“So what can I do for you this lovely morning?” Oscar started.
“Well it’s a bit of a long story and I am a little bit worried that what I want to tell you may leave you thinking that we are completely mad and you won’t want to know us any more.” Remi looked sheepish.
“Remi, I’ve listened to many stories and never lost a neighbour yet,” Oscar offered with cheerful encouragement. His mind flashed to the memory of the dead friends, murdered by the Syndicate not much more than a year ago. “I’m old enough to tell a white lie,” he thought to himself, momentarily letting his mind drift away from Remi.
“The thing is, my Grandfather; Mother’s father, as she told you, was in the Japanese military during the war here. Well according to his letters, he claims to have seen crates of gold being loaded into a submarine, which was apparently sunk out there somewhere.” He gestured out to sea. “So about two weeks ago we chartered a fishing boat and some local divers and tried looking for wrecks. Well, two days ago the local police warned us that diving for treasure, as they put it, was illegal without a special permit. We therefore tried to obtain one and that’s when the shit hit the fan. Yesterday, someone calling himself the Commissioner of Wrecks visited us; he warned us that wreck diving was only permitted by approved government agencies. Then he told us that all the wrecks around this coast were sacred and the souls of the many sailors who perished in those ships were not to be disturbed under any circumstances.” Remi paused for breath and drank some of his tea.
“A bit odd don’t you think, when the wrecks in the bay have always been diving sites and most have already been stripped of their brass, copper fittings and anything else of interest. Now suddenly they’re sacred graves!” Remi raised his shoulders gesturing his disbelief. “The other interesting thing is, about three or four weeks ago, apparently a local fisherman scooped up a gold ingot when he was trawling out towards the island of Corregidor. Do you know where that is?” Remi queried.
“Yes I do actually. General Macarthur’s last stand and all that, yes?” Oscar confirmed, adding cautiously, “It’s all very interesting but I don’t quite know what you expect me to be able to say or do about all this,” he added.
“Well you told us about your wreck fishing the other day; did you have any problem getting your permits? Because this so called official stated quite categorically that wrecks must not be violated for any reason — not even fishing?” Remi waited for a reply.
Oscar was mentally putting this new information together with his own strange experience. “Actually we didn’t have any trouble at all. Our man obtained all the necessary permits for us so we didn’t have to get involved,” he lied convincingly and then asked, “Now just a minute let’s try and make some sense out of all of this. Are you telling me that you were expecting to send a couple of local divers down to an old wreck, collect a sack of gold and just sail away?” Oscar looked questioningly into Remi's face. The young man looked embarrassed, bowed his head and remained silent.
“The Filipinos” Oscar continued “are some of the most delightful people in the world. Unfortunately there are also hundreds of very nasty parasites living here and taking advantage of their trusting nature so I’m absolutely certain that if you told a local diver, you wanted him to look for some Japanese gold the news would spread like an unstoppable fire. The main reason is, because every now and again some gold and other treasures plundered by the occupying Japanese army, genuinely are discovered.” He looked at his cold tea, remembering the excitement of seeing the rows of bars of gold bullion that he and Greg had discovered. “This story about the submarine could be true but without an accurate position you are not likely to find it. The problem for you now is that every crook and gold hunter for hundreds of miles will be chasing after you in the belief that you have the actual coordinates. If you want my opinion I’m afraid that you have put yourself and your family in terrible danger!”
“Well actually that’s why I called in. You see Mother had a very strange telephone call this morning. She suggested that I spoke to you. She seems to trust you; she’s always been a very good judge of character.” Remi smiled modestly.
Oscar accepted the compliment without offence. “So just what did this caller want?” Oscar was worried now.
“Let’s go and talk to Mother — or will I ask her to come around here?” Remi asked tensely, jumping up from his chair.
“Perhaps she wouldn’t mind coming around here?” Oscar suggested. “Greg should be back soon — if you don’t mind he should be in on this. He has considerable experience with some of these locals.”
Remi dashed back to their bungalow to reappear a few minutes later with his mother.
“Mother’s here but Sophie’s gone shopping — she doesn’t know much about any of this anyway,” Remi explained.
Oscar’s heart gave a distinct flutter when he saw Marion; she, however, appeared calm and typically reserved.
“Thank you for coming round here. I’m expecting Greg any minute now.” He took her hand gently. The touch was soft and warm and he felt a tingle of excitement when she squeezed his hand in a respectful handshake.
“Good morning and thank you for your time. We didn’t know what to do next?” she said quietly but clearly.
“Tea or coffee?” Oscar invited her.
“Thank you but nothing for me.” She sat gracefully into a chair. “I feel we’ve been enough trouble already.”
At that moment Greg appeared on the terrace.
“Hi there everybody. Party time already?” he suggested good-humouredly.
“Greg, come in and sit — down. Marion and Remi have a rather strange story to tell and are asking our advice.” Greg sat down and listened in silence as Oscar recapped his earlier conversation with Remi. “Now what is rather worrying, Marion received another strange telephone call this morning.” Turning towards her, Oscar suggest gently, “Do you want to tell us about that Marion?”
“Yes I thought it was very odd, particularly because of the officials saying just how impossible it was to obtain permits anymore. Yet this person claimed that his company was licensed to dive for treasure and would be pleased to negotiate a contract with us to find the gold. The idea, he said, would be quite simple: we put up a fee of ten thousand dollars, to cover the initial mobilisation costs, and after that everything would be on a percentage basis of the gold recovered.”
There was total silence in the room; even the terns seemed to have gone quiet for the moment.
Greg broke the spell.
“Mind If I ask a couple of questions?”
Marion smiled.
“Of course not.”
“Well first of all, what percentage split did they suggest? Second and perhaps more importantly, do you actually have the map reference of this mystery submarine?” Greg’s face was unusually serious.
“They wanted twenty percent of the sale value of any gold recovered.” Marion took a long breath. “As to the coordinates, we only have the notes left by my father. She opened the book she had been carrying and removed a frail and faded piece of paper. “My father wrote this letter to my mother the night before he was killed.” She held up the letter to Greg; it was written in Japanese characters.
Marion was flustered and near to tears. “I’m sorry but you see while I’m half Japanese I only speak the language; I have almost no reading skill.”
“I think Oscar should read this, if you approve?” Greg suggested.
“I’d be grateful if you would.” Marion placed the letter carefully on the table.
Oscar leaned over the document without actually touching it at first.
“Don’t worry Marion, just relax a little. I’m sure we can sort something out here.” He gingerly turned the first page. “Are you saying that you’ve never had this translated?”