PREMINGERÅ‚S GOLD

by Loren
D. Estleman

 

* * * *

 



 

Art by
Allen Davis

 

* * * *

 

Loren D. Estlemanłs latest novel, The
Branch and the Scaffold (April/Forge), is based on a real-life judge and
the criminals he hanged in the Old West. Mr. Estleman often brings real people
into his fictional narratives, most notably in this series starring “film
detective" Valentino. He writes in so many genres, and so elegantly, that it
would be too restrictive to classify him as a crime writer. His novel American
Detective was one of only 7 mystery novels to make PWÅ‚s “top 150 novels of
2007."

 

* * * *

 

Northern Michigan wouldnłt be mistaken
for Southern California, despite the presence of a rocky shoreline that might
have stood in for the Pacific Coast Highway in a student film with no travel
budget.

 

The differences were apparent as
Valentino drove his rental car along reddish main streets paved with asphalt
and slag from extinct iron mines. Video stores had taken the place of
boarded-up neighborhood theaters for the entertainment of locals, and chain
motels had begun to push out rustic log bungalows, but the villages were
refreshingly free of McDonaldłs and Wal-Marts, and when he got out with his
bags, strangers on the street, dressed for the most part in ear-flapped caps
and Mackinawsthe women as well as the mengreeted him in passing as if they
were old friends.

 

“I may retire here in twenty or thirty
years," he told Kyle Broadhead from the telephone in his room; his cell couldnłt
get a signal among all those pines and weathered granite.

 

His mentorłs chuckle reached him all the
way from his faculty office in Los Angeles. “Have you ever even owned a
snow shovel?"

 

“I was born and raised in Indiana. I
think I can handle a few flakes."

 

“Ä™A few flakesÅ‚ is what they call summer
up there. Youłll be on your way back home as soon as they finish de-icing the
plane."

 

It was early autumn and the weather was
quite pleasant; but Valentino had heard stories of winter residents tunneling
through roof-high drifts to get about, so he chose not to strain the university
budget in a long-distance argument. “IÅ‚m meeting Sigurson tomorrow for
breakfast. He sounds friendly on the phone. I think this will be a worthwhile
trip."

 

“Sigurson. Bet he talks like those
characters in Fargo."

 

As a matter of fact, Leonard Sigurson
had spoken with that lilting Scandinavian accent that the dialect coaches at
all the studios claimed was vanishing from the northern regions of the U.S. and
Canada.

 

Valentino didnłt address the remark.
Broadhead was always right and reacted immodestly whenever his opinion was
confirmed. “Goodbye, Kyle. IÅ‚m turning in soon."

 

“So early? What is it there, eight oÅ‚clock
in the evening?"

 

“Nine. Most of the stateÅ‚s on Eastern
time. Anyway, I had layovers in Denver and Chicago, then a puddle-jumper and a
long drive. The sun comes up here same time as back home."

 

“Just donÅ‚t come back with plaid
poisoning." Broadhead hung up.

 

The contact had suggested an hour
unknown on the West Coast, but Valentino fell asleep quickly with Lake Superior
pounding not far away and arose at sunrise, lagged but alert. He put himself
together and walked through chill air to the diner.

 

“I keep telling the owner he should
knock down that wall and expand the place," his waitress said. “WeÅ‚ve got more
customers than tables every day of the week."

 

Valentino grunted and made room on the
checked cloth for a large oval plate of bacon and eggs. The crisp climate made
him hungry, and not inclined to lecture on the value of popular culture. The
wall was the reason this beanery in a barely accessible region of the American
Midwest had so many customers.

 

Famished though he was, after the
waitress left he paused a moment longer to contemplate the signatures on the
wall of his booth: Otto Preminger, James Stewart, Lee Remick, George C. Scott,
Ben Gazzara, and of course Robert Traver, whose experience and imagination had
started it all.

 

In 1958well before that young ladyłs
timePreminger, the most gifted and difficult Austrian film director since
Erich von Stroheim, had led his troupe to Michiganłs wild, wind-lashed Upper
Peninsula to film Anatomy of a Murder, based on John D. Voelkerłs
courtroom suspense novel inspired by his career as an attorney and judge,
published under the Traver pseudonym. The result, daring for its era, was one
of the three or four best legal dramas ever produced. Stewart had reestablished
his star power as the quirky, canny country lawyer attempting to clear his
client of a murder charge, and Remick and Gazzara, relative unknowns at the
time of casting, had been catapulted into the ranks of the Hollywood elite.

 

Aware of good things coming their way,
all had agreed to provide their autographs at the request of the dinerłs owner,
whose hearty fare and friendly service had helped sustain them through the
rigorous weeks of shooting. Included was the immortal Duke Ellington, who had
written the score and appeared in a cameo onscreen. Destroying those artifacts
might not necessarily harm tourismthat harsh and beautiful country drew
hunters, boaters, anglers, and even would-be Ernest Hemingways eager to fish
the waters and hike the trails their idol had known so wellbut the loss to
cinephiles would be as great as the destruction of Da Vinciłs Last Supper.

 

The visitorłs empty stomach tore him at
last from his meditation. The food was as delicious as it was unhealthy. But as
he swabbed up the remnants with whole-wheat toast and drenched his broken inner
clock with black coffee from a thick mug, he began to wonder if hełd been stood
up. Every time the street door opened, tinkling the bell mounted on the frame
above it, he looked up, only to return his attention to his plate when the
newcomer joined friends at a table or tramped straight to the counter and
straddled a stool. They let no more than a curious glance stray toward the
unfamiliar figure in the booth. They probably dismissed him as just another
cinema buff whołd requested the seat.

 

When the waitress refilled his mug, he
asked if she knew Leonard Sigurson.

 

“Ziggy? Who doesnÅ‚t? HeÅ‚ll bend your ear
talking about his big movie career."

 

“I was hoping he would, but heÅ‚s late."

 

“I think his watch ran down years ago
and he never got around to rewinding it. He rolls out of bed with the first
shotgun blast in the woods and eats when his belly tells him to. Some nights he
bangs on the door after closing and we have to fire the griddle back up so he
doesnłt go to bed hungry. Ziggy, hełs a character." She carried the pot to
another table.

 

When the last of the morning crowd had
paid up and gone and Valentino was testing his bladder with more coffee, he
sensed that the small staff was growing impatient to clear the tables for
lunch. Sigurson came in then.

 

Valentino didnłt recognize his contact
at first. Hełd spent some time studying the two scenes in Anatomy of a
Murder in which Sigurson had appeared, but the old man in unseasonable
shorts, polo shirt, and sailorłs cap didnłt bear much resemblance to that long-ago
background extra. He glanced around, spotted the lone diner, and limped his
way, hand outstretched.

 

“Keep your seat," he said when Valentino
started to rise. “I just got my hip replaced and it hurts to look at you
youngsters popping up and down like a lake perch." His hand was as strong as
his features, bony and hawklike under sagging skin. “Cora! Over easy and burnt
to a crisp."

 

“Ziggy, you donÅ‚t think I know by now
how you take ęem?"

 

The waitress sounded friendly, but she
glared at Valentino, as if it was his fault the booth was unavailable for
busing.

 

The old man peered at the card Valentino
gave him. He didnÅ‚t appear to need reading glasses. “Ä™Film detective.Å‚ I
thought you said you was an archaeologist."

 

“Archivist. ItÅ‚s because people make
that mistake I call myself a detective. Were you sitting here when that wall
was signed?"

 

“No, this here was the grownupsÅ‚ table.
I was over there." He pointed at a table in the corner. The worn oilcloth
covering might have been the same one hełd sat in front of back then.

 

A scheduling glitch all those years ago
was what had brought Valentino halfway across the country. Sigursonłs two
scenes were shot weeks apart instead of back-to-back, so hełd been paid
throughout the companyłs time on location. Hełd filled the idle days taking
home movies of the cast and crew. UCLAÅ‚s Film Preservation Program, tagged to
remaster Anatomy for a special DVD release, had sent its crack archivist
to upper Michigan to secure that amateur footage for a reasonable price to
include on a second disc.

 

“IÅ‚d of went nuts without that little
Bell and Howell," the old man said. “That guy Preminger spent half a day
setting up and the other half putting the same ten lines on film over and over.
Inefficient. Kid here in town made a whole science-fiction picture in a week
last summer."

 

“Preminger was a perfectionist."

 

“A nasty fellerÅ‚s what he was. When he
wasnłt trying to shove that pretty little thing Lee Remick into the sack he was
cussing at her and everybody else. The colonel was the only one he couldnłt
bully."

 

“The colonel?"

 

“Jimmy Stewart. He was in the Air Force,
you know, flew twenty missions over Germany. I guess the Kraut figured hełd
bomb him if he didnłt back off, slobbered all over him when he found out he
didnłt scare. He even laid off of Lee when the colonel was around. Sweet little
thing, Lee. I bawled like a baby when I heard shełd died. Only fifty-five she
was."

 

“What was Ben Gazzara like?"

 

“Okay. Sort of standoffish. He was one
of them Method actors. You couldnłt talk about the weather and such with
himyou know, carry on a normal conversation. He was playing his part all the
time, on and off the set."

 

That checked with the Gazzara Valentino
had interviewed; a polite man, serious about his craft. The subject had been
the forthcoming debut on video of Run for Your Life, the series that had
made the actor a TV star, but as the only surviving member of Anatomyłs
principal cast he could not escape probing questions about the production. Hełd
mentioned the home movie in passing. A great deal of research on Valentinołs
part had gone into identifying Sigurson as the man behind the camera and
locating him, but elderly people often exaggerated their past exploits for the
entertainment of a young audience. It was possible hełd come all this way over
a couple of hundred frames of anonymous figures shot at a distance.

 

“You were a bold young man," he said. “Most
amateurs would be too timid to approach a credited player with a camera."

 

Sigursonłs eggs arrived, charred and
smoking. He chewed and grinned, blackened bits showing between teeth that
showed far less wear than his baggy, humorous face. “I knew youÅ‚d think I was
some old crank with a tall tale to sell. Thatłs why I brung these."

 

Valentino watched him take a plastic
photo wallet from the cargo pocket of his shorts and spread its contents like
playing cards on the table between them. They were digital stills in full color
of Stewart, Remick, Gazzara, and Arthur OłConnell, the character specialist whołd
nailed the role of Stewartłs boozy associate, in costume and looking relaxed
and casualexcept Gazzara, who looked just like the simmering young man on
trial for his life hełd played in the film. Surreptitious-looking shots caught
the shaven-headed Otto Preminger with his mouth open, shouting at some hapless
member of the talent or crew.

 

“After you called I had my son drive me
to Marquette and paid a photo place to put the film on disc. Did you know they
can print stuff on paper easier that way? I sure didnłt. You got an honest
face, mister, but IÅ‚ll just hang on to the film and the disc till we have us a
deal. Keep the prints; I got a second set for free."

 

Valentino thanked him, shuffled the
stills into a stack, and slid them back into the wallet. His hand shook
slightly. From the evidence, Sigurson had been a gifted amateur, framing his
shots with skill and maintaining focus. Snaring previously unknown footage
intimately connected with a classic film was as exciting to an archivist as
discovering a third part to Henry IV would be to a Shakespearean
scholar.

 

He willed himself to appear calm. The
department budget was tight, and he lived in fear of exhausting it on something
tempting only to be approached soon after by someone in possession of the
entire work of Theda Bara, or some other grail as holy. He couldnłt seem eager
if he wanted a bargain.

 

“These are impressive, but IÅ‚ll have to
screen the original before I make an offer, if I decide to. What are you
asking?"

 

“Not a penny."

 

“IÅ‚m sorry?" Obviously his ears hadnÅ‚t
popped yet.

 

Sigurson swallowed egg. “Too steep?"

 

Cora, the waitress, was taking an
inordinate amount of time clearing and wiping down the table nearest the booth.
Valentino lowered his voice. “Is there someplace we can talk in private?"

 

“Son, this hereÅ‚s the Upper Peninsula.
Ainłt no place you canłt."

 

They paid for their meals and went out,
strolling an empty sidewalk where the parking meters were placed against
buildings so as not to obstruct snow plows in winter. The nip in the air had
lost some of its edge, but the visitor was grateful for the flannel lining of
his windbreaker. He couldnłt understand why his companionłs exposed arms and
legs werenłt turning blue.

 

“Ever hear of Little Bohemia?" Sigurson
asked.

 

“No."

 

“How about John Dillinger, ever hear of
him?"

 

“Oh, yes!" He wondered if the old manÅ‚s
mind was wandering.

 

“Back in Ä™thirty-fourbefore my time, by
the wayhe and his gang slipped right out from under the FBIÅ‚s nose when agents
had them surrounded in the Little Bohemia lodge, across the line in Wisconsin.
Dillinger split off from the rest, worked his way down to Detroit, then back
west. Lots of people know that. What they donłt know, most of ęem, is when he
left that lodge he brung along a sack of gold bullion he stole from a bank in
Indiana.

 

“Well, bullionÅ‚s heavy, so he hid it to
keep it from slowing him down, meaning to come back for it later. Only he didnłt
get around to it, because a couple of months later the FBI got lucky finally
and gunned him down outside a picture show in Chicago."

 

“Who told you about the gold?" Valentino
was humoring him. Sooner or later even the most determined babblers returned to
the subject.

 

“Everybody around here back then knew
the story, even if most of ęem thought it was hooey. Therełs always talk of
buried treasure wherever a banditłs been. That man Preminger bought into it.
Whatłs more, he got the gold. Excuse me, son. Iłm still breaking in this new
hip."

 

Theyłd come to a little patch of park,
where Sigurson lowered himself onto a painted bench. Valentino joined him. He
was eager to hear the rest, now; implausible tales were meat and mead to a
movie buff.

 

“We had an old town character in them
days, called Shorty. I think Short was his real name. Had a face looked like
the map of the Upper Peninsula. I think thatłs why Preminger hired him as an
extra, to make his picture look authentic. You can see him in a crowd scene
outside the courthouse.

 

“Shorty was an old-time bootlegger, had
a reputation for helping folks hide out who was on the run from the law, places
where he used to stash liquor. He got drunk one day and told me he ought to
give up the stuff because it made him talk too much. He said hełd talked
himself out of a fortune when he told Preminger hełd harbored Dillinger for a
few days after Little Bohemia and Dillinger trusted him to hold his gold till
he came back. The Kraut egged him on by pretending he was interested in buying
the story from him for a picture."

 

“DonÅ‚t tell me he told him where he hid
it."

 

Sigurson nodded. “In the shaft of an
iron mine that shut down in ętwenty-eight when the ore run out. He kept a still
there from ęthirty to ęthirty-three."

 

“It had to have been there, what,
twenty-four years. What kept him from spending it?"

 

“Franklin Delano Roosevelt. When FDR
took the country off the gold standard he made it illegal for American citizens
to own it or spend it. Shorty said hełd done his share of jail time for
breaking the Prohibition laws and hadnłt took to it. He was waiting for the
government to change its mind, like it done when it said it was all right to go
back to drinking."

 

“So Otto Preminger wound up with the
gold."

 

“No, sir, he didnÅ‚t. I busted into the
Krautłs hotel room the night before he flew back to Hollywood and searched it
top to bottom. I didnłt find so much as a gold filling."

 

This evil old man shocked Valentino. “He
sent it ahead."

 

“I asked the postmaster point-blank if
anyone with the picture company had sent any large packages. He wasnłt supposed
to answer me, but he knew me since I was a kid, or thought he did. Couple of
letters and some postcards was all. There wasnłt no FedEx or UPS then, and the
next post office was a forty-minute drive. Preminger never broke more than a
half-hour for lunch; just long enough to get that gold and stash it someplace
else. If you think he trusted a flunky to ship it out for him, you havenłt
listened to a word IÅ‚ve said about that bald bastard."

 

“Maybe he had better luck than Dillinger
and came back."

 

“Mister, until that company came to town
we hadnłt seen a celebrity since Paul Bunyan. You think he could sneak back in?
He figured it was safe where he put it till it was legal to flash it around,
just like Shorty. He was still waiting when he died. Shortyłs dead, too, of
course. I can hold my liquor and keep a secret. You and I are the only ones
know about that gold."

 

“Why tell me?"

 

The baggy face under the Gilligan cap
leaned close enough for Valentino to smell the egg on his breath. “YouÅ‚re going
to help me get it. Thatłs my price for letting you have that home movie."

 

* * * *

 

Although the air was warming, his years
in the desert climate hadnłt prepared Valentino for a crisp autumn in the upper
Midwest. Sitting on the bench slowed his circulation and his thinking; he could
swear the old man was recruiting him to hunt for hidden treasure. He asked for
another change of scene.

 

“If you can stand an old widowerÅ‚s
shack." Sigurson rose.

 

The little house set back from the state
highway wasnłt the hermitłs hovel the visitor had expected. It wore a coat of
whitewash and the functional shutters on the windows were painted a festive
red. The open floor plan included a pair of worn but cozy-looking armchairs, a
narrow bed neatly made on an iron frame, a white enamel sink, and a small
wood-burning stove that kept the temperature pleasantly in the sixties. It wasnłt
a cookstove. His host appeared to depend on the diner for his sustenance.

 

“PrivyÅ‚s out back," he said when his
guest looked around for what was missing. “Town ordered Ä™em all torn down forty
years ago, but Iłm a beloved local character, so the council donłt see it on
purpose."

 

Valentino wondered if the members would
be so indulgent if they knew the truth about the character. “Actually, I was
thinking about your projector."

 

“ThatÅ‚s at my sonÅ‚s place on the lake,
the films and the camera, too. I didnłt have the space and I put away the hobby
when I blew out my hip. Hełs been after me to come live with him, but the plain
fact is I canłt stand his wife and she hates my guts. Peppermint schnapps?" He
took a flat bottle from the woodbox near the stove.

 

Valentino shook his head. It wasnłt
anywhere near noon. “WonÅ‚t mess with glasses, then." Sigurson tipped up the
bottle. It gurgled and he recapped it and put it back. He waved his guest into
one of the shabby armchairs and took one for himself. “Sometimes I think IÅ‚d
still have all the parts the good Lord gave me if I hadnłt spent so much time
ducking in and out of mineshafts and climbing down cisterns and digging holes
poking around for that gold. I was never much for manual labor. I was an
engineer. I helped design Big Mac."

 

Valentino had done some research on the
area before coming there and knew that Big Mac was not a McDonaldłs specialty
but the great Mackinac Bridge that had linked the Upper and Lower peninsulas
for fifty years, eliminating the need for ferries to carry cars and passengers
between them.

 

Sigurson continued. “Turning point come
when I was sweating through a break telling myself I wasnłt cut out for that
type of work. Engineers work with numbers, not their backs. So do movie
directors, always thinking about how many takes they need to get a scene right
and staying under budget and how many pages they can shoot before the labor
unions give ęem grief. Premingerłd no more swing a pick or climb a ladder than
hełd paint a set.

 

“Well, sir, that was a revelation. A man
with a head for figures, a stranger in these parts, hełd rig a hiding place the
easy way, someplace where what he hid couldnłt be found except by him, and hełd
draw up a plan to jog his memory. But words and drawings take time, and they
get lost or stolen. A puffed-up, proud-of-hisself jerk like him thought
everything he shot was cut in stone. Anatomy of a Murder, my eye. It was
a treasure map."

 

Valentino sat forward.

 

The old man twinkled at the reaction. “I
got excited, too, but it didnłt last. At the time I had that brainstorm, the
only way you got to see a picture that had had its day was in a revival theater
or on late-night TV. I canłt tell you how many miles I drove to see it when it
showed up in a listing anywhere around here, or how many times I set my alarm
to get up and squint at it on my old Admiral when even the coyotes had went to
bed. Mister, I can recite every line from memory. My son thought I couldnłt get
enough of it because I was in it. I let him."

 

“You donÅ‚t trust anyone, do you?"

 

“Not unless thereÅ‚s something in it for
them when I do, like you."

 

“There mustÅ‚ve been a flaw in your
theory, or youłd have the gold by now."

 

“TheoryÅ‚s sound, I know that now. See,
back then them reels had been through so many hands there was breaks and
splices every place they played, and on TV the station managers butchered ęem
to make room for commercials. One time the whole panty scene was missing."

 

“Censorship, probably. That scene almost
kept the film out of theaters in ęfifty-nine."

 

Sigurson looked annoyed. “What IÅ‚m
saying is a mapłs no good when itłs full of holes."

 

“You waited twenty years for the video
revolution."

 

“Longer, as it turned out. Once them
VCRs caught on they sold like smoked salmon, and the studios just dumped their
stuff onto tape to fill the orders. No extra stuff except sometimes the
original preview, and the quality wasnłt always much better than in theaters
and on TV. It helped a little, but there was blanks still."

 

“Then came DVD."

 

Valentino nodded. The advent of disc
players had opened the floodgates. Demand for more and more material had
inspired copyright holders to forage deeper and deeper into the inventory, and
the initial release of Anatomy and hundreds of other classics to disc
had helped turn nearly every American household into a screening room. From
there it was only a short jump to special edition re-releases with restored
scenes and hours of documentaries, expert commentary, and interviews with
surviving production personnel. It all seemed like some kind of conspiracy
orchestrated by this wicked old rustic to lure him to this rocky outcrop on the
edge of nowhere.

 

“I put my paws on that disc the day it
showed up here," Sigurson said. “I hate to say it, but seeing it the way it was
supposed to be seen, the way I hadnłt since it premiered, before I knew what
good it could do me, I near got lost in it. The Kraut had a gift. I had to sit
through it twice more with a notepad on my knee to get what I needed."

 

“If you got what you needed, what do you
need me for?"

 

Sigurson showed his prosthetic teeth in
that baggy evil grin. “You ever been snorkeling?"

 

* * * *

 

The friendly clerk at the desk asked the
guest if he was going for a walk. “Not much nightlife here, IÅ‚m afraid. We roll
up the sidewalks at dusk."

 

“YouÅ‚re right about the walk."
Valentino, who had packed for the latitude, pulled on a pair of jersey gloves
from the pocket of his windbreaker. A knitted cap covered the tops of his ears.
“ItÅ‚ll be nice to smell something other than auto exhaust for a change."

 

“The one thing we have in surplus is
fresh air."

 

There was frost, and a stiff breeze from
the lake that tightened his face and made him grateful once again for the shelter
of Leonard Sigursonłs tiny house. The atmosphere, however, was gloomy, with all
the shades drawn and only a low-wattage lamp burning on a narrow table.

 

“CanÅ‚t have the neighbors guessing what
weÅ‚re about," he said, handing his guest a bundle. “You and my son are about
the same size. He wonłt miss it; he ainłt dove in years."

 

Valentino groped the spongy material of
the heavy-duty wet suit. “ItÅ‚s been awhile for me, too. I was pretty good at
it, but IÅ‚ve only been down once or twice in the dark."

 

“Well, this ainÅ‚t daylight work."

 

“Is anything about this legal?"

 

“I ainÅ‚t Dillinger just because I busted
into a hotel room one time. Statute of limitations on the bank robbery run out
years and years ago, and back in ęthirty-four the accounts werenłt federally insured.
Itłs okay to own gold again. Whoever claims it, itłs his, provided he makes out
all the paperwork and pays taxes on it."

 

There was no place for privacy, but the
old man had some discretion in his black heart, turning his back to feed the
stove while Valentino stripped and put on the suit. He slipped back into his
shoes and socks for warmth and tucked the flippers and snorkel under one arm. “How
much money are we talking about?"

 

“Mister, thatÅ‚s none of your business. A
dealłs a deal. The filmłs all you get."

 

“I donÅ‚t want any part of your gold. I
donłt believe itłs as aboveboard as you say. If I cared to be rich there are
better ways to do it in L.A. than working for a university."

 

“You and my son got more in common than
just size. HeÅ‚s a marine biologist." Sigurson shook his head. “Old Shorty said
that bullion was worth fifty grand in nineteen fifty-eight. Figuring in
exaggeration on his part, itłs right around a million now. I always wanted to
see the world. Now I can do it from a first-class cabin and five-star hotels
from here to China. IÅ‚ll soak these old bones at Lourdes."

 

“What about your son?"

 

“Oh, IÅ‚ll see Roger gets a taste once IÅ‚m
gone. I donłt intend to leave enough behind to put a smile on that sour puss of
his wifełs."

 

The nativełs only concession to the cold
had been to pull on a pair of lined jogging pants and a gray hooded sweatshirt.
Outside, he tugged the hood up over his sailorłs cap. He looked like an impious
old monk. He carried a battery-operated lantern, but left it off as he led the
way over hard, uneven ground toward the lake. Obviously he knew the way in the
dark. Valentino stumbled along behind.

 

“Math, I made my living on it a long
time," said the old man in a voice so low his companion had to strain to hear
it against the surging of the inland sea. “AnatomyÅ‚s one hundred and
sixty minutes long. Divide that by forty-nine sceneschapters, they call ęem on
DVDmultiply it by the number of actors credited in the cast, and you get the
number of paces Preminger took from the mineshaft he took the gold from to the
shore. Shorty pointed out the shaft for me; no need to keep it a secret once it
was empty.

 

“Just where on the shore stumped
me for many months. Give me a hand with this, will you?"

 

The sky was clear, and although there
was no moon, the stars hung low and huge and reflected off the choppy surface
like glittering scales. As Valentinołs eyes adjusted, he saw that theyłd
stopped at a tiny pier glistening with fish slime, and at the point where it
jutted out into the water lay an oblong object covered by a canvas tarpaulin.
He stooped to help untie the cotton clothesline that secured the canvas and
dragged it away from a nine-foot boat of painted aluminum with a small outboard
motor attached to the stern.

 

Sigurson returned to the subject. “I
spent a year and plenty of shoe leather working out what was division and what
was multiplication and whether addition and subtraction had anything to do with
it, but which direction he paced had me stalled till I remembered that there."

 

The archivist peered in the direction he
was pointing, but saw nothing beyond what appeared to be a pile of rocks a
little more regular than the others that had been washed up on shore.

 

“Ernest and Henrietta Hubbard ran a
bait-and-tackle shop on that foundation till it burned down in ęsixty-four.
After that they moved back downstate and died there, I reckon. They bought a
Dubbaya-Dubbaya-Two landing craft from a feller that got it from surplus to
turn into a fishing boat and never got around to it, chained it up to the
building, and painted it red to attract business. Hobby, I called it; they
closed the shop three days of the week to comb the beach for Petoskey stones.
One day they came back and the boat was gone. The sheriff never did find it,
figured some punks from out of town smashed the lock, punched the deck full of
holes, and shoved it off to sink out in the lake. Right in the middle of
filming, that was."

 

“You think Preminger loaded the gold
aboard and scuttled it?"

 

“I know it. He paced out the distance
from the mineshaft in a regular goose-step. All them Kraut directors left the
Old Country to get away from Hitler and set up their own little Nazi state in
Hollywood. Once I figured out this was where he was headed, all I had to do was
stick out my legs that same way and this is where I wound up, square on his
count."

 

It made sense, in a lunatic sort of way.
The likelihood of anyone bothering to recover a rusty old piece of war materiel
was slight, even if it were ever found. It would wait for PremingerÅ‚s return. “But
how could he know just where it went down? How could you, for that matter?"

 

“For him it was easy. All he had to do
was stand here and watch. It wouldnłt take long, heavy old barge like that with
enough holes in the decking. It was harder for me, but I had global warming on
my side. Lake levelłs not near what it once was. I spent just a week putting
about in my little luxury yacht till I spotted it, anchored on a sandbar just
twelve feet down. Waterłs clear as glass on a sunny day."

 

“Too bad we donÅ‚t have the sun to help
out."

 

“DonÅ‚t need it. I know how to take a
sighting day and night. Bridge-building ainłt exactly steady work. I put fish
on the table between jobs. Took Roger out with me sometimes, that was a
mistake. The life aquatic agreed with him. Marine biology pays even worse than
part-time engineering."

 

As he spoke, Sigurson signaled to
Valentino to help him push the boat into the water. They climbed aboard, and
the old man tipped down the outboardłs propellers and pulled the cord three
times until the motor caught with a cough and a sputter.

 

The roll of the lake, and the maneuvers
its pilot made to roll with it and avoid capsizing, reminded the passenger why
hełd lost interest in diving. He was glad hełd skipped supper at the diner to
prepare himself to take it back up.

 

Twice Sigurson snapped his lantern on
briefly to read a compass. Apart from that he seemed to be steering by the
stars. After what seemed an hour but was probably less than a third of that, he
cut back on the motor, then switched it off. For a few minutes they drifted
with the swells, then: “Hand me that anchor. The paint bucket," he added
impatiently, when Valentino hesitated. The archivist complied. It was filled
with concrete, with an iron ring sunk into it and a stiff, coarse rope knotted
to the ring. It entered the water with a splash and the rope uncoiled rapidly,
singing against the metal hull. “Suit up."

 

While Valentino changed into the
flippers and adjusted the mask and snorkel, Sigurson switched on the lantern, a
powerful item in a rubberized waterproof case, and trained it over the side,
where the shaft cut through the murk beneath the surface. After a minute of
searching he grunted and directed his companionłs gaze to a squarish bulk
perched at a steep angle perhaps four yards below. The man in the wetsuit
shivered involuntarily at the sight.

 

Sigurson handed him the lantern and slid
something from under the seat that separated them. It looked like an ordinary
nylon gym bag with a rigid frame. “This ought to save you a few trips. The
original bank sacks wouldłve rotted long before Premingerłs time, and whatever
he put the gold in wonłt be in any better shape after forty years."

 

The diver lifted it by its strap handle.
It was almost weightless. The frame was hollow aluminum. “What about sharks?"

 

“ItÅ‚s fresh water, and too cold. IÅ‚d
watch out for lampreys, though. Nasty critters."

 

Forcing himself to think about the film,
Valentino motioned the old man to the other side of the boat for balance and
sat on the edge, the bag in one hand and the lantern in the other. He took a
deep breath and tipped over backward.

 

On the floor of the little house, the
pile of bright beveled bricks reflected the glow from the low-watt lamp,
seeming to give off their own heat. Valentino was grateful for it, wrapped as
he was in a coarse blanket waiting for the chill to recede before dressing. The
wetsuit was a sodden heap on the floor beside the open gym bag, the other
diving gear on top.

 

Sigurson, humming to himself at the
narrow table that supported the lamp, scribbled on a piece of paper with a
stump of yellow pencil. “What you figure Preminger had in mind for it?" he
asked. “He mustÅ‚ve been a millionaire already, all them pictures."

 

“You donÅ‚t know Hollywood. Either he
wanted a nest egg or he planned to produce as well as direct. That requires an
investment."

 

“Sounds like he was a sucker for his own
racket." The old man sealed the sheet in an envelope and wrote on the outside. “This
herełs the address and directions. I wrote inside what I want him to do. Rogerłs
a good boy, does what hcłs told."

 

“What about his wife?"

 

“Oh, DeniseÅ‚ll be happy enough to part
with it. I canłt spend ten minutes with hcr she ainłt after me to get my stuff
out of her house. Donłt tell neither of ęem about the gold, or nobody else till
I lay claim to it. Otherwise no film, and I can afford a lawyer to get it back."

 

“I hope being rich makes you happy. A
friend once told me the longer you spend lusting after something, the more you
wish you had that time back when you get it."

 

“WhatÅ‚s he do?"

 

“He works for UCLA, like me."

 

“What I thought. If he knew what itÅ‚s
like to get what you want, he wouldnłt be poor."

 

* * * *

 

Valentino found Roger Sigurson a
pleasant young man, and his wife the polar opposite of the harridan her
father-in-law had described. They owned one of the more modest homes on the
lake; the den where Roger screened the film for their guest was barely large
enough for the purpose.

 

“I hope Dad didnÅ‚t gouge you." He
rewound the spool. “I know what itÅ‚s like to work under budgetary constraints."

 

The visitor shook himself into the
present. The film was worth the nasty old manłs company, the icy dive, the
severe cold he felt coming on. It offered a solid twenty minutes after editing,
and the prospect of a fascinating voiceover; thanks to the circumstances under
which it had been obtained, the department could afford to hire Ben Gazzara to
narrate. “IÅ‚m not at liberty do discuss the terms." He sneezed violently.

 

“Bless you." Denise Sigurson had entered
the room. “WonÅ‚t you stay for dinner? A hot meal may not cure the sniffles, but
it makes them easier to bear."

 

“Thank you, but I have an early flight.
Tomorrow."

 

The next morning, groggy from the hour
and stuffed up tight, he pushed away his tasteless ham and eggs and held up his
mug for Cora to refill.

 

“This stuffÅ‚s no good for a cold," said
the waitress, pouring. “Why donÅ‚t I fetch you some orange juice?"

 

“IÅ‚ll survive. Has Leonard Sigurson been
in yet?"

 

“Poor old Ziggy. He died."

 

Valentino froze with the mug half raised
to his lips. “I just saw him last nyesterday. What happened?"

 

“Asa GetzthatÅ‚s his next-door
neighborfound him lying in his front yard just after dawn. I guess he was on
his way here when his heart gave out. I told him he should order oatmeal once
in a while, clean out his pipes. Anything else?"

 

“Just the check." He was still stunned.
The excitement of the previous evening had put his own heart to the test.

 

“Poor old Ziggy." She wrote on her pad. “Some
folks wonłt miss him, I guess. He wasnłt what youłd call the sociable type, and
he didnłt tip for sour apples. I was used to him coming around, though."

 

“What a sad waste."

 

“I wouldnÅ‚t say that. His son turned out
all right, and the daughter-in-lawłs nice. Thisłll be tough on them. I donłt
imagine Ziggy had life insurance. Funerals cost money, and theyłre just
squeaking by."

 

“WhatÅ‚s the law in this state regarding
the property of someone who dies intestate?"

 

“I know that word: means no will." She
tore off the sheet and laid it on the table. “Unless itÅ‚s changed since my ma
died, everything goes to next of kin. Not that I wound up with anything but a
bunch of old clothes that didnłt fit me. Ziggy didnłt even own that
little-bitty house he was living in. Spent most of his Social Security on rent.
Roger and Denise are in for a rough surprise."

 

“A surprise, anyway." Valentino paid his
bill, left a generous tip, and drove his rental to the airport with the film in
his carry-on, blowing his nose frequently.

 

 

 

 








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