Page 49 of The San Marco Heist

Right?

I couldn’t give them the full truth, but I could ask the same questions I’d had when I started that job. “You said the Codex was worth over three million?”

Scarlett nodded. “Three point four million on the black market.”

“Why so much for an old sheet of paper?”

“Thomas Maguire told me it was linked to a legend about an immense treasure.”

“Could the ringalsobe linked to that legend? Maybe the kidnappers were after both items as keys to the treasure?”

“Hold on.” Brie faced away from the screen, head bobbing up and down as she no doubt read from another monitor. “We did a little extra research into the ring’s history. Turns out, it was stolen from a museum in Oxford.”

Scarlett quirked an eyebrow. “Did you cross-reference that with the Codex theft?”

Brie nodded. “We did, but there didn’t seem to be any link. It was three years earlier, and the methods didn’t match. The interesting part I just learned is that it came from a horde buried in Chalcis, Greece, hidden during a siege in 1470, when the Ottomans took the city.”

“Greece?” I said. “How would that tie in with the Codex?”

Brie turned back to the camera. “Because the legend is about St. Mark’s Treasure, which is said to be buried in Venice. And Chalcis was a Venetian colony at that time.”

Scarlett stared at the model as if it would give her answers. “But they don’t have the Codex, so why would that matter?”

“Maybe they figure they’ll still be able to get it somehow? Maybe they’re why the client doesn’t have it yet? Or maybe they think they can get whatever information they needed some other way?”

Scarlett’s gaze shot up to meet mine and she snapped her fingers. “The patterns.”

I’d been getting into a rhythm with her, but I was lost. “The what?”

“Brie, pull up your x-ray of the Codex.” Scarlett made a beeline for the screen where the Codex appeared in greens and blues, with its lettering in bright yellow. Faded marks behind the letters, paler green, showed three waves with a circle between the second and third. A line underneath it all.

Rav said, “The cypher?”

Scarlett jabbed a finger at the image. “What if the code here is what they needed and they’re thinking maybe Emmett saw it? Or they have a different approach to getting it? They could steal the x-ray data from the museum and not even need the Codex?”

All of those options made sense. “But why the rush on the ring?”

“Because they’ve got our attention with Emmett, and the wedding’s a perfect distraction?”

“Or…” Time for a nudge along the truth road. “What if the second team you ran into at the Maguire mansion will also be at the Albrecht house?” Oh, the irony, since I was going to be there.

Scarlett nodded. “Good point.”

Jayce swallowed the last of her scone. “Back to locations. If the ring is a key to this treasure, it won’t be in a small wall safe with other rings and jewelry. It’s going to be somewhere special. Like the safe room?”

Scarlett shook her head. “That’s onlyifthe Albrechts know about that link thatwearen’t even sure about. Brie, I’ll need you to dig into the original thefts a little more. Maybe get someone on the ring’s provenance and find out who the Albrechts might have purchased it from.”

Her sister nodded. “Consider it done. I’m going to call Zac and see if Ash has any—”

Scarlett cocked that brow.

Brie rolled her eyes. “Scar, like it or not, Zac said she was involved with the Codex case for the FBI. She may not be able to give us all her details, but she can certainly point us in a few directions to speed up our progress.”

“I received her resume this morning,” said Evelyn. “Rather impressive young woman. She’ll be an asset to the team.”

Brie’s face lit up, while the skin around Scarlett’s eyes tightened. There was history there, but it wasn’t the right time to ask about the story.

“Fine,” said Scarlett. “Back to the matter at hand. Probabilities time. A man who puts a three-million-dollar car on display for his guests doesn’t buy random medieval rings unless he’s a medieval art collector. From the house decorations, I’m going to say he’s not. Our best bet until we know better is that he knows or suspects it’s related to something bigger and keeps it safe accordingly.”

---