The Secret Crown paj-6

by Chris Kuzneski

  Payne laughed. ‘If you touch my tail, you’re a dead man.’

  Jones rubbed his eyes some more and hoped for the best. Slowly but surely, he became used to the darkness. Once he had, he flipped on his flashlight and headed deeper into the grotto where Payne was examining the ceiling. ‘What are we looking for?’

  ‘Anything that doesn’t belong.’

  ‘Like my black ass in a lake?’

  Payne smiled. ‘That would qualify.’

  Unlike the spacious Grotta Azzurra in Capri, the cavern was relatively small. Approximately twelve feet in width and length, the Blue Grotto’s most dominant feature was a giant stalagmite near the rear wall that towered five feet above the surface of the water. At first glance, Payne assumed the stalagmite concealed one of the roof’s support beams, but that notion disappeared when he shone his light on the vaulted ceiling and realized there was seven feet of clearance above the top of the stalagmite. That meant the two of them weren’t connected.

  Payne called over his shoulder. ‘Take a look at this.’

  ‘At what?’ Jones said as he tiptoed closer.

  ‘This rock. It doesn’t look right.’

  ‘That’s because it’s fake.’

  Payne thumped on it. ‘I mean its shape. It looks like a volcano.’

  ‘Knowing Ludwig, it is a volcano. If you piss off Heidi, she’ll turn on the lava.’

  ‘I’m serious.’

  ‘Me, too. That girl’s a firecracker.’

  Running his hand over the rough texture of the cement, Payne moved to his right and studied the stalagmite with the beam of his flashlight. His interest soared when he spotted a series of notches, cut vertically into the cement. They started well below the surface of the water and continued up its side. ‘I think I found something.’

  Jones looked at him. ‘Like what?’

  Payne handed him his light. ‘Here, hold this.’

  ‘What did you find?’

  ‘A ladder.’

  ‘Really?’

  Instead of explaining, Payne placed his right foot in one of the notches and propelled himself out of the water. He quickly wrapped his arms round the stalagmite to steady his balance, then placed his left foot in the next notch and climbed higher. A few seconds later, he was sitting on top of the fake rock. Unlike the stalagmites they had seen near the shore, the top of this one was flat like a plateau. ‘Throw me my flashlight.’

  Jones tossed it up to him. ‘Is there room for me?’

  Payne shone his light behind the stalagmite and realized there was a narrow ledge between the stalagmite and the rear wall of the grotto where both of them could stand. It was just above the surface of the lake. Payne shuffled into position, then reached down and helped Jones out of the water. Dripping wet and slightly out of breath, they studied the top of the rock – which was just below eye level – and spotted a circular seam that looked like a hatch. It was six inches from the outer edge of the rock and sealed tight. They tried to wedge their fingers into the gap, but it was far too narrow.

  Payne glanced at him. ‘Suggestions?’

  ‘A crowbar might work.’

  ‘Do you have one?’

  ‘Nope.’

  ‘Then let’s cross that off the list. While we’re at it, let’s eliminate Plan B.’

  During their years as MANIACs, Plan B often meant using C-4 and a remote detonator. Here, that wasn’t an option.

  Jones frowned. ‘Too bad. I always liked Plan B.’

  Payne knocked on top of the stalagmite. Although it was coated with cement, it sounded metallic – like the hatch on a submarine. For all they knew, it could have been an access panel to a mechanical floor underneath the grotto, a place where drainage pipes had been laid and coloured lights could be fixed. Yet something about its placement told him otherwise. Boats couldn’t enter the cove because of the stone archway, and due to the depth of the water, workers would have had a difficult time bringing in tools and supplies. In Payne’s mind, the only reason to put a tunnel back here was to hide it from the rest of the world, and the only reason to do that was if it led somewhere important. What had Heidi said earlier? ‘Ludwig loved his secrets.’

  Well, whatever was hidden back here was bound to be a doozy.

  Payne glanced at Jones. ‘Start looking for levers or buttons. I’m heading to shore to talk to Petr and Heidi. Maybe they missed something on the map.’

  ‘Good idea.’

  Not wanting to jump into the water because of the presence of underwater lights, Payne hopped on top of the plateau and draped his legs over the side until he felt one of the stone notches with his toes. Once his feet were in place, he started his climb down, one foot at a time. As his face passed the highest notch on the stalagmite, his eyes widened with surprise. He quickly used his left hand to steady himself before he climbed back up.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Jones wondered.

  ‘Nothing’s wrong. I think I found a handle.’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘It’s in one of the steps.’

  Wasting no time, Payne threw his legs in front of him and flipped over on his stomach. This allowed him to hang his upper torso over the edge of the plateau and examine the interior of the notch with his flashlight. As he suspected, a small handle that activated the locking mechanism inside the stalagmite had been concealed in the notch. Although he wasn’t quite sure how it worked – or if it would work – he realized he shouldn’t be on top of the hatch when he gave the handle a tug. A few seconds later, he was hanging from the side of the stalagmite and pulling on the handle.

  Payne heard a creak, then a whir as a series of internal gears rotated into place. It was soon followed by a pop and a clank as the hatch sprang open. The entire process took less than three seconds. When it was done, the edge of the hatch closest to Payne was only a few inches above the outer rim of the plateau, but that was more than enough space for him to insert his hands and lift the hatch on its hinges until it was perpendicular to the lake.

  Jones watched the proceedings from the nearby ledge. He immediately leaned forward and shone his flashlight into the centre of the stalagmite, hoping to see a pot of gold or a treasure chest filled with jewels. Instead, he saw a series of rusty iron steps. They had been mounted into the side of a cement tunnel that went deep into the earth, far beyond the beam of his flashlight.

  ‘Great,’ he mumbled. ‘We found a sewer.’

  Payne stared into the abyss. To him, it looked promising. Who knew what Ludwig had hidden underneath the grounds of Linderhof? ‘Stay here if you want. I’m going in.’

  ‘I wouldn’t recommend it.’

  ‘Why’s that?’

  Jones pointed out the rusty steps. ‘Bare feet and rust don’t mix. When was the last time you had a tetanus shot?’

  Payne conceded the point. ‘Agreed. I planned on going back to shore anyway. I have a feeling our friends will want to join us.’

  61

  Payne and Jones returned to the hatch a few minutes later. This time, they were joined by Heidi and Ulster, who willingly braved the deep waters of the grotto for a chance to explore the secret passageway. Before they left shore, Heidi stashed their personal belongings and Ludwig’s map behind a fake boulder, far from the tourist path. They decided it would be safer there than in the lake and the unknown environment of the tunnel.

  With a flashlight clenched in his teeth, Payne entered the stalagmite first. He slowly climbed down the ladder, testing the sturdiness of every step before he shifted his weight to the next one. By the time he reached the bottom of the steps – a distance of nearly thirty feet – he was covered in cobwebs and a wide variety of spiders. He calmly brushed them aside, then took the light out of his mouth to study his surroundings.

  An arched tunnel ran uphill from left to right. It was made of cement and looked similar to the passageway he had just climbed through. Payne shone his light in both directions, hoping to see where the tunnel led, but the path curved out of sight.

  Jone
s called down the shaft. ‘Are we clear?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Payne said. ‘You’re clear.’

  Although the trio didn’t know what to expect or what they might find, they climbed down the ladder with a spring in their step. Heidi reached the bottom first followed by Ulster, whose bulk gave him some trouble in the shaft, and Jones, who lowered the hatch but didn’t close it completely in case there wasn’t another way out.

  Heidi shone her light downhill to the left. ‘What is this place?’

  Payne shrugged. ‘I was about to ask you the same thing.’

  ‘Honestly, I have no idea. I never knew it was here.’

  ‘Any rumours about secret passageways?’

  She glanced uphill to the right, trying to regain her bearings. ‘All Ludwig’s castles have secret passageways: Neuschwanstein, Herrenchiemsee, Linderhof. I thought we had found all of them during the past century or two. I guess I was wrong.’

  While they were talking, Jones studied the composition of the tunnel itself. There was something oddly familiar about its colour and design. He ran his fingertips across the concrete surface, trying to get in touch with the memory that eluded him. A few seconds passed before he figured it out.

  ‘I’ll be damned,’ he said, laughing.

  ‘Is something wrong?’ Ulster asked.

  Jones knocked on the wall. ‘I was trying to remember where I’ve seen concrete like this before. Then it dawned on me. It’s the same colour and texture as the bunker.’

  Ulster considered the possibility. ‘Actually, that stands to reason. Ludwig could have used the same builders and materials for both projects. As I mentioned yesterday, the bunker is less than fifteen miles from Linderhof. It wouldn’t surprise me if the bunker and tunnel were completed in the same year.’

  Payne overheard the end of their conversation. ‘Speaking of tunnels, let’s figure out where this one goes. Does anyone have a preference, or should we flip a coin?’

  Jones, who was blessed with an impeccable sense of direction, clarified their options. ‘In case you’re wondering, the castle is to the left. I’m not sure if the tunnel goes that far, but the castle is definitely that way.’

  Payne pointed uphill. ‘In that case, let’s go to the right. I have a pretty good idea where it leads, but I want to test my theory.’

  Jones laughed. ‘You have a theory? About what?’

  Payne started walking. ‘About something Petr said.’

  Ulster hustled after him. ‘Wait! What did I say?’

  Payne glanced over his shoulder to make sure everyone was following. Just to be safe, he signalled for Jones to bring up the rear. ‘Yesterday, you told us a story about Ludwig’s disappearance from Linderhof. You said he vanished without a trace for thirty-six hours.’

  Ulster nodded. ‘It occurred the night after he sent the black swan letters. His advisors eventually found him at his house in Schachen.’

  ‘Covered in dirt,’ Jones added from the back.

  Ulster grinned. ‘I’m glad you guys were listening!’

  ‘We’re always listening,’ Jones assured him. ‘We’re often bored, but still …’

  Payne tried not to laugh. ‘Anyway, as a former soldier, the thing that bothered me most about your story was the negligence of the palace guards. How in the hell could an overweight king like Ludwig sneak past all of them without being seen? At first, I thought maybe he dressed up in one of his elaborate costumes, but then I remembered this happened in the middle of the night. The guards were bound to check anyone who passed through the castle gates.’

  Jones cleared his throat. ‘Are you getting to a theory?’

  ‘As a matter of fact I am.’ Payne spotted the end of the tunnel. It was less than thirty feet ahead of them. ‘My guess is he didn’t go through the castle gates. My guess is he took this tunnel under the castle wall. That’s why none of the guards saw him leave.’

  ‘And why was he so dirty?’ Ulster wondered.

  ‘If he escaped through the grotto, he had to jump into the water to reach the secret hatch. That means he would have been soaking wet when he left this tunnel and hit the nearby woods. Dirt would have stuck to him like lint on a sweater.’

  ‘Where did he go?’ Heidi asked.

  Payne laughed. ‘How should I know? You’re the expert, not me. But if I had to guess, I’d say he was meeting one of his co-conspirators – someone he didn’t want to be seen with. Otherwise, why go to all this trouble?’

  Ulster offered a possibility. ‘Unless, of course, he did this sort of thing all the time. After all, Ludwig was nocturnal and a tad crazy. Who knows what he liked to do after dark?’

  ‘Or who he liked to do,’ Jones cracked.

  ‘Either way,’ Payne said, ‘he could’ve used this tunnel to get away.’

  Heidi challenged him. ‘You seem pretty confident for a tourist.’

  As they walked forward, Payne shone his light on the wall that ended the tunnel. An iron ladder, which had been attached to the concrete, disappeared in the darkness of the vertical shaft. ‘Who knows? I could be wrong about everything. Maybe this is a mechanical tunnel that leads to all those generators you told us about. If you’d like, I’d be more than happy to bet on the answer. Care to wager your share of the treasure? That is, if there’s a treasure.’

  She shook her head. ‘Not a chance.’

  ‘In other words, you think I’m right.’

  ‘No,’ she said with a giggle. ‘Well, maybe.’

  When they reached the end of the tunnel, he examined the shaft above him. It looked identical to the one from the grotto, except it was half the height – a fact he had expected since they had been walking uphill the entire time. ‘I guess we’ll find out soon enough.’

  ‘Should I light your way?’ she asked.

  He nodded. ‘Thanks. That would help.’

  Payne put his flashlight in his pocket and started his climb through all the spider webs that had collected in the shaft over the years. In certain parts of the world – especially warm-weather locations where some spiders were deadly – he would have taken more precautions, but he didn’t have much to fear in Germany, so he simply brushed the webs aside as he climbed. Meanwhile, Heidi watched from the tunnel floor and nearly went into convulsions. Few things in life freaked her out more than spiders. Jones quickly recognized her fear and was tempted to tickle the back of her neck, but decided against it. In the long run, he figured his amusement wouldn’t be worth the physical damage she would inflict upon him.

  A few seconds later, Payne reached the top of the steps and studied the hatch. Attached to its centre was a circular handle resembling the mechanism on a submarine door. He could loosen or tighten the lock by spinning the handle one way or the other. To make things easier, a lever had been mounted on the right side of the wheel – probably to help Ludwig open the door while he was hanging from the steps.

  ‘Be careful,’ Jones teased. ‘For all we know, it might open on the highway. I’d hate to see a truck take off your head.’

  Payne grabbed the lever. ‘Somehow I doubt that’s going to happen.’

  ‘If it does, can I have your house?’

  Payne smiled and yanked on the handle. First, there was a hiss, then a clank, and then the hatch popped open. A burst of fresh air came rushing into the shaft, which caused the remnants of the spiders’ webs to dance in the breeze.

  Heidi felt the wind. ‘Where does it go?’

  ‘Be patient! I don’t know yet.’

  With thoughts of trucks still fresh in his mind, Payne pushed it open slowly. One inch. Then two. Then five. Then ten. The more he opened it, the more sunlight leaked into the shaft. Before long, flashlights weren’t needed below, and Payne’s theory was proven correct. ‘Just as I thought. We’re in the woods beyond the castle’s grounds.’

  Ulster called up to him. ‘How was the hatch concealed?’

  ‘Good question. Let me check.’ Payne climbed out of the shaft and examined the outside of the hatch. A moment later,
his smiling face appeared above the shaft. ‘You’re not going to believe this. It was sculpted to look like a tree stump. The damn thing’s pretty realistic. I wouldn’t have given it a second glance.’

  Heidi stared up at him. ‘Can I take a look?’

  Payne nodded. ‘All of you can. But let’s make this quick. I have a feeling the other end of the tunnel is going to be even better.’

  62

  The Pentagon

  Arlington, Virginia

  Randy Raskin sat in his windowless office, surrounded by next-generation computers and paper-thin digital screens that would be the envy of every hacker in the world. Unfortunately, due to his classified position at the Pentagon, he wasn’t allowed to mention anything about his work or equipment to most of his friends. As far as they knew, he was nothing more than a low-level programmer, working a dead-end job in the world’s largest office building – because that’s what he was required to tell them. But in reality, he was a high-tech maestro, able to track down just about anything in the world of cyberspace.

  As a computer researcher at the Pentagon, Raskin was privy to many of the government’s biggest secrets, a mountain of classified data that was there for the taking if someone knew how to access it. His job was to make sure the latest information got into the right hands at the right time. And he was great at it. Over the years, Payne and Jones had used his services on many occasions, and that had eventually led to a friendship.

  An infamous workaholic, who consumed enough caffeine on a typical working day to jumpstart a car battery, Raskin often pretended he didn’t have time for Payne and Jones, or their bimonthly favours. But the truth was he admired them greatly and would do just about anything to help them. In fact, one of his biggest joys in life was living vicariously through them – whether that was during their time with the MANIACs or their recent adventures round the globe. Sometimes, especially when he was bored at work, he would tap into the GPS on their phones and try to figure out what they were doing. Then he would determine if he could assist them in any way.

  For some, it would be considered stalking.

  For Raskin, it was a perk of his job.