by Tom Norton
John just slumped into his chair and said, “It won’t be necessary to call the police. You don’t have Sam.”
“Now what? We have Sam, too?”
The three sat looking at each other for some time and one of the priests said, “Unless you have any more insane stories to tell, I think you should leave.”
Getting up, John said, “I am confident I won’t be bothering you again.”
“That would be our immense pleasure.”
Back from his quick turnaround trip, John went to the lab a little after noon to talk to Hendrick. At the table with cold beers, Hendrick and Rick patiently waited for John to tell them what he found out from the priests.
“They didn’t do it. No question in my mind.”
Rick replied, “I didn’t think so.”
“You wouldn’t.”
Hendrick asked, “Where does that put us?”
“Beats the hell out of me. We just hang around until we get screwed, I guess.”
Rick said, “It’s perfectly obvious what happened.”
John replied, “Normally it isn’t necessary to explain the obvious, but go ahead.”
“Someone was at the cave before the Catholics.”
“You’re right, it is obvious if the Catholics didn’t take Sam, and I just said they didn’t, but who would that be? How would anyone know we had a Neanderthal skeleton, but the Catholics?”
Hendrick said, “Nancy.”
John replied, “I don’t think so. She said she didn’t tell anyone; at least at that time. I think it’s one of the other students, somebody got to him, or her.”
There was a knock on the door of the lab and Hendrick made his way to the door and had a short discussion and signed for something. Back at the table with a large Manila envelope, he looked at John and said, “I bet this isn’t good news, it’s from Masters and Lamb law firm.”
John said, “Well, open it up and see what it is and if it involves me in any way.”
Hendrick retrieved eight or ten pages and read them silently and then laid them on the table and slid them in front of John and John skimmed through them very quickly.
Hendrick said, “Well there’s the hammer. Not that we didn’t ask for it. I have been suspended until further notice and there is a restraining order in there on behalf of eleven university students.”
“I see that. Well we can be sure of one thing; I have one of these in the pipeline too. And the letter from the University board of directors. We are to come to the University administration building on the seventh to settle the matter or to appeal the accusations. Well they can kiss my ass; we can’t lie our way out of this mess, no sense in trying.”
Rick said, “What about me?”
John replied, “Well we could make a copy of this for you or you can go home and get yours.”
“That’s just great.”
Hendrick replied, “What are you whining about, you still have time to learn how to paint houses for a living.”
John said, “We are to be off the University grounds by four tomorrow afternoon.”
“That won’t be a problem for you two, you live out of as brief case, but a lot of this stuff in here is mine.”
“We’ll help; I’ll bring my pickup in the morning. We might as well finish off that case of beer you have hidden so we won’t have to haul it.”
Henderson replied, “Why not. I’m not overly concerned about getting caught here in the lab drinking beer. Rick, run over to the cafeteria and get us the best food they have over there and put it on my University account. Here’s the card. I pay at the end of the month. Fat chance that’s going to happen.”
John said, “I’m thinking German sausage and no bread.”
Rick said, “Hendrick, can I get some to take home?”
“Knock yourself out son.”
The three were quite drunk when the beer ran out and good sense convinced them to call a cab to take them to their homes. John was dropped off first and he said, “I’ll pick you two up in the morning. And Rick, tell your mom you were at a university party, not with two professors.”
By ten in the morning, John had picked both of them up and they were at the lab boxing bones and skulls as well as a lot of personal items of Hendrick’s.
In the safe, Hendricks unfolded a sheet of paper and said, “Here’s the spectrophotometer report on the gold, John you keep it, it’ll just get lost in all my papers.”
John replied, “I think I’ll have it framed and hang it where my doctorate diploma used to be.”
Hendrick laughed and said, “Then what am I going to use?”
“I figure in a couple weeks you can use the front page of the National Inquirer.”
Rick said, “I got my envelope at home, a guy was waiting. But, I didn’t tell mom.”
“Well I can understand that, I wouldn’t either.”
“I think I’ll stay over at my sisters until mom finds out from someone else.”
John said, “Remember, we don’t say a single word about the entire affair to anyone. It’s not impossible we could lie our way out of this or make a deal with the students and the University.”
Rick replied, “What about the student that stole Sam?”
“That’s a whole different kettle of fish. He’s not going to say someone else discovered a Neanderthal skeleton and he stole it from us and Poland. It may not even be a student that stole it, probably someone he told about it. Let’s not forget someone cracked that safe. Not many can do that and sure as hell not one of those students.”
Hendrick said, “That does it; let’s get the hell out of here. How about you two at Lin Lou’s tonight for Chinese, we can’t let this get us down; to hell with it.”
John replied, “It’s not like I have anything better to do and Rick has never turned down anything free yet. What time?”
“Seven, Lin Lou’s”
At seven, John, Rick and Lin Lou were seated at a very nice table and Hendrick was carrying pots of vegetables, rice and various other Chines dishes to the table.
John said, “I didn’t know you were a cook, Hendrick?”
Hendrick replied, “Everyone has a hobby, mine is cooking and yours is drinking beer and being sarcastic.”
John said, “I had no idea.”
Over dinner they talked about the mess they were in and how it had all came about and Hendrick said to John, “When you got the permit to go in this last time and they said that PACD was in there and we would have to wait, did they mention anyone being in there before them?”
“Why would they and why would I ask?”
“Just wondering. If someone else got a permit before the Catholics, the Poles could tell us who it was.”
John said, “I’ll call them tomorrow. Being screwed is one thing, but not knowing who did it is another.”
Rick added, “We don’t want to get blamed for illegally taking the skeleton out of Poland that’s for sure, because we didn’t.”
Hendrick replied, “It’ll look like we did to the Poles. You two had any calls from the University?”
John and Rick replied that they had, but were not answering the phone.
In an attempt to be polite, John told Lin Lou that she had a very nice home here.
“Where did you meet Hendrick, in China?”
“Oh no, right here in Berlin. I was waiting tables at the Gold Palace, do you boys know where that is?”
Rick replied, “That huge Chinese restaurant down town? You talk about fancy. I bet you made good tips at that place.”
Lin Lou replied, “Oh I never accepted tips.”
Hedrick said, “She owns the place.”
Rick said, “Really?”
John said, “You should never have told him that.”
The next morning John was on the phone with Rick who had slept over sitting close by.
“Yes sir, this is John Thomas, I got an archeological excavation permit from you last year.”
“Oh yes, I remember. How can I help you?�
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“We had to wait for a group called the PACD.”
“Yes.”
“Were there any permits issued prior to PACD being there?”
“No, there weren’t, I would remember, why?”
“We accidently left some equipment there, nothing expensive, and PACD said it was not there when they showed up.”
“Probably loggers or hunters. You know that primitive road is not there for that cave?”
“Is that right?”
“Why would it be, there has never been anything found there. I understand the PACD didn’t find any Christian artifacts.”
John asked, “What’s it for?”
“Loggers. They only log when there is snow on the ground. Of course hunters also use the road to hunt those white rabbits.”
“How would I find out if the loggers or hunters found our equipment?”
“You could call the logging company in Warsaw. The hunters would have to have a hunting license for that they bought here in Suwalki. You can’t use that road without a hunting license or permit like you and the logging company received from us.”
“Ok, thank you sir, I will make some phone calls, if the equipment is lost it’s no big deal.”
“Are you coming back this year?”
“No, like you said, nothing has ever been found there. Thank you and goodbye.”
John hung up and said to Rick, “I think who we are looking for are rabbit hunters.”
“Why would rabbit hunters dig up the cave?”
“Spare me Rick. People posing as rabbit hunters so they could get in there and have an excuse for being there. Like a hunting camp in the cave.”
Rick replied, “I get it. They had to get a hunting license in town.”
“Right. Where in town I don’t know and I am sure where they got it isn’t going to tell us who they are unless we are right there asking.”
“We have to go to Poland?”
“No, I have to go to Poland. I wonder if that airline sells season tickets? When I walk in that café downtown in Suwalki, they just yell, The usual?”
“Really?”
Two days later, John questioned the waitress in the café as to where he could buy a hunting license and she immediately said, “Hunting season is closed.”
“I know it’s closed, but what if it wasn’t closed?”
“At City Hall, only place you can get one.”
“Thank you mam.”
John made his way to City Hall with a prefabricated story about him buying licenses for the same group as last year, but he forgot their names. This and a little more bullshit and he copied the names and addresses off of two dozen old license carbon copies. All were Poland addresses and before leaving he asked the name of the logging company that used the logging road north of town. He was told it was Ciezlak in Warsaw.
Back at his hotel room, John called the Ciezlak logging company and asked to talk to the owner. The owner didn’t speak English or German so he settled for the secretary who could translate. What John requested was that if any of the loggers in the cave area had seen any hunters and could somehow identify who they were. It was a game violation thing.
He was told to call back in an hour and he did. He was then speaking to a logger who spoke English and the logger was aware of John’s request.
The logger asked, “Why do you want to know?”
John replied that the hunters were sometimes drunk and carelessly shooting their rifles and he was afraid one of the loggers in the area might get accidentally shot.”
The logger’s attitude changed immediately and he said, “Yes, I saw hunters down by the cave, a hunting camp in the cave I think.”
John asked, “Did you talk to them?”
“Yes,”
“Did you hear any names?”
“Yes, all four of them introduced themselves. They said they were hunting. Damned foreigners, I’m smart enough to know they were hunting.”
“Germans?”
“They didn’t say, but I knew where they were from?”
John was real nervous and he casually asked, “Where were they from?”
“Iceland.”
“Iceland?”
“Yes Iceland. I built some dorms there at the University, you can’t mistake that accent. Hell, one of them was wearing a University ring.”
“They were speaking Icelandic?”
“No, English.”
“Their names?”
“I don’t remember, but they were Polish names. Costs more for foreigners to hunt. They do that all the time, give false names and addresses. Done it myself a time or two.”
“Well you don’t know how much I thank you sir.”
“That’s ok, you just tell those guys to cut that shooting shit out.”
“I’ll do that,” said goodbye and hung up.
“Iceland?”
Calling Hendrick, John said to him, “I know who took everything.”
“Who?”
“I’ll tell you when I get back; I want to see the look on your face.”
The next day in the lab with Hendrick and Rick, Hedrick asked John, “Well who?”
John smiled and said, “Iceland.”
Hendrick frowned and said, “Iceland?”
“That’s right, Iceland.”
“They don’t know shit about the Neanderthals.”
“Well, apparently loose lips sink ships and we have some loose lips out there.”
“One of the students?”
“Has to be.”
Hendrick replied, “And the University of Iceland?”
“Yep. Who else would want a Neanderthal?”
“Are you telling me that a university stole a historical relic, all of our university data, kicked my door in and cracked my safe?”
John replied, “Well the people that took everything out of the cave were definitely from Iceland, so is there any other possibility?”
“No, there isn’t. Should we tell the directors at the Berlin University?”
“Screw em. They wouldn’t believe us anyway. If the students have told them about Sam and the disk, they will think we still have them and we are trying to blame someone else. Everybody is keeping their mouths shut to save their asses.”
Rick said, “What in the hell is the University of Iceland going to do with everything. They can’t admit stealing it and they sure as hell didn’t make the discovery; they didn’t even have a permit from Poland.”
John said, “This gets worse by the minute. There are no legal charges against us for anything, so let’s just lay low and see what Iceland does. They didn’t go to all that trouble for nothing. Who knows, maybe our loudmouth student will call and tell us what the hell is going on, but we sure as hell can’t contact any of them.”
Several weeks passed with little more than daily calls from the University that were ignored. Now Lin Lou’s and Hendrick’s home was the hangout and occasional overnight stays.
At dinner, John asked Hendrick, “Where’s Rick?”
“At his mom’s, she’s still in a state of shock, Rick being suspended.”
“I suppose. Who could we trust in Iceland to keep their mouth shut if we wanted to find out what the hell is going on?”
“That eliminates anyone even remotely connected to the government and certainly in the educational field.”
“Well, from what I have seen, that is just about everyone.”
Hendrick asked, “How are the egg rolls?”
“A little on the salty side.”
“Well that figures. A couple beers and they would be just right huh?”
“I think so.”
Hendrick said, “I’ve got it.”
John replied, “Got what?”
“Who we could trust to keep something in confidence.”
“And?”
“A Catholic Priest,” and John broke out laughing and said, “You know how we got into this mess don’t you?”
“That was an exception.”
“God I hope. But you’re right, that’s our best shot.”
Hendrick replied, “Best shot at what?”
“I don’t know. Knowing more than we do right now I guess.”
“And then what?”
“Maybe we could get all of our stuff back.”
Hendrick said, “Steal it back?”
John replied, “I wasn’t always a professor you know.”
“That’s becoming more apparent all the time.”
John said, “Everything must be stored at the university somewhere.”
“You’re serious aren’t you?”
“Well we can at least check things out in Iceland, who knows. We can nose around as tourists, only two or three people would recognize us and we know they are at the University during the day. It’s late July, so we should have a lot of daylight.”
“Ok, but I’m not into this cloak and dagger shit.”
A week later, John and Hendrick were in Iceland without Rick. It was decided that two older men with a young man might attract too much attention. By this time John and Hendrick had a good start on a beard and mustache and dressed as much Icelandic as they could. A quick trip by cab and they located the Catholic Church that by Catholic standards was modest. There were cars in its parking lot, so they could expect someone to be there the next day.
The remainder of the day was spent in a local bar that was quite busy and they did not understand a word said all afternoon.
They then retired to their third story room whose big window faced the many volcanic cones and one of them was smoking in the distance. At ten p.m. the sun was still shining when the two retired for the night.
Walking up the stairs to the big wood door, John said, “Elbow me if I get sarcastic.”
Inside the church there was no one to be see, but a low murmur could be heard coming from a confession booth and John said, “I hope Nancy didn’t beat us here,” and he got an elbow in the ribs.
An older woman left the booth and seconds later a priest appeared next to the booth. He motioned the two forward until they were in front of him and he said something in Icelandic.
Hendrick asked, “English?” and the priest nodded.