They were down in the lobby bar having tea, and looking rather well pleased with themselves. "We're done," Cybil said. "All of it."
"I'm impressed," I said. "What have you got?"
"You first," Grace said. I told them about my lengthy conversation with Frederick Madison. I did not tell them about Kovacs.
"Now it's your turn," I said.
"You go, Cybil," Morgan said. "You're the one that made the big discovery."
"What big discovery?"
"Wait for it," Morgan said. "Cybil?"
"We went along Andrassy ut," Cybil said. "We checked some guidebooks, and, as you suspected, Andrassy was called Sugarut early on. And the buildings, now shops and other businesses, do look like mansions. We walked right up to the top of Andrassy, or is it the bottom, to Hosbkter, Heroes Square. There is a building that matches the description you gave us. It's called the Palace of the Arts, or something, and it has what Grace assures us are Corinthian columns, just like the diaries say. Then we went into the city park. It's neat, by the way. There is a castle and it is peculiar-looking. We bought a guidebook, and according to that, the castle was built in 1896 for the Hungarian Millennium celebrations—theirs, not the century to come. There is also a restaurant in the park. It's called Gundel's, and we wished we could afford to eat there. We had a look at a menu, though, and it would have been there in 1900, but called Wampetics, just like Piper said.
"We also took a tour of the Parliament Buildings, but it seemed to us that they were open in 1900, while the diaries say they were under construction. So we went for lunch nearby, and that's when I found this great book. It's a book of photographs of Budapest in guess which year?"
"Nineteen hundred!" they said in unison.
Cybil waved the book in triumph. "See, the Parliament Buildings and the Elizabeth Bridge really were under construction that year, as was part of Buda Castle. Look, here's the bridge with the scaffolding on it. There's a photograph of the Emperor Franz Josef and his wife, Elizabeth, although I don't know about the reference to her death."
"I do," I said. "I checked some of the historical stuff on the Internet this morning. Elizabeth, or Erszebet, was in fact called Sisi by the adoring Hungarians, and she was stabbed to death by an Italian anarchist in 1898. I also looked up the weather in Britain, by the way, in 1899 and 1900, because there are references to that, and it also checks out."
No wonder Diana was quieter, and more sullen-looking than ever.
"That doesn't necessarily mean that the diary, and by extension the Venus, are authentic. Someone wanting to fake the diaries could pick up the same book you did." I said. Diana brightened considerably. "But the details do bring an air of authenticity to the pages of the diary, there is no question about it," I said. Diana's face fell again.
"So what next?" Morgan said. "Are there assignments for tomorrow?"
"I'll have to think about that. I'm going to my room to do some more research. I'll see you in the morning." What I really wanted to do was have a nap. Despite all the walking, however, I just lay there, rigid and wide awake, until the ringing of the telephone jarred me to my feet.
Once again the caller felt no need for a salutation of any sort. "Will you have dinner with me tonight?" the voice said.
"I'm in Budapest, Karoly," I said.
"That is just as well," he said, "Because, as it turns out, so am I. Let me pick you up at your hotel around 7:30."
"The Divas are here," I said. "All of them. They arrived yesterday." I found myself wondering if the airlines had noticed this sudden spike in air travel to Budapest. Certainly it wasn't panning out exactly the way I'd planned it. "I don't think you want to show your face in this lobby."
He laughed. "Does this mean you don't want to be seen with me? Okay. You're near the Opera, correct? Off Andrassy lit? There's a very nice bistro nearby. If you walk out to Andrassy and turn right, you'll come to it within a block or so. It's called Voros es Feher." He spelled it for me. "That means red and white, as in wine. It's a wine bar. I'll meet you for a drink there at, say, seven, and then we'll go somewhere far away from your hotel for dinner. If you need to call me in the mean time, I'm at—"
"The Hilton," I said. Didn't he always stay there? At least when he was on an expense account. "What are you doing here?"
"The Hilton, yes. How… ? Never mind. I could ask to yours, Frank dragged me here. Some book deal he wants to put together about the Venus. I have an appointment with some people at the Magyar Nemzeti Muzeum, the Hungarian National Museum, as well, to see about an exhibit on prehistoric art in Hungary I want to mount at the Cottingham in conjunction with the Venus. They are interested in doing a joint exhibition that would include the Venus. Frank will want to do the catalog. He's discovered art in his old age. And you?"
"I'll tell you when I see you," I said. I set down the phone and called Clive.
"Clive," I said. "We've already had this conversation. You are not supposed to tell anyone else where I am!"
"I haven't told anyone," he protested.
"You did so. You told Karoly Molnar."
"Who's he? Not that guy at the Cottingham? Why would he be asking where you are? Speaking of Molnar, though, have you heard the Venus may be a fake?"
"No. Frank Kalman, then?"
"I don't believe I know Frank Kalman, either. Look, it is true that, as is my wont, when I saw the particularly comely Morgan, I lost all sense of space and time, as well as all discretion. Yes, I blabbed your whereabouts. But I haven't told anyone else."
"Okay, sorry," I said. "I'll talk to you soon."
"Is that all you called for? You haven't called to tell me what flight you're on, when you'll be back pulling your weight in this store we share?"
"Bye, Clive," I said, hanging up before he could protest some more. It was a puzzle though. If he hadn't told Karoly, who had, and what did it mean? That one of the Divas was not entirely frank about her reasons for being here? That was hardly a surprise. One of them had spiked my drink, too. I hoped it wasn't Morgan, but I really couldn't be sure. She was the one, by her own admission, who'd gone and seen Clive to find out how to find me. It would hardly have been Diana who had told Karoly, would it?
Voros es Feher was indeed a rather lovely wine bar. Karoly ordered me a glass of red from the wine country around Eger, and it was a pleasant surprise. I associated Hungarian wines with the plonk I'd drunk in my poverty-stricken student days, but this was rather good. I would have been happy staying there for dinner, too. The food looked and smelled just fine, but Karoly had other ideas. We took a long taxi ride across the Danube, and then some miles to a restaurant called Remiz. It, too, was a splendid place, a series of little rooms framed by French windows and doors, and a lovely garden outside. I let Karoly order for me without protest this time, given I hadn't a clue what was on the menu. He ordered goose liver on toast to start, and fish for the main course, something he called fogas, a fish he claimed could only be found in Hungary's Lake Balaton, a kind of pike/perch. Whatever it was, it was delicious. The wines were very tasty, the dessert divine, and the conversation quite companionable, once we got a contentious subject or two out of the way.
"Is there any chance the Dea Muta would tell me what she's doing in Budapest?" Karoly asked. "I believe I've told you why I'm here."
"You didn't mention you were coming here when we had drinks at Canoe," I said.
"No, because the plans were not firmed up. I did call you to tell you where I would be once I heard from the museum here that the person I needed to see would be available for only about three or four days. I was going to suggest that you come with me. You weren't there. I don't recall receiving a message from you. I thought perhaps, despite what you'd said, that I'd offended you. The comment about the drugs."