PARADOX - Chapter 23

April 26, 2012 – Resort Hotel Jodquellenhof Alpamare - Bad Tölz



“Just as we figured they went to the wine shop less than an hour after we left,” Monday scanned the dejected faces of Dom and Henri. “Scout said Schäfer, Mueller and Vlad entered the shop, spent eighteen minutes inside, then left in a hurry. Fleischer stayed outside in a rental car.”

“Obviously they found something we did not,” Dom replied. “I assume that your Scout is still following them?”

“Scout, Bones and Weps are all keeping track of them.”

“You realize that if they notify the government and get cooperation in uncovering the gold they will get the seven percent?” Dom continued. “The finders fee goes to whomever gets there first and legally.”

“Knowing what we do about these people, I seriously doubt they will go to the government,” Henri interjected. “Most likely they’ll wait until a fortuitous time in the middle of the night to remove the gold and keep it all for themselves.”

“I still can’t understand how they found something that we didn’t?” Dom sounded puzzled. “There’s something very important we’ve missed, some very critical element of the puzzle.”

“What is the significance of the number of steps from the church?” Daria asked. “We never included that information in our overall scenario. Does the number 710 have any particular value or meaning?”

“ Madre del dio, i' m. stupida!” Dom suddenly blurted out, hitting himself in the forehead. “Dove il mio cervello è stato? We used the wrong date for Caesar’s assassination.”

“It was in 44 B.C. or BCE wasn’t it?” Monday had a puzzled look on his face.

“According to our calendar it was,” Dom continued. “Originally the Romans numbered years ab urbe condita, that is, "from the founding of the city." Had this old calendar remained in use, January 1, 2012 would have been New Year's Day in the year 2753 a.u.c. The calendar which Julius Caesar adopted in the year 709 a.u.c., was identical to the Alexandrian Aristarchus' calendar of 239 B.C.,  Roman dates between 45 and 32 BC were typically a day or two before the day with the same Julian date, so 1 January in the Roman calendar of the first year of the Julian reform was 31 December 46 BC (Julian date). A curious effect of this is that Caesar's assassination on the Ides (15th day) of March fell on 14 March 44 BC in the Julian calendar. While the years varied, all versions agreed that the city was founded on April 21, day of the festival sacred to Pales, goddess of shepherds. In her honor, Rome celebrated the Par ilia (or Palilia). (The Roman Ab Urbe Condita (or a.u.c.) calendar, however, begins with Varro's dating of 753 BC.) Caesar was therefore assassinated on the Roman calendar date of 710. That is the stone we should have been looking for and the one that Dr. Szekler probably uncovered.”

“Our only chance now is to follow Schäfer and his team,” Chester stated. “They’ve got the jump on us.”

“I’ve seen that number somewhere else.” Monday was deep in concentration. After several minutes of serious thinking, it came to him. “The number 710 was on the uniform of Sergeant Jager, I’m sure of it. Was Jager’s military unit number 710?”

“Let’s see.” Henri opened up Daria’s laptop computer. After a few minutes of searching he came back with an answer. “The Sixth Panzer Army had the 710th Infantry Division assigned to it under the command of Generalkommando Schultz. The unit fought in the Ardennes in 1944 and early 45, then in Hungary. It was disbanded near Vienna after the war.”

“Having extensive knowledge of this area, including the Vienna region, it’s more than likely that Sergeant Jager was assigned to this unit,” Monday said. “I’m willing to lay odds that Jager’s burial site has some connection with the gold.”

“We need to speak to Herr Krupke and find out where Jager is buried,” Dom cut in. “I think it would be wise if I attended to this matter myself. After Schäfer and his goons visited I can imagine that Herr Krupke is rather shaken up.”

“As soon as we have a tentative location for the gold, I need to contact my friend in the Bundespolizei,” Henri added. “If Schäfer decides to go after the gold without contacting the government, he’ll lose everything. We must keep the police informed, if nothing else, for our own legal protection.”

“On another note, I got hold of Chewey and Oddball,” The Geek smiled. “Chewey lives in Rio near Taco Bender and Oddball was living in a place called Uberlandia. They’re joining us for the search in South America and will meet Taco Bender in Buenos Aires.”

“More members of your rather odd team?” Dom asked. “Oddball? Wasn’t he in a cinema with that Eastwood fellow?”

“That was Donald Sutherland and the movie was ‘Kelly’s Heroes,” Monday replied with a smile. And, as you may have already guessed, our Oddball is just like the character Sutherland played. His real name is Bosken and he was the small unit tactics expert on the Team. Chewey was named after Chubaka of Star War’s fame because he’s huge and hairy. His real name is Brett and he was a demolitions expert on the Team.”

“Your obsession with nicknames is amusing,” Henri said with a smile. “I’d be scared to learn what you and your team might assign to me. Hans Solo perhaps or even Darth Vader?”

“You’d be more like Sourkraut,” Monday replied with a wink, noting the puzzled look on Daria’s face. “Kraut is an American nickname for Germans.” He addressed her curiosity. “It’s not very flattering and I think it originated during World War I. It was given to German soldiers in general because of all the sour kraut they consumed.”

“Many of my men refer to you Americans as Amerikanischer Gangsters,” Henry replied with a smile. “Of course they usually shorten it to Gangsters. We don’t have the odd propensity for nicknames as do you Yanks.”

“You might get into trouble calling some of my men Yanks,” Monday smiled. “Chewey and Bones are die hard Rebs, and they swear the South shall rise again.”

“American factionalism, how quaint.” Dom stood and placed his snifter on the table. “One of our academic colleagues has devoted himself to your American Civil War. You might say he’s almost fanatical about it. Can’t remember his name though. At any rate, I’m off to see Herr Krupke.”