‘Hold up,’ Jones demanded. ‘He preserved the language but destroyed the artefacts?’
‘Yes,’ Hamilton answered. ‘He was stationed as a monk in the mission at Izamal, a small city to the east of Mérida, where he took an interest in the Maya’s use of glyphs and decided to translate them into Spanish. With the help of Mayan elders, he established the base for their glyphs that is still used by scholars today. However, in July of 1562, Landa ordered an auto-da-fé in the city of Maní. It is said that he ceremonially burned more than twenty-five thousand artefacts that he deemed blasphemous. From that point on, the Maya and their culture were under constant threat, all because of Landa’s desire to convert them to Catholicism.’
Boyd added to the explanation. ‘Landa’s action did not go unnoticed. The Council of the Indies took an interest in his behaviour, going as far as to form a committee to determine whether or not Landa had committed any crimes. Even after Francisco de Toral had testified against him, Landa was cleared of any wrongdoing.’
‘Who was Toral?’ Jones asked.
‘Toral was the first bishop of the Yucatán and the first man to officially accuse Landa of unwarranted brutality. It was Toral who had first complained to the powers that be. Interestingly, when Toral died, it was Landa who was chosen to replace him. Somehow Landa went from a man accused of inhumane atrocities to the most powerful man in the Yucatán. Returning from his trial in Spain, Landa once again enacted a brutal crusade against the Maya. His cruelty was universally despised by the natives, the monks and even by the Spanish soldiers.’
Hamilton picked up from there. ‘Over the centuries, historians have speculated about Landa’s return to Mesoamerica. No one could understand why the Church would grant him this freedom. That is, until we read the diary of Marcos de Mercado. Then it all makes sense.’
According to the journal, Landa bought his freedom with the promise of a vast treasure. He convinced the Church that he had assembled a massive stockpile of Mayan artefacts — items he had deemed too valuable to burn. In exchange for his release, he was willing to hide these items from the King and smuggle them to the Church instead. To make sure that Landa followed through with his promise, Mercado was assigned by the Church to chronicle his movements upon his return to the Yucatán. Prior to the priesthood, Mercado had trained as a soldier, so they felt he was the perfect choice to spy on Landa in hostile terrain.
‘Initially, Landa didn’t trust Mercado — and rightfully so. But everything changed in 1572, when a group of Mayan warriors tried to kill Landa in a small town near here. Mercado intervened and saved the bishop’s life. After that, Landa trusted him implicitly.’
Ulster raised his hand. He had read several pages of Mercado’s journal, faxed to him by Payne, but couldn’t recall that particular story. ‘Pardon the interruption, but is that anecdote in the journal? I don’t remember any violence in the sections I examined.’
Boyd answered for Hamilton. ‘The journal is more than three hundred pages in length. It details everything from his voyage to the New World through to his pilgrimage to the west and his return to Mérida. It is a fascinating read, one that I’m sure you’ll enjoy. We’ll be happy to let you read it in its entirety. That is, if you choose to accept our proposal.’
‘Finally!’ Payne blurted from the back of the room. ‘Tell us more about your proposal. What’s our role in things?’
Boyd smiled. ‘I assure you, Jonathon, all of this history is necessary for you to understand your role in things. We’ll be getting to my proposal in just a moment. Trust me.’
Payne shook his head. ‘Actually, Charles, that’s the problem. We don’t trust you — not one bit. Why should we after all the crap you’ve pulled this weekend?’
Boyd nodded in understanding. ‘Now that you mention it, I see your dilemma. I haven’t earned the right to be trusted. Perhaps it’s time to move things along?’
Payne patted his rifle. ‘Yes, perhaps it is.’
Boyd continued the story, skipping years of history to describe the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. ‘After gaining his trust, Mercado discovered that Landa had been truthful with the Church and that he had, in fact, saved several thousand Mayan artefacts during his earlier stint in the Yucatán. The cache included jewellery, statues, masks, icons and hundreds of Mayan codices, all of which were stored in a cave near Mérida. Landa planned to ship some of the treasure back to Spain, thus staying in the good graces of the Church, while keeping the best items for himself. Because of his military training, Mercado was put in charge of selecting the most trustworthy soldiers in the Yucatán to accompany the treasure on its voyage across the sea. Instead, Mercado handpicked a squad of soldiers who were infuriated by Landa’s atrocities and asked them to steal the treasure before it could be sent back to Spain.’
Jones perked up. ‘Mercado stole the treasure? That’s awesome!’
Payne asked, ‘Do you know where it is?’
Boyd answered. ‘His journal referenced an ancient pyramid that had been concealed by locals to protect it from the Spanish. We assumed he was referring to another location in Mérida.’
‘Why’s that?’ Maria asked.
‘Because Mérida was built on top of an ancient city named Ichcaanzihó. In Mayan, the name means “city of the five hills”, which refers to the five pyramids that once graced this region. We figured Mercado simply moved the treasure to another part of Mérida, but we were wrong. He actually put the treasure on a Spanish ship and sent it to the west.’
Jones furrowed his brow. ‘The west? I’m not great at geography, but I’m pretty sure Spain is to the east — unless he was taking the scenic route.’
Boyd shook his head. ‘Mercado had no intention of sending it to Spain, and he had no intention of selling it for profit. Instead, he was looking for the best place to hide it in Mexico, and that happened to be in the mountains to the west.’
‘Hold up! Mercado shipped the treasure from Mexico to Mexico?’
‘That is correct.’
‘To who?’
Boyd replied. ‘To his older brother, Manuel. He was a conquistador who had assembled a team of compassionate soldiers that had discovered an Aztec treasure on the outskirts of Tenochtitlan. Manuel’s goal was not to plunder, but to preserve the history of the Aztecs before it was completely erased. In that regard, the Mercados were very similar to the Ulsters.’
Ulster laughed at the comparison. ‘I do believe this is the first time I have ever been compared to a conquistador. Perhaps I should get a helmet?’
Payne smiled at the image. ‘Let me see if I’ve got this straight. The younger Mercado stole a Mayan treasure from Diego de Landa and sent it west. The older Mercado, who already had an Aztec treasure, unloaded the Mayan cargo from the ship and did what with it? He combined the two treasures into one massive hoard?’
Boyd nodded. ‘According to Marcos’s diary, that’s exactly what happened in March of 1574. Roughly a year later, he abandoned his post with Landa and travelled west to meet his brother. The two reunited in the summer of 1575, at which time they moved the Mercado treasure to its current resting place. The brothers lived together in Puebla for nearly two decades until Manuel died from a high fever. Marcos eventually returned to Mérida in 1596 — seventeen years after the death of Landa — and served out his term with the archdiocese.’
‘But the treasure remained out west?’ Maria asked.