.” Joseph replied, staring straight back, and perhaps even a little harder than William.  

  William looked at Joseph in surprise, and paused for several seconds before answering.                                              

  “Yes, I know,” William’s voice was more subdued when he finally replied, “We all have things to learn, and decisions have to be made on whom we can trust before we can do anything about defeating the entity.  I’m sorry I reacted the way that I did earlier.  I understand a lot more now … I have, just moments before arriving here, been given an insight into what has happened tonight.  But, as I am finding out, Arkerious does not keep me in the loop as much as I once thought he did; though it might be the way that it needs to be.  I can’t accidentally give away information that I don’t know. can I?  There are other forces at work at the moment; forces powerful enough to hide their full intentions from the guardians – and as a result there are many things that I am still uncertain about.  But what I do know for certain is that this Raji is with the Punjani, but not one of them.  Arkerious asked me to tell you that the reason for the statue being brought here to Trenthamville is not to make it easier to get it to London, it is because Trenthamville is the gateway.  Arriving here is its destiny. 

  There are only three gateways on Planet Earth.  The one in their home country is too closely guarded these days to gain access, and the other one is in a country where they would never be allowed entry, never mind try to smuggle a statue in.  Though the country itself is corrupt enough to attempt to utilise the situation to their advantage; to make a deal with the Punjaniti for its own benefit and the detriment of the world should they become aware of what the Punjaniti is capable of doing.  England is a much safer place for the Punjani to set things up for the Punjaniti’s arrival on this planet.  It keeps the Punjani in control – or so they believe.  The guardians have different thoughts on the matter, however.

  All of the sect now live in this country, and there is nothing to stop them from using the entry point here – except they don’t have the statue.   But they are not responsible for what has happened to your friends…and I don’t know who it was either.  And, before you ask, I have no idea if the guardians know or not, but if they do, they have chosen not to tell me.

  You, Joseph, however, do know where the statue is.  The advice that I have been given by the guardians is for you to follow your heart.  The eventual result of the game being played will depend on your immediate action, but they are certain that you will make the right choice, and once you do, the future moves into the next stage.”

  Joseph looked at William in amazement, realising that William may have been telling the truth about his role in the scheme of things, and his powers.  There was no other possible way that he could have known what had happened at the hospital.  Martin certainly had not had the opportunity to speak with William about what happened because he was not himself aware of what happened at the hospital until Joseph told him around five to ten minutes ago.  Even Mary had to concede defeat for her resistance to accepting what William said, and her thoughts turned to Vittorio,   “That poor man,” she cried, “that poor, poor man.”

  “Yes, it is most unfortunate,” Martin interrupted, as his mind began to go into overtime with curiosity and confusion as William’s statement began to sink in.  “You know where it is, Joseph?  Where?   How did you find it?”

  Joseph looked at Martin’s bulging eyes and wondered if he was on the point of madness, or just had too much to drink.

  “I don’t know where it is, Martin.”  Joseph objected.  “You have been with me all day.  If I had found it, you would have been with me when I did.”

  “Yes, yes, Joseph, that’s all quite rational, but that doesn’t matter.   William says that you do know, so where is it?”

  “Why did you say that, William?  I have no idea where it is.  We would hopefully be on our way home to London having a great old chat with Rosetta and her father if I knew where it was.”

  “You told me that you knew where it was, Joseph.  As we were approaching the hospital, don’t you remember?” Mary’s voice expressed surprise which in turn surprised him, for he had no memory of his making that statement.

  “I am sorry, Mary.  I truly do not remember saying that.”

  Mary looked at Joseph in complete surprise, but said nothing more.

  “The guardians say that you do know, Joseph.”  William stated matter-of-factly, “You just have to think about what you do know.  I can’t help you.  I haven’t been told.  All that I have been told is that you know where it is.  You just haven’t opened up your eyes and mind to what you do know just yet, I would presume. Or perhaps something is blocking your memory.”`

  Joseph was baffled.  He had absolutely no idea why William, Mary or the guardians thought that he knew where it was.  Slowly he began to take his mind back over the past forty eight or so hours since they had arrived in Trenthamville.  He revisited the first time that they had gone out to the farm, then took his mind back through the house and the barn, room by room, floor by floor, but saw nothing.

  He then, in his mind, repeated the steps undertaken on the second visit that they had undertaken this very morning … and still nothing came to mind.  Joseph shrugged, shook his head and decided that he needed a drink.  But as he began to vocally express his needs he looked at Martin’s still bulging eyes and changed his mind mid-sentence.  “No, I will be better off with a strong café-latte.  That is what I was going to have in the first place.  Something to relax me, not to get me over excited … or put my brain to sleep if I have too many.”                

  “Are you referring to me by any chance?”  Martin asked in a miffed tone.

  Joseph paused for a couple of seconds and shook his head before answering.  ‘What do you think, Martin?”

  “I am feeling slightly insulted by your suggestion.” Martin objected with an offended tone, “I’ll have you know that I have hardly had anything to … no, perhaps you are right.   Please forgive me, Joseph.  I just got a shock when William said that you know where the statue is and became a little excited as I so wanted it to be true.  If you say that you have no idea where it is, I should believe you without reservation.  I think that I am getting frustrated that we are getting nowhere fast, but we are fast running out of time.  What are we going to do, Joseph?”

  “I am sorry, Martin, but we are both in the same boat at the moment.”  Joseph replied in a quiet voice, “I really have no idea.”

  “Here is your coffee, Joseph.”  Mary said sweetly as she placed the tall glass on the table in front of him. “Hopefully it will help you to relax and think better.  Perhaps it will help you remember why you thought that you knew where the statue is hidden.”

  Joseph was both surprised and pleased to see the frothy, light brown, milky liquid sitting on the table.

 “Thank you, Mary.  I hadn’t realised that you had ordered it for me.   Thank you very much.”

  Joseph’s face was beaming as he spoke and instantly began to sip on the tall glass; smiling blissfully as it instantly began to spread its delightfully wonderfully sweet aroma into his head, and the taste ran pleasingly amok throughout his body’s appreciative senses.                 

  “I thought that you really needed it.” Mary advised him with an accompanying teasing smile, “These gentlemen and the night have placed quite a bit of pressure on you.  I thought that you could do with a pick-me-up.”

  “I most certainly could.  Thank you once again, Mary.”

  “You are most welcome, Joseph.”  Mary replied in a voice so soft Joseph barely heard the words, but hear them he did.

  Joseph reached out with his free hand and squeezed Mary’s closest arm, and smiled deep into her eyes.  “You know, maybe it will all come back.  Let’s hope so,”  Then Joseph retired deep into his own little world; a kingdom that was ruled by aroma and taste and precious little else.  The briskness of the coffee, the gentleness of the warm milk and its frothy top ruled his world at the moment, and no other life-form, thought or action could join him in his personal sanctuary.  For in his private domain Joseph was safe from the world and its hostilities; especially its hostilities.  Safe from the demon he had faced at the office, the demon he had faced at the garage and at the farm, and now at the hospital.  He felt he had had enough at the moment and needed time to silently recharge.  And as the seconds ticked by he continued to sip on the drink, allowing the flavour and taste to dominate his every thought for as long as he possibly could. 

  But his peace was not to be as long as he had hoped.  Eventually the drink was consumed in its entirity, the caffine began to do its duty and soon his brain was revitalised with new reserves of energy.  He found his eyes opening against his will, and as the total darkness he had produced inside his head began to disappear, replaced by the bright lights that came down from the hotel’s ceiling, Joseph looked sadly across the table at Martin and William’s distressed faces.  

  “I am sorry, gentlemen,” Joseph said, addressing the two men, “I really cannot think of anything that came remotely close to a hiding place for such a large statue on the ground or in the house.  The only possible place that I can even imagine it could be hidden is on the loft, and we didn’t see it there.  And even then, considering the fact that there was plenty of room to locate it there out of sight, the feasibility of placing it up there is bordering on the impossible.  It would have been a massive job getting it up there even if they had a forklift at the farm, which they don’t.   The only other option that they would have allowed them to lift it that high would be for them to use a block and tackle, which would have taken quite some effort to set up … and I doubt very much that would have been something that they would have chosen go with; not if time was against them, which it was. Whichever way they decided to go, by forklift or rope and tackle, they would have run a very big risk of damaging the statue as they moved it.  And under the circumstances, considering their profession, I very much doubt that they would have attempted either way.  It would have been far too contrary to their appreciation of antiques and artifacts to take such a risk … in which case they must have removed it from the farm to somewhere safer.   

  Tomorrow, Martin, my friend, we may have to knock on every door in Trenthamville and see if some local soul is in league with Professor Tusacani and his late brother, helping them protect the statue by hiding it on their property … and that will include the hospital which is big enough to hide an elephant or two, never mind a six foot long statue.

  “I will help.”  Mary offered, “That should make things easier and quicker.

  “And I will help as well.”  William offered.

  “Well, thank you both.  Your offer is very much appreciated … and accepted.  William, can you provide us with a mud map of the best possible locations in the village so we can formulate a plan of attack in the morning.  Places that are fairly well isolated from their closest neighbours; or at least isolated enough to have their activities hidden from preying eyes, but close enough in friendship with Professor Tusacani and his brother to be trusted by them.”

  “Yes, or at least I will do my very best.  I will go and create it now and bring four photocopies with me in the morning.”

  “Well then, may I suggest that those of us that are able to, retire for the night and get a good night’s sleep and we will meet up over breakfast in the dining room.”  Joseph suggested.

  Everybody agreed and all stood up ready to depart when Mary’s goodnight words rocked him.

  “Goodnight, Joseph.  Sleep well.  By the look on your face the coffee really has given you a lift.   I will look forward to catching up with you in the morning.”

  “Yes, the feeling is mutual, Mary.  I … what did you say, Mary?”

  “I said that I would look forward to catching up with you in the morning.”  Mary replied warily.  Joseph’s face reflected something that she couldn’t recognise and it worried her slightly.

  “What did you say about the coffee that you brought me?”

  “I don’t know … ‘These gentlemen have placed quite a bit of pressure on you,’”

  “No.  Not that far back, Mary.”  Joseph interrupted, “Just now, as we were about to leave the table.”

  “Sorry, I am all confused now.  I really have no idea.  Oh, hang on a minute.  I also said ‘These gentlemen and the night have placed quite a bit of pressure on you.  I thought that you could do with a pick-me-up.’  That was all that I can remember”

   “Oh, how slow am I.”  Joseph asked nobody in particular. “Mary, may I see the diary for a moment.”

  Mary passed him the diary and Joseph immediately began to slowly scroll through every page.  When he reached the last page he had a grin from ear to ear as he turned back several pages and studied them in greater depth.  And when he finally looked back at the bewildered faces of his friends his grin was larger than life.  “Oh, the little grey cells … Poirot,  Poirot,  Poirot, you are really getting old.

  Martin, Mary and William had no idea what was going on in Joseph’s mind, but they all silently decided that he had either solved the puzzle … or he was going bonkers under the strain of the past forty eight hours, but before anybody got the chance to form a sensible question about his current mind set, Joseph revealed his thoughts.

  “I am not a hundred percent certain that I can explain it at the moment, but I feel safe enough in trading the information your friend Raji is chasing, Martin.  Can you contact him and arrange for him to bring the antidote for Rosetta and her father here tomorrow?”

  “Yes.  I believe so.”    

  “Then do it now.  But tell him that we cannot prove it until tomorrow.   If I am wrong he can retain the antidote, and we will continue searching.   But tell him that if we don’t see proof that he has the antidote before we share our discovery … then I won’t be revealing where I think the statue has been hidden.  Oh, and one more thing, tell him that the price has gone up.  We now require antidotes for two.  If he can’t supply that now, then he will have to wait until he can.  Tell him there is no other deal to be made.  As long as he can meet out conditions, he is to come here to the hotel at eight tomorrow and show us the antidote.  Once he has done that we will accompany him to the farm.  He must agree to that.  I don’t want to be caught up in a trap.”

  “So you do know, Joseph.  William was right.”  Martin said triumphantly.        

  “I think that I do now.”  Joseph replied, “However, it was only when Mary brought me the coffee that everything began to fall into place.”

  “So where is it?”  Martin asked excitedly. “So where is it?”   Martin’s voice was almost school-boyish in his frustration as he asked the question for a second time without giving Joseph a chance to answer the first question.

  But Joseph immediately put the dampers on his fervent questioning.

  “Sorry, old friend, can’t tell you.  Put your life at risk, and all that rot.”  Joseph replied in a semi-serious tone.

  Martin was momentarily dumfounded by the rejection to his request, but his curiosity quickly retook control and returned his voice.    

  “Joseph, old man, I really need to know.”

  “Yes, Martin, as does Mary, William, the short fat man that we think shot Vittorio, Raji and the entire Punjani clan, and god knows who else.  But we don’t want some of them to know, do we?  No, Martin, I am not going to tell you.  It’s far safer this way.  This way we do not lose our leverage … and that is something that we dare not lose.  There is too much at stake.  I will reveal all, providing I am right in my assumption, when we arrive at the farm after Raji provides proof that he has the antidote.  In the meantime I intend to keep my lips sealed.

  Martin’s face and attitude showed signs of defeat as he spoke.  “I suppose that you are right … though I must admit that I am disappointed that I didn’t get a chance to help you locate the statue.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Martin.”  Joseph replied gently.  “You contributed to finding it as much as I did.  I just searched left, while you searched right.  Either one of us could have taken the trail that led to the treasure.”

  “Yes, I suppose that is true.  But would you mind if I studied the diary for a while.  Just to see if I would have hit pay dirt if I had searched through it?”

  “You fill your socks, Martin, when Mary is finished with it.  But I am not going to give you any clues, and remember, if you do think that you have worked something out, keep it to yourself.   Don’t write your findings down anywhere that the wrong eyes can see your thoughts, and if you must tell somebody what you have found, tell me – when we are guaranteed to be alone in every way possible.  Now, how would you like to contact Raji.”

  Martin pulled out his phone, pressed two buttons and wandered away to make his call in piece and quiet.  And while Martin was on the phone, William leaned forward and whispered to Joseph. 

  “Are you sure that you are doing the right thing?  The world, as we know it, could be changed forever if this thing enters the gateway.”

  “And if we don’t do something for Rosetta’s father soon, his world may never change.” Joseph retorted without volume or anger, “We started on this journey to help him recover, and now Rosetta has also succumbed to the same misfortune.  At this particular moment the world is on its own … my loyalty is to Rosetta and her father, and their recovery.”

  “Then that’s the way that it is then.”  William said as he accepted Joseph’s response with a smile, “I’ll be here if you need any further help … or things don’t go to plan down on the farm tomorrow.”

  “Thank you, William, but let us hope that won’t be necessary.”  Joseph replied in a grateful tone just as Martin returned to the table,  “I am fairly sure that my suggestion regarding the statue will prove to be  correct.

  “Ravi will be pleased to hear that. “Martin pointed out, ” He will be here as requested, and he thanks you for your diligence and speed in the matter.”  Martin reported.

  “And he guaranteed two vials of antidote, and accepted the other conditions I set?”  Joseph questioned.

  “Yes.  He was quite agreeable to everything.  He said that they had brought extra doses in case this situation arose.”

  “That was very far sighted of them.” Joseph remarked caustically,
“Very fortuities.”

  “I made a similar comment,”  Martin replied, “but he swore that it had not been either himself, or the Punjani, who had injected either the professor or Rosetta.”

  “And you believed him?”

  “I had an open mind.”

  “Mary, did you learn any more from the diary?”  Joseph asked as he changed the conversation.

  “I’m not quite finished yet.  I am about halfway through.  Most of it was petty stuff detailing their earlier searches; searches for relics undertaken before Raji approached them.  Then it goes on to their investigations about the cult.” 

  “And what did that tell us?”

  “Most of what we have already heard is in there, and like we have, the professor and Vittorio obtained their information from a variety of sources.  Though, in their case, it was mainly through the Internet, and e-mails from some trusted friends.”

  “Which means a lot of interested parties could also have gotten wind of their findings.”  Joseph noted.

  “I guess so.  There was a bit of gossip in there too.”

  “What was that?”
  “The professor and Vittorio had a big fight over the statue. It appears that Vittorio was of the opinion that they should keep some of the jewels as a keepsake.  He argued that the museum was not paying them for the statue, it was a unique find, and they were entitled to retain a couple of souvenirs for themselves.  The professor said no, that they should be content with the reward of being part of such a great find.  Still Vittorio persisted with his argument claiming a few token rubies would be a wonderful memento of the greatest find of their lives.  They could come from the rear of the statue and nobody would ever know, or at least the general public would never know.  And, he reminded his brother, they had already had some rubies removed for payment to the labourers that had helped them retrieve it and pack the statue, so two more would be neither here nor there.  But the professor had been adamant that they would not remove anything else from the find.  A few days later the professor discovered that quite a few of the rubies appeared to have been removed from the statue.  Vittorio fervently rejected the accusation, insisting that he not taken them, suggesting that they were the ones that the crew had removed as payment for their services.  The professor eventually realised that was the truth of the matter, that he had been becoming slightly paranoia about the statue, and the undue responsibility that had now put on them while it was in their care, and apologised.  However, Vittorio was so incensed by his brother’s accusation he refused to talk to him for several days.  The professor was profusely sorry for his gaffe; he had still been fuming about Vittorio’s insistence about keeping some of the rubies and when he noticed quite a few appeared to be missing, he had momentarily forgotten his deal with the locals that had helped dig up and move the statue.  He really wanted an amicable truce with his brother, but did not know how to fix the rift that been created by his thoughtless accusation.  Eventually, however, Vittorio calmed down and they made up.

  Coincidentally, the day that they buried the hatchet was the day that they received the e-mail warning them of the impending ritual date, and as a result they decided to hide the statue in a new place.  I haven’t found any reference to it yet, but I am wondering if perhaps Rosetta’s father posted that ruby to her.  That could explain the reason she had been holding on to it when she was attacked.  She may have been thinking of her father and was holding it for comfort when whoever it was broke in.”

  “You may have something there, Mary.  Anything else?”

  “There was something about a doctor, but I am having trouble reading it, and I certainly can’t make out the doctor’s name at this stage.  I think that I may retire to my bed and read it there, if you gentlemen don’t mind?  Or would you prefer to read it first, Martin?”

  “No, but thank you, Mary.”  Martin replied, smiling happily as he spoke, “I don’t think that I will bother now.  Joseph has worked it out, and that is all that matters.  I am not all that good with cryptic clues: thinking outside the box, and all that.  I much prefer straight forward thinking and I am not likely to ever be able to change my ways, so I am unlikely to pick up on what Joseph noticed.   No, Mary, you interpret your heart out and we will hear the results in the morning.  Though once we have the antidote we probably won’t have to worry about the professor’s chicken scratchings anymore.  Good night, Mary, and thank you for the help you have given.  I am certain that both Rosetta and her father will show equal appreciation in their thanks once they have been revived.”

  “I am certain that they will.”  Mary replied, a wry smile accompanying her words, though she never believed a word of what she was saying, at least not the part about receiving thanks from Rosetta.  Once Rosetta found out that she had been getting close to Joseph, Mary knew that she would probably somehow get the blame for Rosetta’s condition. 

  “Thank you, Martin, and goodnight.  Joseph, seeing how you think that you already know the answer, do you want me to continue reading the diary?”

  “Yes, please, Mary.  Better to know as much as we can at this stage.  This is a strange world that we are in at the moment.  It would be best to be aware of everything that we can learn in order to keep ourselves safe.”

  “Then I will do so.  In the meantime I bid you goodnight, Joseph.”

  “I’m off to bed as well,” Joseph replied, “so I will walk you up if you like.”      

  “That will be lovely, Joseph.”  Mary replied, happy that Joseph was still showing some attention to her.  The implication of the changes to the status quo that Martin had just brought to her attention were just starting to come home to her brain, but the tone in Joseph’s voice gave her hope that she was not quite yet out of the frame as far as he was concerned.  One more day of solitude with him could possibly establish her as a permanent player in his life games, or so she hoped.  Not just because of her promise to Johann P Biggs, but for her own feelings towards him that were growing stronger by the day.  She found herself wanting to be in his company much more than she had ever believed she would, and she was not quite ready for Rosetta’s recovery to attempt to destroy her chances with him.  As far as she was concerned Rosetta may not be the greatest thing in his life at the moment, but she certainly was the prettiest.  And that gave her a fighting chance to win him over; as far as Mary was concerned, it was a war of brains versus beauty … may the best woman win the battle.  TEXAS22

  “Goodnight, Martin.  Don’t forget that Raji will be here early in the morning.”  Joseph said, as he tapped him gently on the back.

  “I am just going to have one more drink, and then I’ll be going to bed myself.”  Martin mumbled, “Never had a chance in hell of getting stoned tonight.  Damn well too much excitement with you two around.”    

  Martin patted Joseph on the shoulder and reached over and kissed Mary on the cheek, before heading off towards the bar, leaving the other two to walk back to their rooms together.

********

   Mary brushed close to Joseph as they moved slowly through the corridor, hooking her arm under his.  “It was a strange night,” she whispered, her face nudging his as she leaned close to him.  He turned to face her before answering and found their lips gently brushing against each others.  Mary smiled happily at the accidental encounter, but teasingly pulled back at the last moment.

   “Why, Joseph Jacobson,” she scalded mockingly, “what are you doing, getting so fresh?   Next thing I know you’ll be offering me your ruby to wear.”

  Mary was hoping to interpret Joseph’s facial reaction: embarrassment or disappointment, but unexpectedly she got neither as Joseph’s mind switched directly to panic … and Mary found herself instantly regretting her choice of words.

  “The ruby!” Joseph cried out in a panic stricken voice as he frantically attempted to unlock his arm from Mary’s grip, “I left it on the table.  I had better go back and get it in case Martin doesn’t realise that it’s there.” 

  “I had better go with you in case you decide to stay with Martin.”  Mary smiled sweetly as she spoke, somehow managing to retain her grip on his arm, “I don’t want you too far away in case I discover something in the diary.  I presume that you will stay with me while I finish reading it?”

  “Certainly,” he smiled back as he began to increase the speed at which he walked, “I never had any other intention.”

  “Your room, or mine?”  Mary enquired in a seemingly calm voice, but one which, in reality, was quickly falling out of her control thanks to Joseph’s constantly increasingly overzealous concern for Rosetta’s ruby.

  “Yours would be safer.” Joseph replied without much thought, “Martin may decide that he wants to talk about things after a few more drinks and he is just as likely to barge into my room without knocking.”

  “That could be most embarrassing.  Especially if anything exciting was going on … in the diary that is.”  Mary added with a grin.  “My room it is, then.  Come on, Joseph.  Let us get your precious ruby.”

********

  Martin, his back turned to them, was busy chatting to the barmaid as Mary and Joseph re-entered the room.  Joseph quickly scanned the room, seeking out the table they had been occupying and his eyes lit up in happiness when he saw the bright red stone glimmering in the brightness of the many lights that shone down on it from above. 

  “There it is, thank goodness.”  Joseph exclaimed exuberantly as he moved even faster towards his destination, his hand and arm somehow unlocking itself from Mary’s tight grip and automatically extending outwards towards the object of his desire.  But, his extended hand, merely three feet in distance from its intended connection with the stone, was retracted so quickly , with so much force, it momentarily threatened to violently collide with Mary’s face.  Somehow, Joseph managed to avoid the collision, but he did so without once taking his eyes off the now smoking gemstone.  The burst of bright blue light that had emitted from the ruby as he reached out for it was so unexpected Joseph’s mind had been momentarily stupefied by the action; now he was totally mesmerised by what he saw.

  “My, God!”  He exclaimed in disbelief.   “It’s glowing.” 

  And in the exact same instant of Joseph’s obsession with the glowing ruby, the image of Mary and Joseph’s reflection in the bar mirror caught Martin’s attention and he immediately spun around on his heels.

  “Ah.  You two back already.” He called out happily.  “The coffee stopping you from sleeping, is it?  Can’t say I am surprised.  Well there is only one thing that will fix that – we may as well sit down and have another drink.  Two more of these delightful things, you wicked wench,” Martin giggled to the grinning barmaid as he picked up his drink and began to move back to his seat.

  Joseph saw Martin’s intentions and screamed out to him to stop, Joseph’s voice loud enough to make the barmaid knock the drinks that she was pouring so hard that both glasses broke as they crashed to the floor.

  “Steady old chap.  You’re scaring everybody.  Why do I have to stay here?”  What’s going on then?”  Martin asked in slightly inebriated confusion.

  “Look at the table.” 

  The tone in Joseph’s voice was firm and authoritative.  Almost immediately Martin’s demeanour changed to a more sober cautiousness; his years of training and experience quickly coming to the fore.  And as he turned his full attention to the table that they had occupied only minutes earlier he got a sobering shock; silent bolts of light were coming from a small dark cloud that hovered above the small table and smashing into the glowing red ruby; a cloud that was growing and growing in density.  As the punters watched on from their tables in a combination of absolute amazement and sheer terror, bolts of pure power flew past their eyes from the black cloud that was quickly covering the entire ceiling; a cloud that hovered above them, behind them, around them   They could smell burning hair as bright electric spears sizzled across the top of their heads and past their faces on their way towards the table that was taking the full brunt of the barrage.  The more the milliseconds rolled by, the bigger and louder the bolts seemed to become – then suddenly there was a loud roar that shook the entire room … and the table disappeared in flames.  Glasses and plates were lifted off punter’s tables and the bar counter from the force of the explosion throwing broken glass, china and food scraps in all directions.  And something not clearly seen by anybody but Joseph and Mary flashed through the room at the speed of light.  Within a trillionth of a second there was nothing left but a smouldering pile of charcoal on the floor where the table had been, and a smoke haze that was quickly beginning to fade.  

  Joseph quickly ran his eyes around the room looking for any sign of non-incredulity at what the punters and staff saw, but there were only around a dozen punters in the room, and the only faces that were not reflecting astonishment and shock at what had taken place was Martin’s, who was staring at Joseph, still in total disbelief at what he now knew to be the truth behind the carnage that they had found at the farm … and Vittorio’s demise.  And, to Joseph’s surprise, Mary had tears flowing down her face … and he wondered if she too had seen the fleeting vision of the Punajaniti as it momentarily encompassed the entire room just prior to the main explosion.

  Suddenly, assuming a fire had somehow broken out in the room, William ran into the room and headed to the back to the bar where he grabbed a bucket, scooped it into a tub of ice, and ran over to the embers and threw the contents on to it.  What was left of the fire hissed as the icy water struck, but the ruby remained glowing as if it had never been touched by the ice he had thrown.

  “Holy water may work better.” Joseph remarked caustically,

  “What in heaven’s name happened in here?” A clearly shocked William asked in a shaky voice.

  “The Punjaniti happened, that is what happened, William.”  Joseph replied, his voice sombre as he did his best to not reveal the pounding that was taking place in his heart, “Well, at least we now know how Vittorio was killed.  The power is transmitted from the creature through the ruby, not through the knife.  I have no idea if the ruby came from the statue or not, and I don’t think that it matters.  Nothing about it matters other than the name of the person it was meant to kill.   It was found in Rosetta’s bed, so it would be easy to assume Rosetta was meant to be the next victim.  But it could have very well meant to be me.  Perhaps it was left for me to find, and if that was the case … it could just as easily have killed all of us if we had still been seated there.”      

  “So what happened exactly?” William asked.

  “I will explain in a minute,” Joseph began, “but perhaps you might like to attend to your punters first.  Give them a free drink or two; something to calm them down.  Tell them it was a trial for a magic show you are thinking of bringing to the hotel soon.  Go on, they are mainly Londoners aren’t they?  They will believe whatever you tell them, after all this is a country pub full of old folk lore and ghosts from the past.” Joseph said with a straight laced face, but a twinkle in his eye, “I don’t think that anything else is going to happen tonight.”  

  William gave Joseph an almost believable look of disdain, then looked around at the small group of locals and visitors sitting dumbfounded at the various tables, nodded his head in agreement, and went over to the bar where he called the staff in to a huddle to give them instructions to apologise to the customers.  ‘Just tell them there had been some new electrical appliances installed earlier today, and there must have been a short in the wiring in the ceiling’.  Then offer them the next few drinks for free’.  But he had barely got his instructions out when a piercing scream came from the direction of Rosetta’s room.  Like a giant spider, eight pairs of legs flew off in answer to the call for help, only to find themselves restricted by a locked door … and no response from the nurse inside.