THE PENTAGON,
VIRGINIA
EPILOGUE 1:
In a room in a part of this building housing departments that do not officially exist, whose budgets appear on no accounts that ever come before congressional oversight committees, a man in a Colonel's uniform sat at a desk, turning an object over and over in his hands.
The object was a medallion, and it was a fake. He knew that now. Extensive testing had proved it to be so. He had missed his prize this time but he was not too disappointed. It would turn up again. It always did. And sooner or later he would get his hands on the real Medallion of Zulo once again.
"""""""""""""
ELLERSLIE AVENUE,
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.
EPILOGUE 2:
Ernesto Suarez smiled as he opened the front door of the tiny row house he and his wife rented in an undistinguished part of Baltimore. Strange things came down the laundry chutes at the Marriott pretty much every day and, where possible, were returned to their owners, but he doubted anyone would be interested in the medallion that had come down the chute just as he was leaving for home today. It was an ugly looking thing, but he knew his wife adored ethnic jewelery like this, seeing a beauty in it he never would. No, Maria would love it. She would put it on, and hug him, and one thing would lead to another as it always did whenever he gave her a present. Yes, he was sure he was in for a very special time tonight.
"""""""""""""
The End
"""""""""""""
This is the third of a trilogy of tales about the cases in the X-file on the Medallion of Zulo that I wrote in 2003, and is a sequel to the 'The Four Body Problem'.
Medallion of Zulo created by Jennifer Adams.