“Anyhow, it says in the article that the body’s probably been there for about eight months even though they just found it a few weeks ago.”
“Did they say who he was?” Lance asked.
“Evidently they’ve just identified him. Wait a minute, the breeze keeps blowing the paper and I can’t see it. Okay here it is: Daniel Kaminsky; local, by all accounts.
“Didn’t we hear something about that on the news last night?” Lance asked. “Wait a minute. Wasn’t that something to do with that friend you mentioned, Katie?”
“More coffee anyone?” Ralph interjected. “Lance, if you wouldn’t mind, can you give me a hand with the Morgan? No rush.”
Ralph and Lance went out to the garage while Katie and Cynthia relaxed in the sun.
Once the men were out of earshot Cynthia turned to Katie.
“What’s going on? Did I say something to upset Ralph?”
“Of course not, Cynthia. It’s just this whole business about Daniel Kaminsky. My friend Marian was involved with him in some way, and now it’s got all a bit messy; I told you about it last night.”
“What? She had an affair with this Kaminsky, her husband found out and killed him?” Cynthia said with a laugh.
“Not quite. Anyhow, you’re getting a bit pink on your shoulders, you’d better put some more block on or cover them up.”
“Well if you decide to tell me about it or want any help, just ask,” Cynthia said.
“I will; and thanks.”
Katie was grateful that her friend had not pursued the issue. One of the things she liked about Cynthia was that she could take a hint without having to drop a ton of bricks on her head. She might want to confide in her later about Marian’s dilemma, but for now she preferred to keep it quiet.
“Did they say anything else about the how big the find was over at Sherracombe Ford?” Katie asked in an effort to tactfully change the subject. “You said the paper mentioned a million. Did the two men who found it get to keep it, or how does that work?”
Cynthia explained about the two other Romano-British discoveries found by people using metal detectors that were now on display to the public at the British Museum.
She outlined two of the biggest finds to date in England. The Mildenhall Treasure and the Hoxne Hoard.
“The two men that found the Sherracombe Ford haul were smart in deciding to report it straight away. That means they’ll get a reward. If they hadn’t reported it, and then been found out, they would’ve got nothing,” said Cynthia as she reached for the sun block.
“Who gets the reward, then?” Asked Katie.
“I don’t want to bore you with this curator stuff, so I’ll try to make it short. Basically, the 1996 Treasure Act makes it shareable between the owner of the field and the finder. The amount the finders gets depends on who wanted to buy it and what they were prepared to pay.”
She explained that the British Museum decided that they wanted the find from Sherracombe and put a valuation on it. According to the article, each of the prospectors got 400,000, and some went to the Exmoor Trust who manages the Land.
“It said that the details are on public record if anyone’s interested. They tend to keep these deals pretty close to their chests or everyone will be at it.”
Ralph and Lance came back looking puzzled.
“What’s up, you two? You look a bit lost,” Katie said with a laugh.
“”The Morgan keeps cutting out and the front suspension is dodgy,” said Ralph. “I can sort out the electricals, but I’ll need to get a garage to take a look at the suspension.”
“Boys and their toys,” Cynthia said as she rolled her eyes.
***
Katie had told him about the article that Cynthia had been reading and how awkward it had become to avoid saying anything to their friends about Marian’s problems.
Ralph was convinced that there was a link between the discovery of the treasure at Sherracombe Ford and Daniel Kaminsky. He had wracked his brains to think of some way of helping Marian, but since the TV announcement, he was stumped. On the spur of the moment, he decided to call Bob Wyman at the Bideford Weekly and ask a few questions. When Ralph opened by telling him that he had read his article, Bob was immediately suspicious.
“What do you know that I’d like to know, Ralph?” Was his immediate response.
“Oh, nothing, it’s just that a friend who’s down with us for Spring Break noticed the article and wondered what had happened to the two men who discovered the treasure,” Ralph explained.
Bob said that he planned to do a follow up that showed that not everyone who got a windfall squandered it on buying a sailing boat and going off to the South Seas. Ralph recognized the point Bob was making. He had inherited money from his uncle a few years back and had bought Gypsy Lady. But so far, he’d only taken it as far as Gibraltar.
Bob told him how Joe Minton had used the reward money to buy a small garage and was getting a reputation for taking on restoration work for the rich and famous.
“His old boss, Lord Farleigh put some work his way and got some of his well- heeled friends who were in to vintage cars to do the same.”
“I might want to talk to him myself,” Ralph said. He told Bob about the difficulties he had had finding anyone who could work on the Morgan. Bob gave him the address of Minton’s garage at the north end of the main street through Lynton.
“He might be just the guy to work on those tricky bits I can’t reach without special tools,” Ralph said. It was just over an hour from Clovelly but at the moment it was his only option. The thought of Katie being stranded, or worse having a crash in the Morgan because of some
