Read Online The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers Book 2: A King's Ransom by Jude Watson - Free Book Online Page A

— hidden caches of priceless paintings and artifacts… . If Hummel had the de Virga, there should have been a record of it. But there’s nothing. It’s another dead end.”
    “Maybe,” Amy murmured now to herself. She typed
Monuments Men
and
Otto Hummel
into the search engine. If the US Army was chasing stolen art, they must have known about Hummel.
    A document popped up on Hummel’s death. His body had been found by a group of Monuments Men as the war was ending. He had been shot and was still sitting in a gilt chair in the ballroom of Neuschwanstein Castle, the famous site built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria, often called the Mad King.
    The Monuments Men had been acting on information from one American spy, code name Sparrow, who had traced thousands of artworks looted from Jewish families all over Europe to Neuschwanstein Castle.
    Amy read through a record of a soldier who had served there.
“We had a strong suspicion that Sparrow had killed Hummel,”
he said
.
    Amy rubbed her forehead. Everything was jumbled together in her head. Spies and stolen art, Nazis, heroes, victims. A medieval map. How was it all connected? Was it connected at all?
    She just
knew
the answer was here.
    She contacted Attleboro again. Ian answered.
    “Can you help me out with some research?” she asked. “I need to know the identity of a spy at the end of the war called Sparrow. He might lead us to Jane.”
    “You know,” Ian said. “That’s a funny coincidence… .”
    “What?”
    “Sparrow is
Sperling
in German,” Ian said.
    “Of course!” Amy sat up. “It’s Jane! It’s got to be! We need confirmation.”
    “I’m on it,” Ian said.
    Amy checked her watch. Where was Dan? He’d been gone for way over an hour. Just as she had the thought, he walked in.
    She examined him briefly as he tossed his backpack on the floor. That mask was there. He had gone deep inside himself. Whenever she saw it, it chilled her. It was like she had lost her brother.
    “I think we found the connection between Jane Sperling and Hummel,” she told him. “I think she killed him!” Quickly, she explained that she thought Jane Sperling had been a spy for the OSS.
    “Sparrow was chasing Hummel. I think she was still tracking the de Virga. What if the de Virga was at Neuschwanstein Castle? They were both there at the same time — that can’t be a coincidence!” Amy insisted.
    Ian broke in. “We just got a confirmation from a Cahill in the field — our government source. He’s confirmed that Jane Sperling was Sparrow.”
    “Yes!” Amy exclaimed.
    “Neuschwanstein Castle is a Janus stronghold,” Sinead said. “We can definitely get you a schematic of the interior and send it to your wrist GPS.”
    “And we’ll send Hamilton and Jonah in for backup,” Ian said. “They’re already in the air flying back to Europe. We’ll have them fly into Munich.”
    “I don’t know about this, Ames,” Evan said. “You’re building a case just based on guesses.”
    “Not guesses,” Amy said. “Instinct.”
    “And I trust Amy’s instincts,” Dan said. “I say we go.”
    “Dan’s right,” Sinead said. “We trust you, Amy.”
    Apprehension suddenly bloomed in Amy. Despite their confidence — or maybe because of it — she was afraid.
    Sometimes this felt so surreal, like she’d walked into an alternate universe. Maybe the real Amy was back in Attleboro, Massachusetts, a nerdy grind who got excited over research papers and whose idea of a big day was whipped cream on her chai.
    That Amy didn’t lay everything on the line and say
we have to do this.
And that Amy didn’t have a gut-wrenching fear staring her in the face every moment — that she wouldn’t be smart enough, or brave enough, to save the lives of the people she loved.

Location Unknown
    “Fifty-four, fifty-five, fifty-six …” Reagan rapped out. She wasn’t even winded.
    Nellie struggled with the next sit-up. Alistair had collapsed at seventeen. Fiske had kept up until