Yesterday morning, knowing it was against the rules, he sent the chauffeur to see Father Patrick. He included a note begging him to go forward with the sale and offering any assistance, monetary or otherwise, to help uncover the person responsible for the mess. The father wrote back that he did not appreciate the correspondence, that there were procedures, which did not include sending notes via one’s chauffeur, and if he proceeded to meddle in this matter, he would be banished from the group of collectors. Upon reading the father’s reply, Garneau was stricken with disbelief. He was not used to being addressed in such a manner. He was unable to get his way and couldn’t believe it. He remained in denial the rest of the day. After a bad night’s sleep, he had moved on to anger.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Hans hired the Henry Wood Detective Agency and handed Henry an envelope with the retainer. He then left without giving many details about the job. They waited until they heard the outside office door close.
Mike spoke up first. "Rich people are nuts."
Henry and the professor laughed. "What do you think?" Henry asked.
Professor Brookert leaned back in his chair, still trying to take it all in. "I can't believe there is another Antikythera device, and intact, too. If it’s true, this may be the greatest discovery in the history of all mankind. I found it strange, however, that Hans seemed so reluctant to answer our questions."
Mike nodded. Henry stood up and walked over to get some more coffee. "It was odd. Mr. Schaeffer was very open last night.” Henry shrugged. “But this is their show. If our client wants me to only speak with him, that's okay. It's his dime. The most striking thing about the job is how similar it seems to Mickey's last case."
"You think they hired Mickey?" Mike asked.
"I don't know for sure, I still haven't decoded all of his notes. Hard to say if the client name is even in his notebook. Mickey was pretty crafty. He could remember every single person who ever hired him and often didn't bother with noting the client name, at least until he wrote up the final report."
"So, what's the plan, Boss?"
"Mike, I want you to dig around and find out what you can about Hans and Dr. Schaeffer. Also, don’t call me boss."
Mike winked.
The professor stood up and asked, "May I see Mickey's notes?"
Henry handed him his notebook. "I copied the three pages from his most recent case and put his notebook in a safe place."
"It looks like you decoded his list. I see that Dr. Schaeffer is on it. If he had hired Mickey, he wouldn't be on the list, would he?"
"Good observation, Professor. I still want to check out Dr. Schaeffer – Mickey may have added him to the list for the same reason."
Mike asked, "Did he check up on everyone who hired him?"
Henry laughed. "It depended. If the client was a dame, with long legs, trying to catch a cheating husband, he was off to the races. Mickey didn’t care if she was on the up and up. A guy, no matter how clean-cut, was never above suspicion. He was pretty good about reading people, or at least…he used to be."
The professor got up and walked around. “It sounds like you think that whoever hired Mickey was somehow involved in his death?”
“I think that this whole thing stinks to high heaven. On one hand, it doesn’t make sense that someone would hire Mickey to look into the people on the list and then kill him before he could finish. On the other hand, Mickey always said that people willing to overpay were usually up to something. On the other hand…” Henry paused and thought for a moment, “…I liked Dr. Schaeffer. My gut tells me he is on the level. Also, I think I may have had one too many hands…but I digress.”
“I didn’t want to say anything, but I noticed your theorizing anatomy was slightly off,” the professor said with a wink.
“That’s why I called you two in; I may be losing my edge.”
Mike stood up. “You still have your edge, but this case strikes too close to home. We're glad to help.”
Professor Brookert smiled and nodded. “Let me see if I have it straight. Right now, all we know is that there is a second Antikythera mechanism, which may be up for sale, it would likely be worth a king’s ransom, and is in some sort of underground auction for the super rich. Dr. Schaeffer is one of the players, along with the other people on Mickey’s list.”
Henry leaned back in his chair. “Yes, but you have left out one important fact. This isn’t just an antique auction for some crazy collectors. It is prized enough that someone was willing to kill, to stop Mickey from completing his job, whatever that was.”