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.If it’s true, this may be the greatest discovery in the history of all mankind.I found it strange, however, that Hans seemed so reluctant to answer our questions."Mike nodded.Henry stood up and walked over to get some more coffee."It was odd.Mr.Schaeffer was very open last night.” Henry shrugged.“But this is their show.If our client wants me to only speak with him, that's okay.It's his dime.The most striking thing about the job is how similar it seems to Mickey's last case.""You think they hired Mickey?" Mike asked."I don't know for sure, I still haven't decoded all of his notes.Hard to say if the client name is even in his notebook.Mickey was pretty crafty.He could remember every single person who ever hired him and often didn't bother with noting the client name, at least until he wrote up the final report.""So, what's the plan, Boss?""Mike, I want you to dig around and find out what you can about Hans and Dr.Schaeffer.Also, don’t call me boss."Mike winked.The professor stood up and asked, "May I see Mickey's notes?"Henry handed him his notebook."I copied the three pages from his most recent case and put his notebook in a safe place.""It looks like you decoded his list.I see that Dr.Schaeffer is on it.If he had hired Mickey, he wouldn't be on the list, would he?""Good observation, Professor.I still want to check out Dr.Schaeffer – Mickey may have added him to the list for the same reason."Mike asked, "Did he check up on everyone who hired him?"Henry laughed."It depended.If the client was a dame, with long legs, trying to catch a cheating husband, he was off to the races.Mickey didn’t care if she was on the up and up.A guy, no matter how clean-cut, was never above suspicion.He was pretty good about reading people, or at least…he used to be."The professor got up and walked around.“It sounds like you think that whoever hired Mickey was somehow involved in his death?”“I think that this whole thing stinks to high heaven.On one hand, it doesn’t make sense that someone would hire Mickey to look into the people on the list and then kill him before he could finish.On the other hand, Mickey always said that people willing to overpay were usually up to something.On the other hand…” Henry paused and thought for a moment, “…I liked Dr.Schaeffer.My gut tells me he is on the level.Also, I think I may have had one too many hands…but I digress.”“I didn’t want to say anything, but I noticed your theorizing anatomy was slightly off,” the professor said with a wink.“That’s why I called you two in; I may be losing my edge.”Mike stood up.“You still have your edge, but this case strikes too close to home.We're glad to help.”Professor Brookert smiled and nodded.“Let me see if I have it straight.Right now, all we know is that there is a second Antikythera mechanism, which may be up for sale, it would likely be worth a king’s ransom, and is in some sort of underground auction for the super rich.Dr.Schaeffer is one of the players, along with the other people on Mickey’s list.”Henry leaned back in his chair.“Yes, but you have left out one important fact.This isn’t just an antique auction for some crazy collectors.It is prized enough that someone was willing to kill, to stop Mickey from completing his job, whatever that was.”Celine stuck her head in.“I didn’t mean to interrupt your meeting or eavesdrop…okay, I did mean to eavesdrop.It sounds like insider trading.”They all looked at her.She walked in and said, “The secretaries know what is going on at each brokerage firm.They always talk to one another.I see guys chatting up the girls, trying to get them to spill company beans.But we aren’t as dumb as we look…well some of us are.It sounds like whoever hired your friend wanted to know what the competition was up to, to get an edge.More coffee anyone?”There was a thoughtful silence.Celine took this to mean no, then whirled around and went back to her desk.Henry looked at the professor and said loud enough so Celine would hear, “You found a good one there.Bright kid.”“I’m not a kid…Boss.”They all laughed, then Henry got serious again.“Celine is right: it sounds like someone is trying to stack the deck in their favor.Hans and Dr.Schaeffer certainly seem to be trying to get an edge.For all we know, someone else hired Mickey to do the same.I think that both of you should check out every name on this list.Mike, you check for anything criminal; Professor, try to find out where their money comes from.Plus anything else you can learn about this mechanism would be great.And everyone, be careful…” his voice trailed off.There was another long silence, and then Mike cleared his throat [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]