While the other two women agreed with her and started that awful laughing again, Kevin cut them off by saying, “Did you keep it in a fireproof safe? Was it upstairs or in the basement? You can make this go a lot faster if you’ll be honest about it.”
Vicky, Agnes and Celia blinked their eyes like three owls caught in the woods.
“Really, I don’t want the gold,” I added to convince them. “Let’s just get it out of here. I’m freezing.”
Finally convinced that we didn’t want to steal the gold, Agnes told us the safe had been upstairs in the bedroom. She showed Kevin about where the bedroom had been before the fire. He walked around with a flashlight while we watched him.
“Mom really didn’t want the gold anymore, if it makes you feel any better,” Celia whispered. “She really thought it killed Dad and caused the house to catch on fire.”
“Has anyone said what caused the fire yet?” I asked her.
Agnes answered, “That nice arson investigator from Manteo told me someone dumped kerosene in the bottom of the house. He said they’d be investigating. That’s the last I heard. That’s why I decided to get the gold out.”
“It’s not like anyone would blame you for wanting to keep the gold,” I told her. “It’s legally yours. You should keep it.”
“That’s the problem,” Agnes admitted. “That’s why we’re out here at night. I’m not exactly sure it is legal, Dae. I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t say anything to anyone.”
“You’ve had it for years, Mom,” Celia said. “I’m sure there’s some statute about possession of something even if it’s illegal.”
“Nope.” Kevin returned and added, “If you got this gold illegally, even if you’ve had it a few years, it’s still illegal. But I think I found the safe. Bring those shovels over here.”
They gave up all pretense at not eagerly anticipating finding the gold. We hurried with the shovels and flashlights to the area Kevin said we’d find the safe.
I began to realize as we stood around talking that Celia and Vicky hadn’t known there was any gold until Agnes mentioned it after the fire. She and Max had kept it a secret from them. Now the two girls wanted their share.
I wondered, as Kevin had said, about the gold and if it was illegal. Had Bunk obtained it through illegal means or through investing over the years? I didn’t know much about investing, having never been able to invest much. But I knew a little something about the laws of salvage, courtesy of my Banker heritage.
If Bunk had originally started his fortune by finding the pirate gold on the beach, the gold that had been in the museum, that was legal. Agnes was entitled to the gold she had if Bunk obtained it legally.
The beams from the flashlights illuminated the terrible devastation left behind by the fire. Some portions of walls were still standing like ghostly reminders of what had been. Otherwise everything from the structure of the house to its contents had crumbled into one giant heap of debris. I wasn’t sure how Kevin had managed to locate anything in this mess.
“It should be right here,” he said as he pushed aside a large part of what looked to be charred flooring. He kept moving through pieces of plasterboard, chunks of wood and furniture remnants that had dropped to the bottom of the house. I recognized what was left of an old cabinet, now smashed and singed, that Max had purchased one sunny Saturday at a nearby antique show. I’d been there with him, looking for things for Missing Pieces.
Both Agnes and the girls were eager to assist Kevin as they pushed aside lumps of unknown materials with their hands and shovels. It took a while, but eventually I could tell we were standing in the basement area (one of the few basements in Duck). The washer and dryer were filthy but not melted, at least as far as I could see.
The acrid smell of burned house began to envelop us. Everyone was coughing, but we continued moving toward our destination.
“How much farther?” Celia finally whined as Agnes took Vicky’s shovel so she could have a break.
“These things are designed so that the weight drops them through the burning floor,” Kevin explained. “From the location of the safe, this is where it should have fallen.”
Every once in a while as we worked, we’d hear a crunch or crash as the debris resettled in response to our work with the shovels. When Vicky had been gone awhile, Kevin took Celia’s place so she could go and look for her sister. Both girls finally came back, Celia muttering that Vicky’s new boyfriend always called at bad times.
Kevin’s shovel finally hit something hard and solid, the chink of metal against metal resounding in the still night. Everyone paused while he dug out some of the ashcovered material around it. In the small flashlight beam, a dull silver face with numbers appeared out of the debris.
“There it is!” Agnes declared moving closer to Kevin. “We found it!”
“I hope you remember the combination,” Celia said to her.
“Of course she does.” Vicky nudged her hard with her elbow.
They cleared away some pieces of wet, dirty fabric that may have once been drapes. The safe seemed fairly large to me. Not the size of a bank vault, but much larger than the bread-box-size safe I had at home for important papers. This was more like a refrigerator. Was there that much gold?
Agnes got down on her hands and knees in front of the safe and blew on her cold fingers for warmth. The wind suddenly picked up, whistling around us like Rafe Masterson’s pirate ghost riding the night wind, watching us dig for gold.
Two turns to the left. I couldn’t see the numbers, though I imagined Kevin could since he held the flashlight for Agnes. Two turns to the right and the safe door opened. I could see a small amount of gold gleaming from inside. Cold and exhaustion made me hope there wasn’t more in there than what I could see with my flashlight.
“Well, thanks for your help.” Celia began at once trying to push me and Kevin away from the find. “I think we can handle it from here. If we need you again, we’ll call.”
“If that thing is filled with gold, I think you might need some help transporting it,” Kevin said. “Chances are your car isn’t going to hold that kind of weight.”
We all looked at the small Toyota hybrid Agnes had driven there. He was probably right. They’d been lucky to fit all three of them in the car. If there was enough gold to get excited about, it wasn’t going anywhere in that vehicle.
“You mean you’ll take it back in your truck?” Agnes asked Kevin.
“What’s the fee?” Vicky demanded in a shrill voice. “No one does anything for nothing.”
Agnes hushed her daughter. “Quiet, both of you. You’re talking to the man who has been letting us live rent free in his home since the fire. Both of you get down here and start walking this gold over to the truck. I want to hear apologies and thank-yous from both of you while you’re doing it.”
Kevin brought his truck up to what was left of the house. It took each girl a few minutes to get a good look inside the safe (obviously there was enough gold to get excited about) and gather up a couple handfuls to take back to the truck. At this rate, we’d be here all night.
I was already surprised that the police hadn’t shown up. They check doors at all local businesses to make sure they’re locked after hours. Something like this should have caught their attention by now. I might need to bring this up at the next town council meeting. Maybe they were all too busy looking for Bunk Whitley. Duck only had a small police force.
Eventually it was my turn to stick my hands into the pile of gold. I wasn’t wearing gloves, but I had already experienced the touch of this gold when Agnes had given me the coin after the fire. This time, I recognized Bunk as he gave Max the money to save his daughter’s life. Bunk’s concern for Agnes—that was the true emotion that lingered in this shining mass.