Ingrid Magnusson left Saint Anthony immediately
after she finished her breakfast.
It was a four-hour drive north and west of the
city, to the town of Avon. Her twin sister Helga had called her that morning,
demanding that Ingrid come see her. She arrived at around 1:00 pm, and when she
got there, she found that Helga had left.
Ian Green, the man who owned the house where
Helga was staying, and the automotive garage attached to it, told Ingrid that
Helga had to run to Saint Cloud on some kind of urgent business. He told her
that she had left only about ten minutes before Ingrid, which meant that her
errand, whatever it was, would keep her for at least an hour
More than an hour, Ingrid thought.
She was not happy to receive this information,
not in the slightest.
Ingrid had only made the drive because her
sister had been so insistent, sounding completely despondent on the phone while
imploring Ingrid to come.
Helga had told her that she needed her,
using a phrase they had shared between them since they were girls, du är
mitt enda hopp, and by using those words Helga knew that Ingrid would feel
bound to come, she would have no choice.
Though she felt put out, she did the sisterly
thing; she honored the call.
Ingrid had a difficult client scheduled for an
appointment at her reading-room that day, Dr. Pierce Johnson, a professor of
antiquities at Augburg College, and an old acquaintance of the Magnusson’s. Before
she left she had not been able to reach her assistant, Angela Guthrie, to give
her instructions on how to handle the item she had prepared for him. Instead,
she had to inconvenience her partner, Karl Thorrson, who happened to be Helga’s
husband, with the details of lending out the particularly valuable book.
Dr. Johnson had been something of a friend to
Ingrid and Helga, since they first met, when Dr. Johnson was a student in
Copenhagen. He was a talented linguist and philologist, though both sisters found
him flamboyant, his manners annoying and his temper viscious.
Ingrid knew that Karl would not favor him at
all, and this worried her.
In fact, introducing the two of them might put
Dr. Johnson in some jeopardy because Karl was not the type of man to suffer the
presence of a fool, and Dr. Johnson was the type of man whose foolishness,
which could not be suppressed, became magnified in the company of men like
Karl.
The
book was known as The Albigensian Grimoire, it was a unique manuscript, coveted
by practitioners of the occult arts. Dr. Johnson had wanted to examine it for
some time; and Ingrid had agreed to let him, long ago, if she ever came into
possession of it. Now that it had become available, she was hesitant.
Ingrid
had intended to make a final judgement that morning on seeing him, and now,
with her absence from the store, this was impossible, and though
it cut against her better judgement she decided to let it go.
She would have Karl handle it, and if he
decided to kill the man…so be It, she thought.
Ingrid
was still ruminating about the matter hours after her arrival in Avon, she
couldn’t stop herself the entire time she waited for Helga to return. As she
grew more irritated, Ian Green was absolutely no help to her. He was positively
ignorant concerning Helga’s comings and goings. She thought Karl would like to
know this, because the man was supposed to be keeping an eye on her.
At
5:00 pm Ingrid decided that she had had enough. She took the back roads to
Saint John’s University in Collegeville, a Benedictine institution not far from
Ian’s, and home to the second largest library of ancient manuscripts in North
America, a hoard of treasures to a woman like Ingrid.
She
went to visit an associate of hers, Brother Peter Loire, a monk who had given
her access to the library before. She hoped he would be available for dinner,
and then give her another tour of the Arca Artium. There were some
documents she wanted to examine, and possibly acquire.
Ingrid
was in luck; he was available.
They
dined at the guesthouse, then after vespers he gave her the tour she was
hoping for.
While
the food served at the monastery was bland, the conversation was good, and she
found the brother amenable to making an exchange. He told her that he would
contact her soon, and that he would deliver the items she desired to her
bookstore.
The
monk wanted more than money to complete the deal, he wanted money too, but he
wanted more, and Ingrid was not surprised because she knew his proclivities and
she dealt in all forms of capital, including the flesh he desired…she would get
him what he wanted, and she would have her scrolls.
It was late when they concluded their talk,
too late to drive back to Saint Anthony, so Ingrid returned to the house in
Avon.
When she arrived, her host informed her that
Helga had returned and then left for Saint Anthony herself. Then he told her
that Helga had suffered some kind of accident.
There was a nervousness in his voice that
alarmed Ingrid.
He told her that Karl had called to give him
this news, and had ordered him to tell her that she should remain there with
him.
This was not a prospect that Ingrid welcomed,
and Ian would not be able to stop her if she chose to ignore him, but she did
not want to go against Karl; brother-in-law or not…partner or not…he was a dangerous
man.
Ingrid
decided to wait where she was and find out more before she determined for
herself how she would proceed.
She
went to Helga’s room and fell asleep.
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