Confrontation Ch. 07: New Suspects

"Go tell her now. I'll wait here."

A few minutes later, he's back again, red in the face. I can see he doesn't like being the messenger boy.

"Well?"

"Ms. Gonzalves says this is highly irregular...."

"And?"

"She can only see you for a few minutes at 4:30."

"Tell her that I will need time to see all the permits currently issued for archeological work in the district. She may have to stay late."

"I... I... I'll do that, Mr. Arundel."

"Now, and come back to confirm it for me."

He's even more flustered when he returns.

"You'll have twenty minutes at 4:30. No more."

When I come back in the afternoon, Ms. Gonzalves is frosty. She's younger than I expected, a tall and aggressive looking woman with eyes constantly darting around as if sizing me up.

"You were very rude to my assistant!" she accuses with hostility.

"I've come a long way to see this information, so I don't appreciate getting the run around," I shoot back.

"Why do you want it?" she demands.

"Because Nazca and Paracas artifacts are being smuggled out of Peru for sale abroad."

She blanches at this and doesn't say anything for a while, as if gathering her words before commenting.

"I'm surprised by this. How do you know?" Gonzalves finally stammers.

"The pieces have been seen passing through Brazil."

"What pieces?"

"Burial shrouds and painted ceremonial vessels from ancient cultures in this region.... Let's see those permits now. Apparently you're pressed for time."

"Mr. Arundel, You didn't give my assistant much chance to pull this together, you know."

"I've waited for hours. How many damn permits are there?"

"I... I don't have that information at my fingertips."

"Isn't that your job?" Then I cite the government regulations word-for-word. "Let's see: 'to register permits for all archeological digs in the region; to inspect the dig sites regularly; and, to prepare annual reports for the work at each one.' I want to see those now."

"We're very busy here. We may be a bit behind on things."

"In what way? Issuing permits?"

"No. Inspection and reporting," she admits.

"Show me the permits then. I'll wait until you get that file."

Ms. Gonzalves can see that I'm not going away, so she yells to her hapless assistant to bring the file. He's back with a slim folder in five minutes. She opens it and hands me two sheets of paper!

"That's it? Two permits. No inspections. No reports. What the hell do you people do all day?"

"You have no authority to criticize our work!" She is angry now. "Look at these permits, then leave. Your appointment is finished!"

"Not yet. I want copies of all four sides before I go anywhere," I say firmly and remain rooted in my seat in her office. By 5:00 I have my papers and am out the door. So much time and effort for so little information, but it may yield something.

I see that permits have been issued to Andreas College in Boston to investigate the Nazca lines, and to a Dr. Emile Urbano for an unspecified excavation about two hundred kilometres out of the city. I decide that Alphonse and Arturo will join me to pay Dr. Urbano a surprise visit tomorrow.

That night my bodyguards meet up again with Louisa and her girlfriend "for a few drinks and maybe more," as Arturo puts it. It turns out they have more than a few drinks and get a whole lot more of what they really wanted. Neither of them come back to the hotel that night, finally showing up just before dawn.

My two guys are almost incoherent with alcohol or weed, but I understand enough of their excited babbling about "getting fucked 'til we couldn't stand up!" That's the Louisa I remember, and evidently her friend is every bit as talented.

They're in no shape to go anywhere in the morning, and I want to have protection on this investigation. I already have some suspicion that Dr. Urbano- uninspected and unreported- may have had free reign to unearth and export precious goods with government officials simply turning a blind eye. By the time my bodyguards are awake and sober again, it's almost noon.

The roads to Urbano's archeological site become increasingly bad as we get farther away from Nazca. Large rocks pound against the bottom of our rental car on the jolting, dusty roads. What should have taken two hours driving stretches to more that three. We finally find the place and see recent tire tracks leading down into the dig area. Then there's a big surprise.

There is nothing here! No vehicles. No camp. No equipment. Not even a properly laid out excavation area.

We walk around to take a closer look at the site and immediately notice that loose soil has been hastily thrown into the excavation and tamped down. Stakes and stringlines are mixed in with the fill in places. Pieces of garbage litter the site. I know that this is not how archeologists operate, but evidently Urbano has cleared out fast and covered up his work. I wonder if he was tipped off that we might be coming to see him.

I wish that we had shovels with us to dig down through the disturbed soil and rock. That way, I could estimate approximately how far Urbano's group had penetrated into the site, which might help determine whether they found anything of value. Typically, troves of Nazca and Paracas burial shrouds and ceremonial goods are in grottos several feet down. But, without tools, I can't tell.

Now I've added two names to my investigation: Ms. Tereza Gonsalvez and Dr. Emile Urbano. Is it possible that they've colluded to rob Peru of ancient treasures for their own gain? Or has the archaeologist simply taken advantage of her lax supervision and moved on without a closing inspection? Perhaps this slip-shod scientist actually closed the site a week or more ago, with no tip off involved? After all, tire tracks last a long time in such a dry environment. I'm left with more questions than answers.

We don't arrive back at the hotel until nightfall. My bodyguards have an invitation to a dance club with Louisa and her friend, and they're eager for another round. I know they helped save my life when I was kidnapped by the Sendero Luminosa a few years ago, but now they just want to party and fuck. Come to think of it though, I did a lot of that before I met Marina.

They have another very late night, so we don't get away to the Andreas College site until after 11:00. But it is only an hour from our hotel, so there is plenty of time. This site is an instructional dig, an extended college field study to teach students about archaeological methods. Not a great deal has been done yet, and I can quickly see that no Paracas or Nazca pieces could have been unearthed here.

Dr. Elisabeth Richmond, is pleased to see us and stops work to offer cold drinks. She's a friendly, outgoing middle-aged lady who thinks we're from the district office, come to inspect their site. Elisabeth expresses surprise that no-one has been there yet. Their students have already been on site for six weeks and soon will be wrapping up their college course.

We talk about the purpose of my visit, and she assures us that they have not been doing anything more than measuring the intersecting angles of the Nazca lines. They aim to test two theories: one that they were set out to link sacred spots in the ancient world; another contending that the lines trace old water courses, above and below the surface.

We're back to our room before supper and I make arrangements for us to fly back to Lima tomorrow. I'm disappointed that the Nazca visit hasn't turned up anything solid, though it has raised suspicion about the local permit office and Dr. Urbano. I intend to have Carlos check out their backgrounds and credentials.

What he finds is enlightening.

He learns that Ms. Gonzalves graduated in Fine Arts from University of Lima a half dozen years ago. What particularly interests me is that her wealthy father is closely connected to high-ranking officials in the national government. I have no doubt that insider 'backscratching' led to her current appointment- and her apparent lack of interest in doing it well. Tereza knows she won't be replaced.

But she doesn't pique my attention as much as Emile Urbano. With diligent research, Carlos has uncovered the Doctor's checkered past. The former archaeology prof was active in Far Left Peruvian politics in the last decades of the twentieth century, an associate of Professor Abimael Guzman, founder of the Shining Path revolutionary terrorist movement.

Urbano was rounded up by state police a few times times under suspicion of ties to these Sendero Luminoso radicals. Emile even did some jail time as an accomplice in armed robbery, losing his position at the university. Now he uses undisclosed private funds to conduct wide-ranging archeological projects in different regions of Peru. Few people know much about them.

Surely Emile Urbano finds precious artifacts in this line of work, priceless pieces of the ancient past.

This makes me wonder about them. Where do they go?

Are they publicly displayed in Peru's prestigious museums?

Or, privately admired in the mansions of wealthy collectors?

I intend to find out.