Return to Atlantis: A Novel (27 page)

“If Holly hadn’t put herself in front of you,” Eddie told him, “I wouldn’t have stopped.”

“And I would have deserved it. Well, up to a point.” A faint attempt at a smile. “But when your granddaughter’s braver than you are, it’s probably a sign that you need to reassess some things in your life. Like …” He sighed. “Like your relationship with your son.”

Eddie remained silent, compelling Nina to speak up. “In what way?”

Larry was not relishing whatever admission he was about to make. “I, er … I think I’ve misjudged you, Edward. I always thought of you as the boy you used to be—not the man you’ve become. But, well … you’ve changed. You grew up, you took on responsibilities for things bigger than just yourself. And … it’s made me realize that maybe I never did.”

He turned his eyes back down to the floor, not awaiting approbation but simply mentally worn from having forced out the confession. Nina looked between the two men, wondering which would speak first.

It was Eddie. “That’s something I never thought I’d hear.” But there was no malice or criticism to it, merely a statement of fact.

“It’s something I never thought I’d say,” replied Larry. “But I have, so, there you are. I hope you’ll accept it.”

Eddie held him in suspense for several seconds before delivering his reply. “I’ll think about it.”

His father had clearly been wanting more, but more or less managed to cover his downhearted look. “I suppose that’s the best I could hope for.”

A noncommittal sound, then Eddie tried to change the subject. “How is Holly? And Lizzie?”

“Elizabeth’s fine; you know her, she always pushes on no matter what. Holly was very upset about losing your grandmother, as you can imagine, but she’s a strong kid. She’s handling it. What about you?”

“Me? Well, obviously I was upset about Nan too. I should have been there with her.” He considered that, then gave Nina an apologetic look. “I mean, I wish I
could’ve
been there to see her one last time.”

“She would have liked that,” said Larry, “but I meant what about
you
, personally? You disappeared for three months, and it looks like you’ve been in the wars. What with the cuts and bruises, and the …” Larry indicated his chin. “The face fungus.”

“Why does nobody like my beard?” Eddie said with a
sigh. “But yeah, I’ve had a few scrapes. Par for the course when you’re on the run because you’ve been accused of murder. Speaking of which, I need to get going.”

Nina hurriedly blocked the entrance to the bedroom once more. “Eddie, I’m not going to let you go again.”

“We’ve been through this—I’ve got to. I can’t clear myself without that code of Kit’s, and I’m not going to bring you down with me as well.”

“
No
, Eddie,” she insisted. “Whatever happens, we’re going to deal with it
together
, okay? If you think I’m going to let you go again now that I have you back, you’re really,
really
mistaken.”

“How are you gonna stop me? Tie me to the bed? Not that you haven’t done that before, but—”

“We have company,” Nina hurriedly reminded him, blushing.

“Well, maybe
I
should get going,” said Larry uncomfortably. He went to the door, then hesitated, curious. “There’s something that can clear you, Edward? Why don’t you tell the police?”

“Because we don’t know what it means,” said Nina. “It’s a number, a code. We think it’s important, but we don’t know why.”

“What number?”

“What,
you
think
you’ll
be able to work it out?” Eddie said in a cutting tone. “A mathematical genius”—he nodded at Nina—“and an MI6 agent couldn’t find the answer, but a bloke who works in shipping can?”

“Maybe it’s a shipping number,” Larry replied defiantly.

“Ah … that’s actually not a bad idea,” Nina had to admit. “And really, it’s not like it could hurt.”

“All right, whatever,” Eddie muttered. He wrote down the number while Nina gave Larry a potted account of how it had been calculated. “We thought it might be a Greek phone number, but it doesn’t work.” He gave the paper to his father.

Larry looked at it and frowned. “Hmm. Twelve digits, starting with three and zero …”

Nina’s eyebrows shot up. “You know what it means?”

“Maybe. Thirty is a Swiss bank code. For banks in Bern, I think.”

Eddie regarded him in disbelief. “You just know that off the top of your head?”

“Quite a few of my clients have Swiss accounts, so yeah. I deal with this stuff all the time. Let’s see …” His brow crinkled in thought. “A full Swiss IBAN code would be twenty-one characters, but the first four are basically a computer checksum, so you can ignore them. Then it’s five for the bank code and twelve for the account number, but account numbers are almost never that long, so any blank spaces are just padded out with zeros. Most Swiss bank codes are only four digits, so three-oh-two-one gives you the bank … and whatever’s left is the actual account number.”

“If we told Interpol what you just said,” Nina asked cautiously, “would they be able to find out who the account belonged to?”

Larry nodded. “Swiss banks aren’t like super-secret fortresses anymore. The United States strong-armed them into opening up after September 11. If you want to keep your money hidden nowadays, you take it to a bank in Andorra or Macao or—well, that’s not really important,” he said, noticing Eddie’s disapproving look. “But if this is a Swiss account number, this would be enough information for its owner to access it—or Interpol to investigate it.”

“We have to tell Beauchamp,” said Nina, heading to the phone. Without looking back, she pointed at Eddie. “Don’t you even think of leaving.”

“I’m not,” he replied. “Not until I see how this pans out, at least.”

“Well, it looks like this’ll get complicated, and I was going anyway, so …,” said Larry.

“Are you sure?” asked Nina.

“I should catch up with Julie before she melts my credit cards,” he said with a small laugh. “But, ah … if
I was right about that number, you’ll let me know, won’t you?”

“Of course we will. Won’t we, Eddie?”

“I suppose,” said Eddie, rather dismissively.

“Okay, then. And about the money Stikes paid me? You were both right; it’s … 
tainted
, I suppose. As soon as I get back to England, I’ll donate it to one of those charities you mentioned, Edward.” He looked hopefully at his son, but no praise was forthcoming. “Well, I’ll, ah, see you again sometime. Both of you.” Larry gave Nina a brief embrace and Eddie an awkward nod, then departed.

Nina rounded on her husband. “That’s it? That’s all you had to say,
I suppose
?”

“What were you expecting?” Eddie replied sarcastically. “Big backslapping hugs and manly tears and the whole
I love you, son, I love you too, Dad
thing? We’re not Americans. Besides, even if he’s right about Kit’s code, it doesn’t change the fact that he fucked up. He can apologize as much as he likes, but it’ll take a lot for me to get over that.”

“Even if he helps clear your name?”

He huffed. “Stop asking me things I don’t want to answer and call Renée.”

Nina smiled and picked up the phone.

“W
elcome back!” cried Lola, embracing the newly shaven Eddie as he entered the reception area. Several other IHA staffers gave him a round of applause.

“Thanks! Thanks, everyone. It’s good to be back,” Eddie replied. “Steady on, the wife’s right behind me,” he added as Lola kissed him.

A grinning Nina followed him into the IHA offices. “It doesn’t take long for word to spread around here, does it,
Lola
?”

“I could hardly keep it to myself, could I?” Lola replied without a hint of contrition as she released Eddie. “It was bursting to get out. Like I wish this little guy would.” She looked down at her stomach.

“He’ll have his freedom soon,” Nina assured her. “Or she’ll have hers, whichever it is. Anyway, thank you, everyone.”

People congratulated Eddie and shook his hand, then returned to their offices and labs. He and Nina had work of their own to deal with. “Mr. Penrose is waiting for you,” Lola told them. “And Ms. Beauchamp is ready to take your call when you are.”

They went to the conference room. Sebastian Penrose
stood up to greet them as they entered. “Ah, Eddie! Glad to see you again, alive and well and a free man. It must be a huge weight off your mind.”

“You’re not kidding,” said Eddie as he shook hands with the older Englishman. “Although let’s make sure I actually
am
free first, eh? I still keep thinking a SWAT team’s going to burst in at any moment.”

“I think this will just be a formality,” Penrose said, smiling. “Now, I understand that Renée is ready for us, so let me set this up …”

The conference room was equipped for videoconferencing. Penrose tapped at a remote control to switch on a large screen on one wall. A view of another conference room appeared, this one at Interpol’s headquarters in Lyon. Renée Beauchamp looked back at them. “Good afternoon, Sebastian,” said the tall Frenchwoman. “Or whatever time it is there.”

“Good morning,” Penrose replied, amused. “Now, I have two people here who are very eager to hear what you have to say, so … I hope it’s good news.”

Beauchamp sighed a little. “It is good news for Eddie; not so much for Interpol, I am afraid. Nina, you were right about the number being a Swiss account code. We made a priority check with the bank in Bern, and found that it was indeed registered to Ankit Jindal.”

Eddie noted her formality in using Kit’s full name; she was upset and disappointed in her former friend. “When was it opened?”

“Over two years ago. And a considerable sum of money had been paid into it during that time—over three hundred thousand euros.”

“Paid in by whom?” Nina asked.

“A company in the Cayman Islands, which turned out to be a shell. It ceased trading three months ago—just after Ankit’s death. But I had our Financial Crime Unit check it, and they found that the company was originally created as a subsidiary of a business owned by Harald Glas.”

“Glas?” echoed Eddie, exchanging a brief but knowing look with Nina. “He was involved with Kit too?”

Beauchamp tipped her head quizzically. “There is some other connection?”

He decided not to let her in on his nocturnal visit to Dalton’s house. “His name came up when I was trying to find out who attacked the skyscraper in Tokyo. But I didn’t know he had Kit on his payroll.”

“Nor did we. It is embarrassing to Interpol; Internal Affairs will have to investigate further.” She shook her head. “Of all people, I never would have believed he would be corrupt. He fought
against
corruption in India before joining Interpol, and he was always very firm on the need for order. I don’t know …” Another shake.

“What about Glas?” said Nina. “Is Interpol any closer to tracking him down?”

“No. It is as if he has disappeared from the face of the planet. Even though Eddie stayed ahead of us, we knew where he had been, and we were catching up.”

“You didn’t get me, though,” Eddie couldn’t resist pointing out.

Beauchamp’s lips briefly twitched into a hunter’s smile. “We would have. In time. But Glas … he has completely disappeared. An international red notice was placed on him, but he has not been seen since the warrant for his arrest was issued. We think he was tipped off. More corruption. But,” she went on, “as for another red notice … Eddie, you will be very pleased to know that the one issued against you has been formally rescinded. The new evidence against Ankit proves that he had something to hide—which, with the gun found on the video footage, makes your claim of self-defense more valid.”

“Thank God,” said Nina.

“There will still have to be further investigation into what happened in Peru—and the Peruvian government has outstanding charges against Eddie for assaulting two police officers. But”—another slight smile—“I have persuaded them this is not a matter that calls for extradition.”

Eddie counted names on his fingers. “So that’s Zimbabwe, Syria, and now Peru I can cross off my holiday list, then. And Monaco, too.”

Beauchamp’s look of curiosity returned. “What happened in Monaco?”

“Uh, nothing,” Nina said quickly, not wanting to remind Interpol of the couple’s involvement in the crashing of a multimillion-dollar yacht into the middle of the wealthy principality’s annual motor race. “But we’ll be happy to cooperate with Interpol to make sure Eddie is fully cleared. Won’t we?”

“No arguments here,” Eddie assured her.

“For now, though,” Beauchamp continued, “Eddie, you are a free man.”

Eddie let out a long sigh of relief. “I’m bloody glad to hear that, Renée. Thanks.”

The Interpol officer nodded. “I will speak to you again, no doubt. Good-bye.”

She disconnected. Nina turned to her husband. “How do you feel?”

“Relieved. As.
Fuck
.” He slumped in his chair. “Being on the run really bloody takes it out of you.”

“Well, now you can stop running,” said Penrose. “So, they found a connection between Jindal and Harald Glas? Interesting.”

“You knew Glas,” said Nina. “Can you think of any reason why he might have been paying Kit to obtain the statues?”

He shook his head firmly. “I wouldn’t say I was exactly a close friend—I knew him through the United Nations, that’s all. But no, I can’t think of anything.”

“Kit was on his payroll before we even found the first statue in Egypt, though,” Eddie noted. “So Glas must have been looking out for the statues even then.”

“I suppose having someone inside the Cultural Property Crime Unit would give you a heads-up if they turned up on the black market,” Nina said thoughtfully.

“But how would he even have known about the statues in the first place?” asked Eddie.

“I wish I knew,” said Penrose. He stood. “I have to go and brief the UN bigwigs on all this; Nina, I’ll forward you the minutes. And Eddie … congratulations.”

“Thanks.” The two men shook hands again, then Penrose departed. “So,” said Eddie, “now what?”

“First of all, before anything else …” Nina leaned over, placed both hands on Eddie’s cheeks, and kissed him deeply. “That.”