Page 42 of Wild Escape

"It's not your fault,” I said. "How did they get into the safe?”

"Douglas keeps the combination in a journal on the nightstand. That’s where he keeps all of his passwords and important information. One of them found it. By that time, they were agitated. It was taking longer than expected, I think.”

"How did the shooting occur?”

“Douglas kept a pistol in a coat pocket in the closet. He grabbed it." Her throat sealed again, and the words grew hard. "They shot him," she said, her voice quivering.

"Can you describe the assailants?”

Mrs. Caldwell took a deep breath and tried to settle herself. "There were two men and a woman.”

"Was there anything identifiable about them? Tattoos, scars, markings?"

“They wore all black. Long sleeves." Mrs. Caldwell's lips tightened, and she shook her head. "I'm sorry. I just don't recall any details. I know one was pretty big. 6’3”, maybe 6’4”. Built like a football player.“

"What about the other two?”

"The other guy had a medium build. And the girl was maybe 5’4”, 5’5”, if I had to guess. 115 pounds.” She paused and recalled the nightmare. "I don't think they came here to kill anyone, per se. The girl freaked out when Douglas was shot. I mean that elevates the charges for all of them, doesn't it?”

I nodded. "What was taken from the safe?”

"Money—maybe $10,000. Some jewelry. The book.”

"What book?”

"That's what they were after,” she said. “I told Douglas we shouldn't keep it at the house, but he wouldn't listen to me. He said what good is it if we have to hide it away in a vault somewhere and never get to enjoy it?" She muttered aside. "I thought the whole thing was stupid, anyway. How could a book be worth that much money?”

I lifted a curious brow. "What kind of book?”

22

"It's a book nobody can read," Mrs. Caldwell said.

My face wrinkled with confusion. "What do you mean?”

"I mean, it's written in a language that nobody understands. I don't see what the hubbub is all about. I thought it was all a scam, but Douglas had it carbon-dated. It was written in the 14th century. A rare Codex. The language is believed to predate Sumerian.”

"I thought Sumerian was the oldest known language," I said.

"That's where the controversy comes in. Some people believe this is evidence of a prior sophisticated civilization. A culture that was lost to time.”

I was intrigued.

"As legend has it, the book was copied by a monk from the original scrolls. Unfortunately, the original scrolls were destroyed in a fire. As you can imagine, this creates even more speculation about the authenticity of the book and the scrolls. There's no way to confirm it. But for those who believe in its provenance, this is the only copy of an ancient language that has yet to be translated. Some believe the language is not of human origin. That it was a gift from… well, I feel silly even saying it, but extraterrestrials.”

"What did your husband believe?” I asked.

"Oh, he bought into the whole thing hook, line, and sinker. Which is kind of surprising, because Doug has always been pretty levelheaded. He picked the book up back in the early ’80s from a collector's wife. Her husband had passed away, and she didn't know what she had. I think Doug picked it up for $1,500 at the time. Back then, that sounded crazy. It was all the money in the world. We recently had the book appraised. I couldn't believe what it was worth.” She paused, looked around, then whispered, “$42 million.”

That hung there.

My jaw dropped, and my eyes rounded.

"$42 million?" I said for clarification.

Audrey nodded. "It would likely garner more at auction. The appraiser said we could probably get $50 to $60 million if a bidding war ensued.”

"Has anybody recently approached Douglas about purchasing the book?"