"Please, tell us Nigel!" Sydney urged him, obviously very pleased with his discovery.
His grey-green eyes sparkled when everyone’s attention was directed towards him Sydney noticed, and the proud expression he carried only added to magnify his self-satisfaction. "Well, it talks about her spear being removed from the funeral pyre shortly before it was lit by the man who enslaved her. He knew well about the legendary attributes of this gladiator’s blood, and her weapon. Imagine the good fortune and sexual prowess he would gain from such an item? Now, one of the ladies yesterday made small mention of this nobleman actually having a thing for the beautiful, dangerous Shelagh. The old lady even went as far as to say they were seeing each other on the sly, if you know what I mean...I have no idea where they get this stuff from!"
"I think we get the jest of the implication, Mister Bailey." Barry brusquely crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. "They get it from their over-active imaginations, or watching soap operas, one of the two. That’s where they get it! None of that drivel is based in fact, and I don’t know how you can sit here and entertain any of it, Professor Fox."
"Like I told you before, Mister Nelson, I trust Nigel’s conjecture completely, even if a gaggle of little old ladies DID get their jollies out of it." Sydney threw her TA a knowing glance and smiled. "If he tells me something that has a possibility of being proven fact, then I listen. I would suggest you do the same. You never know, you just might learn a thing or two."
Nigel noticed they had now returned to formal name calling as Nelson backed off, his knickers in a knot, and feathers just a wee bit too ruffled for his liking. "Very well, Mister Bailey, will you please tell us, where is the spear?"
"Alright, but you don’t have to be such a doubting Thomas! Apparently, he took it to his home intending to use it to seduce young and voluptuous maidens. At least that’s how the parable was related to me..."
"So he was not only a slave merchant, he was also a thief and a pervert?"
"Yes Syd, that’s exactly what he is said to have been, mind you, it’s been talked down from generation to generation. Stories have a tendency to grow larger and more wild as time goes by."
"You still haven’t given me a location Mister Bailey. We may know he removed the spear, but we don’t know where his home was, or what subsequently happened to it after that."
"I’ll need a little more time to get you a proper fixed location Mister Nelson. There are a few things that need working out first."
Sydney knew Nigel was stalling, but why? Aware he was more than capable of reading both documents, asking for extra time seemed absurd. Nigel promised Barry that by the next day they would hold the spear in their hands, if they were lucky. Although she wanted an explanation, she knew she could wait and remained quiet all the way back. Instead of badgering her assistant she just agreed, and the three of them left the old ruin and returned to London.
"Okay, we’ve established that you have a healthy dislike for our host, but Nigel, why choose to keep the spear’s whereabouts from him?" Sydney asked as soon as they entered into the hotel lobby. "Technically, it is his relic hunt."
"Of course it is... I just want to double check some of the facts on my lap top before I send him out on a wild goose chase, not that I wouldn’t mind giving him a run for his money." Sydney wasn’t buying. "What?"
"You did that this morning, I saw you preparing. Nigel, why do I get the feeling you’re holding out on me?" The elevator doors opened and they both stepped on. Sydney waited for the doors to close before backing him into a corner. "I was right about you keeping things from me, wasn’t I?" She asked. There just was something in the way she said that, and Nigel started to sweat. Sydney had NO idea... Was she actually going to bring up that kiss last night? He’d been expecting her to blast him about that all day, but she’d said nothing about so far. Staring at each other, her eyes softened. "You know exactly where to look for that spear, come on!"
"Okay, maybe I do!" He admitted, artfully ducking out of her reach to the other side of the elevator. It was of no use...she just backed him into the other corner.
"Then why did you keep it to yourself? Our purpose is to locate the relic for Barry Nelson’s studies. There’s nothing sinister about that, there’s no reason to protect it from him."
"Well I think there is..." Nigel felt uneasy saying it, but Sydney needed a good explanation, and he definitely had at least one... "Perhaps he plans to use the spear to seduce you, Sydney."
"He doesn’t have a chance, just so you know! I don’t care how many degrees the man has!" Amused, Sydney decided now was the perfect time to bring up the inevitable. She knew Shelagh’s spear was safe and sound in Nigel’s head. It could wait. "While we’re on the subject of seduction, I know what you did last night."
Go to Part Seven.