PART THREE - PARIS
- 3 -
"Diana was the goddess of the moon and of the hunt," Saphy explained to Gabe after they had checked into a local hotel and Gabe had told her of his strange encounter back at the Louvre, "She was noted as the virgin goddess. After talking to Jane, I read Francis Beaumont's poem, Salmacis and Hermaphroditus. Beaumont says that the young Hermaphroditus was so beautiful that he tempted even the virginal Diana into lustful thoughts. The naiads were followers of Diana, they were water spirits as devoted to virginity and purity as she was."
"But, wasn't Salmacis a water spirit?" Gabe asked, "Wasn't she a naiad?"
"She was, and a very unusual one in being driven more by lust and the hunt for sex rather than actual hunting," Saphy replied, "That's probably what your Atalanta meant by describing the fountain as 'Salmacis' shame'. She obviously feels that the cursed waters represent a failure of a naiad to pursue their chosen course of chastity."
"So, doesn't these naiads threatening me suggest that maybe there is some truth to the legend?" Gabe said, excited once more at what they might discover where a few hours earlier Saphy's rational argument had been enough to make him think otherwise.
"Not exactly, no," Saphy replied, "Anybody can call themselves a 'naiad' without having access to any real supernatural secrets or powers. What it does tell us is that there are more people than just our ugly bald friends out to stop us, which, of course, makes me much more determined to find what's going on. It also tells us that these 'naiads' were the ones responsible for the gallery murder and the bald assassins for Jane's death."
"What makes you think that?" Gabe was astounded that Saphy thought she could solve the murders that quickly and rather surprised that this revelation made her actually more determined to solve the ancient mystery of Salmacis.
"Simple," Saphy replied, "Both the naiads and the baldies use pretty distinctive weapons. You've already basically told me that the naiads were responsible for the gallery murder when you told me their arrows were the same. Not many murders with bows and arrows these days, it's a pretty major giveaway. So, I think we can fairly assume, given the symbolic role these arrows play, that they did not murder Jane as she was killed with a knife, and her body butchered, which doesn't seem to fit with the naiads behaviour.