“Good evening, Professor. I understand you are calling for Mr. Metry?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Well, I am sorry to say, we have not seen him for several days. In fact, his daughter was here recently and we told her we had filed a missing persons report with the authorities.”
Nate swore under his breath. There was no more room for coincidence. Metry was tied to Richter, who was tied to himself. One was missing, one was dead, and one had been assaulted. Something bigger was going on, and Nate got the distinct feeling that he was wrapped up in a larger plot, the magnitude of which he could not yet grasp.
“This is in reference to the geological study?” Dufort asked, interrupting his thoughts.
“I’m sorry?” Nate replied, momentarily caught off guard.
“The hydrological study. In Arabia. Your university conducted it and shared it with Mr. Metry, no?”
“Yes,” Nate recovered quickly. “That is the reason for my call.”
“Of course. Unfortunately, I do not know what use Mr. Metry was able to make out of your study. He vanished before we had a chance to discuss it, and he did not share a copy with the office.”
“I see,” Nate said. “His daughter, is she still there?”
“No. She was here but left yesterday, I’m afraid. She came to talk to the authorities about her father, poor thing. She is a delightful young woman.”
“I-I’m sorry,” Nate stammered as he sorted the information in his mind and how it related to what was happening. “You mentioned thehydrological report that Mr. Metry had received. Did he mention what the study was for?”
“Of course,” Dufort replied. “He was expecting to lead an expedition to Saudi Arabia to chart underground water sources. The funding had fallen through, but a private donor had offered to cover the expense at the last moment. It was really quite fortuitous.”
Metry’s daughter was Anastasia, who had been emailed by Richter. Or perhaps by someone else. But she was also a hydrologist. It was probable that the man would have consulted his daughter on his work, as she was experienced in that particular field.
“Did his daughter mention anything about it?”
“No, she was concerned with her father’s whereabouts, less about his work.” There was a pause. “Although now that I think about it, I believe Youssef did mention sending a report he had received to his daughter for her opinion.”
That was a good sign. It seemed that a university had conducted a geological survey of some type in the Arabian Desert and that Richter had been the one to commission it. He then sent it to Metry, who forwarded it to his daughter. Nate had tried to obtain a copy from Richter, but he was dead, and his computer contained no traces of the survey or emails back and forth. Metry had received it, but he was missing.
“Did she by chance say where she was staying?” If she was still in town, maybe he could make contact with her, warn her about the potential threat facing her in Cairo, and most importantly, get a copy of the report.
“The Crowne Plaza, I believe,” Dufort answered.
“Thank you.”
There were too many universities to go through one by one hoping to get a straight answer, so that would have to be a last-ditch effort. Anastasia was the best hope, as she had received the report from herfather and, as of yesterday, wasn’t dead or missing. But if someone else had emailed her to meet in Cairo in a few days, he very much doubted she would stay that way.
After thanking Monsieur Dufort and hanging up, Nate called the Crowne Plaza and asked for Anastasia Metry. Unfortunately, they informed him that she had checked out. Nate swore. Another dead end.
He spent the rest of the car ride relaying the phone call to Wally and detailing his thoughts on just what it was that they found themselves wrapped up in. They bounced several ideas off each other, further refining their theory.
“So Richter is dead, Metry is missing, and you got rumbled, yeah?” Wally asked.
“Pretty much,” Nate responded.
“Who do you think this private donor of Metry’s was? Seems odd that he would get funding from some eccentric rich geezer and then fall off the grid.”
“You’re right, it does.” Nate thought on it for a while. “You think he’s dead?”
“Stands to reason.”
“And if he and Richter are dead for sharing that report, and someone tried to kill me just for asking about it…”
“Then the girl is next,” Wally said, completing his thought.
