Captain Finn Treasure Mysteries: Books 1 - 3: Short Sea Stories of Murder and Shipwreck Treasure

by Liz Dodwell

  Wordlessly, I upended the pouch over my open hand and an intense, radiant green stone fell into it. An emerald. I looked at Finn and he gave me back a look that just said “Yep.”

  “It was all real.” I didn’t know what else to say, so I clutched the jewel and started laughing. Only Finn could dive into an underwater cave in shark-infested waters and manage to find one tiny stone. Amazing.

  “I think we’d better order another round,” said Finn.

  The End

  Author’s Notes

  So, you’re probably wondering if the Treasure of Lima really exists. Well, maybe.

  The general consensus is that William Thompson stole the treasure and buried it on Cocos Island. Over the years, before Cocos became a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Site, a good number of treasure seekers dug around the island without success. Then there was August Gissler, a German, who spent 19 years living on the island hunting the treasure but found only six gold coins.

  Interestingly, an article in World News Daily Report on March 10, 2015, claimed the treasure had been found by park rangers patrolling the beach. Supposedly they noticed a wooden chest unearthed after a storm. My first reaction on reading this was skepticism. And since then I’ve been unable to find any other news of the finding. If you have any information, feel free to send me a note at https://www.facebook.com/LizDodwellAuthor.

  The name Benito “Bloody Sword” Bonito cropped up variously in my research as Captain Thompson’s mate; a Portuguese pirate who buried treasure on Cocos that was unrelated to that of Lima; and the pirate who stole the Lima loot and hid it at Queenscliff, Australia.

  One inventory of the treasure supposedly lists 113 gold religious statues, including a life-size Virgin Mary; 200 chests of jewels; 273 swords with jeweled hilts; 1,000 diamonds; solid gold crowns; 150 chalices; and hundreds of gold and silver bars.

  As with so many lost treasures, the story is shrouded in myth and mystery.

  Some of you will realize I have taken inspiration for the character of Finn from real-life treasure hunter Captain Carl Fismer. Carl, or ‘Fizz’ as many people know him, has been a good friend for many years. Not only is he one of the most interesting people I know he’s also one of the nicest, and I owe him a big “thank you” for his input and guidance. Find out more about him on his website: http://www.carlfismer.com/

  A big thanks also to my multi-talented assistant, Dominic Ottaviano, who not only keeps my computer network running smoothly but does everything else from video to formatting, research, book cover design…you name it. And special thanks to my biggest fan who always believes in me, my husband, Alex Markovich.

  Most of all, I want to thank you, my readers. You know, as an independent author it’s not easy to compete with the big guys. So if you liked The Mystery of the One-Armed Man, I would really appreciate if you’d take a few moments to leave a review. And please join me on my facebook page. You’re the ones who make this all worthwhile and I really do enjoy your comments and I really do want to interact with you.

  Black Bart is Dead

  A Captain Finn Treasure Mystery

  Book 2

  LIZ DODWELL

  For Fizz

  A living treasure

  Cast of Characters

  A Who’s Who of the Characters and their pirate party aliases.

  Captain Rex Finsmer: Usually called Finn or Captain Finn. A famous and well-respected shipwreck treasure hunter, also known for his ability as an amateur sleuth. He’s attending as his alter ego, ‘Everyone’s favorite pirate.’

  Phillida Jane Trent (Phill): Finn’s thirty-something sidekick. She’s actually more of a protegee to him and lives with him on Time Voyager. Her party character is Anne Dieu-le-Veut, a 17th century French pirate.

  Elbert Lex Van Nifterik (Bert): An internet and gaming genius who has made millions even though he’s only in his early twenties. His home is on Mud Bug Island, where the party is being held. His choice of pirate is Barbarossa.

  Monks: Bert’s butler and jack of all trades. His chosen character is the infamous Blackbeard.

  Delia Beaton Baynes (Dilly): The event organizer; attractive, but not known for her intellect. She is costumed as the pirate, Lady Mary Killigrew.

  Ken Kinimaka: A retired college professor of Hawaiian and Japanese descent. He is Black Bart.

  Dodo Kinimaka: Wife of Ken. She is a children’s author and illustrator. Fairly shy and quiet she has made the surprising choice to attend as Ching Shih, a female prostitute who became one of the most powerful pirates in history.

  Ralph Westgate: A wealthy and rather pompous man in his fifties. His character is Calico Jack.

  Leticia Westgate: Ralph’s long-suffering wife, though she can be determined when called for. Her pirate choice is Anne Bonny.

  Wayne Gregory: An ex-military man, about the same age as the Kinimakas. He has made the unusual choice to attend as Suds Merrick, a New York river pirate.

  Eli Shain: A young man who calls himself an independent reporter, he can be quite abrasive. For his pirate character he has dressed as Moses Cohen Enriques Eanes.

  Teresa: A young woman hired for the evening to help serve the dinner. She is dressed as a simple pirate wench.

  ONE

  Calico Jack had sipped a little too much grog. His overly bright eyes, flushed cheeks and raised voice were a dead giveaway. Beside him Anne Bonny, one hand on hip, the other on the hilt of her sword, hissed at him to “Sober up!”

  Frankly, I found it rather amusing. After all, we were pirates – at least for the night – weren’t we supposed to be a bunch of rum-swigging, dissolute ruffians?

  Perhaps I’d better explain. Finn and I were guests at a pirate murder mystery dinner on Mud Bug Island, the private hideaway of Elbert Lex Van Nifterik, who goes by Bert. There were 10 of us, plus the butler and maid, all decked out in appropriate pirate garb and punctuating our speech with lots of ‘aye ayes’ and ‘aarghs.’

  It all began with SAV. That’s an acronym for Service Animals for Vets - pronounced SAVE - a charitable organization that rescues animals from shelters and trains them as guide dogs, mobility assistance dogs and hearing assistance dogs for disabled military veterans. It’s a great concept; people rescue animals and in return the animals rescue people.

  Finn had been the guest speaker at a recent fundraising event for SAV. The other star of the show was a beautiful black Labrador named Luna. She had been rescued from a high-kill shelter only hours before she was scheduled to be put down. Now she was in training with a local foster family. Anyway, that was when we met Bert.

  When he was just 12 years old Bert was designing – and selling - video games, most of them with a pirate theme. At 17 he speculated by buying bitcoin, a virtual currency, when it was less than a dollar and for the next few years watched it rise in value to over $1,000. Not surprisingly, now in his early twenties, Bert is worth millions.

  The organizer of the event was Delia Beaton Baynes, otherwise known as Dilly. The minute she opened her mouth I started thinking of her as Silly Dilly. She was a good-looking woman, well put together, with the intellect of a jellyfish and the tentacles to match. She was all over Finn, clinging to him tighter than a limpet to a rock. Not that it’s unusual for women to be drawn to Finn. He’s a guy you might say is ruggedly handsome, but his real attraction is that he genuinely likes women. He listens to them and he appreciates them. In Dilly’s case, though, she was after someone she thought had money and status.

  Finn is a shipwreck treasure hunter. That’s what his talks are about. His full name is Rex Finsmer but nobody ever calls him Rex; it’s always Finn or Captain Finn. I’m Phillida Jane Trent – you can call me Phill – and I work with Finn. I also live on his boat, Time Voyager, with him. Although we’re not related, he’s like a father to me. In fact, he’s the only family I have.

  At the SAV event we’d set up a display of treasures, many of which were for sale, the proceeds going to the
charity. Bert had purchased several high ticket items, and spent some time chatting with Finn. Seems he was quite enamored of pirates and treasure hunting and had come to the event specifically to meet Finn. When Dilly realized Bert was the wealthy recluse of Mud Bug Island fame, she immediately pounced on him, insisting he host another event. He did his best to decline, but was no match for Dilly. And when she came up with the idea of a pirate mystery dinner, he agreed to it only on condition that Finn was in attendance.

  So here we were, Finn as “everyone’s favorite pirate.” I’d decided to go as Anne Dieu-le-Veut. In 1683, her buccaneer husband was killed by another pirate, Laurens de Graff, in a bar fight. To avenge her husband’s death Anne challenged Laurens to a duel. He refused to fight a woman but promptly proposed to her instead. From then on they lived as husband and wife and commanded their pirate ship together. When Laurens was later killed, Anne took his place as Captain. She seemed like a woman I would have liked. Just saying.

  We were gathered in the great room of Bert’s island home, waiting for the game to begin. Originally, Bert had planned to hold the event on his yacht, but weather got in the way of that. Tropical storm Darla was being spiteful, and threatening to claw her way around the Keys. So Bert picked us up from the mainland in his launch. The mood had been light-hearted as we waited at the public dock, decked out in our pirate duds. Tourists gawped at us and we gave them a show of pistol-toting, saber-waving bluster until Bert, as Barbarossa, the fierce 16th century Barbary pirate, pulled alongside yelling ‘Avast, me hearties!’

  One young woman had kept herself apart from the rest of us. An elfin little thing, looking awkward and shy in her wench’s costume. I’d introduced myself and she told me her name was Teresa and that she had been hired to assist for the evening as a maid. I tried to draw her into conversation but her every response to my comments was monosyllabic, so I decided to leave her to herself.

  Mud Bug is less than six miles offshore and a 20 minute boat ride. There’s a natural horseshoe-shaped basin on the east side with extensive dockage. Monks, who is Bert’s English butler-cum-factotum was there to greet us and help tie up. He was the only other person on the island, and once we were ashore, he led us into the main house. It wasn’t what I expected; especially for a young guy. The walls were white and the style of the home modern, but the woodwork and wood flooring were in variegated tones of sunflower blond to rich cocoa and had an aged quality to them. Patterned rugs in Dresden blue and white were scattered around and the furniture was an eclectic mix of Chippendale, Victorian and Louis XVI. Not that I’m any expert, mind you, but I’ve watched my share of Antiques Road Show episodes.

  “The flooring and the doors are reclaimed chestnut wood from a monastery in Tuscany.”

  I hadn’t noticed Bert come up behind me. “You brought wood all the way from Italy?”

  “Why not? It’s beautiful. I thought it deserved to be showcased, rather than chopped up for firewood.”

  Couldn’t argue with that.

  “Would you care for a Mud Bug Special, madam?” I heard Monks speak and looked around to see who he was addressing before I realized it was me. Madam? That made me feel almost as old as the monastery doors.

  I eyed the drinks tray he held out. “There are wormy-looking things that seem to be trying to escape from the glasses.”

  “Yes, madam. Gummy worms soaked in dark rum. A little black food coloring is added to the rum so the worms take on a more natural ‘buggy’ appearance.”

  OK, now I was officially interested. “And what’s in the muddy concoction?”

  “Spiced rum, Amarula cream, Kahlua, Canton ginger liqueur and fresh lime juice.”

  “Sounds a bit on the sweet side for a pre-dinner beverage.”

  “I think, madam, you will find the tartness of the lime and the quantity of spiced rum will balance out the sweetness.”

  And indeed I did. The drink was delicious, and boozy gummy worms might be one of my new favorite things.

  “Why Blackbeard?”

  “Madam?”

  “You are Blackbeard, aren’t you?” I eyeballed the coils of black facial hair and the daggers and pistols stuffed into sashes crisscrossing his chest.

  “Quite so. It seemed appropriate to play the part of another Englishman, and Edward Teach – that’s Blackbeard’s real name – and I have something more in common: we both come from the port town of Bristol. Now, if you will excuse me…” And in a very un-Blackbeard-like manner, Monks gracefully eased himself away, leaving me with Bert.

  “I think that dreadful woman,” Bert lifted his chin in Dilly’s direction, “is after Finn. Should we help him?”

  I followed his gaze and watched Dilly leading Finn round like a prize heifer – or should I say bull? – introducing him to the others with an air of ‘he’s mine, don’t touch.’

  “Nah. He can take care of himself.” Secretly, I was enjoying his discomfort. “She’s just an over-sexed vixen.”

  “There’s more to it than that.”

  “Why monsieur,” I affected my best French piratess accent, “do tell.”

  “According to my sources.…” I gave Bert one of those “get real” looks. “Oh, alright. According to Monks – he gets all the local dirt from Wicked Wally’s tavern on the mainland – Dilly was married to a man 30 years her senior. When he died he had certain provisos in his will that ensured her, shall we say, constancy.”

  “So he bribed her.”

  “Well, yes. I suppose you could call it that. She has a lifetime interest in their home and a reasonable allowance, provided she raises a minimum $100,000 a year for hubby’s favorite charity, SAV.”

  “Wow. That’s a bit stiff. But can’t she just put some of her allowance towards it? ”

  “Apparently not. And, of course, if she remarries, she loses everything and has to pay back whatever allowance she’s received to date.”

  “Surely that can’t be legal?”

  “Her husband was a judge, so he should know.”

  “The judge was a mean old bastard! I actually feel a little sorry for her. No wonder she’s all over Finn. She needs a rich new husband as soon as possible to get her out of this before she’s in too deep. Perhaps I should warn him.”

  Before I had a chance to do so, the sound of a gong crashed through the room, followed by Monks’ monotone voice, “Dinner is served.”

  TWO

  The meal was outstanding. Of course, it should be at the $5,000 guests were paying. Bert had picked up the bill for me and Finn; no way did we have $10,000 for dinner, even if it was for a good cause. As organizer, I assumed Dilly did not pay, but Bert had pledged an additional $5,000 per head, so SAV would get close to $100,000 for the night, which meant that Dilly’s quota for this year was already safe. The person who solved the mystery stood to win a weekend of treasure diving with Finn, and a shipwreck artifact donated by Bert.

  As we chomped our way through pepper-crusted grass-fed filet mignon and a Peruvian version of bouillabaisse with lobster, the group chatted amiably. Dilly had suggested we introduce ourselves when we first sat down, so we’d gone around the table giving our names and pirate pseudonyms.

  Dilly began, announcing she was Lady Mary Killigrew. Daughter of a pirate and married to a former pirate, Lady Mary practised her piratical ways in the 1500s whenever her husband was away from home. She didn’t seem an appropriate character for Dilly, who was the kind of woman to have a panic attack just breaking a nail.

  Next to Dilly was Eli Shain, a rather timid-looking young man who chose as his persona Moses Cohen Henriques Eanes, a Sephardic pirate who helped capture the Spanish treasure fleet in the battle of the Bay of Matanzas in Cuba in 1628. Who knew there were Jewish pirates?

  Ralph and Leticia Westgate smacked of wealth. Not in an ostentatious way like Dilly, or a self-made entrepreneur like Bert, but more like “old money” people who’d grown up privileged and simply accepted their elite status as their birthright. They’d come as Calico Jack and Anne Bon
ny. Jack had plied his pirating trade in the early 18th century in the Bahamas. Two women were part of his crew. One of them was Anne. They became an item but it didn’t last long as Jack was caught and hanged later the same year. According to one source, Anne’s last words to Jack were, "sorry to see you there, but if you'd fought like a man, you would not have been hang'd like a dog.” Ouch. I hoped Ralph and Leticia had a more loving relationship.

  Another single guy, Wayne Gregory, was at the table in the guise of Suds Merrick, a New York River pirate with the Hook Gang. I’d never heard of river pirates but, apparently, in the late 19th century, the Hook Gang would hijack shipping along the waterfront. Wayne carried himself like a military man – I should know, I was in the army for a few years. He was probably sixtyish, but kept himself in really good shape. There was no ring on his wedding finger and he made no mention of a Mrs. Gregory.

  Last was Ken Kinimaka with his wife Dodo. Ken was retired. He’d been an associate professor in history and East Asian languages and civilizations. Dodo was a children’s book author and illustrator. She was a tiny woman with soft, slender oriental features and a bird-like aura about her, as if she might break if you held her too tightly. She and Ken had chosen Black Bart and Ching Shih as their alter egos. Black Bart was one of the most successful pirates of the “Golden Age of Piracy” at the beginning of the 1700s. Ching Shih was a major badass; a Chinese prostitute who rose to be a ruthless pirate in the 19th century. I wondered if the seemingly mild-mannered Dodo had a latent savage streak.

  Two things of note happened as we sat at the table, and both involved Ken Kinimaka. When he announced he’d taught at Arizona State University, the Westgates had given each other a wide-eyed, startled look. Ralph had begun to say something but Leticia put her hand over his and gave a slight shake of her head. An unspoken resolve seemed to pass between them before they turned their attention back to the table.