The Secret Crown

A few minutes later, all of them were huddling on shore, wondering what they had discovered. The envelope was made of good-quality paper. It had been sealed with black wax, then stamped with an elaborate swan. The emblem was identical to the black swan symbol that was on the crate of gold they had found in the bunker.

In Ulster’s opinion, it was a very good sign.

As a historian, he was put in charge of the document. Initially, he had expressed an interest in taking it back to Kusendorf where he could examine it in the climate-controlled environment of the Archives, but Payne and Jones laughed at him. There was no way in hell they were going to fly back to Switzerland to open the envelope. Even Heidi, who was a protector of all things Ludwig, agreed with them. She was far too excited to wait that long.

Despite his protests, Ulster was thrilled with their decision. Decades had passed since his grandfather had uncovered the path to Ludwig’s treasure, a trail he had been unable to pursue because of World War Two. In his mind, his family had waited long enough.

‘Does anyone have a knife?’ he asked.

Jones nodded and flicked open a switchblade. ‘Here you go.’

Ulster grabbed the knife and prepared for surgery. Hoping to preserve the historic wax seal, he carefully slid the tip of the blade under the envelope’s flap and sliced it open with a steady hand. When he was done, he studied the elaborate black swan with his flashlight. As far as he could tell, it appeared to be undamaged.

Ulster breathed a sigh of relief. ‘I think it survived.’

Jones stared at him. ‘We’re happy for the bird. Now get to the good stuff.’

He nodded and gently pulled the lips of the envelope apart. Inside, there was a handwritten document. It was folded in half and yellowed with age. Not wanting to touch the paper with his bare hands, he turned the envelope upside-down and tapped on it gently. The document fluttered out, landing on the fake boulder that served as his workstation.

A moment later, a second object emerged.

It landed with a soft clank.

59

In the dim light of the grotto, four sets of eyes focused on the object that had fallen from the envelope. Made of gold and carved by a craftsman, it was an ornamental key whose bow (or head) was in the shape of the black swan emblem. Surprised by their discovery, no one spoke for several seconds. They just stared at it, imagining the treasures it might unlock.

Jones was the first to snap out of his daze. He snatched the key off the fake boulder and studied it with the beam of his flashlight. Starting near the tip, there was a message engraved on the side of the key. ‘I’ll be damned. There’s an inscription.’

Heidi gasped. ‘Really? What does it say?’

Jones struggled to read it. ‘I’m not sure, but I think it says … Made in China.’

‘Are you serious?’ she demanded.

Jones laughed at her. ‘No, I’m not serious! The damn thing’s written in German, so it could say anything. But you should have seen your faces. Priceless!’

Payne cracked a smile. He had fallen for it, too. ‘I admit it, you had us going. But if you don’t mind, can you give the key to Petr so he can examine it? The clock is ticking.’

Jones kept laughing. ‘Sure, no problem.’

Ulster took the key and translated the inscription in his head. When he was done, he explained it to the group. ‘Thankfully, David was incorrect on two major points. First of all, the message was written in Bavarian, not German. This is good news since Bavarian was the language of Ludwig. Secondly, there was no mention of China in the key’s inscription.’

Jones smiled. ‘Sorry, my bad.’

Heidi waited with anticipation. ‘So, what does it say?’

Ulster lowered his voice. ‘He who holds the key gets to wear the crown.’

‘Crown? What crown?’ she demanded.

Ulster shrugged. ‘Honestly, my dear, I’m really not sure. Perhaps my grandfather made a notation in his journal. If you give me a moment, I’d be happy to check.’

Payne pointed at the document. ‘Or you could just read that.’

Ulster blushed. ‘Yes, of course, how silly of me! Sometimes I get distracted. Like a toddler, I tend to focus on the shiniest toy in the room, not the one in front of me.’

Jones snatched the key out of Ulster’s hand. ‘In that case, why don’t I hold this for you? Personally, I think I’d look pretty damn good with a crown.’

Payne rolled his eyes. ‘Speaking of childish behaviour.’

Ulster chuckled at the comment, then refocused his attention on the document. Unsure of its age or fragility, he used the unsharpened side of the switchblade to unfold the paper on his makeshift workstation. Within seconds, he knew what he was looking at. ‘It’s a map.’

Payne and Jones exchanged knowing glances. The last time they had found a map they were on a fishing boat, piloted by a hard-drinking Finn, near the city of Saint Petersburg, Russia. The map had eventually resulted in their wildly successful trip to Greece.

Jones cracked. ‘I’ll buy the vodka. You call Jarkko. We’ll find the treasure in no time.’

Heidi ignored the comment. ‘A map of what?’

‘Capri,’ Ulster said with certainty. ‘The Isle of Capri.’

Standing across from Ulster, Payne glanced at the document. Although everything was upside-down from his perspective and written in a foreign language, he quickly recognized the shape of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Gulf of Naples. ‘The one in Italy?’

Ulster nodded. ‘Indeed.’

Jones grunted at the news. ‘I was joking about Jarkko, but maybe we should give him a call. He hangs out near there this time of year. And he’s always looking for a pay check.’

Heidi remained focused on the document. ‘Where is it pointing?’

Ulster studied the hand-drawn map, looking for a giant X that marked the spot. When no symbols turned up, he searched for objects that seemed out of place. A minute passed before he found a possibility. ‘I’m not sure, but I think it’s pointing to the north-west coast.’

‘Why do you say that?’ Jones wondered.

‘Everything is written in Bavarian, except for one item that is labelled in Italian. It says Grotta Azzurra.’

‘What does that mean?’ Payne asked.

Heidi’s face lit up. ‘The Blue Grotto.’

Payne stared at her. ‘Are you familiar with it?’

She nodded, obviously excited. ‘The Blue Grotto is a famous sea cave in Capri. Sunlight passes through an underwater cavern that reflects the light into the cave. It makes the whole cavern glow an eerie shade of blue. Ludwig was fascinated by its beauty.’

Payne sensed there was more information to come. ‘And?’

She smiled. ‘And Ludwig built a replica in this grotto.’

Ulster laughed with delight. ‘Can you show us where?’

Heidi led the way. They hustled to the landing near the artificial waterfall, which had been turned off for several minutes. With a grin on her face, she told them to stay put while she headed for the hidden control panel.

Payne objected. ‘Not this shit again.’

‘No tricks, I promise.’

‘Then what are you doing?’

She started flipping switches. ‘Obviously, there’s no sunlight down here. In order to reproduce the Blue Grotto, the builders had to install a special light under the water. Keep your eyes on the sea cave on the far side of the lake.’

‘Where’s the sea cave?’ Jones asked, a split-second before an alcove on the opposite side of the lake turned a brilliant shade of light blue. ‘Never mind.’

To produce the effect, a stone archway had been built just above the surface of the water. The curved gap between the stone and lake was so narrow that Jones had assumed it was a shadow on the base of the wall