“I know right where to start.”
“Lead the way,” Sam said. “We’re open to suggestions.”
“So where is it we’re going?” Remi asked Sergei from the back of his car.
“The Amber Museum. There’s someone there who knows everything there is to know about what was smuggled into the castle during the war. If anyone can talk about what else was stored there, he can.”
The museum, housed in one part of an old Teutonic castle, held thousands of amber displays, one of the more unusual pieces containing an entire lizard. While fascinating, he and Remi both gravitated toward the display on the history of the Amber Room, an entire chamber in the Catherine Palace made of amber panels backed with gold leaf. An enlargement of a photo from 1931 showed how the room appeared before the Nazis had discovered it at the palace after invading Russia. They disassembled and carried it off to Königsberg, where it remained and was most likely destroyed when the Allies bombed the castle in 1944. No one had seen it since, though there were rumors that the Amber Room had somehow survived the bombing and the Nazis had smuggled it out of the castle prior to the end of the war.
Next to the photograph of the original was a photo of the reproduction of the Amber Room, re-created in the same chamber at the Catherine Palace near St. Petersburg. Remi compared the two photos. “Imagine finding the original. That would be the discovery of the century.”
“One thing at a time, Remi,” Sam said, noting that Sergei had moved off to talk with one of the curators. After a brief discussion, he waved them over. “Let’s go see what he’s found.” Sam and Remi turned at the exact moment that a man and woman walked in, nearly running into them. “Sorry,” Sam said.
The couple gave him a cold stare, both making a sudden about-face to look at a different display.
“Not very friendly,” Remi said, glancing back at them.
“Sergei,” Sam said. “I take it you’ve got news for us?”
The young man gave a wide smile. “Pay dirt! That’s how you say it, yes?”
“I believe so,” Sam said, figuring he’d reserve judgment on the end result.
“This,” Sergei said, turning to a tall, thin man with gray hair, “is Andrei Karpos. Historian and guest lecturer at the university.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Remi said.
Sam shook his hand, asking, “On what subject?”
“The lost treasures of Königsberg castle,” Andrei said.
“Definitely pay dirt,” Sam said.
22
Andrei suggested they take a walk outside since he was about to go on break. He guided them toward the vendor stalls located in the front of the museum, where tourists shopped for amber trinkets and jewelry. “Cheaper than in the museum shop,” he said, greeting one of the vendors as they strolled past. “Sergei tells me that you’re here about the Amber Room. That’s what they all come for.”
“Actually,” Sam replied, “we heard the Amber Room might not be the only thing moved from the castle. We’re more interested in the other treasures that might have been smuggled out before the bombing.”
“Anything in particular? The Nazis moved a lot of stuff.”
“The Romanov Ransom.”
He glanced over at them, somewhat surprised. “Not many people know that story.”
“So you’ve heard of it?”
“More on the legend side of things… but, yes,” he said, continuing on until they reached the park.
Sam waited a few moments, and when Andrei didn’t volunteer any more information, Sam asked, “What legend?”
He stopped, his gaze landing first on Sam, then Remi, as if to convince himself they were worth his time. “First, how is it you learned of the ransom?”
“Documents from a downed German plane in Morocco.”
“It’s finally been found, then?”
“You know of it?” Sam asked, surprised.
“Not so much the plane as the pilot who flew it.”
“Lennard Lambrecht?” Remi said.
Andrei’s brows went up a fraction. “You have done your homework.”
“Who is he?”
“Lennard Lambrecht, a Nazi officer, was a double agent, working for Russia and the Allies, even after the war ended.”
Sam was always interested in World War II history, especially when it was something he wasn’t familiar with. “In what way?”
“He helped arrange passage from Europe to Morocco for the Nazi war criminals fleeing prosecution. What those German officers didn’t know was that he was also reporting their whereabouts to the authorities.”
“A ratline spy,” Sam said, thinking that Brand and Karl would definitely want to interview Andrei for their documentary.
“Exactly. Because of his assistance, a number of high-ranking German officers were arrested before they were able to set sail for South America. It was during his work there that he’d heard rumors of a plot against Russia being concocted by a group of Nazi officers. They were going to bomb Russia and blame it on the Americans. You can imagine what something like that would have done.”
“World War Three,” Remi said.
“Quite possibly.”
“How,” Sam asked, “did this Romanov Ransom come into play?”
“If rumors are to be believed, the ransom was stolen from Russia at the same time as the Amber Room, then stored by the Nazis at Königsberg castle. Once the Germans realized they were losing the war, it was smuggled out. The ransom was to be their fail-safe plan. Or — how do you Americans say it? — the Hail Mary plan. They planned to use the stolen treasure to finance the sabotage of the peace efforts.”
He paused for a moment to look around, then back at the group. “My understanding is, Lambrecht died a hero. He knew he’d been compromised. His handlers felt the benefit outweighed the risk and sent him in one last time to get the names of those involved and the route they took to smuggle the ransom out of Königsberg castle. He was bringing that information back when his plane went down in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco.”
He glanced over at them. “What is it you two plan to do with this information?”
“To start,” Sam said, “we document it for historical value.”
“Let’s say you do find the Romanov Ransom?”
“Return it to its rightful owners.”
Sergei nodded, saying, “That’s what the Fargos do. Trust me.”
Andrei directed his attention to Sam, saying, “I’ve had other people make inquiries. People I don’t trust. And neither should you.”
“Understood,” Sam said.
Remi asked, “What do you think the Romanov Ransom is?”
He looked at his watch. “Time to turn back. My break is only fifteen minutes.” They made an about-face, heading toward the crowded stalls once more. And just when Sam doubted that Andrei was going to say anything more, he spoke. “It was rumored that Maria Feodorovna, the Dowager Empress, paid a vast fortune in jewels to free her son and his family from the Bolsheviks.”
“Any idea how much or what it consisted of?” Sam asked.
“As far as a dollar amount? I have no idea since no documentation exists. She kept a diary, but there’s no mention of a ransom paid. A peer of mine suggests the ransom was stolen by someone in her own household before it ever made it to the Bolsheviks. Another believes it was paid, but the Bolsheviks never intended to release the imperial family to begin with. And, as we all know, they were murdered. As to what was in it? Depends on who you ask. That it was paid explains why her fortune was nonexistent when she fled the Crimea.”