Chapter 20

The Mastermind’s Accomplice

There was a knock at the door. The Mastermind, who had been reading the morning’s paper, looked up. The door creaked open. His secretary, Linda, stuck her head inside.

“Someone to see you, sir,” said Linda.

The Mastermind raised one of his white eyebrows. He nodded to tell Linda to let the person in.

The door opened wide. A female figure brushed passed Linda. She was twenty-five years old with short black hair. It was Miss Murphy, although that wasn’t her real name.

“Come in,” said Mastermind. His finger beckoned her in.

She took her backpack off her back and placed it on top of his desk. She unzipped it, revealing the Book of Kells inside. His eyes twinkled.

“Excellent work,” he said, pulling a couple of thin gloves out of his pocket. He put them on so he wouldn’t damage the book.

He pulled the book out and opened it. He carefully turned the pages one at a time, gazing at the illuminated drawings inside. They were glittering in gold.

“Excellent work, indeed,” he said.

“It wasn’t easy,” said the woman. “I had a couple of agents on my tail.”

The man’s eyes narrowed.

“Agents?” he asked, concerned.

The woman nodded. “Jack and Max Stalwart,” she said. “They were my students. I think they work for the GPF.”

She pulled one of the boys’ Watch Phones out of her vest.

She showed it to the man. He took it into his hand. He recognized it immediately.

“You’re right,” he said to her. “This is a GPF device.”

“Obviously,” she said, “I managed to get away.”

“Well done,” he said. “I’ve hired others who haven’t been so lucky.”

He thought back to his foiled attempt at taking the Emerald Buddha in Thailand. The people that he hired for that job were a bunch of buffoons.

“What did the boys look like?” asked the man.

The woman pulled a photograph out of one of her pockets. She laid it on the desk and pointed to Jack and Max at the back.

“That’s them at the back,” she said.

“Do you mind if I take this?” he asked, his finger pointing to the photo.

“It’s all yours,” she said.

The man slipped the photo in his shirt pocket.

“So what about the money?” she asked.

The man pulled an envelope out of one of the desk drawers. He handed it to her. She checked to make sure the $300,000 was there. It was.

“Nice doing business with you,” she said as she stuffed it away.

“Likewise,” said the man. “I’m hoping that we can work together again soon.”

“Sure thing,” said the woman. “You know where to find me.”

“I do,” said the man.

The woman left the office.

The Mastermind carefully lifted the Book of Kells and placed it on a nearby shelf. It was now among some of the other treasure he’d collected—a priceless Picasso painting, a Russian Fabergé egg, and a shipwreck treasure.

The Mastermind took the photo from his pocket, and studied the two boys.

A quick call to his “mole” inside the GPF would confirm if they were indeed agents. There were also ways to find out whether they’d been in Thailand.

Either way, the Mastermind had come to the conclusion that Jack and Max Stalwart were pests. As far as he was concerned there was only one way to deal with pests… and that was to exterminate them.