by Mark A Biggs
‘As always, Randolph,’ Max smiled. ‘Your service is impeccable.’ He turned and held out his arms so Randolph could remove his jacket. Remembering Olivia’s comments before they left the Queen and unable to resist a dig, he asked, ‘And Miss Olivia?’
With Max’s dinner jacket in hand, Randolph regarded Olivia. ‘Elegant as always. If you would kindly wait here, I will be back shortly.’ Within a matter of minutes, Randolph returned, helping Max into his new jacket before inspecting his work. After an adjustment of Max’s bow tie, he stood back for one final appraisal. Satisfied Randolph said. ‘Would you kindly follow me?’ Olivia, smiled as she thought. It’s a good job I didn’t try and square up his tie because he would have complained incessantly.
Monya, who was wearing a contrasting white dinner jacket, stood as they were led into the dining room. ‘Welcome,’ he said, gesturing with his hand for them to be seated opposite. ‘It’s a pleasure to finally meet the infamous Olivia. And Max, I’ve been looking forward to seeing you again,’ he said without a trace of sarcasm in his voice. ‘What do you think of the Lucia? It is not as grand as the Lelantos, but then, it was rather ostentatious.’
‘She’s beautiful. Then again, Claudia always was,’ answered Olivia, dealing a death blow to the small talk.
‘You needn’t worry yourselves. Unlike many of my unsophisticated associates, I’m not a thug covered in tats, intent on revenge. I consider myself a businessman, a pragmatic person who likes to encourage loyalty through opportunities rather than fear. The unfortunate events of last year were a natural part of the world in which I choose to play. I admit, Claudia’s betrayal took me by surprise. When I learned of her connection to Macinec as a vulnerable child, and then to you, Max and Olivia, I understood it. Besides, since she’s been working for MI6, there’s only been some superficial damage, undoubtedly a result of her knowledge, enough to keep her new minders happy, I imagine. Moslty, she’s left me alone and I respect that, which is why I named my new ship after her. It’ll let her know that I comprehend and value her loyalty, although I doubt that she would risk her life for me, as she did for you; 14 years is an impressionable age. Excuse my sentiment, you would be wise however, not to underestimate me for I will kill as quickly as my associates within the Brotherhood. If it’s necessary. It’s not my first choice, you understand and that’s why it unsettles me when people force me to punish them, or their families.’
He’s quite mad, Olivia thought.
‘I propose a toast to loyalty,’ continued Monya, pointing to the glasses of red wine in front of them. ‘I know how much you enjoy a good drop, Max. You will be pleased that, in keeping with this evening’s theme, precious things from Australia, we are drinking a 1952 Grange Hermitage. After all of this time, see how it has retained a remarkable red hue.’ Picking up his glass, he swirled the wine before bringing it to his nose. ‘A beautiful rich aroma too, with no sign of decay.’
From his pocket, Max produced the 1930’s penny and placed it on the table before picking up his glass and saying, ‘To a precious Australian Penny,’ resisting the urge to say, let’s cut out all this bullshit. They each took a small sip of wine, and the game continued.
‘I’ve learned a lot about you over the last 12 months. Max, your favourite restaurant meal is duck, which is what we will be having this evening.’ At the mere mention of the word duck, serving staff appeared as if by magic and placed large white plates in front of each of them on which was thinly sliced duck breast on creamed potatoes, accompanied by a plum sauce and buttered spinach. ‘Taste it, Max, tell me what you think.’
Sampling the meal, Max said, ‘Delicious.’ Glancing at Olivia before slowly cutting himself another slice of duck, Max hesitated and asked, ‘What is it you want?’
‘As you have already deduced, I also learned that your granddaughter, Penny, is very special to you. Love and loyalty are very powerful bonds. It will please you to know that she is unharmed, a guest of my hospitality.’
Max and Olivia could feel anger rising but there was little to be gained from antagonising Monya. ‘What is it you want?’ asked Olivia, repeating Max’s question, keeping her voice cool and professional.
‘An exchange.’ Monya put another piece of food on his fork, ate it, before washing it down with a sip of wine. He was enjoying toying with his old foes. ‘People have continually underestimated the two of you, but not me. I think you are capable of doing the impossible and there’s something precious that I want. In exchange for it, I will give you back your precious Penny. I promise that she will be in as good health as when I borrowed her.’
Max could feel his heart racing, to do the impossible. Was it Monya’s plan for them to fail and, in doing so, know the fate of Penny was sealed – her death? Picking up his Grange and then looking at Monya over the rim of the glass, he said, ‘This impossible task?’
‘Have you heard of the Gutenberg Bible?’
‘Yes,’ answered Max wearily. ‘It was the first major book printed using mass production. The remaining copies are iconic, written in Latin and among the most valuable books in the world. You can’t be serious?’
‘More wine,’ offered Monya, looking towards Olivia and Max. They both shook their heads, “no”. ‘Please yourselves,’ he said, topping up his own glass. ‘It is not known how many copies were printed,’ he continued. ‘The estimates range from 158 to 180 copies. Before its printing in 1454, books were either copied by hand or printed from engraved wooden blocks. It was the beginning of a global revolution, which is what makes it one of the rarest and most influential books in world history. Most Gutenberg Bibles contained 1,286 pages bound in two volumes, yet no two are exactly alike. Some were printed on paper while others on vellum, a parchment made from calfskin. There are 49 Gutenberg Bibles that are known to still exist, but of these, only 21 are complete. That, Max and Olivia, is your task; to secure for me a complete Gutenberg Bible – one printed on vellum.’
‘Can’t you just buy one?’ asked Olivia.
‘The last one that came up for sale was in 1987, but most rest with institutions who will never sell them. I hold the best private rare book collection in the world, but no Gutenberg – I must have one. When I was contemplating who would be equal to the task I thought of you. Consider it a test of your tenacity, with Penny the motivation. All rather ingenious.’
‘Let’s for one moment assume we can do it, which we can’t. What’s the point?’ asked Max. ‘You will be the proud owner of the world’s most iconic book and precisely able to share it with “nobody.” It will be locked away in some dark cellar. How depressing for you. There must be something else we can do in exchange for Penny. If it’s our death you want, just do it.’
‘You are making the same mistake as people did with you. That is, underestimating me, Max. There is a twenty-second complete Gutenberg Bible that no one, other than its custodians, knows about. Because they have lied about its existence for so long, they will not be in a position to say anything when you steal it. I will declare that I have purchased the Bible from an undisclosed source. The twenty-second copy comes into existence and it will be in my care.’
‘I understand,’ said Olivia, ‘that you wish to give us a difficult, if not impossible, task so that we will suffer, knowing that we can’t save our Penny but, since this Bible seems genuinely important to you, why not use your vast resources to secure it yourself?’
‘If, Olivia, obtaining the Bible were that simple, I would have done it. No, if anyone can find it, the two of you will. Penny is your incentive. Crude, yes, but I don’t want you to fail. Far from it, I expect you to succeed where all my efforts have faltered.’
‘If we can’t?’
‘My dear Olivia, that would be unthinkable for poor Penny.’
Max and Olivia glanced at each other. What could they do?
Struggling to contain the anger he felt on the inside, Max asked, his voice quivering, ‘Do you at least know where it is and who has it?’
‘The Austria
n Benedictine Abbey of Melk.’
‘We’ve been there,’ said Olivia, recalling the first time she’d seen it, cruising on the Danube. It was early morning when they were slowly moving through the beautiful Wachau Valley, fog rising of the river. They rounded a bend to witness the huge Baroque Abbey set high on a hill looking over the Danube. She remembered it as one of the most magnificent sights in Europe. ‘It’s a library, ‘she said. ‘One of the most beautiful rooms in the world. According to our guide, if I recall correctly, they had a copy but sold it to the Yale University to fund repairs on the Abbey.’
‘That’s a story they tell,’ answered Monya, pleased and not surprised they had been to Melk. ‘Another is that they sold it in 1925 to a London bookseller, from which Abraham Rosenbach in New York purchased it, who then sold it to Mary Harkness. She, it has been said, donated it to Yale. Nonetheless, mystery still surrounds Melk and its Bible. There is the rumour that they didn’t sell their copy at all. Yale may have received theirs from Mary Harkness, but its origins were not from the Abbey. Instead, the monks created an elaborate story while they hid theirs. Another rumour is that they had two, one of which is now at Yale, the other hidden at the Abbey’.
‘Why would they do that?’ inquired Olivia. ‘Make up stories about their Bible.’
With excitement now creeping into his voice, Monya continued, ‘If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Leopold 11, Margrave of Austria gifted his castle to the Benedictine Monks. In about 1089, monks arrived from Lambach and began transforming the building into the Melk Abbey. By the late Middle Ages, the monastery’s scriptorium was one of the most prolific in Europe, and its library among the best. During the late 17th Century and early 18th century, the old Middle Age building was replaced by the magnificent baroque building we see today. The Abbey and its treasures survived the ravages of the Middle Age, Napoleon and the Nazis. How? It has always hidden its treasures and still does. The story of the sale of the Gutenberg Bible was a smokescreen, its purpose to remove from the public their Bible, so that it, or a second copy, could be hidden. During the Soviet occupation of Germany and at the end of World War II, the Trophy Brigade went about seizing priceless artefacts from libraries and museums. They stole two Gutenberg Bibles, one from the German Book and Script Museum and the other, the University of Leipzig. Because the one known treasure of Melk was sold in 1925, the Russian’s didn’t go there. The Monks learned to hide their valuables; that’s why the story of the sale of their Gutenberg Bible is still perpetuated by the tour guides to all who visit.
‘The Gutenberg Bible is there, I just don’t know where.’ Monya sighed. ‘I’ve tried to buy a stolen copy. A Russian government agent from the Federal Security Service – the FSB, as you know – stole one of the looted Bibles from Germany and tried to unload it on the black market for $1.5 million. He was captured, and the Russian authorities recovered both volumes. Since then, I’ve devoted years trying to find the rumoured twenty-second copy. It exists, hidden at Melk, I’m sure. You will get it for me in exchange for Penny.’
‘What makes you think,’ demanded Olivia, ‘that we won’t go to the police? You can’t go about kidnapping people in Australia, it’s not some backwater. She will be missed and questions will be asked.’
‘My dear Olivia, I can assure you that nobody will miss her. Haven’t you been watching her Facebook posts?’ She and all her friends have moved to Instagram, but she still posts on Facebook for you, her grandparents.’
Olivia thought for a second and then the realisation dawned on her. Penny’s overseas job was fabricated. Monya waited, expecting Olivia to answer his question, but it was Max who spoke. He was resigned to the truth that Monya had Penny; if they were going to rescue her, they would need to gather intelligence. By stroking Monya’s ego, he thought, Monya may unwittingly share more information than he intended. Despite feeling sickened by the news, he played along with the game.
‘Perhaps, I will accept that offer of another glass of wine… Fake News?’
Monya reached across and topped up Max’s glass. ‘Olivia,’ he said, gesturing towards her with the bottle. She lifted one of her hands slightly, giving a polite wave indicating that she wasn’t partaking. ‘It wasn’t Penny’s fault that she fell into our trap,’ he continued, ‘We can deceive anybody when we set our minds to it. You know those silly email scams, the ones with obvious spelling mistakes in them. They are designed to filter out tech smart people. Those who do reply are likely to be the easy prey. With a small investment of our time, we’ll scam them, successfully. You see, those apparent mistakes are not errors at all. We can entrap almost anyone, it’s a matter of focus and sophistication.’
‘I know,’ said Olivia, realising Max was attempting to extract information. ‘But Penny is careful, always on the lookout for scams.’
‘I’m not a fool, I know exactly what you are trying to do. Your subterfuge isn’t necessary, I am going to tell you anyway because that’s what I always intended. So that we understand each other: if you don’t succeed, your Penny will never be found.’ Monya paused for a few seconds to ensure the gravity of his statement was not lost on them before he continued. ‘Imagine her experience went something like this.
‘Young Penny completed her Master’s in Public Health at the University of Melbourne. Having graduated, she was determined to find work in her study field. Like all new graduates, in the first months, she was fired up, motivated, sending out numerous job applications. Most times she didn’t even get a no thank you, let alone interviews, so she started applying for anything. Even then, when she did attend an interview, for the more junior positions, they told her she was overqualified, fearing that she would leave when something better came along. For graduate positions, feedback was always the same, she’d been beaten by someone with more experience. Catch twenty-two. It was no surprise when she accepted the offer as an Administration Assistant for a busy Hawthorn company. At least, it wasn’t a traineeship, I can hear her say. Of course, she wanted something better, so, behind the scenes, she diligently worked at finding a position in Public Health. Someone would have told her that 85% of jobs are filled through networking. She thoughtfully updated her LinkedIn profile, and posted that she was seeking a position in public health. She used social media as one of the tools to help build her professional networks and connections, doing everything recommended by Universities to help her find her dream job.
‘There she is, sitting at her computer, at work, bored, adjusting her LinkedIn Profile. Her supervisor has just left when suddenly a message pops up on her screen.’
Hi Penny, it read. I am reaching out to you from Prime Health Recruitment in the United Kingdom. We are working on behalf of a Christian not-for-profit organisation to fill a 12-month Public Health position….
‘Olivia, can you remember Penny’s favourite books? The ones she always wanted you to read when she visited as a child?’ Then with a smirk and before Olivia could answer, he added, ‘Paddington Bear wasn’t it? Where was Paddington from?’
‘Darkest Peru,’ answered Olivia, understanding then that even the job location was part of the scam.
‘Darkest Peru,’ repeated Monya. ‘The message therefore went on to say.’
to fill a 12-month Public Health position in Peru. We are seeking expressions of interest from suitably qualified people. Would you be open to being contacted to discuss the position? This is not a job offer. We are seeking a pool of people from which to start the selection process. Please message me with your contact number if you would like to discuss this further. Alternatively, visit our website. www.primehealth.net.uk or you may call me on +44 333 321 4697.
‘Now Max, what name was given to the contact person for Penny in order for us unconsciously to build in her the trust we needed to establish, then execute the scam?’
Max felt as if he were betraying Penny by playing along with Monya’s ridiculous game, but he was trapped for the moment. ‘Let me think. It would be a woman because we consider them
more trustworthy. I suppose if you believed that Penny had an unconscious affection for Peru because of Paddington, then logic would dictate that you’d go for the person who read her those stories: Olivia.’
‘And that’s why I know you can get me the Bible. Yes, Olivia. Olivia Evans. Penny would have read the name aloud to herself at least a couple of times. The temptation to google the Prime Health Recruitment web site right then and there must have been almost overwhelming, but she didn’t, because the office manager, who sits next to her came back. I am guessing that she returned to her mundane task of checking goods receivable invoices and entering them into the computer. Knocking-off time must have seemed an eternity, and by the time she arrived home, she’d would have been torn between logging into her LinkedIn account and replying to the message with a “Yes, contact me”. Or alternatively, she could have spent a little time researching our bogus company. You’ll be proud to know that Penny is a sensible young lady and she typed into the search engine of her home computer ‘Prime Health Recruitment UK’, which took her to our site. We watched as she clicked on the What We Do tab, after which she read:
Prime Health Recruitment specializes in assisting overseas healthcare professionals with job search and relocation. We know about the obstacles you are going to face during this process and we are here to help you. We understand the job is just one factor of many.
‘Next, we watched as Penny clicked on the About Us drop-down menu. It was there that she came across the profile of the person who had “reached out to her” Olivia Evans. Olivia was listed alongside four other women, each of whom had impressive credentials.