Mortuus Virgo by Kevin Ashman Read Free Book Online Page A

‘Surely you must have heard of Alexander. He conquered most of the known world at the time including Persia, Egypt and Syria. Died at the age of thirty two having only ruled for thirteen years and is reckoned to be one of the best military leaders of all time.’
    ‘Heard of him,’ said Brandon, ‘But what about his father, this Phillip guy?’
    ‘He was a great leader as well but not on the scale of his son.’
    ‘So what is the link here?'
    ‘Don’t know,’ said India, ‘Though I am almost certain the necklace is fake.’
    ‘Why do you say that?’
    ‘Well, from what I can recall the reverse should have some sort of Macedonian God or date or similar. The one stolen from the library had neither.’
    ‘What did it have?’
    ‘That’s just it, I have seen it before but can’t recall where. What we need is the necklace so we can compare it to the records.’
    ‘Unfortunately,’ he said, ‘That is not possible. The thief has long gone so that avenue is closed. Would there be any in the museums?’
    ‘I doubt it,’ she answered, ‘There would be coins of Phillip but I would bet they are Macedonian coins with normal Macedonian images. There wouldn’t be anything like this.’
    ‘How do you know?’
    ‘Because it is a modern coin, minted no more than a few hundred years ago, Sixteenth Century is my best guess.’
    ‘And you’re sure about this?’
    ‘When you have seen as many coins as I have and spent half your life dating them you tend to get a hunch about these things.’
    ‘Okay, assuming your right, what else can you tell me?’
    ‘That’s about it,’ she said, ‘Without the actual necklace to analyse there is nothing else. Oh.’ She said suddenly, her mind racing. ‘Hang on, it’s bloody obvious.’
    ‘What is?’
    ‘Why didn’t I think of it before?’ she crossed the room to his laptop and switched it on.
    ‘You online here?’
    ‘Yes why?’
    ‘What’s your password?’
    ‘Manchester United, one word!’
    She gave him a derisive look and logged on.
    ‘You think you can find a picture on the internet?’
    ‘No, don’t have to. I know where I can find the image of the exact necklace.’
    ‘Where?’
    ‘Hammersmith Numismatic Society,’ she said, ‘My Mr Jones , as you so often refer to him, kindly posted a picture on there asking for information a few days ago. She hit the return key and spun the screen around to face him with a flourish. Her face dropped as she saw he was holding up a print out of the exact screen shot displayed on the computer.
    ‘You already had a picture all along,’ she said in astonishment.
    ‘Sorry India,’ he said, ‘I had to make sure you were straight.’
    ‘What do you mean?'
    ‘I had to make sure you are not in on this, whatever this is.’
    ‘You bastard,’ she said.
    ‘Had to be done,’ he answered, ‘Easiest way was to see if you was holding back any relevant information.’
    ‘Well,’ she said eventually, ‘Do I pass?’
    ‘You do.’
    She snatched the picture from his hands and returned to the coffee table.
    In that case,’ she said, ‘Get me a magnifying glass,’ and after a moment’s pause added, ‘And another cup of tea.’
    ----
    ‘First of all,’ she said poring over the picture, ‘The front of the coin is exactly as I thought; the face is definitely Phillip the Second of Macedonia and dates after 354BC.’
    ‘How can you tell?’
    ‘His face is very distinctive,’ she said ‘It looks like most images of him that are recorded at the time. The long straight nose is a family trait and the laurel wreath sitting around his head is typical of his image. In itself this is not enough but most coins of the time depict their king’s facing right, this one faces left.’
    ‘And?’
    ‘In 354 BC Phillip attacked Methone in the Aegean sea. During the battle an arrow smashed into his face and he suffered a lot of damage, including the loss of his right eye. Since that date any coinage depicted the left side of his