“You are every bit the sucker I was told you are,” Xandria said. “I’m not taking the Gutenberg for the money.” She clicked the mouse a few more times, then stopped and stretched her fingers. “I need it for a far greater reason.”

“I don’t understand. You have a buyer who’s willing to pay more?”

Xandria closed the laptop and folded her hands on top of it. “There was a story my father used to tell me: A king gave a portion of land to his son. He instructed his son to work the soil there, and said if he did an excellent job the yield would be plentiful. But the son was lazy. Instead of heeding the wise words of his father, he borrowed money against the land. Night after night he threw elaborate parties, and before long, the money was gone. Eventually a collector came, and when the son could not provide him with enough to settle his debts, the collector demanded the deed to the land. The son could do nothing but hand over the land that his father had entrusted to him. A few days later, the son went crawling back to his father. He explained the whole story and begged for forgiveness. The king frowned. ‘I told you to work the soil,’ he said. ‘Did you not do as I instructed?’ ‘No,’ replied the son. ‘I squandered what you gave me. But I have returned to beg for your mercy!’ The king stood, enraged. ‘You fool! My treasure was buried in that land! You have handed over the kingdom to a mere peasant!’ The son was immediately taken by the king’s guards and—at his own father’s command—executed.”

August shook his head, then said, “You’re a prime candidate for some psychotherapy.”

Xandria shook her head. “You don’t get it, do you? The Gutenberg Bible holds the key to a treasure that’s been hidden for over half a millennium. Men have given their lives to keep that information from falling into the wrong hands. And you were about to hand it over to a common criminal.”

August couldn’t decide whether Xandria was being dramatic or believed what she was saying. In some ways, he hoped Xandria was right. Riddles had surrounded the Gutenberg Bible for hundreds of years. If Xandria spoke the truth, then perhaps the veil of questions would be lifted.

August had become reacquainted with the mystery during his month in Germany. There he met a Russian archaeobibliologist named Nikolai Arsov. According to Nikolai, very little truth was known about Gutenberg’s life, including a period from 1443 to 1448 when he vanished from history.