The Last Empress of Mars

to meet her under the circumstances. He had not bothered to go into details, and she had not pushed him either, as she was more concerned with seeing her grandfather, even if it was for one last time to positively identify him and arrange for his body to be sent back to the States for a proper burial on the family estate. It was ironic, she had wanted for quite a while now to visit and tour Costa Rica, having read up on the country and amazed by its variety of places and microclimates with places like the Osa Peninsula, a protected area which National Geographic had referred to as the most biologically intensive place on the planet and which just begged exploration. There was so much she wanted to see and discover there, including places her grandfather had mentioned as possible lost treasure locations or places that had mysterious origins and purposes. She had always imagined she would share this trip of discovery with her grandfather and now she was headed there, but not as a tourist and the whole situation was tinged with a feeling of unreality. She had to get her act together during the flight, as it was imperative that she was fully focused upon arrival. She had a clear mission, and it left no room for anything but total concentration. Her many years of training would now be put to the ultimate test. Detective Gunn was puzzled. This case was getting more convoluted by the minute. The more facts he uncovered, the more confusing the overall picture became. Usually, it worked in reverse! He had found out who Walker really was and why he seemed so familiar. Dr. Daniel Walker, world renowned archeologist, treasure hunter and all around bon vivant, was now a murder victim and it was up to him to find out why. This would definitely turn up the heat and the pressure to solve this case was growing by the minute. The young lady with him in the room was in fact not a lady of the night but rather a graduate student and a teaching assistant for Professor Rex Augustine Lord Carazo-Chavarría, a professor of Archeology at the local university. The professor was a character in his own right and definitely a person he needed to interview right away. However before getting around to that he had a favor to do. His longtime friend, the US Ambassador, had asked him to meet and protect a young lady, Daniel Walker´s granddaughter, Felicity Walker, who was arriving to identify and claim her grandfather’s body. Being a nanny was not something he looked forward to, but he could not refuse his friend and,