“Thank you,” he said. “I just want you to be safe. Is there someone you can stay with for a few days until this blows over?”
“I have a friend in Dusseldorf. I can stay with her. I just hope the university understands. This will put me behind significantly.”
“I feel horrible about it,” Tommy said.
“Don’t,” she said and shook her head. “I’ll be okay. I needed a little time off anyway. I’ll tell them it’s for a personal emergency or something. They’ll be okay.”
Sean steered the car into the left lane of the bridge crossing the Rhine River. “You know, you could hang out with us if you wanted to.”
“I think I’ve had quite enough adventure for one day, Sean. Thank you, though. I appreciate the thought. After we take a look at this sculpture, I’ll catch the train to Dusseldorf and meet up with my friend. It’s not far, and she’s got a spare room.”
The car quieted down again as it left the bridge behind. The enormous church loomed on the horizon to the north.
“It really is an impressive structure,” Tommy said. “So much bigger in real life. The pictures don’t do it justice.”
“Have you ever been inside?” June asked.
Tommy shook his head. “Nope. Not that one. Lots of others, but never Cologne Cathedral.”
She grinned. “Maybe when you guys are done with your treasure hunt, I’ll take you by there. That is, unless you’ll be in a hurry to leave.”
He shook his head. “No. I’ll definitely be down for that.”
“You’ll need to turn right at the next street, then left, and then right again,” Adriana said. “You’ll see it on the left when we get close.”
Sean nodded. “Got it.”
He followed her directions, making their way through the crowded streets of downtown Cologne. The west side of the city was full of tourists and working folk alike, everyone in a hurry to get to their destinations. The hour was getting late, and that meant more people and cars would be injected onto the streets soon. Some of the citizenry had already found places to get an early dinner or a late-afternoon beer.
After parking the car and making their way through the cobblestone pedestrian streets, the group found themselves in front of the historic rathaus.
“It’s kind of a hodgepodge of designs, isn’t it?” Sean said as they stood near the building, looking up at the façade.
“That’s because it was built piecemeal over time, like many of the older buildings in this country. The Cologne city hall is the oldest in the country. It has a documented history back to the eleventh century. There are four distinct influences of design that span that timeline.”
“It’s impressive,” Tommy said.
“Indeed. Come on. I’ll show you the way to the sculpture.”
June led the group to the entrance and into the old building. Sean lingered behind, letting a little distance grow between him and Adriana and the other two. Adriana noticed him slowing down and matched his pace.
The interior was quiet, much like a church. The interior Gothic design with the dramatic high domes and seemingly endless rows of pillars was also reminiscent of some of the great cathedrals of the world. The cool air reeked of ancient stone, dust, and wood.
Adriana merged closer to Sean as the group walked through the foyer and into the giant main hall.
“I noticed,” she whispered into his ear, “you didn’t draw your weapon back there in the alley.”
Sean wondered if she’d mention that. He was surprised Tommy didn’t bring it up sooner.
“Heat of the moment,” Sean said. “I didn’t really think about it. I just reacted and went after that guy.”
“Okay.” Adriana accepted the explanation on the outside. Internally, however, she knew that wasn’t the truth.
Sean was a well-trained agent. He’d been an operative for the American government for years before calling it quits. His instincts, his training, everything was hardwired into how he reacted to certain situations. That sort of thing didn’t just go away. It took a conscious effort to push away those instincts.
She didn’t push the issue. Adriana had a keen sense of when to try to get something out of him and when to let things go.
The group made their way through the main hall, past a small gathering of tourists, and into an adjacent building through a pair of large wooden doors. Entering the next chamber, they found it was sparsely decorated. A wooden desk sat flush against the wall on the left. There was a red velvet-upholstered chair pushed against the right-hand wall. The ceiling was lower than in the main hall but still had the dramatic swooping curve of a Gothic dome that led up to a single line running the length of the room.
At the other end, the sculpture of the Nine Worthies was embedded into the wall, high above the floor.
No one dared breathe for a moment as they took in the sight. Seeing the sculpture was like looking into the face of history. Sean and Tommy always held the deepest appreciation for historical works like these. They took in the scene with reverence while they stepped softly closer to the far wall.
“It’s smaller than I thought it would be,” Tommy said just above a whisper.
“Incredibly intricate,” Sean said.
The group passed under a chandelier full of half-burned candles.
“I’ve only been in here twice,” June said. “Not sure what you’re looking for, but it’s definitely an interesting piece. These men depict the standards of chivalry that came out of the Renaissance.”
Tommy didn’t mention they already knew that.
“It’s amazing,” Adriana said. “I don’t mean to be a downer, but how does this thing help us?”
The other three turned to her with questioning expressions.
“I’m just saying, we already knew what it looked like and had analyzed every possible component. Did we really need to come to Cologne to see it personally?”
“Sometimes you can’t see everything through a computer screen,” Tommy said. “You have to get up close and feel it, see it with your own eyes, smell it.”
She didn’t argue the point further.
The four moved closer to the sculpture until they were standing right in front of it.
Tommy scratched his head.
“Notice anything?” Adriana asked in a cynical tone. “Smell anything?”
He cast a sidelong glance at her. “Just give me a minute.”
Sean rubbed his chin as he stared at the sculpture. “You know, part of the problem is that we know so little about some of these guys. Like Hector, for example. Pretty much a mythical character. As for Alexander the Great, no one knows where he’s buried. Same with Julius Caesar. In fact, we don’t know where most of these guys are buried.”
“The tomb of Joshua is in Palestine,” Tommy said. “Good luck visiting there.”
“Right. And the tomb of King David is still missing. I mean, people claim it’s in Jerusalem, but it’s never been proved.”
“So we’re looking for graves now?” Adriana asked.
“She makes a good point, boys,” June said. “Are you looking for graves, or are you looking for a sword?”
The two men turned to June with mouths agape.
“What?” she said. “I’m just saying, she’s right. Maybe you’re focusing on the wrong thing. You’re searching for a sword. So think about the sword instead of graves or something else.”
Sean and Tommy nodded, took a deep breath, and returned their gaze to the sculpture.
“Okay,” Sean said. “Every one of these guys has a sword.”
“Right,” Tommy agreed. “And they’re all identical. We knew that already.”
“You said that this sword was originally the sword of Peter?” Adriana asked.
Tommy shook his head. “No. The first one to carry it would have been Joshua. But it makes sense that Peter would have had it. That’s the theory, anyway.”