“I was sort of wondering the same thing myself,” Curial said as Dina shook her head.
“He told me he inherited it from his father, that’s all I know,” she said. Then she pointed at the backpack. “Does that mean you’ve got a plan?”
Maurice smiled. “Was there ever any doubt?”
Dina led the way through the crowd until she came to a back room. She opened the door and led them to a round table. “Okay then, what have you got?”
Maurice unzipped his backpack and pulled out a set of plans and a series of photographs. He spread them out on the table. “Okay, you know how Koralenko’s Moscow house was like a museum? Well, his St. Petersburg house, White Hills—it actually is a museum.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Dina.
“Four nights a week, the first floor of his house is open as a museum. And guess what, we just got very unlucky. Tonight, the museum is open.”
“Why is that unlucky?” asked Curial.
“More people, more eyeballs. It will be a lot easier for somebody to see you climbing up to the third floor window.”
Curial’s mouth went dry. “What do you mean ‘climbing up to the third floor window?’”
“Right here,” Maurice pointed. “You told me to figure out if Koralenko has the type of room where someone might keep something as valuable as The Romanov Dolls? Well, my contact says yes. On the third floor, there is a secure room and he has it on good authority it’s protected by an electronic lock with a digital keypad. Told me it was state of the art.”
“And you don’t know how to bypass it?” asked Dina.
Maurice recoiled. “Of course I do. That’s not the biggest problem. If Koralenko’s got a room like that on the third floor, Lord only knows what kind of security he has leading up to it. Which means the easiest way to get through those layers of security is to avoid them. And that means climbing to the third story.”
Maurice tapped on a photo of the side of the old stone house, a forty foot vertical face. Curial felt the panic already. He stepped back, his hands shaking.
“I-I can’t climb.”
“Sure you can,” said Maurice. “I’ve even got some cool new gadgets to help you out.”
Curial shook his head. “You don’t understand, I can’t do that.”
Maurice exchanged a worried look with Dina and then turned back to Curial. “This path has the least chance for error.”
Curial bit down on his fingernails. “Wouldn’t falling to my death be an error?”
“From that height? Death isn’t likely. Nope, from that height you’re much more likely to break your spine, crush your bones, that kind of thing.”
“Not helping,” said Curial.
Maurice made a face. “You wouldn’t be dead, but you might be sipping food through a straw the rest of your life.”
Curial gritted his teeth. “I said not helping! Maurice, I’m not climbing, there’s got to be another way.”
Maurice looked at Curial then over at Dina and back. Then he studied the building plan and the photos. He took a breath. “Well, I guess we use Dina as a decoy.”
“Meaning what?” Curial asked.
“Well, she goes into the museum, she looks around for security measures, when she finds a good window on the first floor, she lets you in and then together you make your way up to the third floor.” Maurice scratched his chin. “But I’ll need to walk you through every step of the way and you’ll probably encounter several people, like humans; humans who have guns and know how to use them…and you’ll have to get past them.”
Curial sighed. “But with you talking us through it, you think we can do it?
Maurice leaned over the map and took another look. “Probably. But like I said, there’s an easier way.”
Dina shook her head. “Move on Maurice.”
Maurice hesitated a moment, then returned his eyes to the map and jabbed his finger at one of the pictures. “Okay, there is one guard at the gate. He’s lazy and likes to read. All he’s good for is keeping drivers away. The real security on the grounds is a hound dog named Vladimir.” Maurice reached into his bag and pulled out a white bone. “We throw this over the fence and wait five minutes.”
Curial took it. “A bone?”
“Trust me. It’s coated in a secret ingredient. It won’t hurt the dog—just give him a nice long nap.”
“Dina, after you locate the correct window for Curial to come through, we’ll still have to deactivate whatever security measures it might have.” Maurice pulled out a close-up picture of one of the east windows. “Near as I can tell, it’s a simple Denoyev Switch.”
“And that’s good?” asked Dina.
Maurice shook his head. “That’s bad. Simple is usually bad.”
Maurice pulled out a small device that looked like a battery charger and handed it to Curial. “It’s called a Microburst. You attach this to the window here.” He pointed to the underside. “Then you turn it on like this. Three seconds later, it radiates an intense electromagnetic pulse. It will knock out the alarm for long enough to get inside.”
“But that sounds really easy,” said Curial.
Maurice laughed. “Only works two out of five times.”
“And what are my chances?”
Maurice made a weird face. “Let’s move on, okay? Now should you cross the yard without being mauled by Vladmir, and should you enter the house without setting off the alarms, and should you somehow manage to avoid security until you get to the secure room on the third floor, there is still the matter of the electronic lock protecting that room.” He pulled out a photo. “My contact said the lock and keypad are sophisticated—top of the line. Dealing with it appropriately is expensive.”
Curial shook his head. “Expensive’s not a problem.”
“That’s what I told my contact.”
Maurice took a square, silver device out of his bag. “You will set this device over the keypad and attach this red wire to the port in the keypad. The decryption program will take thirty seconds or so, but it will give us the most commonly used keystrokes used over the past month to help us figure out the four or five digit pass code.”
“It can’t give me the exact code?” said Curial.
“Listen, this isn’t like the movies. Like I said, Koralenko’s system is sophisticated, and this is the best we can do. I’ll be at a laptop not far from you, in communication the entire time through this ear piece.” Maurice handed Curial a small transmitter. “Once we come up with the most common letters, then I can help you figure the code out.”
“But what if we can’t figure out the code?” asked Curial.
“You got this far didn’t you?” said Maurice.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Curial.
Dina shoved him. “It means that even for a blockhead, you’re pretty smart.”
Maurice raised his finger like he’d forgotten something. “And if you can’t guess the code within three tries, the system will reboot and you’ll have no chance of getting that door open.”
Curial let that information sink in. “Is that it?” he asked.
Maurice shook his head. “Only this. My contact said the Koralenko is about as ruthless as they come.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying—are you sure you want to go through with this?”
Curial thought about it for a moment and then finally, nodded. “Viktor Koralenko took something from my mom. And I want it back.”
Maurice smiled. “Okay then, how soon can we get started?”
Both boys looked to Dina. She growled.
“Unfortunately, grandfather will expect me to stay for the grand dance. I leave before then, and I’ll have problems.”
“Okay,” said Maurice. “I’ll go wait outside, find a bush, and go over everything from my end. And you two love birds can spend the rest of the evening twirling about on the dance floor.”
Dina turned to Curial. “Am I allowed to kill him now?”
Curial smiled. “I’d prefer you wait until after we get those dolls back.”
Dina’s face fell in disappointment. “Fine. I’ve had enough dancing for a while. It’s time to give you that tour.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven – The Art Collector
Just as she’d been for the two previous days, Dina was the ultimate tour guide, telling Curial the history behind every piece of art, every room, and every spot in her grandfather’s house that was special to her for one reason or another. Where she used to play hide-and-seek, where she broke her arm, where she practiced ballet as a little girl.
The third floor was more of the same—until they made their way to the farthest corner, where a large, hand-carved wooden door stood.
“What’s in there?” Curial asked.
Dina’s face went still. “That’s nothing.”
“Can I see it?”
Dina looked at the door, then looked at Curial and shook her head. “It was my Uncle Nikolai’s room. He was my grandfather’s only son, my mom’s older brother. He died when he was, I don’t know, six or seven years old.”
“Wow, I’m sorry.”
“My mom barely knew him but the hemophilia was such a terrible disease—well, I guess the whole thing was so hard on grandfather that he locked Nikolai’s room and has never let anybody in there in years.”
“Wait a second,” said Curial. “Your uncle had hemophilia just like Alexei Romanov?”
“Yeah, I already told you I had a relative who had hemophilia, that’s how I knew about the disease.” Dina nodded her head the other direction. “Come on, I hear grandfather giving his speech. That means the grand dance is just a few minutes away.”
Dina took off, leaving Curial behind as was her custom. But Curial was staring at the door to her uncle’s room. The door wasn’t just locked. It had an electronic keypad. Similar to the one in the picture Maurice has shown him of the kind of lock they would find in Koralenko’s house.
“Curial, you coming or not?”
Dina was waiting impatiently at the top of the stairs next to a rather scary looking security man. Curial followed her all the way down to the first floor where there was a rush of excitement at the door as someone new had arrived.
And from the looks of the reception, this someone new was important.
Professor Ardankin smiled at Dina and Curial as he walked past them towards the front door and as Dina held out her hand for Curial to take it and go to the dance floor. That’s when Curial heard Ardankin’s professorial voice.
“Victor, what a surprise for you to make it, I thought you’d be in Moscow.”
Victor? Curial spun around to see Professor Ardankin embracing another man around his age. A crowd formed around them and Curial instinctively moved their way.
“Curial, what is it?” asked Dina, but he ignored her. He walked towards Ardankin until finally the old professor moved to the side enough for Curial to see who this very important Victor was.
Curial froze. It was Victor Koralenko.
Koralenko saw him immediately and gave him a mysterious look. “Why Valery, won’t you please introduce me to your American guest?”
Ardankin turned and seemed surprised to have Curial standing so near him. “Ahh yes Victor, you of course know of the great Robert Diggs, head of the Diggs Bank…well this is none other than his son…Curial.”
“Extraordinary,” Koralenko said as he waved his hand in a kind of salute. “Victor Koralenko young man. What a privilege to meet you.”
Ardankin looked past Curial. “And this Victor, is the jewel of my collection, my granddaughter, Dina.”
Dina exchanged a shocked look with Curial and then held out her hand to receive Koralenko’s. She was stunned.
“H-how do the two you of you know one another?” Curial finally asked.
“A long boring story,” Professor Ardankin said.
“Only when you tell it Valery,” Koralenko said as he wrapped an arm around Ardankin and squeezed. “Truth is, we knew each other when we were young. You could say I made Valery what he is today.”
Ardankin rolled his eyes. “I’d like to think I had a little something to do with my own success.”
Koralenko chortled. “Very little but face facts. It was my father who gave you your start, did he not?”
Dina stepped forward. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that when your grandfather was a young man, he had an advanced degree in art history and little else. And my father gave him his start.”
“You worked for him?” asked Curial while looking from Ardankin to Koralenko.
“Victor likes to think I worked for him,” said the Professor. “I worked for his father, managing his private art collection at his White Hills estate. I worked there for only a few short years.”
Koralenko beamed. “Before he used his own extraordinary brilliance to build this great legacy. Valery is right on that account. Okay, enough of the chit chat. I want your best vodka and I want it now.” Koralenko gave one more mysterious look to Dina and then Curial. “It was a pleasure meeting you both.”
And with that, Koralenko was off, Professor Ardankin was at his side, and Curial was left trying to process what it all meant.
“Did you have any idea your grandfather worked for Victor Koralenko?”
Dina was tapping her foot. “I think I would have mentioned that to you.”
“Doesn’t that seem weird to you?”
“Yeah, it does but, then again, St. Petersburg might be big…but not so big when you’re rich. I guess it makes sense that my grandfather knows Koralenko.” The orchestra music started up. “Listen, the easiest way for me to get out of here is to get the grand dance out of the way. And I’d rather do it with you than a bunch of smelly old guys. Come on.”
Curial hesitated, then followed her onto the floor. “Dina, why again do they call this the grand dance?”
“Because it lasts an hour.”
“Excuse me?”
She grabbed his hands. “You heard me, an hour. Now let’s get this over with.”
“You do realize that hurrying won’t actually make time go faster right?”
Dina narrowed her eyes. “Would you just shut up and dance?” And so they did. Dina and Curial danced. They spun around the room, he occasionally stepped on her feet, but for the most part they got around okay. Unfortunately, he had a hard time focusing on the beautiful girl in front of him.
Instead, all he could think about was that bedroom. Nikolai’s room. A room that nobody entered. Curial understood the grief that came from losing someone you loved. He understood wanting to keep the memory of that person intact. But the fact that Professor Ardankin had a son with hemophilia just like Alexei Romanov? The coincidence was eerie. Too eerie for Curial. And then there was that lock, the boy’s old bedroom was protected by an electronic lock. And from the looks of it, a sophisticated electronic lock.
But what, if anything, did it all mean? If Gennady was telling the truth, then it was Rasputin—through some sort of power or sorcery—who had elevated the Romanov Dolls from merely beautiful to unspeakably perfect. But what on earth would all of that have to do with a Russian History Professor?
He stopped and stepped away from Dina.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I need to use the restroom.”
She gave him a weird look. “Oh, okay. Sure. I’ll go get some punch but don’t take too long. When grandfather says he expects me to do the grand dance he means all of the grand dance.”
Curial gave a slight bow. “Then I’ll be quick.”
Curial turned and walked quickly in the direction of the restrooms. Along the way, he grabbed the small transmitter from his front pocket, turned the tiny switch on, and stuck it in his right ear.
“Can you hear me Maurice?”
“Dude, you guys about ready? I’m getting a little creeped out hanging in these bushes all by myself.”
“Not quite but I need your help first. S
omething’s not making sense. I need you to go online and check out Rasputin. I’d heard stories about him being a Holy man or a sorcerer. Try to find a connection between him and Alexei Romanov.”
“What exactly does this have to do with my plan?” asked Maurice.
“Just do a search, okay?”
“Fine, fine. I’m just the kid who broke this case open from the beginning. No need to keep me in the loop. Whatever. Okay, bringing up results right now. Okay…got something. In fact, the next three results all talk about the same thing.”
“And Maurice, would you mind sharing it with me?”
“You rich kids don’t have very good manners do you?”
“Would you please share it with me?”
“Better,” said Maurice. “According to this, people thought Rasputin had a special connection to the power of God and was capable of healing. Says here that he might have been responsible for healing Alexei’s hemophilia.”
It hit Curial like a freight train. “Oh my God. That’s it!”
“That’s what?” asked Maurice.
“Maurice, I know this is going to sound crazy but what if I told you I thought it was Professor Ardankin who actually stole the Romanov Dolls?”
“What?” squeaked Maurice.
“Just listen,” said Curial. “Dina showed me a room tonight, nobody ever goes in it, and it’s protected by the same kind of electronic lock you showed me in those pictures.”
“Ha, that’s all you got? Curial, this Ardankin’s a rich dude. Not too surprising that he would have a special room for special stuff, if you know what I mean.”
“No it’s not surprising,” said Curial, “but get this. This room apparently belonged to Dina’s uncle. He died when he was a young boy. And check this out, he died…of hemophilia.”
“You’re kidding me?” said Maurice.
“I am not,” said Curial. “What if? Well, what if Ardankin somehow figured it out. He figured out that Rasputin helped create the dolls, that the dolls had some special power, and that this special power had helped heal Alexei Romanov of his hemophilia.”
Teenage Treasure Hunter Page 14