the monuments to kings. “There’s King Charles, King Karel, and King Wenceslas. They all have monuments.”
“But he said the ‘saintly King of Enlightenment.’”
“True. Wenceslas was righteous, a martyr and saint. Sounds like enlightenment to me.”
“Okay, so you think Miller planted something at Wenceslas Square?”
“I think it’s hidden somewhere on the monument.”
“We have no idea if he gave this clue to his killer.”
“The way Miller was, you can bet he did tell everyone so that he could giggle in the afterlife knowing we’re all chasing our tails to find the clues.”
“The smartest, most enlightened of us wins?”
“Something like that.”
“Do you want to give it a shot? We can go now if you want to.”
“Yes, let’s rule it out.”
“Okay, while we’re gone, I’ll have Mouse find the back-door Miller used to access the satellite system.”
Back in the car, they drove to the square and parked. The great monument depicting the king was in the middle of the “Square,” which referred to the entire boulevard that flowed from the king on his majestic horse all the way down to the metro station, opposite the National Museum.
It was late and traffic was light. They walked to the grassy area across from blooming flowers where the statue had been erected, the illuminated memorial loomed over them, throwing shadows across the ground.
High above them on a tiered base sat King Wenceslas on his prancing horse. Placed below the impressive figure were four other statues of saints at each of the four corners of the second tier.
Anna looked around, and they climbed up each tier until she couldn’t reach.
“Give me a boost,” she said.
He made a cradle with his hands and when he lifted, she grabbed the lip of the concrete and climbed up the slab. She’d read that one of the statues below the king was Saint Agnes of Bohemia. A Bohemian princess was both charitable and pious. She figured that was a good place to search.
She got down on her hands and knees and searched around the base of the statue but found nothing. As she leaned back, disappointed, she saw something white peeking from the hem of Saint Agnes’s robe. She dipped down and her hand encountered something solid encased in plastic. She pulled it and it detached.
It was an iPad mini with a waterproof case. She pocketed it in her jacket and zipped it closed.
“What’s going on here?” said a male voice in Czech. She ducked back down behind the statue’s robe.
“Just admiring the monument,” Dodger replied in English with just a touch of a slur. “He started to sing the carol a bit loud. She couldn’t help but laugh softly.
Apparently, the officer was also amused. She could hear it in his voice. “It’s getting late. You should move along.”
“Sure enough, Officer.”
She waited until she was sure the policeman had left, then she started to climb down.
“I’ll take that,” a male voice said, but as she landed and he reached for her, she elbowed him, turned, and punched him in the face, then pushed him off the edge. He fell to the ground and Dodger finished him off.
“Jump. I got you.”
She flung herself off the concrete and landed in his open arms. He released her to the ground, and they took off across the street and to the car.
“Did you find anything?”
“Yes,” she said, pulling the iPad out. “It wasn’t a wild goose chase, and we’re not the only players.”
She sat down at the computer in the command center and did some searching. Something was going on, and she intended to find out what. She didn’t want any of this to blow up in her face.
She worked the keyboard until she found that someone had accessed the satellite and police files. He was damn good, but she was better. She followed the trail, and bingo.
She pulled up the satellite clip and frowned. Hmmm. She enhanced it to find it was Oliver “Artful Dodger” Graham, and he had looked like he was heading back to HQ until he changed direction. She followed his line of sight and saw a woman…a prostitute from the look of the back end of her heading for the Evzen Hotel.
That was interesting. A man had been murdered there tonight. It was on the news. She saw that whoever had accessed the files also found a report of an altercation in an alleyway not far from the hotel right before the guy had been whacked. There was also a satellite clip, but all that had been illuminated was the woman.