The Memorist by M. J. Rose Read Free Book Online Page B

plants and unusual trees. Stopping to examine a Japanese pagoda and then a very old ginkgo, he showed great interest even though, for all he knew, he might as well have been looking at common maples. But before he opened the newspaper under his arm he had to make sure he wasn’t being followed.
    Landlines were too easy to tap, cell phones too easy to intercept, e-mail was relatively safe but left a trail, and while message boards worked well, he preferred old-fashioned methods. Pertzler had remained under the radar for twenty-five years for one reason only—he was exceedingly careful and didn’t give anyone any reason to notice or suspect him. That’s how he managed to deliver each and every time. This wouldn’t be an exception. His client was paying triple for this job to ensure it was done fast and right. And triple sounded three times as good.
    Certain he wasn’t under surveillance, Pertzler sat down on a wooden bench, unfolded his International Herald Tribune and scanned the front page.
    Rare Beethoven Letter Found After 200 Years
By Susan Essex—Vienna, Austria
    Hidden inside a concealed false drawer in an antique gaming box, an expert at the Dorotheum auction house here has discovered a two-page letter possibly written by Ludwig van Beethoven. If the letter’s provenance is validated and the handwriting guaranteed, the find could be worth more than 750,000 euros.
    The information was delivered to this paper’s office by unnamed sources. Jeremy Logan, curator of the Judaica department and the man who found the letter, could not be reached for comment but the auction house confirmed the letter’s existence.
    Experts agree that, considering the gaming box belonged to Antonie Brentano, a well-known friend of Beethoven’s and possibly his “Immortal Beloved,” there is a good chance the letter will be authenticated.
    The gaming box, which was given to Brentano by the composer, will be sold at auction next week but the letter will not be included in that sale.
    Estimates place the value of the box at approximately 100,000 euros.
    Millions of people who read the article would all glean the same information from it but in his version a few dozen characters were underlined. Once Pertzler decoded themthey’d spell out everything he needed to know about the job he’d agreed to take on from the caller who’d given him a name he was certain wasn’t half as real as the antique letter he’d been hired to steal.

Chapter 9
    I did not begin when I was born, nor when I was conceived. I have been growing, developing, through incalculable myriads of millenniums. All my previous selves have their voices, echoes, promptings in me. Oh, incalculable times again shall I be born.
    — Jack London , The Star Rover
    Vienna, Austria
Saturday, April 26 th —7:30 a.m.
    A t the very front of the carousel, waiting for their baggage to appear, a man and a woman huddled together in the midst of a tense conversation.
    “Well, then, what time do we get access to the concert hall?” The speaker was a very tall man wearing a gold Rolex watch, blue blazer with bright gold buttons, white shirt, jeans and lizard boots. Despite the casual clothes and easygoing Texas drawl, his voice was stressed and his eyescontinuously swept the area around them, assessing everyone he saw as if they might be a possible threat.
    “We’re set to go there tomorrow—” The woman’s drawl was softer than her companion’s and while she was dressed as casually, her clothes weren’t as expensive as his. Interrupting herself, she reached over to grab a piece of luggage. A silver cross on a thin chain fell forward and swung in the air, catching the light. By the time Tom Paxton reached out to help, she’d already lifted the large piece and dropped it at her feet.
    On the luggage tag, circling a stylized gold globe insignia, were the words Global Security Inc. And below them was the woman’s name in bold: Kerri Nelson, Web site URL, phone number and address