‘I must apologise for Dmitri,’ he said. ‘His English is limited, and as a result he can only say a few words, which means he can come across as rude and brusque. He’s not like that at all, really.’
I bet, thought Jake sceptically, watching the short squat figure stomp away. The man in the blue boiler suit looked like a wrestler, the sort who threw his opponents out of the ring.
‘I hear you’re digging for Neolithic remains,’ said Jake.
‘Yes.’ The tall man nodded. He held out his hand to them with a smile. ‘Professor Fyodor Lemski,’ he introduced himself.
Jake shook the man’s hand; then it was Lauren’s turn.
‘I have seen you here before,’ said Lemski to Lauren. ‘You were here yesterday, and the day before, I believe, watching from a distance.’
‘Yes,’ said Lauren. ‘I was curious about what you were doing, but was too shy to ask.’
Jake grinned.
‘I don’t have those same kind of inhibitions.’ He beamed at the professor.
‘You are interested in archaeology?’ asked Lemski.
‘Very much so.’ Jake nodded. ‘Both of us.’ He gestured into the site where the people were at work. ‘Perhaps we could come and see what you’re doing up close?’
Jake thought he saw a momentary flicker of alarm in the professor’s face, then the smile was back in place, as apologetic as before.
‘Unfortunately, much as I would love to, we are hampered by insurance.’
‘Insurance?’ queried Lauren.
Lemski nodded.
‘As part of our getting permission to dig, we had to take out insurance to cover against accidents or anything going wrong. And the terms of our insurance are very strict, only our own people are allowed on the site.’ He sighed unhappily as he gestured at the towering wire fence. ‘Which is why we were forced to erect this terrible fence. It appears that despite warning signs being put up, some people have been known to creep into archaeological sites under cover of darkness and have fallen down where digging has taken place, and have unfortunately been seriously injured. Some have even been killed.’
‘No!’ exclaimed Jake.
Lemski nodded, his expression sad.
‘And if that were to happen here, we would be held responsible.’ He shrugged. ‘It is the way of the world, now. Everyone sues. So, I am sorry I cannot invite you in. But, rest assured, we will be publishing a report of our findings for all to see.’
‘Excellent,’ said Lauren. ‘We look forward to seeing it.’ She turned to Jake. ‘We’d better get on.’ To Lemski, she explained, ‘We’re going down to the cove to explore the caves, and we don’t want to get cut off by the tide.’
‘Of course.’ Lemski nodded. ‘It was a pleasure to meet you both.’
As Jake and Lauren walked away, Lauren whispered, ‘So we’re warned off, with a smile from the professor, and a scowl from Mr Grumpy in the blue boiler suit.’
‘I think Mr Grumpy is armed,’ whispered back Jake. ‘I’m sure I saw the outline of a shoulder holster.’
‘Yes, I spotted that too. So, definite keep-out warnings, and armed security. Notice how he subtly mentioned people being killed at archaeological sites?’
‘I’d hardly call that subtle,’ said Jake. ‘Why would he feel it necessary to warn us off like that, do you think? We’re supposed to be just two ordinary holidaymakers. Do we look suspicious?’
‘To people like the professor, who are searching for the book, everyone is suspicious,’ said Lauren.
Suddenly she stopped, her attention caught by something.
‘What have you seen?’ asked Jake.
‘Someone creeping around on the far side of the site, behind those rocks.’
‘One of the Russians?’ asked Jake.
Lauren shook her head.
‘It looked like Mr Muir. The American I told you about.’
‘How can you tell from this distance?’ asked Jake.
‘He’s got a distinctive way of moving. A limp.’
Jake wasn’t convinced.
‘From this distance, how can you tell that someone moving across those rocks moves with a limp or not?’ he asked.
‘It’s hard to say,’ said Lauren. ‘It’s just a feeling. You’ll see what I mean when you meet him this evening. He’s usually in the bar.’
‘The CIA keeping watch?’ asked Jake.
‘I would imagine that everyone’s keeping watch,’ said Lauren.
Chapter 7
As they left the dig site behind them, Jake asked, ‘What was all that about going down to the cove?’
‘It seemed like a good idea to move on before he started asking too many questions about us,’ replied Lauren. ‘Also, the cove is a great place. Beautiful. And the tide does come in quite rapidly.’