The Secret Crown paj-6

by Chris Kuzneski

  Over the past forty-eight hours, he had checked their location on several occasions. At first they were in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Then Innsbruck. Then Kusendorf. Now back in Bavaria. Not surprisingly, when he cross-referenced their GPS data with his countless databases, he had discovered a pile of bodies and no arrest warrants.

  Obviously, Payne and Jones had remembered their training.

  In a twisted kind of way, it made him proud to be an American.

  Raskin considered giving them a call to see if he could help but decided to do a little more research before he offered. Based on their brief stop in Kusendorf, he knew the Ulster Archives were involved. That meant whatever they were doing was historical in nature. Curious about the Archives’ latest projects, Raskin entered Petr Ulster’s name into his classified search engine and got an immediate hit. Ulster’s personal helicopter had been reported stolen earlier that day.

  Raskin laughed at his screen. ‘What are you guys up to now?’

  After inspecting the fake tree stump, they returned to the tunnel energized. None of them knew what they were going to find in the opposite direction, but they sensed it would be significant. Payne closed and sealed the hatch, then led them on their journey.

  Whether it was the downhill slope of the tunnel or the adrenaline surging through their veins, their stride and pace increased significantly. Even Ulster, who tended to lumber along like a water buffalo, managed to stay on Payne’s heels. Before they knew it, they were passing the shaft to the grotto and covering new ground.

  Jones spoke from the back. ‘Based on the angle of this tunnel, we’re heading directly towards the castle. I bet we’re underneath that trail we took from the arbour to the secret entrance.’

  Heidi shook her head in amazement. ‘How do you do that?’

  ‘Do what?’ he asked.

  ‘Figure out which direction we’re walking underground?’

  Jones shrugged. ‘It’s a gift.’

  She glanced over her shoulder. ‘I’m serious.’

  ‘I am, too. I have a great internal compass. I just know which way we’re going. You can blindfold me, drug me and spin me around. When I wake up, I’ll know which way is north.’

  Payne defended him. ‘Believe it or not, he’s telling the truth. We once did that to him at a bachelor party. He woke up in the back of a van in Tijuana but he knew how to get to Canada.’

  She laughed. ‘That’s impressive.’

  Jones waved off the compliment. ‘Actually, it was pretty easy. It was the middle of the afternoon, so I whipped out my sundial. Trust me, that thing casts a shadow like a sequoia.’

  She didn’t miss a beat. ‘And yet, it’s not nearly as big as your ego.’

  Jones couldn’t help but laugh. ‘You know what? You’re pretty cool for a white girl. I vote we don’t kill you at the end of this mission.’

  Ulster chuckled. ‘Me, too.’

  Payne looked back at her. ‘I’m still undecided.’

  She gave him a playful shove. ‘It doesn’t matter. Majority wins.’

  ‘Fine! We’ll let you live, but you have to buy us dinner. This is your homeland after all. It’s the least you should do for your guests.’

  She smiled at him. ‘Only if you return the favour when I visit the States.’

  ‘When is that?’ Payne wondered.

  ‘That depends. When are you going to invite me?’

  Payne flirted back. ‘I guess that depends on what I have for dinner.’

  She blushed and bit her lip, but didn’t respond – even though she wanted to.

  After a lengthy pause, Ulster cleared his throat. ‘May I change the subject?’

  ‘Please,’ she said, relieved.

  ‘Speaking of compasses,’ Ulster said, completely oblivious to all the flirting that had been going on, ‘my moral compass is spinning out of control right now, and I’m not sure what to do. May I pose a dilemma to the group?’

  Payne shone his flashlight down the tunnel in front of them. As far as he could tell, there was nothing on the horizon – no hatches, no intersections, no secret rooms – nothing but a concrete tunnel that sloped downhill and curved out of sight. Based on his earlier view of the castle grounds from the window of the chopper, he guessed there was at least 300 yards between the fake tree stump and the castle itself. Ultimately, if that’s where the tunnel was leading, they still had plenty of time to kill. ‘What’s bugging you?’

  Ulster swallowed hard. ‘For argument’s sake, let’s say we discover a massive treasure at the end of this tunnel. If that happens, what are your intentions?’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Payne asked.

  Ulster explained his concern. ‘We’re assuming Ludwig designed this tunnel for one purpose or another, which means we’re technically on castle grounds. I’d like to know what we intend to do if we discover a treasure?’

  Jones laughed. ‘Do you even have to ask?’

  ‘I guess so, because that’s what I’m doing right now.’

  ‘Personally,’ Payne said, ‘I don’t think there’s a dilemma. We’re on castle grounds, so the treasure belongs to the estate. We’re not going to try to steal it.’

  ‘Do you mean it?’ Ulster demanded.

  ‘Of course I mean it! We’re not thieves.’

  Ulster breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Oh, thank heavens! You had me worried there for a while when you wagered your share of the treasure. I thought perhaps you were serious.’

  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.’

  ‘What was that?’ Payne asked.

  ‘Bavaria.’

  Heidi clarified Ulster’s statement. ‘More accurately, Ludwig hated the politics of Bavaria and the pressure of being its king, not the country itself. According to his journals, he loved the woods and the mountains of his homeland but was never fully able to enjoy them because someone was always looking over his shoulder – whether that was his advisors, his cabinet or his rivals. During his early twenties, he had to deal with the Seven Weeks’ War between Austria and Prussia, the war with France in 1870 and the foundation of the German Empire, which took away Bavaria’s status as an independent kingdom. That would be a lot for anyone to handle.’

  Ulster nodded. ‘That last event in particular had a profound effect on Ludwig’s psyche. The kings he admired the most, both historical and mythological, were sovereign rulers who answered to no one. They had the autonomous authority to build their kingdoms as they saw fit, which was a power Ludwig never enjoyed. He always had to answer to someone.’

  Payne shone his flashlight on the rear wall and stared at the letters addressed to Loher. They had been mailed from all over the world. ‘Where do those fit in?’

  Ulster explained. ‘Remember that crazy story I told you about Ludwig’s staff? How he sent his butler and cooks to rob a bank in Frankfurt when he was turned down for a loan?’

  Payne laughed. ‘How could I possibly forget?’

  ‘Well, robbing a bank is nothing compared to his task for Franz von Loher, who was the director of the state archives in Munich.’

  ‘What did Ludwig ask him to do? Forge some paperwork?’

  Ulster shook his head. ‘Ludwig asked him to start a new country.’

  64

  Payne stared at Ulster in the semi-darkness of the room, trying to decide if he was serious. Based on their years of friendship, he knew Ulster didn’t joke about historical data. Yet there was something so ludicrous about Ulster’s statement Payne found himself doubting what he had heard. ‘Loher was supposed to start a new country?’

  Ulster grinned. ‘I thought that would get your attention.’

  Jones chirped in. ‘How does someone do that? Because I would love to start one. It would be like the Playboy Mansion, but with even less clothes.’

  Payne ignored the joke and focused on Ulster. ‘Back in Ludwig’s day, was something like that possible? Or was this just another pipe dream?’

  Ulster shrugged. ‘Historians have been debating that for years. Obviously, it would have been preposterous for a normal citizen to plant a flag in t
he ground and start a new country because no one would have recognized his autonomy, but someone with Ludwig’s clout might have made it work. After all, he was beloved in Europe and known round the globe. That gave him a reasonable chance to pull it off.’

  Payne pointed at the letters on the wall. ‘And Loher was his ambassador?’

  Ulster nodded. ‘Ludwig had always been enamoured of the concept of building the perfect kingdom on the perfect tract of land. He thought if he couldn’t make Bavaria live up to his high ideals, then he would start again somewhere new. It would give him the chance to rule a country as he saw fit – even if there were no citizens except his servants.’

  ‘Did Loher take him seriously?’ Payne asked.

  ‘As a matter of fact, he did. Unlike the amateurs who went to Frankfurt with no intention of robbing a bank, Loher approached his mission with verve. Ludwig had given him a specific list of requirements for his new kingdom, and Loher travelled the globe searching for land that would meet his needs. Keep in mind, this was during the 1870s, long before air travel and cars. Loher was forced to travel by horse, train, boat and everything in between.’

  Heidi picked up from there. ‘Amazingly, Loher did all this in total secrecy. If word of his mission had leaked, think of the damage it would have done. The King of Bavaria, a ruler who was loved by his countrymen, was looking to abandon them? There would have been riots.’

  ‘How did they keep it quiet?’ Jones asked.

  Ulster explained. ‘Loher, who had travelled extensively in his younger years, posed as a travel writer or a wealthy foreigner looking for land. When he arrived in a new country, he would talk to the locals and work out who owned the most scenic real estate. Then he would tour the properties and determine if they suited his needs. Not surprisingly, Ludwig was more concerned with pastoral beauty than anything else. He wanted breathtaking views and crystal-clear water, the utopian world he had dreamt about for years. But Loher was level headed. Although beauty was an important factor, he viewed the land through the eyes of a bureaucrat. He made sure the soil was fertile and ready for crops. He enquired about fish, wildlife and other sources of food because Ludwig and his servants needed to eat. He asked about droughts, storms, and the weather in all four seasons. He studied the local history and made sure the land was defensible from invading forces. In other words, he made sure the kingdom would be sustainable for the long haul.’