Caribbean islands. These people were neolithic, they weren't metal workers. Look at Vivero's description of their weapons-wooden swords with stone edges. He was right mere, but the stone would be obsidian.'
'But the Mayas had gold.' I objected. 'Look what they found when the cenote at Chichen Itza was dredged.' I'd read about that.
'So what did they find? A hell of a lot of gold objects -- all imported,' said Fallon. 'Chichen Itza was an important religious centre and the cenote was sacred. You find sacred wells all over the world in which offerings are made, and cenotes are particularly important in Yucatan because water is so precious. There were pilgrimages made to Chichen Itza over a period of hundreds of years.'
Harris said, 'You can't put up a public fountain in New York without people throwing money into it.'
'Exactly,' said Fallon in a pleased voice. 'There seems to be a primitive attraction to water in that sense. Three Coins in the Fountain -- and all that kind of thing. But the Mayas had no gold of their own.'
I was confused. 'Then why the hell should Vivero say they had?'
'Ah, that puzzled me at first, but Halstead and I discussed it and we've come up with a theory.'
'I'd be pleased to hear it,' I said sourly.
'Vivero found something -- there's no doubt about that. But what it was, we don't know. He was cryptic about it because no doubt, he didn't want to give the secret away to anyone who might read that letter. The one thing he was quite clear about was that he wanted to reserve the honour of discovery for his sons -- for the de Vivero family. So if he couldn't actually tell his sons this mysterious secret then he had to find some other way of attracting them -- and that was what they would confidently expect to find. Gold!'
I slumped in my chair dejectedly. 'And why would the Spaniards be expecting to find gold where mere wasn't any? You've got me going round in circles.'
'It's simple enough. The Spaniards came to Mexico looking for plunder -- and they found it. They raided the Aztecs and found gold in plenty in the temple treasuries and in Montezuma's palace. What they failed to realize was that it wasn't a continuing supply. They weren't deep-thinking men and it never occurred to them that this hoard of gold which they had looted from the Aztecs had been built up over centuries, a little year by year. They thought there must be a major source, a huge mine, perhaps. They gave it a name, They called it Eldorado -- and they never stopped looking for it. It didn't exist.
'Consider these Spanish soldiers. After they had looted the Aztecs Cortes divided the spoils. When he had received and swindled his captains, and the captains had put their sticky fingers into what was left, there was little enough for the common soldiers. A gold chain, perhaps -- or a wine cup. These men were soldiers, not settlers, and always on the other side of the hill was Eldorado. So they attacked the Mayas, thinking this was Eldorado and, after the Mayas, Pizarro attacked the Incas of Peru. They brought down whole civilizations because they weren't prepared to sweat and dig the gold from the ground themselves. It was there, right enough, but it certainly wasn't in Yucatan. The Mayas, like the Aztecs, certainly had plenty of gold, but not in such quantities that they could cover buildings or make rainwater gutters from the stuff. The nobles wore small pieces of gold jewellery and the temple priests used certain gold implements.'
Harris said, 'So all this talk about gold by Vivero was just a come-on to get his boys moving?'
'It seems so,' said Fallon. 'Oh, I daresay he did surprise the Mayas by melting gold and casting it. That was something they hadn't seen before. I'll show you a piece of genuine Mayan goldwork and you'll see what I mean.' He went to a safe, unlocked it, and returned with a small gold disk. This is a plate, probably used by a noble. You can see it's very nicely chased.'
It was very thin and flimsy looking. The design was of a warrior holding a spear and a shield .with other figures bearing odd shaped objects. Fallon said, 'That probably started out as a nugget found in a mountain stream a long way from Yucatan. The Mayas beat it flat into its present shape and incised that design with stone tools.'
I said, 'What about the mountain of gold? Was that another of Vivero's lies? Couldn't there have been a mine?'
'Not a chance,' said Fallon decisively. The geology is dead against it. The Yucatan Peninsula is a limestone cap -- not auriferous at all No other metals, for that matter -- that's why the Mayas never got out of the Stone Age, smart though they were.'
I sighed. 'All right, I accept it. No gold.'
'Which brings us back to Gatt,' said Fallon. 'What the hell is he after?'
'Gold,' I said.
'But I've just fold you there is no gold,' said Fallon exasperatedly;
'So you did,' I said. 'And you convinced me. You convinced Harris, too.' I swung round to face Harris. 'Before you heard this explanation did you believe there was gold in Yucatan?'
'I thought that was what this was all about,' he said. 'Buried treasure in ruined cities.'
'There you are,' I said. 'What makes you mink Gatt believes any different? He may be an educated man, but he's no archeological expert. I'm not an illiterate myself, and I believed in buried treasure. I didn't have the technical knowledge to know Vivero was lying, so why should Gatt? Of course he's after the gold. He has the same mentality as the Conquistadores -- just another gangster unwilling to sweat for his money.'
Fallon looked surprised. 'Of course. I hadn't allowed for the lay mind. He must be told the truth.'
Harris wore a crooked smile. 'Do you mink he'd believe you?' he asked sardonically. 'Not after reading the Vivero letter, he wouldn't. Hell, I can still see that king's palace all shiny in the sun, even though I know it's not true. You'd have a whale of a job convincing Gatt.'
Then he must be a stupid man,' said Fallon.
'No, Gatt's not stupid,' said Harris. 'He just believes that men who spend as much time as you have on this thing, men who are willing to spend time in the jungle looking for something, are looking for something very valuable. Gatt doesn't believe that scientific knowledge is particularly valuable, so it must be dough. He just measures you by his own standards, that's all.'
'Heaven forbid!' said Fallon fervently.
