“So, we’re talking about sophisticated people who killed your father for a very specific reason. I’ve dealt with these kinds of killers before. And Carmen has, too.”
“Many times.” Carmen nodded and gently squeezed Amanda’s shoulder for emphasis.
“And if there is one thing Carmen and I know about sophisticated killers, it’s this: they don’t like a mess. Common criminals — drug dealers, muggers, jilted lovers — don’t really care if there is a mess. They’re sloppy, and they usually get caught. Sophisticated killers are a different animal altogether. They kill only when they absolutely have to, and after it’s over, they do everything they can to go back to business as usual. A mess draws more attention and makes it more likely they’ll get caught. Killing you would create a mess.”
“So I’m safe.”
“Not so fast,” Zane replied. “You were safe in London, but that may not be the case now. I’m sure they’ve had time to digest all that happened that night, and something tells me they’ve probably figured out that it wasn’t two old friends getting together for a drink.”
“It could have been,” Amanda said with a grin, as if she liked the thought of that.
“They know better. These two men may have been thugs, but they were professional thugs. And me losing them in the Underground gave them all the information they needed to understand that something, information or otherwise, was passed along to me.”
Amanda’s brow furrowed. “So, I could have been killed the next day, on the way to the airport?”
“No, you were fine. First of all, I’m reasonably certain their focus has turned to yours truly now. If you passed information along to me, it’s obvious I’m the one who can hurt them with that information. Killing you would create mess and would do nothing to stop me. Besides, we had people at your hotel later that night. They followed you all the way to the airport the next day. Better safe than sorry.”
Amanda seemed reassured. “But that brings me back to what I said before — that I’m safe now. And that means I’m free to give you guys a hand.”
“Except that I hadn’t finished yet. I said you were safe in London. And indeed, you may be safe now. But that’s only if you haven’t been followed over here. If they see that we’re working together—”
“How would they know I’m here?”
Carmen scooted her chair around a bit so that she could respond. “Someone obviously knew you were flying to London, which is why they had two people waiting there to follow you. Our best guess is that they have someone working for one of the airlines or working in airline security. That or they have some way of monitoring your credit cards or your phone calls. And while I doubt they followed you back to the States, my guess is that they have continued to monitor you.”
“So you think they followed me here to Vienna?”
“We have no way of knowing,” Zane said. “The safest thing to assume is that they’re here now. Speaking of which, did you notice anything suspicious today?”
“No not at all,” Amanda replied. She seemed confident in her answer but then paused as if going over the day’s events. “I say that, but then again, I have to admit I wasn’t really paying close attention.”
“Well…” Carmen started.
Zane turned around quickly. “What?”
“I’m sure it’s nothing. I thought I heard something when Amanda was at the rear entrance.”
“What did you hear?”
“When she was at the door looking around, I thought I heard a snap in the grove of trees on the other side of the path. Almost like someone was walking and stepped on a stick.”
“Did you hear anything else?”
“No, and that’s why I didn’t mention it. When you came down to let me in, I looked over there with my light but didn’t see anything.”
Zane frowned. “Well, there's nothing we can do about it now. The safest thing to assume is that Amanda was followed. That’s all the more reason to get started up here. We need to find what we’re looking for and then get out of here as soon as possible.”
“And I’m here now, so I’m going to help. You at least owe me that.”
Zane figured he couldn’t argue with that, so he organized the search. He would take the bedroom and associated closet, which he had already started. Carmen and Amanda would work on the living room and kitchen.
Carmen began her search of the living room at the writing desk. Per Zane’s suggestion, she looked inside the frames of the photos. Finding nothing, she pulled open the drawers and saw that all were filled with papers and folders. Her excitement was short-lived, however, as most of the papers seemed to belong to whoever had lived there before Higgs. There were utility bills, insurance policies, and grocery lists, but nothing of any interest. She clenched her jaw in frustration but went through each sheet carefully one by one, as it would’ve been easy for Higgs to slide something in between the papers.
After fifteen minutes of examining each sheet, Carmen finally shut the last drawer and sat back in the seat. Before moving on, she looked at the other items on top of the desk — a lamp, a few decorative items, and some collectibles — nothing that screamed, "hidden instructions."
Carmen picked up the picture of Amanda’s mother again. She was like an older version of her daughter, with the same blond hair and big blue eyes. She had a pleasant smile, and Carmen thought she had the look of a kind and sensitive woman. “Nothing here,” said the Italian while continuing to stare at the picture.
“What’s that?” Amanda popped her head up from behind the kitchen island. She had been going through the cabinets on the off chance her father had hidden something amongst all the pots and pans.
“I said there is nothing over here. It looks like most of the papers were left by whoever leased the place before your father.”
Amanda stood up and walked over to Carmen’s side. She smiled when she saw the picture Carmen was holding and took it from her.
“I miss her so much.”
Carmen reached out and grabbed Amanda’s wrist. “I’m sorry.”
Amanda wiped her eyes with a sleeve and set the picture back on the desk, obviously concerned that she might get even more emotional. Her expression then changed to one of confusion, and she reached out for another item sitting on the desk. “Hey, I didn’t know Dad had these with him.”
Carmen watched as Amanda scrutinized one of the collectibles. It looked like a miniature version of an artifact. “Let me see it,” Carmen said, taking the object from Amanda. “That’s the Rosetta Stone, right?”
“Yes. Mom bought that miniature for me at the British Museum in London when I was a kid. We were there on family vacation. Dad wanted to show Mom and me his old stomping grounds. Anyway, the museum and that little gift were what first got me interested in archaeology.”
“Nice.”
“Oh wow,” Amanda said, reaching for another item on the table. It was a small model of the Parthenon. “I can’t believe he had this too. Dad bought this for me when he was over in Athens, years ago. It was right after I started taking an interest in history and archaeology. I had become obsessed with Ancient Greece.” She laughed. “Dad used to joke that I was the only girl on Planet Earth who went to sleep with a model of the Parthenon.”
Carmen smiled. “He really loved you.”
Amanda smiled back at her but said nothing. Carmen was about to change the subject to take Amanda’s mind off of her father when they heard Zane’s voice from down the hall. “Hey, Carmen. Come help me with this. I think I may have found something.”