The Puzzle of Piri Reis Read Online Free PDF Page A

Then I'll check in at the
hotel."
    His eyes widened. He plopped in a red leather
wingback chair at the end of Edna's desk. "You can
stay here if you wish. There's plenty of room"
    The last thing I wanted to do was spend a night in
that house. For all I knew, the Frankenstein monster could be hiding behind one of the doors. "No, thanks.
Sometimes the job calls for odd hours. I wouldn't want
to disturb anyone"

    "Oh, you wouldn't be disturbing anyone. After Edna
leaves, I'm the only one around"
    He just handed me another reason not to stay. Before
I could reply, Edna spoke. "Don't nag Mr. Boudreaux,
Teddy. He knows his job. He knows what he's doing."
    I could have kissed her.
    Ted shrugged. "Well, whatever. So, now what?"
    "The list?"
    "Oh, yes" He fished a folded sheet from his pocket
and handed it to me. "Here"
    I opened the sheet of paper. "Let's see. Ervin Maddox" I glanced at Ted from under my eyebrows.
    "He owns an antique shop down on the River Walk.
Cassandra's Baubles" He nodded to the list. "The next
on the list, Leo Cobb-well, I guess you could call him
an art broker."
    Edna glanced at her watch on her right wrist. `By
the way, Teddy, Mr. Cobb called a couple of hours ago.
He wanted to come by and talk to you.'
    "Anything important?"
    "He didn't say. I told him you were out"
    "Did he say what he wanted?"
    "No, but I did tell him about the map, and that you
were hiring a private investigator to find it. I hope that
was all right." She looked at me, then hopefully at Ted.
    "He'll find out anyway," he replied. "Don't worry
about it, Edna"

    She smiled gratefully.
    Ted turned to me. "Leo finds artifacts and acts as a
middleman between buyer and seller. He and my father
were once good friends but they had a falling out."
    "Oh" I lifted an eyebrow. "About what?"
    "Nothing really. Leo insisted the map was as much
his as Father's. They argued about it. Leo swore he
would get the map one way or another."
    "Why did he think the map was his?"
    Pursing his thin lips, Ted hesitated a moment. "As I
understand it, he found the map. He claimed Father, as
a commission for finding the map, was going to share
ownership with him." He shrugged. "Father, of
course, denied the allegation."
    Tucking that little tidbit of information back in
my head, I glanced at the next name. "What about Joe
Hogg?"
    "He's a rich used-car salesman."
    "An unbearable, disgusting man," Edna said bitterly.
    Ted laughed. "As you can see, Edna doesn't think
much of Joe Hogg"
    "Okay, and next, Father Bertoldo Poggioreale." I
looked at him in surprise. "Father Bertoldo Poggioreale?"
    Ted nodded. "Yes. He's a teacher at L'Universita di
Grazia e la Fratellanza. He is an expert on ancient maps.
In fact, he was a student under the seismologist Reverend William Chanlin, whom the United States Naval
Hydrographic Office took to the Antarctic to learn if there was land under the ice as the Piri Reis Map suggested" He paused and glanced at Edna. "Edna can tell
you that Father Poggioreale tried, on more than one
occasion, to purchase the map from Father."

    She nodded. "He did, Mr. Boudreaux. Three times as
I remember. Once he even offered two million dollars."
    I whistled. "Why does a teacher need a map like
this? And where did he get the money?"
    Ted shook his head. "I have no idea."
    I pulled out my note cards on which I jot all my
thoughts and findings. "All right. With you two helping,
let's take each name, and you tell me why you think they
wanted the map"
    Fifteen minutes later, we had finished the job. "Now,"
I said, pulling out another card, "in addition to these
four, who else could have benefited from the map?" I
nodded to Ted. "You could, right? You inherited it."
    His eyes widened in surprise. "You don't think that
I-"
    "No. Not at all," I hastened to assure him. "But are
there any others?"
    He thought a moment. "Only one, I guess. My
cousin, Lamia. Lamia Sue Odom. Father took her in
when her parents died about