The Secret Crown (2010) (38 page)

She shook her head. ‘I vote for option three.’

‘Which is?’

She poked him in the chest. ‘You get in the water, and I climb on your shoulders. Then you walk me over there like a tamed hippopotamus.’

Jones laughed. ‘I vote for that one.’

Ulster nodded. ‘Me, too. It’s the chivalrous thing to do.’

‘Screw chivalry. I want to see Jon treated like a hippo,’ Jones cracked.

Payne shrugged. He was more than willing to take one for the team. Before climbing into the lake, he took off his shoes and emptied his pockets. He set everything on the path near a fake stalagmite, then stepped over the safety rail where Heidi was waiting for him.

‘How do you want to do this?’ he asked.

‘You step in, then I’ll climb on,’ she replied.

Unsure of the water’s depth, Payne sat on the stone ledge that surrounded the lake and slowly submerged his feet. The water was cold, but bearable. The underwater lights and the reflection of the colourful mural on the rippling surface prevented him from seeing the bottom, but he sensed it wasn’t very deep. Five seconds later, he was sure of it. Hopping in with both feet, the water stopped just above his knees. ‘Now it’s your turn. Climb aboard.’

‘Are you sure? The water’s less than three feet deep. I can walk in that.’

He pointed at the boat. ‘Even if you do, you’re still going to need a lift to examine cupid. The front of the boat is taller than I am.’

Jones glanced at his watch. ‘Come on, guys. We’re pressed for time.’

She nodded and climbed onto his shoulders. ‘Don’t let me fall.’

Payne wrapped his hands around her calves. ‘Don’t worry, I got ya.’

The boat was sitting ten feet away from the shore, a distance he could cover in a few long strides. On his third step, Payne felt the pinch of an electrical cable under his foot. He was startled by its presence. Until that moment, he hadn’t even considered the possibility of electrocution. Now he couldn’t get it out of his mind. The thought of being fried in an artificial lake wasn’t a pleasant one. For an ex-soldier like Payne, it would be an embarrassing way to go.

‘A little further,’ she said as she reached for the statue. ‘Okay, stop!’

Although she had worked at Linderhof for two years, this was the first time she had ever examined the wooden statue from close range. Approximately two feet in height, the cupid sat perched on the front lip of the boat. His right knee was bent up and his left leg was positioned down, as if he was struggling to balance himself on the choppy lake. He grasped a bow with his left hand and an arrow with his right. His head was tilted slightly in an effort to aim. On his back, he had a pair of wings and a full quiver of arrows. The craftsmanship was truly remarkable.

‘What should I do?’ she whispered.

Payne tried to look up at the statue. When he did, the back of his head dug into her stomach. It felt soft and firm at the exact same time. ‘Sorry, I can’t see anything from down here. How is the statue attached?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Is it nailed in place, or is it screwed on? Maybe you can unscrew it like a hood ornament.’

She leaned in for a closer look. ‘I’m pretty sure it’s glued. I think I see adhesive.’

‘Knock on it. Does it sound solid?’

Afraid to damage it, she put her ear against it and tapped on it softly. To her, it sounded like a wooden cookie jar. ‘It’s hollow!’

Payne squeezed her calves in celebration. ‘Great! Now we’re getting somewhere.’

‘Now what?’ she demanded.

Jones called out from shore. ‘Look for a lever or a button.’

She glanced back at him, confused. ‘What?’

‘The boulder outside was held in place by a hidden latch. Maybe cupid has one, too.’

She smiled. ‘Good idea. Ludwig loved his secrets.’

The most obvious option was cupid’s arrow since it was aimed directly at her face. She grabbed it and tried to wiggle it, but the arrow held firm. Next she tried to twist his bow. Then she tried his arms and legs. All of them were secure. To examine the back of the statue, she asked Payne if he could move around to the far side of the boat. A few steps later, she was inspecting cupid’s quiver, which was full of arrows. She went through them, one at a time, checking to see if they moved in any way. Unfortunately, they were firmly attached.

‘Now what?’ she whispered to Payne. ‘There’s nothing left to do.’

He tried to look up but couldn’t. ‘Tap on it again. Are you sure it’s hollow?’

She knocked on it again. She could hear an echo inside. ‘I’m positive.’

‘Well,’ he said, ‘I hate to say it, but maybe this statue is like a piggy bank. You have to crack it open to get at the savings.’

She shook her head. ‘I can’t! I simply can’t! If I’m wrong about this and there’s nothing inside, I’ll never forgive myself. This boat is beloved by Germany. I can’t destroy it.’

‘Do you want me to?’ he asked.

‘No!’ she exclaimed. ‘I don’t want anyone to destroy it. Come on, guys! We must be missing something. Ludwig was a builder, not a destroyer. We’re not supposed to break this! There has to be another option.’

The next minute was filled with silence. During that time, each of them glanced round the grotto, wondering if they were looking in the right place for Ludwig’s secret document. For all they knew, the swan riddle could have been pointing somewhere else. Perhaps the lake near Neuschwanstein where Ludwig had fed the swans as a child, or the lake where he had been murdered. None of them had even considered that as a possibility. Maybe the treasure was hidden near Lake Starnberg, and Ludwig had been killed while trying to protect it.

Then again, there was another possibility that none of them were willing to accept. Maybe, just maybe, the treasure was like so many of the things in Ludwig’s life.

Maybe it was just a fantasy.

Yesterday’s meeting in Hamburg had clinched a seven-figure deal that Mueller had been working on for weeks, yet he didn’t feel like celebrating when he got back to Berlin. No gourmet meals. No bottles of champagne. No whores or models. And all because of the news from Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
That
was the effect Kaiser had on his psyche. How could Mueller celebrate when his main rival was doing business in his backyard?

Short-tempered from lack of sleep, Mueller walked down the marble staircase of his palatial estate and found his assistant waiting near the kitchen. Mueller, who was dressed in silk pyjamas and a designer bathrobe, glared at him, letting the piss-ant know he shouldn’t say a fucking word until he’d had his morning coffee. Mueller poured himself a mug, then took a seat in his breakfast nook. The view through his bulletproofed windows did not brighten his mood. If anything, it made his mood worse since the outside sky was grey.

Stifling a yawn, Mueller took a sip of coffee. It was black, bitter, and steaming hot - just how he liked it. Maybe the day wouldn’t be a total disaster after all.

‘Come here,’ he growled.

His assistant approached the table with caution. He knew how volatile his boss could be and didn’t want to provoke him. So he stood there, quietly, waiting for further instructions.

Mueller pointed to the chair across from him. ‘Sit.’

He did what he was told, while remaining silent.

‘Now speak.’

He opened a folder and glanced at his notes inside. ‘Here’s the latest from Garmisch. Krueger’s body showed up early this morning in the Partnach River. It was discovered in the gorge, not far from one of his associates. Their bodies got hung up on some rocks and were discovered by the police.’

‘How did they die?’

‘Krueger was shot at close range. The other man died from a broken neck. Autopsies are scheduled for later today. We’ll know more then.’

‘What else?’

His assistant flipped through his paperwork. ‘They found another body near the ambush site. According to our police source, the victim was dressed in camouflage like the driver of the caravan. His name was Lange. He was a known associate of Kaiser’s.’

Mueller held up his hand and spread his fingers wide. ‘That makes
five
. Five dead gunmen, and we don’t know what they were fighting over. Or do we? What’s this caravan you keep talking about?’

He flipped to another page. ‘Witnesses, including several employees at the Eckbauerbahn, reported a black man driving an off-road vehicle. He was hauling a soldier, four wooden crates and an unconscious man, who was being treated by a French doctor. They used the cableway to get off the mountain.’

Mueller stared at him like he was crazy. ‘They used a ski lift to escape?’

‘According to witnesses, yes.’

‘Who the fuck does that?’

The assistant shrugged, but said nothing.

‘Does the ski lift go over the gorge?’

‘No, sir. It’s east of the gorge by a considerable distance. Here, take a look at this.’ He reached into his folder and pulled out a map of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Several additions had been handwritten in coloured ink. ‘I marked the ambush site where the bodies were found and the location of the cableway. As you can see, the violence was spread out.’

Mueller stared at the map and tried to make sense of things. Two of Kaiser’s men had been killed in the initial ambush, which had occurred on a hiking trail above the gorge. Afterwards, the vehicle had headed east where its passengers had linked up with the cableway that took them to the Olympic stadium at the base of the mountain. Meanwhile, Krueger and his associate had gone in the opposite direction, perhaps trying to beat Kaiser’s crew into town by using a shortcut through the gorge. A solid plan, especially if Krueger had someone waiting down below - which would explain the presence of Krueger’s friend near the ski stadium. Of course, everything went to shit when Krueger and his associate were killed in the gorge. Without backup, Krueger’s friend was killed as well, overpowered by the crew from the cableway.

As far as Mueller was concerned, all that made perfect sense. The one thing that didn’t, the one thing that still eluded him, was what had attracted Ulster and Kaiser to Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the first place. ‘What was in the crates?’

His assistant shrugged. ‘No one knows.’

Mueller shoved the table forward, driving it into his assistant’s stomach. ‘Obviously
someone
knows, or there wouldn’t have been a gunfight!’

The assistant nodded while trying to regain his breath. Once he did, he grabbed some napkins from a ceramic holder and cleaned up the coffee that had spilled on the table. Mueller watched him with a mixture of amusement and contempt, wondering how someone could take that much abuse without fighting back. If nothing else, his assistant was loyal.

Mueller waited until the mess was cleared up before he spoke again. ‘What else?’

His assistant glanced through his folder. ‘Krueger got me thinking. He tracked down the chopper’s registration by using its tail number. That’s how he discovered Ulster’s involvement in the first place.’

‘So?’ Mueller snapped.

‘So,’ he said as he kept flipping pages, ‘I took it a step further. Most luxury helicopters are equipped with radio transceivers that are used to track the vehicle in case of theft. I gave Ulster’s tail number to our police connection, who reported the chopper stolen. That automatically triggered its theft transceiver, a small device that emits an inaudible signal that can be detected by police tracking computers throughout Europe.’

‘And?’

‘And the Bavarian State Police got a hit.’

‘Where?’ Mueller demanded.

His assistant finally found the sheet he was looking for. ‘As of thirty minutes ago, Ulster’s chopper had crossed the German-Austrian border.’

‘Shit! He’s probably going back to Switzerland.’

‘Actually, sir, the chopper was headed
into
Germany.’

Mueller stared at him. ‘Ulster had left, but is coming back?’

‘We don’t know about Ulster, but his chopper was in Bavarian airspace as of thirty minutes ago. Our source said he would call us with updates.’

Mueller smiled for the first time that morning. ‘Wonderful! Just wonderful! Good thinking on your part. I should have thought of that myself.’

His assistant beamed. ‘Thank you, sir.’

‘What else do you have for me?’

‘Our source mentioned another thing, although he wasn’t sure if we would care. He said it was rather unusual for this type of case, so he thought he should mention it.’

Mueller sipped his coffee. ‘What’s that?’

‘He said Interpol was actively involved in the case.’

Mueller laughed. ‘Of course they’re involved in the case. Those pricks follow me wherever I go, hoping I screw up in public so they can arrest me for jaywalking or some other nonsense. I’m sure they do the same thing with Kaiser.’

‘Actually, sir, our source wasn’t surprised they were involved. He was surprised
why
they were involved. According to him, the Bavarian State Police were notified that two of the gunmen in the Garmisch shooting were undercover operatives working for an unknown agency.’