The Death Mask Murders

by Gabriel Farago

  ‘In what way?’ asked Countess Kuragin, who knew how much all this meant to Jack.

  ‘Franz Berghofer had a brother, Heinrich. Both joined the SS and rose rapidly through the ranks. SS Sturmbannfuehrer Franz Berghofer was close to Hitler and died in Berlin during the Russian advance. His brother, Heinrich, also a Sturmbannfuehrer, escaped and ended up in Vienna—’

  ‘Do you know what happened to him?’ interrupted Isis.

  ‘Yes, I only found out during our recent visit to MI5 in London. Buried in the files dealing with Ronan O’Hara was a name that started it all: Heinrich Berghofer, a high-ranking SS officer wanted for war crimes who, helped by the Vatican, ended up in Ireland after the war. He was working on a farm in Cork as a labourer. That’s where he met Kate O’Hara, a housemaid. They had a son, Ronan. Kate O’Hara gave birth after Heinrich did a runner and disappeared. There was nothing further about him in the files. MI5 had no idea what happened to him after that, nor did they care … but Wagner knew.’

  ‘How?’ asked Isis.

  ‘Heinrich’s father, Johann, died in 1932. His mother, however, died many years later, in her nineties. Wagner, whose family had lived on the Obersalzberg until they were evicted by the Nazis, knew her well. She spent her last years in a nursing home, and Wagner visited her often. As I told you, he is very passionate about local history, especially the Nazi era. It was during one of those visits that she told him.’

  Jack hesitated and took a sip of wine, steeling himself for what was to come.

  ‘What did she tell him?’ asked Cesaria.

  ‘That her son had visited her briefly after the war. He was a wanted man by then because of his involvement in putting down the Warsaw Ghetto revolt. Effectively, he was a war criminal on the run. He told his mother that the Vatican was making arrangements for him to join the Pallottines and go to live in Australia. He also told her about two children: a girl born in Paris just before the end of the war, and a boy born in Ireland two years later. Different mothers—’

  ‘What are you telling us, Jack?’ asked Countess Kuragin, who could see where this was heading.

  ‘What I’m about to tell you is somewhat speculative. I’m trying to fill in the gaps in the story so far the best I can, but as you will see in a moment, the conclusions are compelling. There is no doubt in my mind that Heinrich Berghofer became Brother Francis after he joined the Pallottines and went to live on the Coberg Mission in outback Queensland, where I met him. I have no doubt that it was Heinrich Berghofer who was hiding from the Russians in the Imperial Vault in Vienna and buried the Monet in the sarcophagus. After escaping from Vienna he made his way to Berchtesgaden to visit his mother, and went into hiding. He stayed there until the Vatican arranged the trip to Australia and it was safe to leave. And while he was in Berchtesgaden, he hid his diary in his father’s grave in the little cemetery I just mentioned.’

  ‘Why do you think he did that?’ asked Isis.

  ‘He obviously didn’t want to take the diary with him to Australia because it was highly incriminating. Neither could he bear to destroy it because it was a link to the past. At bit like the story of the stolen Monet, I suppose. As an art teacher who valued art, he couldn’t bring himself to destroy the painting. He couldn’t keep it either, so he hid it safely instead.’

  ‘As an artist myself,’ said Anna, ‘I can understand that.’

  Momentarily overwhelmed by the memories, Jack sat down and covered his face with his hands.

  ‘As you know, I went with Jack to visit the cemetery yesterday,’ said Tristan, stepping in. ‘It was there, standing in front of Elfriede Berghofer’s grave – she’s buried with her parents in the next row – that all of this became clear. Standing at the grave, Jack told me this story, and while he was talking, everything fell into place. I could sense things and even hear voices reaching out from the past. We know that Sister Elizabeth, who joined the Pallottines before Heinrich and went to work on the Coberg Mission, was Anastasya Petrova, who gave up her daughter and left Paris with her lover during the German evacuation. The daughter she had left behind in Paris, Natasha, grew up at the Kuragin chateau, cared for by her grandparents.’

  Tristan turned to Jack.

  ‘As we now know, Natasha was your mother, Jack.’

  Jack nodded without looking up.

  ‘What Jack is telling you is this,’ continued Tristan. ‘Looking at everything he has found out so far objectively, it is reasonable to conclude that Heinrich Berghofer was Jack’s grandfather.’

  Stunned silence.

  ‘But that would make Ronan O’Hara …’ said Isis.

  ‘My uncle,’ replied Jack quietly, choking with emotion.

  The room went deathly quiet as everyone tried to come to terms with the sensational revelations, and even the da Baggio ancestors appeared to stare disapprovingly down into the silent dining room.

  Trying to break the spell, Isis stood up. ‘Facing the truth is never easy,’ she said. ‘Facing it in public, as you, Adrienne, have done recently, is brave and takes courage. Sharing it with friends and family is honest, and perhaps the most difficult thing to do because that’s where we are at our most vulnerable. Love makes us vulnerable, and what Jack has just shared with us makes him vulnerable. Why? Because he is baring his soul for all of us to see.’

  Isis walked over to Jack and embraced him in an expression of genuine affection. The ice was broken and everyone began to talk excitedly all at once. Then Isis held up both hands in a theatrical gesture. ‘I too, have an announcement to make,’ she said. As a seasoned performer, she knew how to command a stage, and at that moment, the dining room was her stage, and those sitting around the table, her audience.

  ‘Thanks to Jack, the last missing piece of the Llanganates treasure puzzle – the burial mask – has been found and has given up its secrets. If the treasure does in fact exist, we now know where to look in order to find it.’

  Isis paused, to make her point.

  ‘For that reason, my friends, I now ask for your permission and support to launch a salvage operation as soon as possible to go to Heart Island, follow the clues we have just discovered, and see if the treasure is in fact waiting at the bottom of the sea, where Baudin found the golden burial mask washed up on the beach.’

  Isis paused again, enjoying the ripple of excitement washing across the room.

  ‘But in light of what Jack has just told us,’ continued Isis, ‘we must act quickly – because it seems we are not the only ones who know where Baudin found the mask. Remember what Claude told us on the plane about the handover in Paris that had taken everyone by surprise? The drone flew off with the mask and it is safe to assume that the villain who left his lair and appears to have just escaped, has added it to his collection and now has all the information, as we do, to locate the treasure—’

  ‘Not necessarily,’ interrupted Dupree, smiling. He reached under the table, opened his briefcase, took out a small parcel wrapped in brown paper, and placed it on the table in front of him. ‘I have something for you, Jack. It is only because of you and your friends here that we have been able to apprehend one of the killers who murdered those two police officers. And for that, the entire French police force is grateful. But that isn’t all. You did much more than that. From the moment Landru contacted you and made you his confidant, you joined him in a quest to find the Llanganates treasure, and in doing so, you have solved the mystery surrounding the notorious Death Mask Murders reaching back more than thirty years. It was you who found that crucial final missing link buried in the ruins of Malenkova’s house.

  ‘And as for that lost treasure, it was you who found that piece of meteorite that fell from the heavens long ago and became a sacred object revered by in Inca, who made it part of a sacred burial mask that will now show us the way.’

  Dupree reached for the parcel and handed it to Jack, sitting opposite. ‘This is a token of appreciation from Lapointe and a grateful Prefect for services rendered to the French police. They are sur
e you will make excellent use of it.’

  ‘What is it?’ said Jack.

  ‘Open it and see.’

  Slowly, Jack peeled back the brown paper, looked inside the parcel and gasped.

  ‘I don’t believe it! It can’t be! How ...?’ he mumbled.

  ‘What is it, Jack?’ asked Tristan. ‘Show us.’

  Jack peeled back the paper completely and held up something heavy that gleamed in the candlelight. Tristan recognised it at once. It was the piece of iridium he and Jack had found buried in the ashes of Malenkova’s house.

  ‘Is this the original?’ said Jack, barely able to speak.

  ‘Yes, it is,’ said Dupree.

  ‘How is this possible? You said the drone—’

  ‘What was handed over at the house of horrors and the drone flew away with,’ said Dupree, ‘wasn’t the original, which is right here, but something Professor Flaubert created.’

  Dupree pointed to the parcel in front of Jack. ‘It was a piece of iridium just like this one. It was a sample from her lab she engraved with similar markings. The only difference being that those markings do not identify the spot where the golden mask was found, but an insignificant cove on the opposite side of the island.’

  ‘That was clever,’ said Tristan, turning to Isis. ‘No need to hurry then; what do you think?’

  Visibly moved, Jack stood up and reached for his glass. ‘I would like to propose a toast.’ Jack picked up the piece of stardust that once was the sacred part of a burial mask intended to grant a murdered king entry into the afterlife, and held it up. ‘This may lead us to a great treasure, but I have the greatest treasure of them all right here: your friendship.’ Jack looked around the table as the others rose to their feet. ‘To friendship,’ he said quietly, and lifted his glass.

  66

  Mexico City: two months later

  Benito Juarez International Airport was chaotic as usual. Boris was waiting for Jack at Customs and took him straight to Isis’s home in the centre of Mexico City. It was the spectacular house Isis had inherited from Dolores Gonzales, her grandmother, in 2011. It was also the place of Jack’s first meeting with Isis, the legendary rock star.

  Isis had relocated to Mexico soon after leaving Palazzo da Baggio in Venice, to arrange the salvage operation on Heart Island. It was a project she knew her grandfather, a prominent archaeologist and art dealer, would have given his right arm to be part of.

  Jack remembered the stunning home well. Set into the side of a small hill, the house was built directly on top of the ruins of an Aztec temple. The clever architecture incorporated the features of the ruins into the modern structure without altering or in any way disturbing their integrity. No restoration of any kind had been carried out. Ingenious glass panels and concealed lighting gave the house a surreal, almost stage-like appearance, with stairways and corridors leading in all directions, where rare statues of bloodthirsty gods and mythical creatures lurked around every corner, ready to frighten the unwary.

  The only thing visible from the busy road was an elaborate wrought-iron gate, which opened all by itself as soon as the car pulled into the driveway. Everything else was hidden behind high walls and lush, jungle-like vegetation.

  ‘It’s just as I remember it,’ said Jack as Boris drove into the underground garage. ‘This is where I met Isis for the first time; unforgettable.’

  ‘I remember picking you up from the airport,’ said Boris. ‘A lot of water under the bridge since then.’

  ‘You can say that again. Isis was waiting for me in a huge, underground cave-like chamber entirely lit by candles. It looked like a stage. I think it was once part of a temple forecourt.’

  ‘Correct. She’s waiting for you there right now.’

  ‘Perhaps listening to baroque music like last time? And trying on exotic costumes under the watchful eye of her French dress designer fussing over her?’

  ‘Who knows? You’ll find out in a moment. Here’s the lift now, come.’

  Moments later, the lift doors opened and Jack was looking straight at Isis waiting for him.

  ‘What, no tight-fitting costume accentuating the figure? No elaborate helmet-like headdress made of colourful feathers like those worn by Aztec priests?’ said Jack after they had embraced. ‘How disappointing!’

  ‘Last time you caught me during my dress rehearsal for the big concert here, remember?’

  ‘How can I forget? It certainly made for an unforgettable first meeting. You looked like a goddess. Very intimidating.’

  ‘You think so? Not like the old crow I’ve turned into, you mean? Look at me now!’

  ‘Come on. Don’t be too hard on yourself. You look stunning, as always.’

  Mollified, Isis shrugged. ‘I thought something a little less dramatic was in order this time. How was your flight?’

  ‘I came as soon as I could. Despite the fact you told me very little. “Drop everything and come”, I think were your words. It was just after two in the morning. And before I could ask any questions, you were gone.’

  ‘She didn’t want to spoil the surprise,’ said Lola, coming down the stairs. ‘A bit like you, I suppose. She’s been on the phone all night, preparing the way.’

  Jack kissed Lola on both cheeks. ‘Preparing the way for what?’

  ‘She’ll tell you.’

  ‘Come, let’s sit,’ said Isis. She took Jack by the arm and guided him towards the middle of the chamber.

  ‘Ah, the gruesome Coyolxauhqui stone,’ said Jack and sat down on a wooden bench facing a large, exquisitely carved circular stone. ‘The Aztec legend of a decapitated and dismembered mythical being. Just when I thought we had left that house of horrors behind for good ...’

  ‘You are one of the very few who’ve seen this and knew exactly what it was. We were off to a good start.’

  ‘I hope you have better news for me this time,’ said Jack. ‘Last time you told me about how your parents had been attacked in their home in London. That too was a house of horrors.’

  ‘It was. Happier news this time, don’t worry.’

  Jack sat back and looked expectantly at Isis sitting demurely next to Lola on a bench opposite, fidgeting. She was trying in vain to hide the excitement boiling within.

  ‘I think we found it,’ said Isis softly, her voice quivering with emotion.

  ‘Seriously?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Any confirmation?’

  ‘Yes. Marcos Chavero, the marine archaeologist in charge, just confirmed it. I talked to him for over an hour on the phone last night. I know him very well—’

  ‘Isis is a huge benefactor of the Museo Nacional de Antropologia where he works, and has sponsored several digs,’ said Lola. ‘And as you know, she’s quite a collector ...’

  ‘Ah. That would have helped.’

  ‘It sure did. That’s the only reason we were able to secure the services of a Florida-based private salvage company: Triton Maritime Archaeological Exploration. Something like that. They are supposed to be the best in the business. Chavero introduced us.’

  ‘After two weeks of disappointments, a result at last? You were just about to give up. What happened?’

  ‘Unfortunately, the engraved landmarks on the mask just weren’t precise enough.’

  ‘How so?’ asked Jack. ‘Photos of the amulet Landru found in Amaro Pargo’s grave showed us the way to Heart Island, and the golden mask found on the island by Baudin was supposed to show us the way to the wreck.’

  ‘True, but there were several spots on the island the engraved landmarks could have referred to. We tried them all; nothing! Then Triton brought in a small submarine from Canada the other day. They also used LiDAR, which has recently revolutionised underwater archaeology. That made all the difference. They could actually see—’

  ‘But that’s fantastic!’ interrupted Jack, excited.

  ‘It is. They found the wreck of the San Cristobal, but it was much further out to sea than expected—’

  ‘And th
e gold?’ interrupted Jack.

  Isis looked at Lola. ‘Tell him.’

  ‘The wreck is stuck on a reef in shallow seas, well preserved. Less than twenty metres down; clear water with excellent visibility. A diver’s dream. Easy salvage—’

  ‘And the Llanganates treasure?’ interrupted Jack, biting his lip.

  Lola turned to Isis. ‘How did Profesor Chavero put it?’

  ‘He pronounced it one of the greatest finds in maritime history. The maritime equivalent of Howard Carter finding Tutankhamen’s tomb,’ said Isis quietly. ‘He believes there are thousands of gold artefacts down there. Even parts of the original trunks are still well preserved. Not to mention a whole shipment of silver from the Potosi mines. It’s incredible.’

  ‘Good heavens! So, what’s next?’

  ‘We go and have a look, of course, what else?’ said Isis. ‘But we have to move fast. You can’t keep a discovery like this under wraps for too long. Word will get out quickly.’

  Jack nodded. ‘Then what?’

  ‘All hell will break loose.’

  ‘I can imagine. The vultures will be circling.’

  ‘You bet. For that reason, we must beat them to it.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘How far did you get with your book?’

  ‘About the Death Mask Murders?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I went straight back to the Kuragin chateau with Adrienne, and began to work on it immediately.’

  ‘Good. You have all the material at your fingertips then?’

  ‘Sure, but why?’

  ‘We’ll make an announcement, a big splash. The world will hear this story from us – from you, to be more precise – and I know just the person who will broadcast it to the world.’

  ‘Celia Crawford?’

  ‘Who else? I spoke to her this morning. She’ll meet us in Havana.’

  ‘Havana?’

  ‘Sure. We’ll fly to Havana. Plane’s ready. From there it’s about a four-hour boat ride to Heart Island. Lola chartered a fast boat for us already. It’s waiting in Havana Harbour as we speak. If we leave right now, we could be in Havana in under three hours.’