If any of you have sent me e-mails, or are waiting for me to respond to something or another, give me time- I'm swamped!
The Courier of Marseilles
Lord Dreadnault
Chapter Four: Departure
Frank, Nancy, and Joe walked out into the lobby of the Chicago Police Department. They promptly made a beeline for the front entrance but they were cut off. "That was a nice trick you pulled Nancy," Brenda said in a sarcastic voice. "It didn't work for long though. I called up my father and he thinks that this White murder sounds interesting."
Frank and Joe rolled their eyes as Nancy groaned tiredly. "Get lost Brenda," Nancy said.
"You heard the lady!" Joe said in a pompous voice. "Buzz off!"
"I'm not that easy to get rid of Hardy," Brenda said cooly. "I can smell out a good story. Either let me in on this or I'll make life difficult with your friends Drew."
Nancy looked at Brenda with a blank face and then leaned towards Frank and whispered, "Can't you deal with this?"
Frank's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. "Why didn't I think of that? If you three will excuse me I will return shortly." He swiftly walked out towards where Dirk had dropped them off.
The group watched him go and then Brenda continued. "So what will it be Drew? Am I in or out?"
"Looks like you're inside this building to me, but I don't know. . ." Joe commented idly.
Frank strolled in through the entrance holding a sheet of paper. He waved merrily to them and walked over towards the front desk and gave the paper to the sergeant on duty.
"I think Frank has our answer for you," Nancy said in a cheerful voice.
Frank ambled over to them and then pointed over to the desk. "I gave everything you need to know to that guy, if you'll go over there he'll be happy to. . . assist you."
Brenda look at him suspiciously and then headed towards the desk as Frank, Joe, and Nancy hurriedly left and ran over to the black Lincoln. Frank and Nancy go into the back and Joe went into the front with Dirk.
"So did you 'gag' her?" Nancy asked as Dirk pulled away from the curb.
Frank grinned and shook his head. There's nothing they know worth gagging, so it would be kind of pointless."
"Then what did you do?" Joe asked.
"Three day detention in the slammer for attempting to interfere and blackmail federal agents working on a federal investigation." Frank said, beginning to laugh.
Nancy and Joe joined him. "I'm going to remember this day for the rest of my life!" Nancy burst out.
"So am I," Joe said through his laughter.
"Where to?" Dirk asked as they cruised down one of the main drags.
"River Heights," Frank replied.
*******
Yawning, Frank, Nancy and Joe disembarked from their trans-Atlantic flight in Marseilles, France. "Where did Fairchild say that Jean and Felicia were going to meet us?" Nancy asked as she scanned the airport for the pair.
"Right here," came a deep voice from behind the trio.
The three spun around to find themselves face to face with a handsome young man, and a lovely young woman. "You scared us," Nancy said catching her breath.
"Sorry," the girl said. She held out her hand and Nancy, Frank and Joe shook it in turn. "I'm Felicia Bernardo. This is my brother Jean." She motioned towards him.
"I'm Frank, this is my brother Joe, and this is Nancy." Frank said introducing them.
Jean smiled, "It is wonderful to meet you. Mr. Fairchild has filled us in on your assignment."
"That's good," Joe replied. "Do you have any extra background info that we might not have gotten?"
"Actually," Felicia answered, "we do. We know more than Fairchild let on. Security and all of that."
"What other stuff do you know about or have access to?" Nancy asked getting excited.
"Mr. Fairchild told you that we live in Boswell's old house right?" Jean confirmed.
Nancy nodded. "He said that, he even said your uncle may have found clues in the house."
Felicia nodded. "He did. Most of them disappeared at his time of death, probably stolen by enemy agents. Fortunately, none of those clues they stole were very important, or at least they aren't anymore."
Frank frowned. "What do you mean 'aren't anymore?"
"It's quite simple actually," Jean replied. "You see, Boswell made it so only certain people with certain knowledge would understand the clues. He directed the clues to the American CIA as it was in the early forties. Perhaps even specific people within the CIA. Any others he directed those clues to died in the war."
"How many clues do you still have?" Joe inquired.
Felicia sighed. "Two. Two measly clues. At least they're the ones that led my uncle within reach of the cache. Hopefully you can decipher them."
"What are they?" Nancy asked eagerly.
Jean looked around at the people passing by and answered, "Maybe it would be best to wait to talk about them."
Nancy nodded, "That's a good point."
"Hopefully the clues will lead you to the right place," Felicia said. "If not, we'll be heading to one of the places that our uncle thought the cache was hidden, Abbaye de Sènanque or Fort de Buoux."
"Let's pick up your luggage and get going. We're both eager to help you on this case," Jean said as he lead them to pick up their luggage.
*******
"Here's the library," Felicia announced, opening a pair of doors that led into a spacious room. "This also served as uncle Alfred's study. We set up the desk exactly as it was the day he was found dead."
Nancy, Frank, and Joe walked over to the desk and examined it. On it lay several average things one expected to find on a desk. Pencils, pens, papers, envelope holder, and an ornamental letter open made to look like a knife. On the center stood a wooden figurine of religious saint. "Where are the clues?" Joe asked.
Felicia walked up behind them and pointed to the figurine. "That's one of them. I estimate that it's about fifty years old. Probably carved just for the purpose of being a clue." Next she pointed to the letter opener. "That's the other one. You guys can just look around and we'll call you when lunch is ready."
"Sounds good to me. Thank you." Nancy said to Felicia as she left.
Joe reached out his hand and picked up the figurine. "This one definitely points to the abbey." he commented.
Frank shrugged. "Perhaps. However, that seems a little too obviously to me. It might have a different meaning."
"I don't know," Nancy countered. "They say the best place to hide something is in the open."
"Come on you guys," Joe said, "if it was in the open someone would have noticed it by now. According to Fairchild, loads of people have looked for the Boswell Cache."
"Let's just keep our minds open then," Frank suggested as he reached out to pick up the knife that served as a letter opener. "This doesn't seem to point at anything specific at all." he commented. He passed it to Nancy who examined it.
"No symbols or anything," Nancy noted, "just plain, yet slightly ornamental."
Joe set the figurine down on the table and took the knife when Nancy offered it to him. "It's sharp," he commented as he tested his finger on the blade. He examined it closer. "I'd say that it's about the same age as the figurine too."
"That's interesting," Frank mused, "two of the clues are basically the exact same age. Maybe they're connected somehow and that makes up the whole clue, or maybe it's a coincidence. Any ideas?"
"I have no idea," Nancy answered Frank.
"Me either," Joe said as he reached to set the knife back down. As he reached he knocked the figurine onto the floor. "Whoops!" he exclaimed. Frank and Nancy rolled their eyes. Joe bent over and picked up the figurine. "Hey you guys, I've knocked something loose! This thing has a false bottom."
Frank and Nancy made their way around the desk to Joe as he stood up holding the figurine. "Can you get it open?" Frank asked Joe.
"One sec," Joe replied. "It's kind of stuck." He pulled at the bottom and it slowly came off. "Drat! Look, there hardly a compartment. All there is in there is a piece of paper stuck to the bottom." Joe handed the bottom to Frank.
Frank looked into it and carefully fished out the folded piece of paper. "This is old and dry," he commented as he gingerly unfolded it and set it down on the desk. The three gathered around to read the contents.
TO THE CIA
I HAVE SECURED AWAY THE LAST OF THE ITEMS IN THE HIDING PLACE-
LIKE EDWARD V OF ENGLAND- || I HAVE BURIED IT IN A SECRET PLACE-
I HAVE LEFT MANY CLUES AS TO WHERE THE HIDING PLACE IS THAT FEW WILL RECOGNIZE OR UNDERSTAND-
THIS IS MY LAST CLUE-
I FEAR THAT THEY COME FOR ME-
THIS CLUE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE CACHE SHOULD THE GUARDIAN I HAVE LEFT TAKE THE SECRET TO THE GRAVE-
IT IS NON-ACCESSIBLE (CONVENIENTLY) EXCEPT FOR HIM-
FOR NONE REMEMBER
BOSWELL
"So which part is the clue?" Joe asked quizzically.
"I'm thinking that it's the part about Edward the Fifth," Nancy replied in an equally puzzled voice.
"It sounds like he also left someone behind, or told someone where it was," Frank added. "Maybe this is a double clue. A lot of help that is. If this person was still alive someone probably would have found the cache by now though."
"What's that mark between England and I?" Nancy asked, intently studying the message.
Frank squinted and leaned forward, "I don't know. It kind of looks smudged though. What I want to know is what he means by 'for none remember.'"
"It probably means that no one remembers that the hiding place exists," Joe said distractedly as he looked at the smudged mark. "I can't make it out either," he commented.
"Sounds like he got worried that maybe he hid the cache too well," Nancy said. "Either that or the entrance is locked. 'conveniently' probably means going through the proper entrance. He thinks that maybe we'll have to break through or into the room."
"I know!" Joe exclaimed. "Maybe it's a secret room in the abbey or fort, and the entrance to the room is locked or sealed. Not only that, no one knows that it exists anyway."
"Great. That means we'll have to search for this 'secret room' in both the abbey and fort. Maybe the knife can narrow things down a bit." Nancy said.
"Maybe the figurine is still significant by itself," Frank mused. "Maybe the cache is hidden just like the clue was hidden."
"Then what's the stuff about Edward V?" Joe asked. "That figurine is a saint, not a king."
"Just a thought," Frank shrugged.
"We should probably visit these places with Jean and Felicia. Maybe things will seem a little clearer then." Nancy said.
"Sounds good to me," Joe said, "let's check out the abbey first though. I have a hunch that the figurine was pointing towards there."
They stood in thoughtful silence studying the various clues until an explosion from downstairs echoed throughout the house.