The Oracle (Fargo Adventures #11) - Clive Cussler Page 0,110
police can’t possibly believe that Dr. LaBelle killed anyone?”
“Apparently, they do,” Sam said. “The best way to help her is by telling us anything you know about what’s been going on around here.”
“About what?”
“You can start with the day we saw you out at the ruins, and why you lied about being there when we ran into you at the hospital. Was Warren with you?”
She shook her head. “No, I swear. It was a tour to earn money. I only lied about it because Hank had asked me to stop giving them. He didn’t want strangers around our dig site. I . . . I thought he might get upset and I didn’t want to add to Dr. LaBelle’s problems.”
“What about the shop at the market?” Remi asked. “I saw you knocking on the same door where the stolen mosaic ended up. You were talking to someone.”
“Oh . . .” She sank back in her chair. “That was Warren. About him, I mean. When Hank told me that he’d gone there to sell stolen artifacts, I had to see for myself. No one answered. But a man in the shop next door came out. I showed him Warren’s photo.”
“And what’d he say?” Sam asked.
“He recognized him.” Her eyes filled with tears. “You have to understand, Warren was like a father to me. I didn’t want to believe Hank, but when that man at the shop said he’d seen Warren there, that’s when I realized . . . I was such a fool. He was using me to learn what I knew about the secrets of . . .” Amal covered her mouth and looked up at the ceiling, trying to compose herself.
Remi slid a glass of water closer to her and she grasped it, taking a sip.
“What secrets?” Remi asked.
“About the Vandal King.” She lowered her glass to the table, her hands wet from the condensation. She stared at them a moment and picked up a napkin, wiping her fingers, then used the white square of cloth to dab at her eyes. “He was using me to find the map.”
Lazlo, who seemed to be only half interested, perked up. “Map? What sort of map?”
CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO
There can be no peace without understanding.
– SENEGALESE PROVERB –
According to family legend,” Amal said, “there’s a map leading to the cursed treasure stolen by the last Vandal King.”
Sam wasn’t near the history expert Remi and Lazlo were, but he tended to pay attention when treasure was involved—and the Vandals had accumulated a lot of it during their various raids throughout Europe, including the Sack of Rome. “Wasn’t all that treasure confiscated after the Byzantine Army defeated the Vandals?” Sam asked.
Lazlo, his eyes alight with interest, nodded. “I seem to remember something about the conquered Vandal King and all his amassed wealth and spoils being paraded before the Emperor while he quoted—or misquoted—something from Ecclesiastes, wasn’t it?”
“Vanity of vanities,” Remi said, “all is vanity.” Her knowledge of ancient history far surpassed anything Sam knew, which was why he wasn’t surprised when she added, “If memory serves, the Emperor Justinian returned the Vandal Treasure to Jerusalem.”
Lazlo said, “Why would anyone give up that sort of fortune?”
“He believed the treasure stolen from the temple was cursed and any city that housed it would eventually be destroyed.”
“Guess there was some truth in that,” Sam said as their waiter set a plate of banatages on the table, the scent of the fried meat-filled potato croquettes tempting. “Look at Bulla Regia, flattened by an earthquake.” Once the young man left, Sam turned his attention back to Amal. “So, we’re talking about a completely different treasure?”
“Correct,” Amal said. “Different treasure, different curse.”
Lazlo, suddenly interested again, asked, “A different treasure?”
“Well, not a treasure so much as something that was treasured. A rare scroll, taken about a hundred years before the fall of the Vandal Kingdom. This particular scroll was not to be held by any one man. It was for the people.”
“And the curse?”
“Cast upon the Vandals after the scroll was stolen.”
“Stolen by whom?” Sam asked.
“The Vandal King, Genseric. His army invaded North Africa in 430 A.D., laying siege to Hippo Regius. Of course,” Amal continued, “it varies as to why the scroll was stolen and from whom. One tale is that he stole it from Bishop Augustine’s library, though there were probably far more valuable books to be had. Another is that Genseric sought a way to influence the Moors and gain the upper hand during his invasion of North Africa and