Lady Justice and the Ghostly Treasure (17 page)

    “So where are they now, Slick?” Morey asked.

    “I’ve been following them all over town. First they had a flat, then they stopped at a place on Madison. Now they’re on Cherry. Looks like they just rented an apartment.”

    “Anyone else around?”

    “The landlord just drove away. They’re alone.”

    “Good! This is your chance. Get the money and get back here so I can get Sammy off our backs.”

    “I’m on it, Boss.”

    “It’s just perfect, James,” Camilla gushed. “Maybe we had that flat tire for a reason. I just feel like we’re supposed to be here.”

    “Yeah, I feel that way too. We shouldn’t stay too long. We have to pack up your things and get my stuff from the hotel. But most important,” he said, holding up the envelope with the cash, “we need to get this in the bank.”

    “I’ll save you the trouble.”

    The voice came from a man with a nylon stocking over his head and a gun in his hand.

    “Just hand it over and no one gets hurt.”

    James held the envelope to his chest. “No way! With all we went through to get this, I’m not giving it up without a fight.”

    “Have it your way,” the man said, raising his gun. “I’m not leaving without that dough!”

    James grimaced, clutching the envelope, expecting the worst, when Camilla pointed. “James! Look!”

    From the far corner of the room, four figures seemed to materialize.

    They were distinct for only a moment, then blended together into a smoky haze that spread across the room.

    “What the hell?” the man muttered as the grey smoke spread and obscured the couple on the far side of the room.

    “James! What’s going on?” Camilla whispered, holding tight to his arm.

    “I don’t have a clue. But I can’t see the guy with the gun anymore, and that means he can’t see us. RUN!”

    He pulled her into the bathroom and locked the door.

    “Into the tub,” he ordered. “If the guy starts shooting the cast iron should keep us safe.”

    Once they were safely inside, James pulled his cell phone from his pocket.

    “Walt! We need you! A guy must have followed us from The World of Gold. He’s here with a gun and wants our cash.”

    “Jesus, James. Are you safe for the moment?”

    “Yeah, something really strange happened. Just as the guy was about to shoot, we saw these four figures and they turned into a grey haze that spread across the room. It gave us a chance to get away. We’re hiding in the bathroom tub.”

    “Grey haze?”

    “I can’t explain it. Just get over here. Fast!”

    Kevin had just come over when the phone rang.

    It was James and he was in trouble.

    After he hung up, I turned to Kevin. “Let’s roll. Kevin and Camilla are holed up in an apartment on Cherry. I’ve got the address. Says some guy is after their money, and something about a grey haze that’s filled the apartment.”

    “I’ll meet you at your car,” he said. “I need to get something out of mine.”

    Fifteen minutes later, we pulled up in front of the Cherry Street address.

    “That’s James’ car,” Kevin said.

    I pointed, “Up the stairs. I see the grey haze Kevin was talking about. What do you suppose it is?”

    “No idea, but I’ve got just the thing we need.”

    A shot rang out from the apartment.

    “Let’s go!”

    We paused at the door. “I can’t see a thing,” I whispered. “I thought this might be smoke, but it’s not --- more like a mist of some kind.”

    “This should help us,” he said, holding up a gizmo that looked like a cell phone.

    “What is that?”

    “Infrared camera. It detects thermal images like body heat.”

    “Why in the world do you have one of those?”

    “Got it during my P.I. days in Phoenix. If someone presses a keypad, I can come along right after them with this baby and get the code. You can buy ‘em anywhere for about three hundred bucks. Let me show you how it works.”

    He held the gizmo up to the mist and pressed a button. Immediately, the image of our shooter flashed across the screen.

    “See! There he is.”

    “How do you want to handle this?” I asked.

    “I say let’s wing him and get this over with. Why don’t you do it with that pea shooter of yours? Won’t leave as big a hole as my Glock.”

    He was referring to my nine shot .22 revolver. My weapon of choice had been the focal point of good-natured ribbing not only from Kevin, but also my fellow officers on the force.

    I cocked the .22, took careful aim at the thermal image, and fired.

    “AHHHHHH!”

    “Got him! Drop your weapon and put up your hands!”

    As soon as he complied, the mist began to diminish and finally disappeared.

    I heard sirens in the distance. I had called Ox on the way over.

    When the perp was securely bound, I called out, “James, Camilla, you can come out now. It’s safe.”

    They both emerged, shaken, but safe.

    “Thank God!” Camilla said. “You got here just in time.”

    James looked at the bullet hole in the bathroom door. “Not a good way to begin our tenancy. I hope Mr. Hoffman isn’t so upset he’ll kick us out.”

    Something clicked in my mind. “James, did you say your landlord’s name is Hoffman?”

    “Yeah, Bernard Hoffman. He said to call him Bernie.”

    At that moment the landlord walked in the door. He looked at the man bound and bleeding on the floor. “What in the world?”

    James explained everything that had transpired.

    “My goodness. That’s quite a story. I hope there’s not more to come.”

    “There just might be,” I replied. “May I ask you a personal question?”

    “Fire away.”

    “By any chance, did your parents come to the U.S. from Germany right after the war?”

    “Yes they did, but why would you ask that?”

    I took a deep breath and told him about Henry Sinclair clearing houses in the bombed-out German village and finding the cache of gold coins.

    “According to Marie Carpenter’s diary, the name on the house was Hoffman.”

    “Unbelievable!” he muttered collapsing into a chair. “My grandparents, along with my father and his sister fled during the bombing. Their intent was to return home and rebuild with the gold that was hidden away, but when they went back, it was gone. My grandfather was an engineer, working on rocketry in one of the Nazi factories. Since there was nothing left and no reason to stay, my grandfather came to the United States as part of the ‘Operation Paperclip’ program, and went to work for NASA. It was the best thing that ever happened to our family. If the gold had still been there, we might never have come to this wonderful country, and we’ve often given silent thanks to whoever took that gold.”

    Hoffman’s story gave me goose bumps. The thing that had started in a bombed out village during the war had come full circle.

    “Well, this may come as a surprise, but we actually found the stash of gold coins that had been hidden away for seventy years by Henry Sinclair, and the money that is in your pocket came from the sale of your family’s coins.”

    “I wish I could have seen them,” Hoffman said. “They were part of my family’s history.”

    “I might be able to help with that,” James said, pulling a coin out of his pocket. “We miscounted. There were actually fifty-one coins. I kept one. My plan was to have it mounted and hang it on the wall in our new apartment as a keepsake. It was the coins that brought Camilla and me together.”

    He handed the coin to Hoffman. “This should be yours. It’s part of your legacy.”

    For a moment, no one spoke as we let this most unusual turn of events sink in.

    Finally James spoke. “You said there were four in your family, your grandparents, your father and his sister.”

    “Yes, that’s correct.”

    “By any chance, are any of them still living?”

    “Sadly, no. They have all passed, but strangely, I often feel their presence here. I’m sure it’s just wishful thinking.”