Treasure Sleuth

by Amy Shaw

  20

  The New Lighthouse Keeper

  Mark grabbed Abby's hand and said, "Come with me."

  Leading her up a flight of wooden stairs at the back of the auction room he took her into the corner where several chairs were stacked. Taking two of the chairs from the stack he placed them behind the balcony overlooking the room. Feeling exhausted Abby immediately sat down. Mark sat opposite and took both of her hands into his.

  "You made a discovery yesterday which, without realizing it at the time, has changed the course of our lives," Mark said looking intensely into Abby's eyes. "You remember the ring you found that belonged to Mrs. Prescott?" he asked.

  "Yes, of course I remember. That was the moment I knew for sure that I wanted to help people recover lost artifacts. But how does finding Mrs. Prescott's late husband's ring have any bearing on what has just happened down there?"

  "No," said Mark, "Not the pilot's ring. Mrs. Prescott's ring. You were right, it did belong to her. Because you found her ring on the beach, I took it to her this morning."

  "That's why you were late?"

  "That's one of the reasons. We had a cup of tea together and a long chat."

  "You were having a cup of tea when you promised me you'd be here?"

  "Stop interrupting for a moment and just listen. I made a promise to you that I broke for a good reason. Mrs. Prescott was so delighted that you found her ring, but even more made up when you found her Howard's ring the day before. She felt it was fate that she thought he lost his ring on the beach but you found it in her garden. When bizarrely, she thought she lost her own ring in her garden but you found it on the beach. She asked after you and I explained the situation as best I could. And this is where it gets interesting."

  "Interesting, how?" Abby asked.

  "After Howard was killed in the war, she received a payout from his life insurance. It was for ten thousand dollars which amounted to a little over five thousand pounds. She didn't know what to do with it so she bought National War Bonds which were issued by the Post Office to help raise money for airplanes, tanks and stuff like that for the war."

  "Five thousand pounds?"

  Mark nodded, "Yep, five thousand. And would you believe, it's been there ever since?"

  "You're kidding? The same bonds?"

  "Okay, not the same bonds exactly. The money has been moved around into different bonds and savings when the War Savings Campaign finished, but it's always remained with the Post Office. She never touched it in all those years. She never needed it and just didn't know what to do with it."

  "So what has she done with it exactly? Bought the lighthouse?"

  "In a nutshell, yes! She called her financial advisor who I had to go and see in person to make sure I wasn't a fraudster trying to cheat an old lady out of her money. I had another long chat with him, and the upshot is, Mrs. Prescott has made a donation to HART."

  "I don't understand. Who was that doing the phone bidding?"

  "Mr. Birch. Mrs. Prescott's financial advisor. He agreed to help and we set him up an account with the auction. The auction would have called him before Lot 67 started when I was on my way. Before I got... doesn't matter," Mark said shaking his head. "What does matter is, with the sale of the coin, my gold funds and Mrs. Prescott's financial contribution, the lighthouse has been purchased in the name of HART care of one Miss Abby Hart."

  "My God. Mrs. Prescott owns half the lighthouse too?"

  "No, although her small investment has grown so much she could have paid for the whole thing and still had change. She was delighted to make a donation to help you get it so that you'd have a place to call home when you came to stay. But she also thought the treasure was exciting and wanted to make sure that we joined forces."

  "You told her about the treasure?"

  "I told her most, yes. She has a heart for adventure. Plus, she knew Howard would have been happy to keep a piece of Hope Cove going and she was touched by your Mum's work with the dogs. So it was a win all round."

  "That's so massively generous of her, I can't believe it." Abby flung her arms around Mark in a state of overwhelming relief nearly knocking him from his chair. Her grip tightened as the reality slowly started to sink in. She owned the lighthouse. It was over and they had won.

  Mark was just as relieved for now he knew he'd be seeing Abby again. He held her just as tight, the sensation of her body pressed against his confirmed the win was real. The fear of losing Abby was gone, and for that he could thank Brad for the little extra motivation.

  "Yes it was generous, but she also didn't want your Uncle Brad winning so she told me to go to a million if we had to!" Mark said with a laugh.

  Becoming all serious again he said, "Yes, I will be taking her down the tunnel into the Amber Room shortly to show her my Lamborghini model, perhaps she'd like to…"

  "Mark, that's terrible!" Abby said releasing herself and hitting his shoulder with a smack.

  "I know, I'm only kidding. So, lighthouse lady, let's go sign some paperwork."

  After signing several papers and shaking several hands, Abby handed the files to Mark.

  "Would you mind looking after these until I return?" she asked.

  "Would be a pleasure to. So I guess you have a plane to catch?"

  "Yes I do. Will you miss me?"

  "Don't leave it too long."

  "I won't, I just have some work to finish with my job. What about you?"

  "Same. I have some clients to finish up with, and then I'm thinking of finishing for good. Maybe start looking for an apartment to rent in Hope Cove, get a fishing boat and sell crab sandwiches until you return."

  "You could always move in with Mrs. Prescott," Abby said making Mark smile. "Tell her I said a big thank you and I will see her properly when I get back."

  "I will. And when will you get back?" Mark asked.

  Abby stepped towards him and kissed his lips pressing her hand against his chest. "I'll be back in a couple of months cowboy, look after the lighthouse until then."

  Abby left the auction house at Exeter and started her journey back up the motorway before joining the motorway at Bristol leading direct to Heathrow airport.

  Mark made his way to the market town of Newton Abbot and parked up outside a newly built house on a large estate. He lifted his bag out of the trunk and entered the rear garden from the side of the house. Looking around the empty garden and patio area he plugged in his earphones. "Right then officer," he muttered out loud, "Where have you been rolling around then?"

  21

  The Call

  Two months later. . .

  Five men and a woman sat along a large executive table in silence, waiting for the approval of Mr. Duncan, a businessman in his fifties. A monitor at the front of the room showcased Mr. Duncan's new website, and as the owner of London's latest online home shopping network, the website had been through months of changes and adjustments to reach this final stage.

  Mr. Schwartz sat nibbling his finger nails in anticipation as Mark, his number one freelancer, leaned back in the chair envisioning Spanish galleons in the ceilings aertex paintwork. Mr. Duncan gave the approving nod and thanked Mr. Schwartz for his agencies' hard and dedicated efforts. It was a success and Mr. Schwartz would be retaining the client.

  Once Mr. Duncan and his board had left, Mr. Schwartz turned to Mark.

  "Congratulations Munro," he said collecting his papers and slipping them into a file. "We also have a new client who needs a website update for his import wholesale business by end of week, you game?"

  Mark shook his head slowly as he undid his tie. "Sorry Mr. Schwartz, I have some other pirates I'm spending the weekend with."

  Mark strolled through the imposing glass doors of the large office building and joined the hustle and bustle of London's Regent Street. He glided through the chaos of tourists, workers and students of all ages, unruffled and made his way down a side street where his sleek black Jaguar F-Type was waiting. Pressing the red flashing starter button the
V8 roared into life, the exhaust bark echoing off the surrounding buildings.

  The in-car phone system started to ring and Mark pressed the 'answer' button. A young woman's voice boomed over the car's speakers.

  "What do you know about Sir Francis Drake?"

  "Mmm, I recognize that beautiful American accent," Mark said. "So your heir hunting the Queen's treasure hunter now?"

  "You knew he worked on behalf of the Queen?" Abby asked.

  "Well kind of, it's understood in history that he took part in unofficial missions for his country, put it that way," Mark said.

  "We have a client asking if we will look into the recovery of items belonging to them and thought to have been stolen by Drake."

  "Items?" Mark asked with a curious tone. "What kind of items?"

  "Gold ducats. Twenty five thousand of them with a value of over sixteen million," Abby answered.

  "Dollars?" Mark asked.

  "Pounds Mark! Sixteen million pounds!" Abby said.

  "Do you have any ideas on where to start looking?"

  "There are a few leads but I'm interested in an old abbey he bought in secret before the gold ducats went missing," Abby said.

  "When do you want to go after this Dragon Gold?" Mark asked, hoping Abby would be coming along in person on the mission and not giving him directions from 5,000 miles away.

  "Dragon Gold? What's that?"

  "I'll tell you when I see you. England is missing you."

  "My plane lands tomorrow morning 7am at Heathrow. You fancy a coffee with a view?"

  "Absolutely! I'll be there..."

  Next in the Treasure Sleuth Series...

  Dragon Gold

  Abby returns to England in pursuit of gold ducats stolen from the Spanish Armada in 1588. Believed to be originally taken by privateer Sir Francis Drake and handed over to the Queen, only half were declared and the rest have been missing ever since. Hired by officals from Spain's government, Abby is tasked with a confidential search and recovery mission that must be kept secret for Drake was a hero to England. But to Spain he was a pirate and known as El Draque - The Dragon. Enlisting the help of treasure hunter Mark Munro, the pair soon realize that pirates still exist today and will stop at nothing when real treasure is involved...

  About Amy Shaw

  Amy Shaw was born in Illinois, USA and moved to the South West of England to follow her two passions - treasure hunting and writing. Her first novel, Treasure Sleuth, was inspired by childhood vacations and the Spanish Armada at the seaside village of Hope Cove.

  When she is not researching or writing she can be found metal detecting along the coasts or in woodlands of the UK searching for lost hoards, buried vaults and long forgotten artifacts. She has recovered numerous relics - rings, coins, brooches, gold and silver - from all periods including Celtic, Roman, Tudor and Civil Wars. One of her finds, a post medieval silver-guilt dress accessory was declared treasure and is on display at The British Museum in London.

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