A Life In Ruins
A figure stopped outside the frosted glass door with the words "Sasha Cohen, Private Investigations." painted on it. The door opened and a tall brown-haired haired woman came in. She wore a light gray skirt suit and carried a briefcase. Sasha judged her to be in her mid forties. "Miss Cohen- Or do you prefer, detective ? " She asked .
“Either suits me,” Sasha replied easily sweeping back a stray lock of black hair from her face as she rose and shook the woman's proffered hand.
"I am Doctor Patricia Noren, an archeologist."
"My father told me to expect you." Sasha said, "Would follow me into the conference room, please- we can talk more privately there."
Sasha led her into the room. She believed it to have a more relaxed atmosphere than her office Off to one side was a desk with a computer terminal and a speaker phone. In the center of the room was a coffee table with an easy chair at either end and a sofa on each side.
"Now" Sasha said "Could you tell me about your case?"
"Certainly." the archeologist said. "Recently, a previously unknown Inca settlement was discovered and a large number of artifacts were found, mainly artwork and pottery, but some jewels were found. I was part of an archeological team hired to work the site by the National Museum in Mexico City. They were to have the first choice, while the remainder was to divided among whatever museums showed interest."
"Sounds reasonable." Sasha observed.
"Yes, but unfortunately such a find stirred up some unsavory parties as well. Pre-Colombian antiquities attract a huge price, not just here in the States and in Mexico, but overseas as well."
“Have you been approached by any buyers?” Sasha asked.
Dr. Noren thought for a moment and then replied, “Yes, a well-dressed English man all but cornered me in a restaurant and said he'd pay me 500 thousand dollars for the lot, sight unseen.”
Sasha made a face, “Was his first name Percival, by any chance?”
“It was indeed. Do you know the man?”
“Sadly, yes. He's Percival Yorkshire and he's a very dangerous fellow. He and his wife Bianca have been linked to stolen artwork and artifacts for years. I presume you refused his offer?”
"Of course." The doctor replied, "We brought the first batch to a tourist island off the Yucatan, then tried to fly them to Mexico City from there. Unfortunately, two engines on the plane we hired conked out shortly after take off and it had to ditch at sea."
"But would the artwork and pottery have survived the crash?" Sasha asked.
"All fragile objects were packed and insulated in the normal matter, at the artifacts as well as the crates they were in were shrink wrapped." Dr. Noren stated. "As for the flight plan we filed a fake one, calling for a direct route to Mexico City, when the real one called for the plane to take a roundabout route. As you might expect, what happened did not endear us to the Mexican authorities. They've suspended the dig and barred the flight crew from landing in Mexico."
"So you need me to find the plane, eh?" Sasha said.
"Yes and to restore the reputation of my colleagues and me. I understand you specialize in underwater cases."
"Not really, but I'm scuba qualified. I would like to see the genuine flight plan."
"Of course."
The archeologist then opened up her brief case and pulled out the flight plan, plus a description of then plane and inventory of the plane's cargo. She handed them to Sasha, who scanned them carefully "you're not going alone are you?" Dr. Noren asked.
"I've got some friends whom I've helped and have helped me in return on previous cases, but I think two should be enough." Sasha said. " I think two young ladies on a scuba vacation would be an excellent cover. Providing, of course, you agree."
Dr. Noren thought briefly "All right. You have a deal."
“Good I need to make a phone call or two. Check out some airline schedules and see if my friend Corrine Ricce can make herself available.”
Dr. Noren wrote out a check, then handed it Sasha. "Retainer." she explained. "Half now, the rest on completion of the case."
"Agreed." Sasha said
"I want to know what happens." the archeologist said as she left. Sasha went quickly back to her office and popped open her Rolodex. After some badly directed calls, she discovered that there was a flight leaving LAX at 11:30, giving her about 2 hours to pack and (hopefully) finalize details with Corrine.
The young actress answered on the third ring,”So delighted to hear from you again.” she said with a smile in her voice. The women caught each other up on recent events, and as fortune would have it Corrine was 'between acting jobs' at the moment.
“Tell me are you interested in a little tropical vacation ?” Sasha baited.
“It's never just a vacation where you're concerned, Sasha.” Corrine replied eagerly,”What's the caper?”
“Some lost Mayan artifacts on a sunken airplane.” the detective offered.
“Oooooh.... Sounds intriguing.
“It gets better, it appears our old friends the Yorkshires are back to their old tricks again.”
“You're kidding!”
“Unfortunately not.”
“When do we leave?”
“In about 90 minutes.” Sasha replied ruefully. There was silence for a moment.
“I'm still in,” Corrine replied, “ I better pack ! I'll send a car for you !”
Sasha never got another word in before the spirited girl hung up. Sasha smiled to herself then dashed off to pack for the trip.
They arrived at the airport with forty minutes to spare. Corrine had reserved first-class seats for the trip.
Just then, a woman approached them. She was tall, nearly six feet, and had light brown hair done up in a bun. She wore dark framed glasses, colorful silk scarf around her neck, a lightweight long sleeved blouse, ankle length skirt, and flat soled shoes."
"Doctor Wells?" Corrine asked.
“Who?” Sasha asked.
“My Ancient History professor at the University.”Corrine said to her.
"Hello Corrine." Dr. Anna Wells said.
"I thought you were supposed to be on sabbatical." Corrine said
"Just taking some time off. I missed you at graduation, but I've heard you're career has been flourishing."
“Not so well actually, “Corrine admitted, “So I'm taking a little bit of a scuba holiday with my friend Sasha.”
“Sasha- Cohen?” the professor said with an astonished blink.
“You know me?” Sasha asked in return, equally stunned.”
“Everyone in my field has heard of you, thanks to that business with the Jade Skull. It's a pleasure to finally me you.”
“The same, I'm sure.” Sasha said and shook her hand.
“Well, I better let you catch your flight, “ Dr. Wells said with a smile,”I hope you two enjoy your little adventure."
The flight was uneventful and as Sasha had predicted, it took over four hours, landing just before Six p.m. local time. They quickly cleared customs and checked in at their quarters, where they changed for dinner and a night of fun before going to work on the case the next day.
Corrine changed into a cocktail dress -a sleeveless, backless sequined blue number with a short skirt- and inch and a half heels, the highest she'd go without duress. Sasha chose a deep red colored dress with sleeveless with a long skirt, albeit one slit from ankle to hip, and her own inch and a halves. After dinner, the made their way to the ballroom. As they were pondering the bar or the dance floor, Sasha spotted a woman hurrying across the room. "You want a drink?" Corrine asked.
"That woman looks familiar." Sasha remarked "You go on ahead, I'll catch up."
The woman was on the opposite side of the room and there were many people between her and Anne. She spotted Sasha and made her way to a corridor. Sasha dodged a few other patrons and tried to catch up to the woman. She hastened down the corridor, oblivious to a man who started to follow her. The woman Sasha was pursuing was short, with mousy brown hair poking out from under a rather large old-fashioned sun-hat. Sasha was almost at arms length when she began to ask "Excuse me but I believe you---" She was hit from behind and everything went dark.
Sasha came to, but it was still dark. Her first instinct was to rub that bump she felt on the back of her head, but her wrists were tied tightly behind her back. An attempt to talk her way through it led to the discovery of the gag. She also felt her ankles were bound and the faint aroma of cleaning fluids told her she was in some kind of janitor's storeroom.
This is a helluva way to start an investigation, she thought as she drew back her knees to kick the door.