As Daniela approached the refreshments table with Theo, she had still not seen Nicasio and Stacie anywhere in the room. She surmised they had moved out of the reception hall into the cool air of the gardens like many of the guests had. Fighting back the visualization of such a move, she ordered an orange juice while Theofilos had a whisky poured on the rocks.

The two of them soon left the service bar and moved over to a large group cueing up at a table for h'orderves. Theofilos once again lightly rested his hand on her shoulder. His touch was careful and not altogether unpleasant as she perceived, but she did not know how long she could be tolerant of his subtle advances before they were soon to become predictably more obvious.

"So what was this big mystery?" Daniela asked, slowly sipping her drink and trying to look beyond Theo's physical overtures.

"Mystery?" He seemed lost for the moment, obviously trying to read any signals Daniela might be giving him in response to his light touches.

"You said there was some curios thing about these researchers . . . and their leader. Dr. . . ." She gently removed his hand from her shoulder.

"Vasiliou. Yes. Exactly."

He reluctantly seemed to come back into focus. "Well they worked here very hard for weeks at a time. Then they would silently go their way. None of them published anything they had done that first year or even the second. And that included some archaeological work in Turkey conducted over both summers."

"Wow. And Professor Vasiliou?"

Theo smoothly rested a hand again on Daniela's opposite shoulder, which she immediately took away without comment. He wisely complied and stepped back, taking a healthy sip of his whiskey.

"Well, yeah. That's also very strange. See . . . she retired from her post as a professor of Archaeology and lecturer in Ancient History just after that second summer."

"Retired?"

"Retired."

"But she must have been . . . still quite young."

"She was."

Daniela now viewed her questioning as a sort of challenge. She could feel it was a way of pushing the limits of her own courage. She began to realize that she had the power to control this interaction with Theofilos.

They continued strolling across the banquet hall to a table with two empty chairs. There they sat facing each other, placing their drinks in front of them.

"And so why had these women gone to Turkey, Theo?"

He altered his approach once again, appearing now to be more patient and attentive as he sipped his whiskey and looked into her eyes.

"Yes . . . well you see . . . several of those ancient historians I told you about hinted at the location of where the Amazons roamed. It was in Anatolia . . . the peninsula which is Turkey today."

"OK."

"These writers gave their whereabouts as the southern peripheries of the Black Sea. The northern region of Turkey is on that coastal plain." Theo smiled congenially while delivering this more detailed information.

"I see. And so the women researchers were digging there?"

"Well not exactly. I have reason to believe they were more focused on the western coastal area . . . around the site of ancient Troy, near the Bosporus. They were apparently involved in a series of quiet extensive excavations there. Though their work was never written up. . . and we don't know exactly what they were looking for."

"Interesting. . ."

"You see, Daniela, there are many sites and monuments throughout most of the coastal areas of Turkey which were under the influence of the Greeks during these writings. But before them it was peopled by cultures which primarily worshipped women goddesses . . . and local female deities. Much of this revolved around women as the holders of secret power. Ggnosis as we call it in my language."

"That's fascinating."

"So as the great Hittite culture went into decline, other nomadic people brought in their female deities from the Near East. Special monuments to these goddesses were thought to be worshipped by the Amazons. This is all according to ancient historians. The temples and great coliseum at Ephesus near the coast? It's an example of this devout female worship."

"That's so amazing . . . that women were thought of as being so . . . powerful."

Theo laughed. "You don't think you ladies have power today?"

"Not in the same way really."

"Well this all corresponds to where archaeologists and historians do their real digging today, Daniela . . . in libraries. Reading ancient texts. That's why our library and collection is so essential to the study of antiquities"

"Yes, I see that now." She rewarded Theo for his cooperation by looking into his eyes for the first time directly.

"The worship and reverence for women as goddesses . . . priestesses . . . and even queens goes back deep into humanity in this part of the world. Your Amazons . . . if they did exist, would have been an early extension of that power."

"This is so wonderful! So did they . . . the researchers, find anything there? Any remains of the Amazon culture?"

"Well for us . . . here at the Blagen, that is exactly the mystery. They left their research entirely that second summer . . . suddenly. It happened after one of the members in their party turned up missing. Officially."

"How do you mean?"

Although Daniela was aware of this part of the story she wanted to see what Theofilos would say about it. How much of it would differ from what Professor Simons had learned and shared with Nicasio?

As Theofilos finished his whiskey, a serving woman, dressed in a simple uniform and employed by the catering service delivered a plate between them. It was stacked with an assortment of finger foods-dolmades, triangular cheese pies, and several butterfly shrimps skewered with toothpicks.

Theo unabashedly stuffed his mouth with a particularly large shrimp.

"So . . . this young woman . . . one of the grad students at the time . . . was thought to have been kidnapped at first. Some political thing, maybe. But then . . ."

Daniela waited while he finished chewing the large morsel of seafood and then a bite of cheese pie. He seemed heavily distracted now by the food. Daniela leaned over the table and maneuvered her face closer to him to bring his mind back to her inquiry.

"But then, you see . . . it was believed she might have just been murdered. By a thief perhaps. And this was still the opinion of the authorities when she could not be found after several months."

"That's terrible!"

"Yes. It was. The community here at the AmericanSchool was pretty upset by the whole situation. We made every effort to locate that Yale student . . . and Professor Vasiliou ourselves."

"And?"

"Following several investigations by both the Turkish government and the United States State Department, Dr. Vasiliou reportedly told them she also was mystified herself about the disappearance. And so after that . . . the story . . . and Dr. Vasiliou just went underground. Disappeared completely."

"The professor too?"

"Yes. Though she made several public announcements about the missing student from Yale. And though she herself was safe, she never lectured here at the Blagen again. Nor did she return to the University of Athens."

"Incredible. So they really never found that grad student?"

"No. Just lot's of theories after ten years. The international press had always said it was possibly a random murder. A victim of theft or some sort of assault against American nationals. No one was ever sure. Her body was never found."

Theo was now busy working on another shrimp.

Daniela was silent. She contemplated her next line of questioning to get to the whereabouts of the Greek professor.

"You have to remember," Theo asserted, finally with an empty mouth. "This was also at the end of the Gulf War. Turkey was trying to remain neutral but the influx of Iranian and Kurdish refugees created a fairly unstable environment for anyone carrying an American passport."

"Well. . . I guess all of this is pretty mysterious then," she responded, then looked again around the premises for Nicasio.

Theo was staring longingly into her face once more.

"So what do you think happened, Theo?" She looked back directly at him.

"Personally? I just don't know. A lot of investigation was carried out but it revealed nothing. Most people have just forgotten about the case and moved on."

He then showed an unexpected look of wistfulness or sadness. It was perhaps the result of the whiskey, but it seemed to Daniela more associated with the mentioning of the Professor and the missing researcher. Nevertheless, Daniela knew she had made critical progress on what she was asked to find out.

It was at that point that she looked through one of the large windows of the reception hall and finally spotted Nicasio and Stacie in the garden. They were standing very close in what seemed a secluded area. Stacie was leaning against him closely while they chatted amicably. It was a scene that immediately put a hollow feeling into her stomach, quickly accompanied by a flash of anger. She struggled to put Nicasio and his flirtatious new friend out of her mind for the moment, and somehow managed to succeed. Her own curious interests now seemed at work, dominating her other base emotions. And it was only this which compelled her to ask of Theo the last, critical questions.

"Theo . . . this woman that turned up missing . . . the one from Yale. Was she Greek? Was she associated with the professor through the University of Athens?"

He seemed still lost in his thoughts, unable to push himself away the melancholic air which now plagued him.

"No," he finally replied. "She was Turkish-American. And it was one of her closest colleagues. She was an amazing student, as I remember. I didn't know her as well as I did the professor."

And so what has become of Professor Vasiliou today? Do you have any idea where she is?"

Theo was looking at her again but differently. "Why do you ask? And why do you want to know all this, Daniela?" He seemed still to be waxing emotional, as if he had drunk not just one whisky but several.

Daniela, too, found the conversation becoming strained. She sensed what was perhaps pushing too hard, maybe even crossing sensitive lines.

"Well. . . It's just that I've come across her name more than a few times in my research. I read some of her early articles on the Amazons . . . their culture and possible traditions. It's such a shame that she's no longer teaching and writing."

"Yes it is. And I see you've done your homework. Dr. Vasiliou was an integral part of our library summer lectures program here. She held many seminars on mythology and its connection to history over the years. And yes, she wrote very well in both Greek and English."

"So why do you think she disappeared or went into hiding, Theo?"

"I told you . . . she simply retired."

He was no longer looking at Daniela's face or body.

"I just think there has to be more to it than that, Theo. And you must too." Daniela knew she was being aggressive and realized she had him at least partially trapped.

He cleared his throat in preparation for a frank response.

"Just know that Dr. Vasiliou was very close to us here at the AmericanSchool. It was a shock when we learned she had chosen to leave her career and no longer teach. This much about her now I can confirm."

"So do you have any idea what she is doing now . . . or how she may be reached? Daniela knew this was precisely where her efforts were intended to go-yet it was an answer she expected he would never reveal, even if he knew it.

Theo thought for a moment, obviously uncomfortable. There seemed to be some painful introspection in his face as he cleared his throat again to speak.

"Actually . . . Daniela . . . I'm one of the few people who do know where she is today."

It was a sudden shift in his responses. She was surprised at his frank reply. She tried to show no reaction, though through the shock of the revelation she could feel her hand holding the glass of juice slightly beginning to tremble.

"And . . . where is that exactly?" she boldly asked.

Theo looked blankly into space as he spoke. It was as if every bit of his male testosterone and all its cumulative effects had been squeezed out of his romantic intentions. His tone had become more confessional-expressing something she could tell he had not easily revealed before, if ever.

"I will tell you," he said. "Something I have not told any other person since she left."

She felt her heartbeat suddenly ramping up.

"Come," he said blankly. "Let us sit down. What I will share with you is not easy for me."

Daniela walked to an empty table and chairs with Theo feeling victorious, but at the same time exhausted and emotionally spent. He heart drummed on while her own curiosity drew her up close to him to listen.

* * *