“What do you know, more gambling.” Max no longer noticed the heat.

“Forget it, you lost enough in Vegas. You know, it doesn’t seem right to me. Vicksburg’s the site of one of the most famous battles of the Civil War. I have a hard time putting casinos here. It’s like if they put Euro Disney on the Normandy beaches.”

“A lot of locals agree, I’m sure, but a lot more are grateful for the revenue and jobs.”

Juan conceded the point with a nod. “It just occurred to me. I have no idea what Tamara Wright looks like.” He was reaching for his phone to call Perlmutter when it started to ring.

“Chairman, St. Julian here.”

“Your ears must have been buzzing because I was just reaching for my phone to call you. We don’t know what Professor Wright looks like.”

“She’s tall, I’d say six feet, and a light-skinned African American. Her hair was straight the last time I saw her, but that was several years ago. The best way to spot her is she always wears a gold Tijitu pendant.

“A what?”

“It’s the Taoist symbol for yin and yang. One half black, the other white. Listen, that’s not important. Her grad student just called me again. She says she had another call last night from a man asking about Tamara. She just thought to call me now.”

Juan’s gut tightened. “What did she tell this man?”

“Everything. She didn’t think she was breaking any confidences.”

“Did the man identify himself?”

“Yes, he said he was a fellow scholar visiting from Argentina and wanted to set up a meeting with Tamara.”

The tightness spread to Cabrillo’s chest. He started looking around the small parking lot, expecting to see the Argentine Major at any second.

Perlmutter continued, “This isn’t good, is it?”

“No. No, it isn’t. It means Professor Wright’s life is in danger.”

At hearing this Max Hanley also started scanning faces.

“Thanks for the warning, St. Julian,” Cabrillo said, and folded his phone.

“Persistent buggers, aren’t they?” Max said.

“They’ve been an hour behind us the whole way.”

“How do you think they found out about Professor Wright?”

“The same way we would have if I didn’t know Perlmutter. I Googled her last night after you went to bed. She’s world renowned for her knowledge of ancient Chinese shipping and commerce. If I wanted to learn more about Admiral Tsai, she’s the person I’d want to talk to.”

“I guess this means that rubbing you threw into the kitchen at Ronish’s house survived the fire,” Max remarked.

“What can I say? It was a lousy toss. Come on, let’s go check in, then find Dr. Wright. I feel like I’ve got a target pinned to my back, standing out here.”