“Yes. If you’ll give me a number where you can be reached, I’ll ask them to call you as soon as I can get them above the surface.”

“I’m in Berlin. The number here is . . .”

As Selma wrote down the number, she was already thinking she would put the McCullough book aside. Albrecht Fischer was a professor of classical archaeology at Heidelberg. It wouldn’t hurt to spend some time this evening reviewing a few of his recent academic publications just to see what might be next. “Thank you, Albrecht. I’ll get Sam and Remi’s attention as soon as I can.”

Late in the evening, after their romantic dinner of shrimp etouffee, softshell crab, and bread pudding at the Grand Jatte and a moonlit walk home along the Gulf, Sam and Remi had just gotten into bed when his cell phone rang.

As Sam dropped his feet to the floor to get his phone from the top of the dresser, Remi raised her head and leaned on her elbow. “Mine has an off switch.”

“Sorry,” he said. “I forgot it was on.” He flipped his thumb across the screen. “Hello?”

“Sam?”

“Selma.” He looked at Remi. She turned away and pulled the covers up to her chin.

“I hope I’m not calling too late.”

“Of course not.” He smiled at Remi. “What’s up?”

“Albrecht Fisher called. He’s made a discovery he wants to discuss with you and Remi.”

“Is he at his university office in Heidelberg?”

“No, he’s in Berlin. He gave me his number.”

“Yes.”

She read him the number, and he used the pen he’d left on the dresser to write it on a slip of paper in his wallet. “Thanks, Selma. How’s everything at home?”

“Everything proceeds with the utmost serenity at the manor whether the lord and lady are in residence or not.”

“You wouldn’t call a man up in the middle of the night just to make fun of him.”

“Never,” said Selma. “Sleep tight.” She hung up.

Sam went out to the kitchen and began to close the door, but Remi was already out of bed and put her hand on the door to keep it from closing. “I’m already awake. We may as well both be tired tomorrow.”

“What time is it in Berlin?”

“Seven hours ahead of Louisiana.”

“So it’s eight a.m.”

Sam tapped in the number and waited while the connection was established, then switched his phone to speaker. They listened to it ring.

“’Allo, Sam. Wie geht es Ihnen?”

“Fine, Albrecht. Selma said you had something to tell us, so we’re both listening.”

“I do,” he said. “It’s a find that I made only a week ago. I brought a few things here for testing and the results have come in.”

“What is it?”

“My friends, I think I’ve found something incredible, and it has to be kept absolutely secret for now. It’s so big, I can’t excavate it alone. I can’t even do a preliminary survey alone. Full summer will begin in a month, and again the need for secrecy in this situation doesn’t even bear describing.”