presence here. Are you a fan of Ludwig?’
‘Honestly, no. But my plump friend is.’ Payne turned and signalled for Jones and Ulster to join them by the house. ‘We’re just keeping him out of trouble.’
She watched Ulster as he waddled up the hill. Despite gasping for air, he had a smile on his face the entire time. ‘Yeah, he seems like a troublemaker.’
‘Don’t let his cheerfulness fool you. The guy is a tiger.’
‘What about your other friend? Is he a tiger, too?’
Payne grinned, relishing the opportunity to make fun of his best friend. ‘No, he’s a different species altogether. If I had to sum him up, I’d say he’s part pit bull, part jackass.’
26
After a brief introduction – in which they avoided the real reason for their trip – Heidi grabbed Ulster by the elbow and led him towards the entrance of the King’s House.
‘Jon said you’re a fan of Ludwig. Have you been here before?’ she asked.
Ulster shook his head. ‘No, my dear, I haven’t. Over the years I’ve been tempted to stop on multiple occasions, but the length of the hike and the short tourist season have always made it difficult.’
Heidi nodded in understanding. Public tours started in June and ended at the beginning of October. After that, the house was closed until the following spring because of snow and ice in the Alps and treacherous footing on the hiking trails. ‘Personally, I think you came at the perfect time. Summer tourists are long gone, and the cool weather keeps most hikers away until early afternoon. Other than a few people who stayed the night at the lodge, the house is empty.’
‘Wonderful!’ Ulster exclaimed. ‘Does that mean you can show us around?’
She glanced over her shoulder and smiled at Payne. ‘I’d be happy to – as long as Jon doesn’t mind being stuck with me for a while. He thinks I’m mean.’
Ulster patted her hand. ‘Well, I think you’re fabulous, and that’s all that matters.’
Heidi led them to the covered porch where she stopped outside the main door. ‘Before we go inside, let me tell you some general information about this site. If you start getting bored, please let me know and I’ll gladly skip ahead.’
Jones whispered to Payne. ‘I wish Petr had the same policy.’
Payne smiled and nodded.
Heidi started her lecture. ‘We are standing 5,628 feet above Garmisch-Partenkirchen and 7,951 feet above sea level. The mountain directly behind you is called the Partenkirchen Dreitorspitze. Standing 8,638 feet tall, it is the fourth tallest peak in Germany and part of the Wetterstein mountain range that forms a natural border with Austria to the south.’
Payne, Jones and Ulster turned and stared at the Dreitorspitze. It loomed over them like a grey tidal wave, as if the smallest breeze would send it crashing down with so much force that the King’s House would be turned into kindling.
Heidi continued. ‘The chalet was built between 1869 and 1872. Ludwig and his guests reached it on horse- drawn carriages or sleighs, depending on the time of year. The lone route up the mountain was called the Konigsweg. In English, that means the King’s Road.’
‘How did they get supplies up here?’ Jones asked.
‘The same way. Everything was hauled by horse.’
‘Even water?’
She shook her head. ‘Water is one of the few things they didn’t haul. Because of the large amounts of precipitation, they built a cistern to collect and store the melted snow to use throughout the year.’
‘Really?’ Jones said, trying to get the information they needed to solve the riddle. ‘I thought I heard there was a fresh-water lake up here. Somewhere Ludwig liked to go.’
She shook her head again. ‘Perhaps you’re thinking of one of his other homes. There was a fresh-water lake near Schloss Hohenschwanstein. He stayed there as a child with his parents.’
Payne’s ears perked up when he heard ‘schwan’ in the middle of the word. ‘What does that name mean in English?’
‘Schloss Hohenschwanstein? It means high swan stone castle. Later in life, Ludwig stayed there for several years while he was overseeing the construction of Neuschwanstein. It’s adjacent to the lake as well.’ She glanced at Payne, anticipating his next question. ‘And before you ask, Neuschwanstein means new swan stone.’
‘Thanks for reading my mind,’ Payne said.
Heidi smiled and opened the door. ‘Now, if you’ll follow me …’
Payne and Jones lingered on the porch for a few extra seconds as Ulster went inside.
Jones whispered. ‘That’s two homes with
‘Remember, the answer to the riddle is only half of the equation. First we find the
‘Crap! I forgot about the
‘That’s why pirates made treasure maps. They were too drunk to remember clues.’
Jones glanced at his watch. ‘Speaking of drunk, we could leave right now and be shit-faced by lunch. Just say the word, and we’re off to Oktoberfest.’
Payne stared at him, trying to gauge if he was serious. ‘What’s your problem? Normally you’re the one twisting my arm to fly halfway around the world to do stuff like this, not the other way around. Is something wrong?’
Jones blew on his hands and rubbed them together. ‘Besides the temperature?’
‘Yeah, princess, besides the temperature.’
Jones shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I guess I’m just not feeling it. When I saw all those crates, I thought we were onto something. Now I’m not so sure.’
Payne patted him on the shoulder. ‘Do me a favour and hang in there a little bit longer. Don’t ask me why, but I have a feeling things are about to change.’
‘In what way?’ Jones asked as he opened the door.
Payne took a deep breath before he stepped inside the house. ‘Honestly? I don’t know. But I can smell it in the air. Something big is going to happen.’
Schneider, one of Kaiser’s guards, spotted movement on the slope but decided not to call it in until he knew what he was dealing with. The woods were filled with animals of all shapes and sizes, and his colleagues had given him a hard time when he had sounded the alarm a few days earlier and it had turned out to be a deer. And not even a big deer. It was small and cuddly and looked like Bambi. Ever since then, his friends had called him ‘Aesop’ – the Greek storyteller who had created the fable about
Needless to say, they found it funnier than he did.
Positioned a quarter of a mile from the site, Schneider crouched behind a thick beech tree and waited. Whatever was heading his way was heavy. He could hear twigs snapping and leaves rustling as it moved. In some ways he hoped it was a boar. He had seen Hogzilla in the bunker and had been amazed by its size. To see something that big running across the forest floor would be a sight to behold – and something he could tell his wife. She knew he had been working on a job near Munich for the past week but nothing else. In many ways, it was similar to his former career in the armed forces. Whenever he had called home, he was allowed to tell her personal things – how he was feeling, what he had for dinner, and so on – but nothing that would reveal his location or jeopardize the success of his mission.
But spotting a pig the size of a Volkswagen? As far as he was concerned, he could talk about that all night without getting into trouble.
Unfortunately for Schneider, the giant boar didn’t materialize. Instead he spotted a man, wearing bright- orange camouflage, heading his way.
‘Shit,’ he mumbled as he pushed the button on his radio. ‘Sir, I’ve got a situation.’
A few seconds passed before Kaiser responded. He was positioned near the bunker, watching his men assemble the equipment. ‘What’s wrong, Aesop? Is Bambi back?’
‘No, sir. A hunter, carrying a Remington 750.’
