Dr. Winter smiled crookedly. “Could you call in a doctor for me?”

“After you answer a few questions,” April said quietly.

Dr. Winter continued to smile. “Let’s see what the questions are first.”

“You know, you probably don’t need this anyway,” April said, shaking the cup. “I hear that prosthetic hands have come a long way.”

“Enough,” Dr. Winter said. He winced. “What do you want to know?”

“Are you a member of the Orphans?”

“Yes.”

April’s eyes filled with tears. “Then did you know my son was going to be used as ransom to get the Gutenberg Bibles?”

Dr. Winter closed his only eye. “I gave the order.”

“You couldn’t.”

“It had to be done!” Dr. Winter proclaimed. “But I swear, your son was never going to be hurt.”

“I don’t understand. You had full access to the Gutenberg. You could have just walked into the vault and taken it yourself!”

“It’s not that simple. The Gutenberg Bibles will be destroyed. My job would have also been destroyed in the process. Someone else needed to take the blame for taking the Gutenberg. Someone besides me,” Dr. Winter said. “I’m sorry it had to be you.”

“Me too.”

“It might be hard to understand, but I act as a guardian for the Library of Congress. There are hundreds of books there that hold age-old secrets. Who knows what other treasures could be found? The library is important to the welfare of the Orphans!”

“It’s also important to the Order of the Dragon. Their men took the Gutenberg from the Great Hall.”

“No!”

“And they stole the one from the vault too,” April said, hoping Dr. Winter believed her. She wasn’t a very good liar, but she took the chance in case she needed the Gutenberg as a bargaining chip later.

“I can’t believe it,” Dr. Winter said. “Maybe if I’d asked you to join the Orphans in the first place, this never would have happened.”

“I would never join any organization that puts people’s lives in jeopardy,” April said.

“That’s because you’re only taking a narrow view of the situation,” Dr. Winter said. “Come now, April. You understand history. My life, your life, your son’s life . . . they all mean nothing in the context of history.”

“They mean everything to me,” April said. She shoved the Styrofoam cup in Dr. Winter’s face. “Stop playing games, and tell me exactly what I need to do to save my son.”

“Very well,” Dr. Winter said, sighing. “I presume you understand who the Orphans are?”

“I know that they were warrior monks back in the 1400s.”