Quick Dan spoke first, living up to his name. “We did. Right now, the silver skull is at Hendry Hall.”
“You examined it and the box to make sure that nothing but the skull was present?”
“Of course. All the paperwork that was with it I took out and left on your desk.”
“Good. I want them to follow the trail I’m leaving for them but I do not wish them to learn more than that.” Hiroshi’s smile broadened as he looked at Locke. He stepped towards her, tipping her chin up. “And you, my lovely flower. You have gotten your meeting with Mr. Craig?”
“Tomorrow afternoon,” she replied.
“You have both done very well.” Stepping back, he placed his sword into a scabbard he wore on his back. “We are well on our way to achieving all of our goals.”
“I still think it’s dangerous to involve Gravedigger in this,” Locke said. She ignored the warning glare she was receiving from Quick Dan, feeling that she had to get this off her chest. “I mean, I know it’s not like we’re dumping the skull on Assistance Unlimited or Doc Daye but she’s dangerous, right?”
“She’s far more dangerous than those others you mentioned,” Hiroshi answered. “She serves an ancient force, one that has empowered many great heroes.”
Forging ahead, Locke asked, “So why possibly alert her to our presence?”
“Because there are secrets to that skull that have eluded me,” Hiroshi admitted. “And I have the utmost faith in her that she will be able to unlock them. Once she has, we’ll use that information for our own purposes.”
Locke nodded, knowing that pressing any further could only be a dangerous proposition. “Thank you for answering me, my lord.”
“Emperor,” Hiroshi corrected. “Soon enough, it is how everyone in this city, this country and this world will know me…” He spread his arms wide and looked upward, as if addressing a large crowd that only he could see. “Emperor Tamaki!”
Chapter III: Questioning the Dead
Mortimer woke up early, washed his face in the sink and brushed his teeth. He had bathed before bed as was his habit, so he went ahead and got dressed in a casual suit and trudged downstairs to make breakfast. As he passed by the small office that had been claimed by Charity as her workspace, he noticed that the lights were on in the room.
Pausing in the doorway, he saw that she had unexpectedly returned and was now seated at her desk, the silver skull and its odd accompanying paper resting before her. The desk and some of the other furnishings in this room had been moved from Josef Goldstein’s home once the decision had been made to relocate her activities to Hendry Hall.
Charity wore her Gravedigger uniform, though the mask was gone and her hood was pushed back, revealing her lovely features and dark hair. Mortimer paused as his eyes moved admiringly over her full lips and he wondered for the thousandth time what it would be like to kiss them.
Without looking at him, Charity said, “Come in. I assume you know about this?”
“Someone left it on our doorstep,” Mortimer said, taking a seat across from her. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and gave her the smile that had broken a hundred hearts over the years. “I didn’t expect you back so soon. Not that I’m not happy to see you.”
Charity looked up at him, her eyes searching his. Her words were somewhat cruel but the way she delivered them undercut their painfulness, making it clear that she was just being honest. “You’re a handsome guy, Mr. Quinn. But I’m not in any way interested in flirting with you. You’re here because I consider you a resource. With Josef dead, you’re the only other former Gravedigger around.”
Trying to hide his disappointment, Mortimer shifted the conversation back to the skull. “What do you make of it?”
“The skull is carved from pure silver and the gems that are implanted in the eye sockets are genuine. I asked Cedric to estimate its worth and he says it could go for several thousand dollars to the right collector.”
“But why is it here?”
“Good question. If it was left for me, then that begs the question of who knows about Gravedigger, which could pose all kinds of concerns for us.”
“True,” Mortimer admitted. “So you don’t really know anything, then?”
“I didn’t say that.” Charity stood up and stretched, arching her back in a manner that made Mortimer truly sorry that she wasn’t attracted to him. She picked up the skull and tossed it to Mortimer, who caught it with both hands. “Mitchell did some digging through Josef’s papers and he found a reference to it.”
“And?”
“It’s very old, dating back at least to the 9th century.”
“You’re kidding!” Mortimer stared at the skull, marveling that anything could have endured so long.
“Supposedly, it was the creation of a Norse wizard and it housed a demonic entity that granted dark powers to whomever held it.”
Mortimer frowned and set the skull back down on the desk.
Charity walked over to a small decanter and poured herself a glass of water. She took a sip, her gaze focused on something that only she could see. “A warrior named Grimarr[3] recovered it after a tremendous battle and from that point on it mostly vanishes from the historical record, only popping up every few centuries — usually in the hands of someone wanting to tap into its power.”
“The Norse stuff at least explains why there are runes on one side of the paper,” Mortimer said. “Have you been able to translate them?”
“Not yet. I’m going to take it into town and see if someone at the museum can do that for me.”
“What about this reference to Pandora? Where does a Greek myth cross over with a 9th century Norse object?”
Charity looked over her shoulder at him, the twinkle in her eyes suggesting that she’d mulled over that very same question. “I have some ideas about that… but I don’t want to tempt fate by talking about them just yet.”
Mortimer grunted, having expected nothing less from her. During his own time as Gravedigger, he’d kept his cards close to the vest. There was something about knowing that you only had three years to prove your worth that made you a bit paranoid. He stood up and said, “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“To be honest with you, I’m not sure.”
Mortimer exhaled, pleased in a way that it had finally come to this. He moved towards her, trying to ignore how good she looked in that uniform of hers. It looked like it was meant for a woman to wear despite the fact that she was the first to do so. “I’m here to give you advice. I think you know that. But I can help you on missions, too. I’m tired of staying in this house. Put me out in the field.”
“Here’s my problem,” Charity said, placing her hands on her hips and facing him directly. “Li, Cedric and Mitchell, they all know their place on the team. They answer to me. But you, you’re a former Gravedigger. You’re used to operating as the person in charge. You balk at my commands and that challenges me in front of the others.”
“I’d never—”
“You do it all the time. You think you’re making helpful suggestions but you’re not. I have a hard enough time acting as leader as it is. I’m young, I’m female and I’m new at this. The last thing I need is somebody who’s already done the job looking over my shoulder.”
“But you speak so highly of Josef. Isn’t that what he’d be doing if he hadn’t been murdered?”
“Probably but we’ll never know because he’s dead.”
Mortimer paused, considering her words. “What if I promised to hold my tongue unless asked to speak?”
Charity frowned. “I’m not sure I want that, either. I don’t want you letting something slip just because you’re afraid of my reaction.”