The Copernicus Legacy: The Forbidden Stone Read Online Free PDF Page B

several pieces about an oil tanker sinking in the Mediterranean. “It’s pretty weird, isn’t it, that they both happened at kind of the same time as his message? They’re tragedies, right?” Lily looked from one to the other of them. “I think they are.”
    “They are, of course,” Dr. Kaplan said over the tablet. “But I don’t know . . .”
    “Call him,” said Wade. “Call Uncle Henry now and find out what he means.”
    “You absolutely have to, Uncle Roald,” Lily added.
    Dr. Kaplan glanced at his watch. “It’s six hours later there. Afternoon. He should be home. All right.” He found the number in his notebook. Sliding his cell phone from his jacket pocket, he realized once again that it was dead and plugged it into its charger. Then he went into the living room and keyed the number into the home phone. He put it on speaker, and set it on the coffee table.
    It rang five times before a woman answered, “Ja?”
    “Hello,” said Dr. Kaplan. “I would like to speak to Herr Heinrich Vogel, please. It’s urgent.”
    There was a pause. “ Nein. No. No Herr Vogel. I em Frau Munch. Howze kipper.” The woman had a thick accent. It took a moment for Wade to understand her.
    “Housekeeper,” he whispered.
    “Can you please give Dr. Vogel a message?”
    “No mess edge.”
    “It’s short. Please tell him to call me. My name is—”
    “Herr Vogel no call. Herr Vogel iz ded!”

Chapter Seven
    W ade turned to his father. “Dad?”
    Dr. Kaplan appeared to freeze for a moment. Then he slipped off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, the phone crackling on the table. “Excuse me, I don’t think we heard you. Are you saying . . . Heinrich . . .”
    “Ded. Ja. Ja. ” The voice rasped from the other end. “Ze fun . . . fun . . .”
    Becca silently mouthed the word, “Fun.”
    “Fun . . . fun . . . eral. Tomorrow mornink. Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof. Here. Berlin. Elfen glock .”
    “Eleven o’clock?” said Lily.
    “Ja, ja.”
    “Wait. This can’t be right,” said Wade. His chest was burning. “I mean how? How did he die? When?”
    The voice on the other end went in and out.
    “Frau Munch,” his father said, leaning over the phone. “Frau—”
    “Hurry. You vill mizz ze boorial!”
    The line clicked. She had hung up.
    The children stared at one another, listening to the dial tone until the phone blinked and the connection was severed. Lily set it back in its cradle.
    Wade felt suddenly dizzy, as if freezing water streamed down his back, while the inside of his chest was on fire. “Dad?” He lowered himself onto the sofa and felt Becca’s hand touch his shoulder.
    Uncle Henry . . . dead?
    Dr. Kaplan slumped down next to him, nearly buried by the cushions. “Wade, I’m so sorry. This is . . . unbelievable. How could Heinrich be dead?” He looked at the wall clock. “I can’t go . . . not with you here and Sara flying off to South America.” He seemed as deflated as the pillows around him.
    Darrell picked up the translated email and read over its few words. “I mean, I didn’t know Uncle Henry, but something about this isn’t right. He sends you a strange email, a coded message, and now he’s dead? This is way too suspicious.”
    Wade stood up from the sofa. Becca’s hand slipped away. “Dad, what do you think we should do?”
    His father pressed his fingers to his temples and rubbed them in slow circles. “Kids, I don’t know yet. It’s too sudden. But I’m fairly sure there’s no time to do anything. Certainly not while your mom’s away.” He took in a deep breath. His face was drawn and gray.
    “At least call her,” said Darrell. “She needs to know.”
    Roald glanced again at his watch as if trying to find more information there than it could deliver. “She’ll be in the air now, but I’ll leave a message. Lily, could you look up the flight to La Paz, Bolivia, and see when her first layover is?”
    “Sure thing.” She tapped and swiped her