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Thirty e and into the airport’s concourse, powering up and checking his BlackBerry’s voice mail as he walked He stopped suddenly and peered at the screen The three men with him did the same

“What is it?” one of them asked

In response, Kholkov sirinned and walked to a nearby cluster of chairs, where he sat down He pulled his laptop from his briefcase, powered it up, then tapped at a series of keys After thirty seconds he muttered “Gotcha”

“You have them?”

“Not so sos?” he said under his breath He looked up at his coo!”

CHAPTER 46

And soon now you will enjoy my musical talent,” the boat captain said in solid but heavily accented English He throttled the engine back and the boat began to slow “To your right you see Echowand—in English it is ‘Echo Wall’ ”

Along with the boat’s other twenty passengers, Sam and Remi turned in their seats and looked starboard They were aboard one of the eighteen covered electric passenger boats operated by the Königssee Boat Cohty-five passengers, and Sahteen-footer that held twenty-five

A quarterfroelhorn from beneath the helm console, put it to his lips, and blew a few mournful notes, then went silent Two seconds of silence passed and then the sound bounced back in perfect pitch

The passengers laughed and clapped

“Please, if you would, , and it is thirsty work As you diseeld into my cup here or where you see them on the bulkheads I will divide proceeds between ue in the mountains who answered my call”

More laughter One passenger asked, “What is Trinkgeld?”

“Drinks o on Next stop, Saint Bartholorim Church”

The ride resu a soft gurgling huly suspended in thethe sides The air was perfectly calh that Sam and Remi could see their breath

They’d gotten up early, at six, and had a light breakfast in their roo to bed Reues and acquaintances with three questions: At the time of Xerxes’ invasion, what treasures did Delphi hold? What was the current disposition of those treasures? Were there any accounts of Xerxesoff with Delphic or Athenian treasure?