The man in charge inspected his men’s work carefully and finally gave his approval.

“All right. Everybody up on top of the car.”

With help from the man who had already climbed through the ceiling of the car, the men struggled up and crouched amid the machinery.

“Be careful of the counterweights,” the man in charge said, pushing the button for the top floor. As the car started to climb, he unrolled the detonator wires and handed them to one of his men on top of the car. Then, with a helping hand from one of them, he climbed up to join them.

Yost’s son had come in to clear away the remains of the sandwiches and to order refills of beer. Seth declined. His stomach already felt queasy enough.

“After the American slapped me,” Yost continued after his son had once more left the room, “I awakened, as if from a dream. I looked at what I had done to the Nazi and suddenly got very faint, probably from the blood I had lost from the amputation of my thumb.

“Morgen and I stayed in touch over the years,” Yost said. “Later, when he had recovered from much of his amnesia, Morgen told me the story of what he had seen in the secret mine at Alt Aussee. You see, he was afraid he would die, and that the secret of the mine would the with him. So he told me all of the story.”

“Which was?” Seth interrupted eagerly.

“I think I’d rather Hans Morgen told you himself,” Yost said.

“Morgen? Is he here in Zurich?”

Yost shook his head. “He’s in Alt Aussee. Or he will be by the time you get there.”

“But—”

“Listen carefully to me,” Yost interrupted. “The picture you have… the painting?”

Seth nodded.

“It’s the key to everything that’s happened to you, to your wife—and to me, and to Hans, over the past forty years.”

“How?” Seth asked. “I don’t understand.”

“You will soon enough,” Yost assured him. “But right now you must pay attention to my instructions carefully. You’ll only get one chance. Do you understand?” He looked sternly at Seth, who nodded his acknowledgment

“You must take the picture to the Thule Gesellschaft Bank. It’s on the Bahnhofstrasse, just north of the Paradeplatz. Ask for the officer in charge of the floor. Give him the painting and tell him you wish access to your safe deposit box. He will know what to do.”

“But what does that have to do with—?”

Yost shook his head. “I don’t know. I really wish I could tell you. In the forty years that Hans and I have tracked that painting, we have only been able to learn that it is the key to a safe deposit box and that the contents of that box are of paramount importance to obtaining the Passion of Sophia.”

“What? How does that—”

“Morgen will explain,” Yost said.

“Why do I need to wait? Please tell me now,” Ridgeway persisted. “Everything I can learn might help me find Zoe. Finding her is more important to me than anything that’s been buried in a mine for five decades.”