The Florentine Deception Read Online Free PDF

access his account. Hoping for a Daily Double, I tried Richard’s “Hephaestus” password with no success, then keyed in “shazam.” This also failed. After half a dozen more guesses, Yahoo displayed a stern warning explaining the legal ramifications of hacking, and locked Richard’s account. Defeated, I stood up to stretch.
    The phone rang.
    â€œHello?” No response. “ Heeelloooo ?”
    Just as I was about to nix the call, Steven started yelling. “… wait, wait, hello … my mute was on. Hello?”
    He was calling from his car. I delivered a well-deserved berating, then proceeded to fill him in on my detective work.
    â€œSo neither password worked with Yahoo? Are you sure you typed them in right?”
    He annoyed me sometimes. “Of course I am.”
    â€œHmmm. Maybe the shazam thing wasn’t a password?”
    â€œWhat else could it be?”
    â€œWell if it was a password, how come he didn’t type in a website or his username first?” Finally Steven was onto something.
    â€œGood point. Hold on a sec.” Richard could have easily selected a website from his web browser’s History list or Bookmark list and surfed to it, eliminating the need to manually type in the full web address. I clicked on the browser’s History button and scrolled down the list.
    â€œWhat are you doing?” inquired Steven.
    â€œJust hold on.” Scanning the list, one web address excited me: www.zeusmail.gr . Perhaps Lister had two email accounts? I clicked on the link and ZeusMail’s login screen greeted me; the site recognized Richard’s computer and had pre-filled his email address, [email protected], in the user-name field. With some trepidation, I keyed in “shazam” and clicked the “Login” button.
    â€œWell, what’s happening?” whined Steven.
    â€œOne second!” I reprimanded. The small rotating globe at the top of the browser spun around maddeningly for a good twenty seconds. Then, as I was about to give up, the screen refreshed and displayed Richard’s inbox.
    â€œBingo!”

Chapter 6
    Thirteen minutes later, Steven was by my side panting from his sprint up the stairs.
    â€œYou waited, right?”
    â€œWhat choice did I have? Ready?”
    Steven sank to the floor Indian-style and motioned for me to proceed.
    Richard’s inbox held a single message, as yet unread, dated August 16, 2015, four days ago. I clicked. The email read:
    From: Spirited One
    To: Antique Collector
    Subject: RE: delivery of your goods
    where the hell were you? $5M isn’t enough? you’re a dead man.
    On April 2 nd , Antique Collector wrote:
    >Per our discussion, I will delay delivery of the
    >florentine until 12am on August 16 th
    >to give you time to secure the required
    >payment. Meet at the agreed-upon location.
    >No more $$ excuses or I’ll unload on another
    >buyer. Do not attempt contact before the drop.
    â€œHoly shit! This is getting interesting,” said Steven, rubbing his hands together. “Shady million-dollar deals, midnight drops, and dead archaeologists.”
    â€œHe must have died just after he sent the original email,” I considered out loud. A quick Google search confirmed my suspicions; the LA Times online obituaries noted Richard’s death on Wednesday, April 7. Cause of death: heart attack. So much for the death threat. Richard’s heart had beat him to the punch.
    â€œSo what’s this Florentine deal?” questioned Steven. “Google it.”
    I obliged. The first few results were not encouraging:
    Delicious Italian Recipes: Florentine Cooking
    www.italiancookingforall.com/florentine.html
    Learn Italian recipes from the Florentine chef masters, …
    Florentine Chicken Extraordinaire
    www.easyitaliancooking.com/recipes/flor_chix.html
    The Florentine Chicken dish is a favorite at