Nick’s brow knit in apparent confusion.
“Okay,” he finally replied. “Since we haven’t a snowball’s chance in hell of relocating the site, I’m willing to play along with this game. What makes you think the statue has company?”
“Several things spring to mind—not the least of which is the fact we know the location is definitely somewhere near Corfu in the Ionian Sea.”
“And you find this somehow significant?”
“Very much so, yes. But I’ll come back to that in a minute. To the best of your knowledge, when was the last recorded time that Myron’s original was actually seen and admired by the ancients?”
Nick thought for a moment.
“Off the top of my head, I’d say it was roughly around 80 BCE. Perhaps a tad later. I’d have to do some checking.”
“And where exactly was the statue?”
“Where it had always been; at Myron’s home city of Eleutherae in the northern part of Attica. To the best of my knowledge, it continuously stood in the local Temple of Olympius since its completion a few centuries earlier.”
“So if the Vatican experts are correct—which I don’t doubt—the Roman copy of the Aries now residing in their museum was produced some thirty years prior to that when Myron’s masterpiece actually disappeared. A fair guess?”
“A good assumption. But I have to wonder where you’re going with this.”
David responded by asking yet another question.
“Using Myron as a timeline guide, of the five other renowned great classical Greek sculptors—from Phidias and Praxiteles of Athens, Polyclitus of Argos, Scopas of Paros, to Lysippus of Sicyon—can you think of a single one of them whose verifiable major works have survived beyond the first century BCE?” He paused, shaking his head. “I know I can’t think of any.”
Nick blinked, his features incredulous as he put his empty glass down.
“My God, David! Are you now suggesting what I think you are? You’re not serious!”
“Why not? Since this is all idle conjecture anyway, what’s stopping us from speculating on all the potential options?”
Nick had no ready reply, watching as his friend stood and mixed them both another drink. His mind was now clearly working overtime—as David knew it would be.
“This—this hypothesis surely can’t be something you’ve just now come up with? You must’ve given it considerable deliberation or you wouldn’t even be proposing it.”
“For what it’s worth, I have. Like I said, if we extrapolate this time reference all the way back to the known disappearance of Myron’s Aries from the city of Eleutherai, then maybe we should also examine what historical event might have accounted for it—and possibly why so many other masterpieces throughout Greece may have surreptitiously vanished during the very same period.”
Now it was Nick who shook his head.
“Such as what?” he asked.
David obliged him.
“Well, one particular event comes to mind—and for me it, stands out like a proverbial sore thumb. It needs some research on the Internet to fully refresh my memory on all the details, but it seems to fit the bill as a prime candidate. If you haven’t already guessed, I’m thinking of the conclusion of the war against Mithradates of Pontus in 83 BCE by the Roman general Lucius Cornelius Sulla. All the main battles took place in Greece. Due to the turmoil of that period—and what later happened when he returned to Rome and became dictator of the faltering republic—a large segment of the historical record is still somewhat sketchy. What is recorded, however, is that before his return Sulla replenished his much-diminished war chest by ruthlessly looting all of the Greek temples, shipping everything of significant value back to Italy along with his army.”
“And you think this may have included Myron’s fabled statue of Aries?”
“It makes complete sense, don’t you agree? Besides being an accomplished general, Sulla was also a cultured aristocrat who would’ve certainly known the great value of such an item—plus, of course, whatever other masterpieces he could lay his hands on.” David hesitated. “Which brings me back to the relevance of the marble arm found somewhere off Corfu in the Ionian Sea. If this ship—and I believe it was a damn big one—was navigating such heavy booty back to Italy, then it logically would’ve traversed this area while en route. My guess is it probably encountered a severe storm and went down with all its cargo.”
Nick stared at David in appreciative silence for several moments as he considered the enormous ramifications of all this. The implication left him visibly stunned. By David’s hypothesis, not only was Myron’s Aries somewhere nearby on the seabed, but it might very well be surrounded by other ancient masterpieces of literally incalculable value to the art world.
“If what you suggest is true,” he finally managed, “it only compounds the tragedy a hundred times over. To think it’s possible no one might ever relocate the site is nothing short of heartbreaking.”
David nodded in silent agreement.
Now wasn’t the time to bring it up, he knew, but he wasn’t entirely convinced that this dismal assessment was actually unsolvable. Besides, the hour was late and he’d given his friend quite enough to ponder for one evening. His additional thoughts on the matter could wait for another day.
CHAPTER NINE
When David answered his cell at 3:15 pm, he immediately perceived from Elizabeth’s tone her meeting with Ted Quenton went as hoped. He knew her too well to read her voice inflections otherwise. To ensure needed privacy, he’d spent his time at poolside with Nick in the Apollo Lounge, leaving Maria and the two boys to tackle unfinished souvenir shopping before tomorrow’s afternoon flight home out of Capri’s Kapdistrias Airport. Though Elizabeth had again offered the use of the DeCaylus Corp’s jet for their return trip, Nick had instead booked an Olympic fight, not wishing to further impose on her generosity.
“Elizabeth, I take it?”
David nodded as he pocketed the phone. “They finished up sooner than I expected.”
“Successfully, I hope . . .”
“Apparently. I’ll learn the details soon enough.”
“Then I’m happy for Elizabeth. Just be sure to let me know later if Quenton brought one of those—”
“We’ll find out together. He wants to meet you.”
“When?”
“Right now.”
Drinks finished, they left the lounge and took the lobby’s private lift up to the Hilton’s penthouse floor. Entering David’s suite, they found Elizabeth waiting for them along with a smiling Ted Quenton.
At sixty-six, the affable gentleman projected the relaxed image of a highly successful upper-management executive, one who had proven himself many times over during his long career with DeCaylus Corp. His hair was nearly white, neatly trimmed close to the scalp. Combined with his intense dark eyes and fair complexion, this served to enhance his already distinguished features. Recruited along with several others at a young age by Elizabeth’s late father, his business acumen had been a major contributing factor in the eventual creation of the multi-million dollar corporation she inherited.
“Great to see you again,” said David, clasping the older man’s hand. “It’s been much too long. Almost—what? Close to two years now?”
“Actually, more like three.”
“That long—? Seems hard to believe.”
“Trust me. Of late, keeping track of time has become a daily routine of mine. And a totally boring one, I might add. Definitely not a pastime I’d ever recommend to anyone.”
David drew encouragement from Ted’s use of the past tense.
“Are congratulations now in order? Can I assume Elizabeth enticed you back out of retirement?”
“Oh, indeed!” he replied, inclining his head to where a contented Elizabeth sat listening on the couch. “All of her arguments were most convincing. Plus I could hardly resist her generous proposal.” He turned back to David and winked. “Your wife definitely shares many of her father’s fin
er attributes, my friend. I’m fully confident the future of DeCaylus Corp is in excellent hands.”
“Tell me something I don’t already know.”
“Now wait a second,” interrupted Elizabeth as she tucked her legs up beneath her. “Let’s be honest, Ted. It took no real skill on my part. I recall you readily admitted your taking early retirement was a big mistake.”
The man flashed a jovial grin.
“Okay, you got me there,” he conceded with a chuckle. “Bottom line is I simply wasn’t prepared for such a drastic change. Even my dear Margie figured this out after just the first few months. If you can imagine, I soon found myself following her around like a lost puppy; no hobbies, no interests, no travel ambitions to speak of. . . I just wasn’t ready for it.”
“Thankfully you weren’t,” she said. “If it was a fresh challenge you sought, then this should more than do the trick. It may take a period to establish your new position as my official liaison with our current management team, but I can’t imagine anyone better suited to make it succeed. All of your former colleagues think very highly of you and should be quite receptive.”
“Good of you to say. I appreciate it.”
David used the opportunity to introduce Nick, whose hand Ted then eagerly shook. “So you’re the fellow Elizabeth told me about,” he said. “The one whose theory may set the art world on its ears. I look forward to learning more.”
Nick was genuinely surprised by Ted’s apparent enthusiasm. “Any chance you’re familiar with Myron, the early classical sculptor?”
“Not really, but I assure you I intend to remedy that situation. Since both Elizabeth and David have a keen interest in exploring your theory, I came prepared to assist in whatever manner I can. After all, accommodating her needs is going to be my main priority from this point forward. Did I understand correctly that you and your family are heading back to Salonika tomorrow?”
Nick gave a half-hearted acknowledgment.
“Afraid so. Marko’s school year begins a full three weeks sooner than Jake’s back stateside—on top of which I’ve some university responsibilities that simply can’t be delayed. Wish it were otherwise, but such is life.”
Ted understood.
“Which leaves us precious little time to waste,” he said, looking at each in turn. “We’ll just have to make the most of our opportunities. If everyone is willing, I’d like to view what evidence you three have already accumulated on David’s laptop. After that I’ll see what I can do to help. I did bring a CAD program with me that should help clarify some things considerably. It won’t take long. Is this agreeable to everybody?”
“I’d say so, yes.”
True to his word, once Ted understood the general parameters of what they were attempting to do, he soon had his program up and working on David’s laptop. The functional worth of the software quickly became apparent by its ability to then fashion a three-dimensional replica of the marble arm, combining all of the multiple photos Nick had previously taken from various angles. From this point forward, the digital image of the arm became nothing less than a virtual entity unto itself—one that could be rotated and manipulated into various positions with amazing precision.
So far, so good, thought David. Now for the tricky part.
With this initial hurdle overcome, there still remained the problem of making a definitive comparison to the single photo lifted off the Vatican brochure. Additional shots of the Roman copy from different angles would’ve been ideal, but they weren’t available. Still and all, Ted’s manipulative overlay results proved even more encouraging than what David and Nick’s amateur efforts had achieved the night before. Near as everyone could tell, the two marble arms appeared to be an exact match in every way that mattered. As scrupulous as Ted was, however, he then came up with yet another proposal to take this promising evaluation even a step further.
Leaning back from the screen, he considered a moment before expressing it.
“As much as I personally think this is extremely convincing,” he said, “I believe there’s a way to make the evidence irrefutable—that is, of course, if you wish me to pursue it. A few possibilities come to mind. Firstly, with your permission, I’d need to download a full copy of what we have so far and take it back to our computer experts in Boston. Secondly, I’d need to acquire at least a few more photos of that statue in the Vatican Museum—and preferably from several different perspectives.”
Nick saw a potential obstacle.
“The latter may be difficult,” he said with a slightly worried face. “Unless the Vatican has changed its rules, no cameras are allowed inside their various museums.”
Ted appeared unfazed.
“Even so, I’m sure there are other means of getting what we want without prematurely tipping our hand as to your theory. For example, I suspect the Vatican has a wide variety of other brochures—in or out of circulation—that might include alternate views of the same statue. It should be an easy matter to check this out.”
“Then by all means, do so,” said Elizabeth.
David reflected on Ted’s cautionary words. The older man had zeroed in on a potential problem that until this moment he hadn’t really considered.
“So you think ‘prematurely tipping our hand’, as you put it, would be risky?”
“I do, though I suppose it ultimately depends on just how far the three of you wish to pursue this. Then again, perhaps in the bigger picture, it doesn’t matter. As I understand the circumstances, the chance of anyone relocating that ancient wreck site anytime in the near future is about next to nil.” He hesitated. “On the other hand, however, far stranger things have happened. Like it or not, David, your reputation among your peers—not to mention the constant attention you tend to draw from the media—is such that revealing this theory beyond our immediate circle might best be kept under wraps. At least for the time being, anyway. If word got out as to what you were privately investigating, you can well imagine the outcome. You’d be up to your chin in treasure hunters, media types, and God only knows what else. Why risk any unnecessary complications? The decision is entirely yours, of course, but that’s my initial advice.”
David saw the rationale and nodded.
“It does make sense,” agreed Nick, “—particularly after what we discussed last night and again this morning down at the Apollo. For my part, I’ll make no mention of anything when I get back to Salonika. By the way, did you fill Elizabeth in on your hypothesis regarding the sunken statue and how it could have ended up in the Ionian Sea?”
“Not yet. Haven’t had the opportunity.”
Elizabeth’s brow knit.
“What hypothesis? Something you’re keeping from—”
“Not at all, hon. You were sound asleep when I got to bed. Plus, I knew you’d be tied up all today on your meeting with Ted. Figured the last thing you needed was more speculative conjecture from me on the subject.”
“Well, I’m all ears now,” she answered.
With her and Ted’s full attention, he obliged them.
CHAPTER TEN
For the benefit of Elizabeth and Ted, David took time explaining his thoughts surrounding the historical events of 83 BCE when the temples of Greece were plundered by the Roman dictator, Sulla—and how in his opinion there existed a reasonable possibility a fair number of other originals lay on the sea floor alongside Myron’s long-missing masterpiece. Pure conjecture, admittedly, but the broad scope of his well-reasoned speculation fairly took Elizabeth’s breath away.
“Good Lord,” she eventually whispered. “If—if true, I can scarcely imagine the incredible value to the art world this would represent. David, it would be nothing less than stunning!”
But he wasn’t yet done.
“Ted, you said the probability of anyone relocating the ancient wreck site in the foreseeable future is likely next to nil—which is a reasonable conclusion considering how it’s such a damn big sea out there. But in this particular instance, that assumption might n
ot be entirely valid. In fact, we may have been handed a significant clue to narrow things down somewhat. When Nick and I spoke to the proprietor of the local museum he made a casual remark that stuck in my mind. He said that back in 2008 the young fisherman told him the marble arm came up in his trawling net at the very end of a very long day—and since his home port was the fishing village of Benitses, I believe the implication of this sort of speaks for itself, don’t you think?”
Elizabeth picked up on his logic.
“So you believe it happened relatively close to Benitses?”
“That’s how I read it, yes.”
“Interesting . . .” mused Ted, pursing his lips in thought. “But even so, that still encompasses a considerable stretch of possibilities, doesn’t it?”
“To say the least.”
“I don’t know the correct terminology, David, but I have to wonder if the waters off Benitses have ever been explored, or surveyed—or whatever the hell it’s called—at any time in the past.”
David began shaking his head even as the question was posed.
“Nick has already done some general checking. To the best of our knowledge, no systematic exploration by qualified people has ever been undertaken. At least never on an official level. Nor is it likely planned for any time soon. As you know, the Greek government presently has precious little funds at its disposal. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m sure a host of recreational scuba divers routinely enjoy those pristine waters and doubtless have for many years. However, I’d be willing to bet the great majority of their past and present activities occur relatively close to shore. Most interesting me is what may be beneath the surface a dozen or so miles further out.”
Ted gave an understanding nod.
“I see,” he said. “Which then takes me back to my original question. With Nick and his family returning to Salonika tomorrow, just how far do you and Elizabeth wish to continue investigating this?” He paused. “Anything specific come to mind?”
The Ionian Paradigm Page 5
