Jones shook his head in mock disgust. ‘Damn, Petr, I thought you knew us better than that. Did you really think we’d try to steal it?’
‘I hoped you wouldn’t, but I wasn’t quite sure if Kaiser had rubbed off on you.’
Payne laughed at the suggestion. ‘Believe it or not, Kaiser wouldn’t steal it either. At least, I don’t think he would steal it. Then again, well, who the hell knows?’ Payne hoped to ask Kaiser someday, assuming his friend was still alive. ‘But that’s neither here nor there. The point is we won’t try to steal it.’
Jones picked up from there. ‘And to make sure we don’t break any laws, we kidnapped an employee of the Bavarian Palace Department to watch our every move.’
Heidi smiled. ‘Is that why I’m here? To watch over you?’
‘That and your butt. You have a great butt.’
She rolled her eyes. ‘Well, you should know – since you’re an ass.’
Jones laughed. ‘Heidi, you crack me up. We’re definitely not killing you.’
Sensing a face slap in Jones’s future, Payne slowed his pace and eventually stopped. Not only to bail out his friend, but also to clarify his previous statement. ‘Before we go any further, I’d like to make sure we’re in total agreement about our current objective. If we find a treasure at the end of this tunnel, the treasure belongs to Bavaria. Is that what we’re saying?’
Everyone nodded in unison.
Payne continued. ‘On the other hand, if we find something of value – like a map or a journal – that leads us off the castle grounds, then whatever treasure we might find is fair game. I don’t care if it’s six inches past the castle wall. If it isn’t on the castle grounds, we claim it as our own. Does that sound fair?’
Everyone nodded once again.
‘Are you sure?’ Payne demanded.
‘Yes, I’m sure,’ Ulster replied.
Heidi nodded. ‘Sounds fair to me.’
Jones stared at him. ‘Duh!’
Payne smiled and pointed over his shoulder. ‘Good, I’m glad to hear it. Because I spotted something up ahead.’
63
At the end of the tunnel, there was a thick, wooden door that had been closed since Ludwig’s death. Its handle was black and shaped like a swan. Payne brushed away a century’s worth of cobwebs and pounded on the wood. It felt as solid as steel. It was the type of door that would laugh at a battering ram. It was meant to keep people out.
Payne knew the odds were long, but he tried the latch.
As expected, the door was locked.
Jones patted him on the shoulder. ‘I believe that’s my job.’
Payne suddenly remembered the golden key they had discovered inside the statue of cupid. The bow of the key resembled the swan on the door handle. With any luck, it would get them access to the room. ‘I believe you’re right.’
They switched positions without complaint while the others looked on. Enjoying the group’s attention, Jones milked the moment for all it was worth. He stuck the key in the hole, then pulled back his hand and blew on his fingertips like he was preparing to crack a safe. The tension in the tunnel was so great that Heidi linked her elbow with Ulster’s and buried her face on his shoulder. She simply couldn’t bear to look. Finally, after a few more seconds of drama, Jones grabbed the key and gave it a twist.
Click.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Instead of rushing into the room, Jones showed remarkable restraint. He had been involved in too many missions to act without thought. He glanced back at Heidi. ‘You said Ludwig built secret passageways in all of his castles. Were any of them booby trapped?’
She shook her head. ‘None that I know of.’
Jones glanced at Ulster. ‘Petr?’
‘I don’t believe so,’ he replied.
‘Just checking.’
With gun in hand, Jones gave the door a shove. It squeaked open on its ancient hinges and hit the concrete wall behind it with a thump. In unison they shone their lights into the darkness, hoping to see mountains of jewels and gold.
What they saw next was tough to comprehend.
Nearly every inch of wall space in the rectangular room was covered with stuff – a wide assortment of blueprints, sketches, letters and more. Some of the items were attached with glue. Others were attached with nails. Every once in a while there were drawings made directly on the walls, as if Ludwig had run out of paper but didn’t have time to stop. The entire place looked as though his brain had exploded and these were the ideas that stuck.
Jones gasped at the sight. ‘Holy shit! Ludwig was a serial killer.’
Heidi took exception to the joke. ‘Disturbed, maybe. But certainly not violent.’
Payne glanced round the room, trying to make sense of things. The only furniture was a fancy desk and chair in the centre of the space. ‘Violent or not, this guy had a lot on his mind. The last time I saw something like this …’ He paused in thought. ‘Actually, I’ve never seen something like this before. The PSYOP guys would have a field day.’
‘The who?’ she asked.
‘It’s a unit in the US Army. It stands for Psychological Operations. Their job is to study the human brain and figure out how to break it.’
Jones smiled. ‘In this case, they’re a little too late. Ludwig’s brain was already broken.’
‘I’m not sure about that,’ Ulster declared from the back of the room. He was staring at a series of letters ranging from 1873 to 1886. There were so many pages they filled half the wall. ‘I think I know what’s going on.’
Payne walked towards him, sceptical. ‘We’ve been here less than a minute, and you know what’s going on? I find that hard to believe.’
Jones agreed with Payne. ‘It looks like a scrapbook puked in here. How does any of this make sense?’
Ulster scanned the documents, doing his best to translate them. ‘Believe what you want to believe, but I’m not exaggerating. I think I know what we’re looking at.’
Heidi hurried to his side. ‘What did you find?’
‘Letters to Franz von Loher.’
‘From who?’
‘A team of global researchers.’
She blinked a few times. ‘Are you serious? I thought that was a myth.’
‘So did I,’ Ulster exclaimed. ‘Several years ago, a scholar friend of mine gained access to the Geheimes Hausarchiv in Munich and searched through Loher’s papers, but he never found what he was looking for. Now I know why. The letters were hidden down here.’
She shone her light on one of the documents. Addressed to Loher, it had been sent from a small village in South America. ‘Did he find a site for Camelot?’
Ulster shrugged. ‘Unfortunately, my dear, it’s far too early to tell. But if he did, wouldn’t that be exciting?’
Payne cleared his throat. The sound was so loud it echoed in the room. ‘Pardon me for interrupting, but what in the hell are you talking about?’
Jones nodded in agreement. ‘I heard Heimlich manoeuvre and Camelot. Everything in between was gibberish.’
Ulster laughed. ‘Actually, I said Geheimes Hausarchiv, not Heimlich manoeuvre, but I get your point. You’d like me to explain.’
Jones sighed. ‘That would be nice.’
Ulster gathered his thoughts. ‘During the past few days, you’ve undoubtedly heard enough stories about Ludwig to grasp the basic philosophy of his life. Whether it was the costumes he wore, the castles he built or the fantasies he created, he did whatever he could to escape reality. As early as 1868 – a mere four years into his reign – Ludwig started searching for a way out. At first, he masked his sorrows with music and architecture. He worked on preliminary designs for Neuschwanstein and added the opulent Winter Garden on the roof of the Residenz Palace. In addition, he became a major patron of the arts, sponsoring composer Richard Wagner and building elaborate theatres. Through it all, he remained unhappy because he was unable to break away from the one thing he despised the most.’