Read The Einstein Code for Free Online Page B

information, then she glanced out at the milling office workers. ‘That is . . . excellent news, Joyce.’
    ‘I have some of the message. We caught the tail end of it.’ He tapped a key on his laptop. A second of quiet hiss spilled from the speaker of the headrest screen and then a
man’s laughter could be heard.
‘No . . . really?’
    Then a woman’s voice, a trace of a French accent.
‘Where is it? What shape is it in?’
    A pause, then a different woman.
‘We’re going to head home, we have some materials that need to be studied.’
    The first woman spoke again.
‘What kind of materials?’
    ‘Rather not say over the radio, Cherie. We’re catching a seaplane to Tarawa. Gustav and Connor will stay here for a bit, tidy up loose ends. It’ll still take us a couple of
days to get back though.’
    The transmission ended abruptly.
    ‘This ship?’ Buckingham asked. ‘Anything?’
    ‘Chartered in the Gilbert Islands five days ago. Booking in the name of the Institute of Marine Studies, Hampton, Virginia. The lead names are . . .’ He glanced down again.
    ‘Doctors Wetherall and Bates,’ Buckingham interjected.
    Joyce looked up, puzzled.
    ‘I’m familiar with the names.’ Buckingham turned and gave Hans Secker a frosty look.
    ‘How long ago was this call made?’ he asked.
    ‘Two seventeen a.m., our time, sir. I was only informed at noon. I then checked it through Flotta.’
    ‘You did well, Joyce,’ Buckingham said distracted. ‘Anything else?’
    ‘No, ma’am.’
    Buckingham spun on Secker and narrowed her eyes. ‘Sounds like we have a little time, Hans.’ She checked her Patek Philippe. ‘They may still be in the Gilbert Islands even if
they left the ship soon after the transmission. I want them found and followed. They must have retrieved something of value from the remains of the aircraft. They hinted at it. Whatever it is, I
want it.’

12
    Off Howland Island, Pacific Ocean. Present day.
    Lou held his hand up to shield his eyes as he stared out over the endless horizon.
    ‘There it is,’ he said and turned to Kate.
    She saw a flash of light as the evening sun reflected off the approaching seaplane, a Canadair CL-215. They could see its canary yellow fuselage as it came closer and banked round, reaching the
surface of the ocean about a hundred feet to
Inca
’s starboard.
    Their assistant Gustav was waiting for them in the launch with their luggage and equipment. Kate gave their other junior, Connor, a hug and Lou shook his hand.
    ‘See you back home,’ Lou said. ‘No sunbathing, we want a full analysis of that wreck before you leave here.’
    Connor gave him a mock salute and Lou and Kate descended the ladder to the launch.
    *
    The flat, pristine blue of the Pacific dropped away beneath them as the seaplane took off towards the setting sun. It was a three-hour flight to Tarawa, the main island in the
Gilberts. For most of the journey, Lou and Kate spoke little, Lou absorbed in his book and Kate with her headphones on listening to music.
    Lou put his book down on his lap and tapped Kate on the arm. She pulled off the headphones, the music spilling out. Lou nodded to her MP3 player and she switched it off.
    ‘I can’t figure out why Amelia Earhart had the cylinder in the cockpit,’ he said. ‘She must have been involved in something.’
    ‘I imagine she was. There have long been rumours she was a spy and that her plane crash was no accident.’
    ‘Tell me more.’
    ‘Well, she was a very experienced pilot and the attempt to circumnavigate the globe had been planned meticulously. They were flying in clear weather, early in the morning, and aiming to
land at Howland.’
    ‘Where were they headed?’
    ‘You don’t really know anything about her, do you, Lou?’
    He raised his eyebrows. ‘I was more into baseball players.’
    ‘OK. Well you know she was probably the most famous woman in the world at the time she died?’
    ‘Err . . .’ Lou shook his head.
    ‘She lived at a