“Who gives a shite? If it is the right church, we have our location, people!” Sam urged.
“Hang on, let me make double sure before we go out there unprepared,” Nina said. She typed “Cologne landmarks” into the search engine. Her face lit up as she read through the write-ups of the Kölner Dom, Cologne Cathedral, the most significant monument of the city.
She nodded and stated irrefutably, “Aye, listen, the Cologne Cathedral is the host of the Shrine of the Three Kings. I bet that is the second trinity Werner referred to!”
Purdue stood up amid the sighs of relief, “Now we know where to start, thank God. Agatha, make the arrangements. I’ll gather everything we will need to retrieve that journal from the cathedral.”
By the next afternoon the group was ready to take the trip to Cologne to see if their unraveling of the age-old riddle would lead them to the relic Agatha’s client so coveted. Nina and Sam had taken care of the rental car while the Purdues stocked up on their finest illegal devices, should their retrieval be deterred by those pesky security measures that towns took to protect their monuments.
The flight to Cologne was uneventful and swift, thanks to Purdue’s flight crew. The private jet they took was not one of his best, but this was not a lavish trip. For once Purdue utilized his aircraft for practical reasons, not flair. On the smaller, southeastern-bound landing strip at the Cologne Bonn Airport the light Challenger-350 glided gracefully to a standstill. The weather was horrid, not just for flight, but for general traveling. The roads were wet with the onslaught of an unexpected storm. As Purdue, Nina, Sam, and Agatha meandered through the crowds, they discerned the miserable demeanor of the passengers bemoaning the fury of what they thought would be a normal rainy day. Apparently the local forecast mentioned nothing of the intensity of the outburst.
“Thank God I brought my wellies,” Nina remarked as they traversed the airport and made for the exit of the arrival hall. “This would have destroyed my boots.”
“But that hideous yak coat would have served well now, don’t you think?” Agatha smiled as they descended the steps to the lower floor to the ticket booths of the S-13 train to the city center.
“Who gave it to you? You said it was a gift,” Agatha asked. Nina could see Sam cringing at the question but she could not see why, since he was so invested in his memories of Trish.
“The commander of the Brigade Apostate, Ludwig Bern. It was one of his,” Nina said in no uncertain bliss. She reminded Sam of a schoolgirl swooning over her new boyfriend. He just walked a few yards on, wishing he could catch a smoke right about now. He joined Purdue at the ticket machine.
“He sounds delightful. You know those men are known to be very brutal, very disciplined and very, very industrious,” Agatha said matter-of-factly. “I did extensive research on them quite recently. Tell me, do they have torture chambers in that mountain fortress?”
“Aye, but I was fortunate enough not to have been incarcerated there. Turns out I look like Bern’s late wife. I suppose such small graces saved my ass when they captured us, because I got a first-hand taste of their reputation as brutes during my apprehension,” Nina told Agatha. Her glance stayed firmly on the floor as she recounted the violent episode.
Agatha saw Sam’s reaction, subdued as it was, and she whispered, “That’s when they hurt Sam so badly?”
“Aye.”
“And you got that nasty bruise?”
“Aye, Agatha.”
“Cunts.”
“Aye, Agatha. You got that right. So it was a rather big surprise that the leader on that shift treated me more humanely when I was interrogated… of course… after he threatened me with rape… and death,” Nina said, almost sounding amused over the whole thing.
“Come, let’s go. We have to get sorted at our hostel so we can get some rest,” Purdue said.
The hostel Purdue had referred to was nothing of the sort that usually came to mind. They had left the tram at Trimborn Strasse and walked the next block and a half to the unassuming old building. Nina looked up at the towering, four-story, brick building, which looked halfway between a World War II factory and a well-renovated old tower house. The place had an Old World charm and welcoming air, even though it clearly had seen better days.
The windows were adorned with ornate frames and sills while on the other side of the glass Nina could see someone peeking through the impeccably clean drapes. On entering, the smell of freshly baked bread and coffee overwhelmed the guests in the small darkness of the musty lobby.
“Your rooms are upstairs, Herr Purdue,” a painfully neat man in his early thirties informed Purdue.
“Vielen dank, Peter,” Purdue smiled and stood aside for the ladies to make their way up the stairs to their respective rooms. “Sam and I in one room; Nina and Agatha in the other.”
“Thank God, I don’t have to stay with David. Even now he has not ceased that irritating chatter in his sleep,” Agatha nudged Nina.
“Ha! Did he always do that?” Nina grinned as they set their bags down.
“Since birth, I think. He was always the wordy one, while I shut up and learned stuff,” Agatha jested.
“Right, let’s get some rest. Tomorrow afternoon we can go see what the cathedral has to offer,” Purdue announced as he stretched with a mighty yawn.
“I hear that!” Sam agreed.
With one last glance at Nina, Sam entered the room with Purdue and closed the door behind him.
Chapter 19
Agatha stayed behind when the other three left for the Cologne Cathedral. She was to watch their backs via tracking devices linked to her brother’s tablet, on their persons by means of three wrist watches. On her own laptop on her bed she had linked up to the local police communication system, to monitor any alarm concerning her brother’s party of pillagers. Cookies by her side and a flask of strong black coffee, Agatha watched the screens behind the locked door of her bedroom.
Locked in a moment of awe, Nina and Sam could not take their eyes off the immense power of the Gothic structure before them. It was majestic and ancient, its spires reaching well above average of 500 feet from the base. The architecture was not just reminiscent of Medieval-style towers and pointy ledges, but from afar the wondrous building’s outlines were jagged and hard. Intricacy was beyond imagination, something that had to be beheld in person, Nina thought, because she had seen the famous cathedral in books before. But nothing could prepare her for the breathtaking vision that had her trembling in reverence.
“It is humongous, isn’t it?” Purdue smiled assuredly. “Looks even more magnificent than the last time I was here!”
The façade was impressive, even by antique standards held by the Greek temples and monuments of Italy. Two towers stood massive and silent, pointing upward as if they addressed God; and in the middle, the intimidating entrance enticed thousands to come inside and marvel at the interior.
“It is more than 400 feet long, can you believe? Look at that! I know we are here for other purposes, but it never hurts to take in the true brilliance of German architecture,” Purdue said, as he admired the buttresses and spires.
“I am dying to see the inside,” Nina exclaimed.
“Don’t be too eager, Nina. You will be spending a lot of hours in there,” Sam reminded her, his arms folded and his grin way too mocking. She pulled up her nose at him and with a chuckle the three of them entered the giant monument.