The Puzzle of Piri Reis (2 page)

The most excitement I wanted was dinner dancing
with Janice Coffman-Morrison, my off-again, on-again
Significant Other, or feeding AB, my little teenaged cat
I'd saved from a couple of backwater Neanderthals on
Bayou Teche who'd wanted to use him for alligator bait.

Now, I've handled cases that had me going in half a
dozen different directions all at the same time, but the
crystal skull arson caper was the most confusing.

I didn't figure I could ever run into a case any more
bewildering or convoluted, but as usual, I was wrong.

I got my first surprise of the day when I walked into
the office a few minutes before eight on Monday. My
boss, Marty Blevins, was in his glassed-in office, and
with a visitor, a male in a tan suit.

Knowing Marty, I figured money was somehow involved. A creature of habit, he never darkened the office door before nine, and then usually closer to ten. For
him to be in at this hour meant money was on the
table, a lot of money.

If I'd known two hours earlier what was coming, I
would have had no compunction calling in sick, claiming a bad case of water on the knee or shingles on the
shin.

When Marty spotted me, he waved me to his office.
The hair on the back of my neck tingled.

Marty rose when I entered and gestured to the man
in the suit. "Tony, this is Ted Odom. Ted, meet Tony
Boudreaux."

Rising and shifting a manila folder from one hand
to the other, Odom nodded. "Nice to meet you, Tony"
He extended his free hand.

The pasty-faced man's skin was clammy and his
grip nonexistent. I guessed him to be in his early to
mid-forties and about forty pounds overweight. "Same
here, Mr. Odom."

Clearing his throat, Marty continued. "Mr. Odom is
from San Antonio."

"That's good," I replied, figuring that was as appropriate a response as any.

Marty turned to Odom. "Tony's the one you were
asking about"

My eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Oh?"

Running his fat finger under his unbuttoned collar
around his fleshy neck, Marty cleared his throat, and
with nonchalant indifference, explained. "Mr. Odom
has inherited a valuable map."

I nodded to Odom. "Congratulations" What else
could I say?

"Oh, I don't have it, Tony. It's been stolen. At least, I
think so. That's why I've come to you. I want you to
find it. I heard from a friend about the crystal skull you uncovered a couple months back" He paused, waiting
for a response from me.

The crystal skull! The memories it brought back
were less than pleasant. I just stared at him.

When I didn't reply, he blinked his watery eyes and
continued. "I know something about ancient art, and I
am familiar with the stories of the crystal skulls. They
are quite valuable." He paused, glanced at Marty, then
back to me. "But the Piri Reis Map is ten times more
valuable than even the Nelson-Vines Crystal Skull,
which, as you know, is not only anatomically correct but
also has a removable jawbone." He paused once again
and turned to Marty. "From a technical standpoint, Mr.
Blevins, not even today's most talented sculptors or engineers could duplicate the Nelson-Vines Crystal Skull,
which is purported to be thousands of years old"

Marty frowned at me. He had no idea what the
soft-looking little man was talking about. "He's right,
Marty," I replied. "About the skull." I seriously considered feigning a heart attack at that moment just to
get away from what I knew was coming.

Odom waggled an almost translucent finger in the
air. "There is much intrigue about the Piri Reis Map,
but that which is most arresting is the fact that the map
shows the western coast of Africa, the eastern coast of
South America, and the northern coast of Antarctica,
which is perfectly detailed before the coming of glaciers. According to core samples from the Ross Sea,
the last time that particular area shown in the map was
free of ice was more than six thousand years ago."

Marty nodded eagerly, like a puppy anticipating a
juicy bone. "You don't say"

I rolled my eyes at his eloquence.

Taking a deep breath and releasing it quickly, Odom
chewed on his thin lips. "That's why I'm here, Tony. I
want to retain you to find the map" He looked at Marty.
"I'm willing to go as high as fifty thousand dollars"

Talk about a juicy bone. Marty's fat jowls flopped
wildly as he nodded. Then a shrewd gleam glittered in
his eyes. "Our policy is a five-thousand-dollar retainer
plus expenses even if we are unable to complete the
commission."

Odom nodded emphatically. "Certainly. Make it a
ten-thousand-dollar retainer. It's yours even if you
don't find the map."

Marty beamed. "If any of my boys can find your map,
Mr. Odom, it's Tony" He winked at me. "Right, Tony?"

I didn't know anything about the map, but if Odom
compared it to the crystal skulls, then I didn't want any
part of it. For a fleeting second, my options ran through
my head. I could retire. Lots of people retire before
forty. Of course, I needed money. Last time I balanced
my checkbook, I had enough to last maybe a year if I ate
nothing but Vienna sausage. After that ... well, maybe I
could convince Janice to marry me. After all, she was
rich. As a last resort, I could talk Jack Edney, my multimillionaire pal, into taking me in as a partner managing
one of his chains of condo complexes. If those options
didn't pan out, I could always join my old man hopping
freights and sleeping in alleys.

Or I could take the assignment.

I drew a deep breath. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
At least looking for a map, nobody gets shot, chopped,
maimed, slashed, or killed. With a sappy grin, I
shrugged. "Why not? Sounds interesting." Besides, I reminded myself, I'd always liked San Antonio, especially the River Walk, a tropical venue that bisects
downtown. Swanky hotels, five-star restaurants, and exotic bars lined the walk's flagstone sidewalks. The city's
playground was an adequate second cousin for those of
us who couldn't afford some more intriguing locales
such as Cancun, St. Martin, Puerto Vallarta, or for the
very daring, Turtle Island in Fiji.

Back at my desk, I pulled out a notepad and glanced
at Ted Odom in the battered chair across the desk from
me. "All right, Mr. Odom. A few details. This map,
what did you call it?"

Laying the manila folder on my desk, he pursed his
thin lips and stared at the ceiling for several seconds
pondering his reply. "Piri Reis. It was discovered at
the Imperial Palace in Constantinople in 1929. It was
painted on parchment and dated 919 in the Islamic calendar, which translates to 1513 in ours. The map was
signed by Piri Ibn Haji Memmed, also known as Piri
Reis, an admiral from the Turkish Navy" He paused.
"That's why it's called the Piri Reis Map"

I managed not to roll my eyes. "I see"

He nodded. "According to him, the map was put to gether from a set of twenty or so maps drawn in the
time of Alexander the Great."

Alexander the Great! All I knew about him was he
conquered everybody in the world around three or
four hundred years BC. I couldn't help thinking that if
someone had drawn that map from other maps during
his time, the chart had to be almost as old as dirt. "Piri
Reis," I replied, jotting down the name.

"Yes. P-I-R-I R-E-I-S. Piri Reis."

"You inherited the map, you say?"

His brows knit. "Unfortunately. You see, someone
murdered my father and stole the map"

It felt like a sledgehammer hit me between the eyes.
I had just come out of a tangle of murders and I didn't
need any more. I blinked once or twice, hoping I'd misunderstood the slight man. "Murdered?"

Taking a deep breath, he released it slowly. "Well,
the police think my father just fell and hit his head.
They found him on the floor in his den where he conducted his business."

"But you don't think so"

He shook his head. "I have no proof except that Father always sensed he might be murdered for the map.
He was paranoid about it, and now the map is missing.
I guess the old man was right. I just put two and two together and came up with four"

I groaned to myself. Another two-and-two-is-four
weirdo. "Why didn't you go to the police? Let them
handle it."

"I did. My cousin, Louis, is chief of police. He refused. Said the JP ruled it an accidental death"

"A JP? Not a medical examiner?"

He looked at me curiously. "No. George Elkins. He's
our Justice of the Peace. He's been re-elected for the
last twenty years"

I started to make a sarcastic remark but bit my
tongue. "What did the autopsy show?"

He shook his head. "There wasn't one"

I muttered a curse to myself. I'd been in the business long enough to learn that half the time JPs issue
incorrect verdicts, but in their little communities their
word is as good as a big-city forensic scientist. "Oh,"
was all I said.

Odom added, "Besides, there's always the publicity. If someone did steal the map, too much publicity
might frighten them into destroying it. I can't take that
chance"

As much as I hated to admit it, I could understand
his concern. "So, the map is missing. You think someone stole it."

A perplexed frown knit his pale forehead. "Well, I
don't know for sure"

Now, he really had me confused. I had the unsettling feeling I had stepped into a time warp and was
the center of a comic routine in a silent film. "I don't
understand. You said the map was missing. Someone
must have taken it."

Beads of perspiration popped out on his face. "Let me explain. My father was not the kind of man to stumble over an ottoman like the police surmised. He was
sixty-seven, walked regularly, climbed stairs. He was
quite agile." He paused and lowered his gaze to his
white hands. "I might be wrong, but I have a gut feeling about it. Someone wanted the map, and when
Father refused, they killed him."

Leaning back in my chair, I glanced through the
glass walls at Marty, who had his head bowed, intently
studying something on his desk. "Did you mention
this to Mr. Blevins? I mean, about your father."

"Oh, yes," he replied ingenuously, his dark eyes
smiling. "He said since the police ruled the death was
accidental, his agency could handle the case"

Marty was right. Still, I preferred jobs where I had
no dealings whatsoever with dead people. "Mr. Odom,
I don't know if Mr. Blevins explained it or not but we
have to be certain there is no ongoing police investigation. Otherwise we will not involve ourselves."

For a moment, a flash of anger erased the glittering
smile in his eyes but quickly vanished. "Certainly. And,"
he added with a hint of smugness, "all of that is taken
care of. I made sure of that before I drove up here."

With a cynical frown, I replied, "Oh? And just how
did you pull off that little miracle?"

"I told you. My cousin, Louis Ibbara-the police
chief."

My frown deepened. "Of the San Antonio force?"

"The San Madreas police force, where we live. When San Antonio took us in over forty years ago, we kept
our own civil and judicial infrastructure." He paused
and added, "And Louis said since they do not have a
criminal investigation going, you're more than welcome to our little community."

I shot Marty another hard look. This time he was
staring in my direction, but as soon as my eyes met
his, he looked away. I drew a deep breath. "All right,
Mr. Odom. I'm-"

"Please, Tony, call me Ted"

I shivered. "All right, Ted. Like I started to say, I'm
puzzled here. This map. You can't find it. Right?"

Resting an elbow on the desk, he leaned forward.
"Yes. You see, my father was Bernard Julius Odom,
BJ Odom" He paused and looked at me expectantly
as if the name should mean something to me.

I lifted my eyebrows. "So?"

His brows knit in surprise. "The puzzle king?"

I shook my head slowly. "Nope. Sorry"

He looked at me in disbelief, then lifted an eyebrow
and said, "He was one of the most widely recognized puzzle writers in the country. Crosswords, double acrostics, secret shape word searches, codes and ciphers. His
puzzles have been published in national newspapers and
magazines for almost forty-five years"

That spiel meant nothing to me. I hate puzzles, any
kind of puzzle. I'd rather argue with my ex-wife than
attempt a puzzle. "What does that have to do with the
map?"

He stared at me a moment, then shook his head.
"Nothing really. I just thought you might like to know
about him. He was an important man."

I suppressed the urge to reply with a whoop-de-do. I
smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure he was. Now, the map?
Why do you believe it's missing?"

"Over the years, any number of individuals have
wanted the map. And in fairness to them, they all offered fair prices. Just after acquiring the map about
five years ago, Father hid it."

Now, the guy was beginning to make a little sense.
"And he didn't tell anyone where he hid it?"