of centuries-old buildings that were true architectural gems and breathe in that university atmosphere where students from all over the world came to study.
I arrived around lunchtime and took the opportunity to have a sandwich and a pint of beer in a busy pub in the centre of Oxford before going on to the university.
The particular university college to which I was heading consisted of many Gothic-style buildings with large windows that flooded their interiors with light. As I walked through the extensive gardens, I passed several groups of students chatting under the shade of trees. There was a game of rugby being played in a wide meadow in the distance and, at the bottom of the path I was walking along, several oarsmen crossed carrying a couple of boats on their shoulders.
I had already met the caretaker from previous assignments. He was a chubby middle-aged Irishman with exquisite manners who always greeted me warmly.
‘Good afternoon, Richard. How is everything?’ I asked him.
‘I can’t complain. Tell me, what brings you here this time?’
‘I'm looking for information on a student who studied here during the last decade of the last century.’
‘That shouldn’t be too difficult. Do you know his forename and surname?’
‘Yes, James Henson.’
‘Go to the secretary and fill out the usual form.’
A few minutes after entering the building, I had completed the required paperwork and had managed to get hold of James Henson's record. He had studied archaeology between 1890 and 1895, and was an accomplished student, specializing in ancient cuneiform writing. That explained his expeditions to the Middle East, although I still did not understand what reason he would have for making an expedition to South America.
I sought out Richard the caretaker once more and asked him if he knew of anyone who could help me with this matter.
‘The Middle Eastern Antiquities faculty is the largest in this college. Most students would like to discover the mysteries of ancient Egypt.’
I nodded my head.
‘The most suitable person to consult would be Professor McKingley,’ he continued. ‘He may even have been in the same class or year group at that time as a student here and may well have known him. But this week, he’s attending the Middle East Archaeology Conference in Berlin. If you wish to ask him anything, you’ll have to wait for him to come back I’m afraid.’
At that moment, students began to file out of their classes causing a great hubbub.
‘Who could furnish me with information about expeditions to South America?’ I asked, having to raise my voice above the din.
‘You may be in luck. There aren’t many people here who specialise in that particular area. Our greatest expert in that field is Professor Margaret Spencer. Her office is on the second floor of the west wing.’
I walked through the building and, after crossing its imposing atrium, climbed the stairs up to a second-floor office where I knocked on the door.
Professor Spencer was wearing a green suit that further enhanced her piercing eyes. Her blonde hair was tied back in a chic bun that embellished her face and highlighted her prominent cheekbones.
'James Henson? Yes, of course I knew him. We went on an expedition together to South America. We were looking for vestiges of pre-Columbian civilizations.’
‘When would that have been?’ I asked with a smile.
'Around the beginning of the century.’
‘I was researching that expedition at the Geographical Society and found little information on him. I only came across his name, his last name, on the back of a piece of paper in the file.’
‘Maybe you didn't do your research thoroughly enough,’ she replied brusquely.
I listened to her words somewhat perplexed; that answer was unexpected.
‘You’ll have to excuse me, but I have a class in a few moments,’ she said, rising from her chair and picking up a couple of books. ‘If you wish to know more, you may stop by my house this afternoon.’
‘I would like that very much, Professor.’
‘You’ll find Corton House on the southern outskirts of the city. How’s four o’clock for you?’
‘Fine. I’ll be there.’
‘It's the last house on the road out of Oxford. There are tulips at the entrance to the front garden,’ she added as we emerged out into the corridor.
Chapter 2
Oxford, 1923
That afternoon Professor Spencer received me at her home. While she was serving tea in elegant china cups accompanied by butter pastries and Belgian chocolates given to her by a student, I was admiring her magnificent drawing room furniture. She must have spent years looking for each piece so that they all fitted together perfectly, as if it were the mechanism of a Swiss watch.
The walls were filled with numerous paintings, most of which were of grand hunting scenes. In the centre, a beautiful white marble fireplace presided over the room, and in front of it was a magnificent leather sofa flanked by two patterned armchairs in pastel colours. To the left of the fireplace there was a huge globe of the earth next to a walnut shelf containing some of the great classics of Russian literature. At the other end of the room, under the main window, a large grand piano completed the decor.
‘Why don’t you take a seat, and I'll tell you everything I know,’ she said after sitting down in her armchair.
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