Preston Child - Mystery of the Amber Room

“And where did it go?” Purdue asked with intense interest. He knew much of what Nina had relayed already, but only up to the part where the Amber Room had been razed by the Allied air strikes.

Nina shrugged. “Nobody knows. Some accounts tell that the ship was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, and the Amber Room was lost at sea. But in truth nobody really knows.”

“If you had to guess,” Sam challenged her cordially, “according to what you know about the situation as a whole during the war. What do you think happened?”

Nina had her own theory of what she did and did not believe from the records. “I really don't know, Sam. I just don't believe the torpedo story. It sounds too much like a cover story to stop everyone from looking for it. But then again,” she sighed, “I don't have any idea what could have happened. I'll be honest; I believe the Russians intercepted the Nazis, but not like that.” She chuckled awkwardly and shrugged again.

Purdue's light blue eyes stared at the fire in front of him. He was considering the possible consequences of Nina's tale, along with what he learned about what had happened in the Bay of Gdansk at the same time. He snapped out of his frozen state.

“I think we should take that account on faith,” he announced. “I suggest we start where the ship has supposedly sunk, just to have a starting point. Who knows, we might even find some clues there.”

“You mean diving?” Detlef exclaimed.

“Correct,” Purdue affirmed.

Detlef shook his head, “I don't dive. No, thank you!”

“Come now, old boy!” Sam smiled, lightly slapping Detlef on the back. “You can run into live fire, but you cannot take a swim with us?”

“I hate water,” the German admitted. “I can swim. I just don’t. Water makes me very uncomfortable.”

“Why? Did you have a bad experience?” Nina asked.

“Not that I know of, but perhaps I made myself forget whatever made me despise swimming,” he revealed.

“That doesn't matter,” Purdue weighed in. “You can keep watch for us since there is no way we can get the necessary permits to dive there. Can we count on you for that?”

Detlef gave Purdue a long hard look that had Sam and Nina alarmed and ready to intervene, but he simply answered, “That, I can do.”

It was shortly before midnight. They waited for their meat and fish on the grill to be done, and the soothing crackle of the fire lulled them into a sense of reprieve from their troubles.

“David, tell me about the business you had with Gabi Holtzer,” Detlef insisted suddenly, finally bringing forth the inevitable.

Purdue frowned, perplexed by the strange request from the stranger he had assumed to be a private security consultant. “What do you mean?” he asked the German.

“Detlef,” Sam warned gently, advising the widower to keep his cool. “You remember the deal, right?”

Nina's heart jumped. She had been anxiously anticipating this all night. Detlef kept his cool as far as they could tell, but he repeated his question in a cold voice.

“I want you to tell me about your business with Gabi Holtzer at the British Consulate in Berlin the day she died,” he said in a calm tone that was deeply unsettling.

“Why?” Purdue asked, infuriating Detlef with his apparent sidestepping.

“Dave, this is Detlef Holtzer ,” Sam said, hoping that the introduction would explain the German man's urging. “He is — no was — Gabi Holtzer's husband and he has been looking for you so you could tell him what happened that day.” Sam deliberately formulated his words this way to remind Detlef that Purdue was entitled to the benefit of the doubt.

“I am so sorry for your loss!” Purdue replied almost instantly. “My God, it was awful!” It was evident that Purdue was not putting on a fake face. His eyes filled with tears as he relived those last moments before he had been abducted.

“The media says that she committed suicide,” Detlef said. “I know my Gabi. She would never…”

Purdue stared at the widower with wide eyes. “She did not commit suicide, Detlef. She was killed right in front of me!”

“Who did it?” Detlef roared. He was emotional and unstable, being so close to the revelation he had been seeking all this time. “Who killed her?”

Purdue gave it some thought and looked at the distraught man. “I–I cannot remember.”

After two days of recuperation at the small house, the group took off toward the Polish coast. The matter between Purdue and Detlef felt unresolved, but they got along relatively well. Purdue owed Detlef more than just the revelation that Gabi's death had not been her own doing, especially since Detlef was still suspicious at Purdue's memory loss. Even Sam and Nina wondered if perhaps Purdue was unknowingly responsible for the diplomat's death, but they could not pass judgment on something they didn't know anything about.

Sam, for one, tried to get a better peek with his new ability to latch onto the minds of others, but he was unsuccessful. He secretly hoped that he had lost the unwelcome gift that had been bestowed on him.

They decided to follow their plan. The discovery of the Amber Room would not only thwart the efforts of the sinister Black Sun, but it would be quite beneficial financially. Still, the urgency of finding the magnificent chamber was a mystery to them all. There had to be more to the Amber Room than riches or reputation. Of that, the Black Sun had enough of their own.

Nina had an old university colleague who was now married to a wealthy businessman residing in Warsaw.

“From one phone call, people,” she bragged to the three men. “One! I have gotten us a free four-day stay in Gdynia and with it comes a reasonable fishing boat for our little not-so-legal investigation.”

Sam playfully ruffled her hair. “You are a magnificent animal, Dr. Gould! Do they have whiskey?”

“I could kill for some Bourbon right now, I admit,” Purdue smiled. “What is your poison, Mr. Holtzer?”

Detlef shrugged, “Anything that can be used in surgery.”

“Good man! Sam, we have to get some of that, mate. Can you make that happen?” Purdue asked eagerly. “I will have my assistant transfer some money in a few minutes so we can get what we need. The boat — is it your friend's?” he asked Nina.

“It belongs to the old man we are staying with,” she replied.

“Won't he be suspicious of what we are going to do there?” Sam worried.

“No. She says he is an old diver, fisherman, and marksman that moved to Gdynia right after the Second World War from Novosibirsk. Apparently, he never got any gold stars for good behavior,” Nina laughed.

“Good! He will fit right in then,” Purdue chuckled.

After buying some food and plenty of alcohol to present to their gracious host, the group drove to the location Nina had gotten from her former colleague. Detlef paid a visit to the local hardware store, and also purchased a small radio and some batteries for it. Such basic little radios were hard to get in more modern cities, but he found one next to the fish bait shop on the last street before they arrived at their temporary lodging.

The yard was carelessly fenced with barbed wire tied to rickety posts. Inside the fence, the yard consisted mostly of tall weeds and big neglected plants. From the creaky iron gate to the deck steps, the small walkway to the eerie little wooden cabin was overgrown with vines. The old man was awaiting them on the porch, looking almost exactly as Nina had imagined him. Big dark eyes contrasted with wild gray hair and a beard. He had a pot belly and a face riddled by scars that made him look scary, but he was friendly.

“Zdravstvuyte!” he called as they came through the gate.