Shell Game: Felix Green Mysteries

By Andrew Stanek

When the curator of the Great Redmond Museum is found dead next to the smashed cases of seven valuable historical treasures, kleptomaniac detective Felix Green and his partner, Sam Alders, suspect the killing was more than a simple robbery gone wrong. Their skills as investigators are pushed to the limits as they struggle to see through the smokescreen of the seven thefts and solve the murder behind them - and locate the mythical eighth wonder - in Shell Game.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Andrew Stanek
• Release date: Apr 23, 2015
• ISBN: 9781513056623

Book preview

Chapter 1

And now we have come to the newest, and at the same time, the oldest exhibit in our museum: the Seven Wonders of the World. As the doors to the special exhibition flung open, there were loud gasps from behind the tour guide, and the furious sounds of clicking cameras filled the hall. Even the tour guide, who had long since mastered the art of walking backwards could not help but covertly glance at the objects he was meant to be explaining to his charges.

The voice of the tour guide projected back to the end of the museum. As all the guests fixated on him, few noticed an arguing man and woman, loitering at the back of the room.

I’m telling you, Brad, we should have hired more security for the Seven Wonders exhibit.

More security? Leslie, we can’t hire more security than we already have. Look around!

He gestured toward a small cluster of uniformed museum guards stationed around the room, viewing the crowd with conspicuous professional suspicion. However, their presences did not seem to appease Leslie, who shook her head vigorously.

I know that no one’s going to try to steal these things now, in broad daylight, but at night we only have the one security guard assigned to this wing. Anyone might walk in here and steal the Seven Wonders!

Brad shook his head. Leslie, you’re worrying too much!

I am not worrying too much! When that Elmer Leyton or whatever his name was died, you nearly bankrupted the museum buying these Seven Wonders.

It was a good business move, Brad said indifferently. Look at the crowds its brought! And I’ve told you a million times, it’s not like the money’s gone down the toilet. We still have the artifacts as assets. Of course, I don’t think we we should sell them-

I’m not saying they were a bad purchasing decision, Brad, I’m saying that we need to do a better job protecting them. Most of the value of this museum is that one little room now. We’re not used to handling anything like this; we need to keep them responsibly if we want to have this - this ‘Seven Wonders’ exhibit.

Look Leslie, Brad hissed. I know you’re worried, but I’ve already had a state of the art, world-class security system installed for these artifacts - pressure sensors, cameras, metal detectors over the doors, everything. Otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to get them insured, and if it was good enough for the insurance companies, it should be good enough for you. These Seven Wonders are going to be a turning point for our museum, I know it. Now let’s stop arguing and listen. This part is really good. I wrote this myself.

Leslie shot Brad a withering look, but Brad was no longer listening, instead staring at the Tour Guide with rapt attention.

You have heard of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the guide boomed enthusiastically. The Great Pyramid at Giza, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia. Well, we at the Great Redmond Museum are proud to show you today seven items of equally great age and gravity as those seven marvels. Recently purchased from the private stash of the late, great collector Elmer Leyton, and never before seen by the public, I am very proud to present to you: our Seven Wonders exhibit.

Thunderous applause broke over the exhibit, and the guide turned, gesturing to an ancient jar of white and swirling black.

Here we have, from ancient Egypt and as old as the pyramids, a limestone vessel and gold cup, believed to have been taken from the tomb of an unknown pharaoh in the necropolis at Abydos. At almost five thousand years old, it is by far the oldest object in our Museum.

Next, he turned to a small vase, wide in the middle but with a thin brim, decorated with swirling lines of burnished green and crimson.

From the far east, this is the famous so-called Dragon Vase, believed to be among the oldest examples of Chinese porcelain. Dating back to the Han Dynasty, it is two thousand years old.

On a pedestal beside the Dragon Vase sat what was, by comparison, an unassuming golden cup, no larger than a tea cup, decorated with just a few ridges and a single, gleaming ruby fixed into the front.

And from Late Bronze Age Europe, may I present to you the Arles Chalice. As the workmanship is not consistent with any known Celtic or Gaulish architecture, its constructor and origin remain unknown - one of the most curious historical mysteries in our museum today.

An old, yellowing length of paper-like material was visible on the next stand, curious, archaic writing scribbled across it surface, captioning squiggling diagrams of overlapping circles and numerous lines.

Believed to have been saved from the Great Library of Alexandria, and one of the last remaining examples of the wisdom of the ancients - the Ptolemaic Scroll. It was copied from the original works of the Roman-Egyptian scholar, Ptolemy, who created a complex mathematical model to predict astronomical events. Just don’t believe everything it says, folks. I guarantee you, the earth does go around the sun.

There was polite chuckling from the crowd.

I wrote that one myself, Brad whispered to Leslie. She nudged him in the ribs.

The guide, not stopping for Brad’s personal exultation, had moved on to a small pure-white marble statue of a beautiful woman with short hair, a quiver visible over one shoulder.

Next, from ancient Greece, a marble statuette of the Greek Goddess Artemis, believed to have once rested in the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. While several relics of the Temple at Ephesus survive, this statuette is perhaps the most delicate, being just one foot tall. You will notice that like so many ancient Greek works, the outstretched arms have unfortunately broken off and the head and shoulders are chipped. Nonetheless, it is a particularly outstanding find.

The closer of the two final pedestals had a curved object, white as the marble statue of Artemis, with a smiling face and braided hair hewn into the surface.

Made out of carved ivory, this Mask dates back to the reign of the famous Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II. The Mask was likely made for the burial of a powerful contemporary aristocrat or noble.

Now only one item remained: a transparent figurine, like glass, of a long-eared man, draped in a sagging robe and smiling.

Lastly, the youngest item in our collection, dating from the incredibly recent first century A.D.-

There was more polite chuckling from the crowd.

I wrote that one too, Brad hissed, and Leslie held her head in her hands.

-this crystal Buddha was produced in India, near the modern Pakistani border, and was used as a worship object in ancient Indian society. These seven items - the Abydos Casket, the Dragon Vase, the Arles Chalice, the Ptolemaic Scroll, the Statue of Artemis, the Babylonian Mask, and the Crystal Buddha formed what the great, late collector Elmer Leyton called his Seven Wonders exhibit. None has ever before been seen by the public. Each is an item of both awesome historical significance and incredible workmanship, and I hope you will all join me in congratulating our curator, Brad Pickett, in his successful acquisition of this astounding collection. It was only his determination that prevented these items from being broken up after Leyton’s death. That’s Brad back there. Let’s give him a round of applause.

Brad grinned as the entire crowd turned and began to clap vigorously.

Did you tell the guide to say that, too? Leslie asked, with crossed arms.

Oh, don’t be so sour, he muttered out of the corner of his mouth as the applause died down. I decided not to open the exhibit myself, but I still deserve some recognition.

Now, I hope you will all enjoy our Seven Wonders exhibit, the tour guide continued. Just remember, no flash photography.

As the crowd broke into a series of interested spectators, milling from one wonder to the next, Brad drifted away towards the back of the audience. Leslie forced a smile and walked forward into the Seven Wonders exhibit, talking with false joviality to visitors and answering questions about ancient Greek architecture and Assyrian burial practices. Press photographers and reporters swarmed in at the invitation of the museum, recording news pieces, occasionally taking the flash photos they had just been warned against. Leslie tried to restore order, but eventually surrendered to the inevitable and stomped off to find Brad. She located him in a side room, where he was chatting amiably with a tall, bearded man with a strange smile on his face. Leslie was certain she had seen this tall man before but could not immediately place him in her mind. He was wearing a tailored suit with a white tie and he had a short, rough gray-white beard that fell a few inches below his chin.

-tonight, then, you understand?

Yes, of course, of course, Brad was saying. As soon as possible.

Leslie cleared her throat. Brad jumped, apparently startled, but then saw her and visibly relaxed.

Oh, Jack, this is my sister Leslie. Leslie, this is Jack Maldonado.

Leslie quickly shook hands with Maldonado, dawning recognition undisguised on her face.

So you’re Jack Maldonado? I understand you and my brother had something of a bidding war for this collection.

Yes, and I’m here to congratulate him on his well-fought, albeit somewhat expensive victory. This collection is of particular interest to me. You could almost say it has sentimental value. I’m sure you know that Elmer Leyton and I had a friendly rivalry of sorts. The Seven Wonders collection consumed so much of his time and effort that I thought it only fitting that it should pass into my hands. As noble as the sentiment of public display is, I understand that interest in museums is waning these days, and I wonder how prudent it is to display these artifacts to philistines. I personally am of the opinion that they should be kept in the hands of collectors and academics, who can appreciate them. Elmer was such a person.

I know you have a reputation as a collector, Mr. Maldonado, but I didn’t know that you knew Elmer Leyton.

Oh, yes, of course. Elmer and I went very far back indeed.

It must have been quite a shock for you to hear he’d died, Leslie prompted sympathetically.

"Yes and no. Elmer had a weak heart, or that’s what he always said. He was prone to some kind of fainting in the days I knew him. I remember when he and I were just students on an archeological dig in Egypt... that was well before your time, of course. We were both very, very lucky. On that particular occasion, he discovered a small