His mouth fell open. ‘Wow.’
She turned off her flashlight and walked towards them. ‘I told you it was impressive.’
Ulster nodded in agreement. ‘I’ve seen pictures of the grotto, but I never fully grasped how large it was until now. It is truly immense.’
‘Women have said the same about me,’ cracked Jones.
Heidi ignored him. ‘The Venus Grotto is the largest artificial cave in Europe. Everything you see in here – the rocks, the ceiling, everything – was made by man. The cave is 270 feet long and forty-two feet high. By comparison, the palace itself is only ninety-eight feet long.’
Payne stared at the lake. At first, he had assumed it was shallow like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World, but the longer he stared at the underwater lights, he could tell they weren’t close to the surface. ‘How deep is the water?’
‘In some places, it’s ten feet deep.’
Jones leaned against the safety railing that had been installed for tourists. He was struggling to comprehend the grotto’s technology. ‘They built this place in the nineteenth century? When did they add the lights?’
‘Believe it or not, they’ve been here since the grotto opened in 1877. Obviously we’ve upgraded the technology over the years and made some repairs, but the basic look is the same. What you see is what Ludwig saw when he lived in Linderhof.’
Payne shook his head in amazement. ‘I didn’t even know they had indoor electricity back then. I find it hard to believe they were able to do all this in the 1800s.’
‘Back then, they used arc lamps – bulbs made of charcoal rods that had been invented fifty years earlier – to light the grotto. To change the colour of the lights, they rotated a disk of coloured glass and shone the bulbs through it. Sort of like a slide projector. Ludwig was actually able to programme a sequence of lights – five sets of ten minutes each – in the order he wanted. In addition, he could shine the colours in unison, which projected a rainbow above the far alcove.’
‘How was it powered?’ Jones asked.
‘They used a primitive electromagnetic generator known as a dynamo. There were twenty-four of them in a machine shop about a hundred metres to the north. The power facility was one of the first of its kind in Europe.’
Payne whistled softly. ‘I’ll admit it, I’m impressed. This place is awesome.’
She signalled for them to wait. ‘Hang on, I’m not quite done.’
‘There’s more?’ Jones asked.
She ducked behind the fake boulder. ‘Much more. Check this out.’
With a flip of a switch, the water in the lake began to move. Slowly at first, and then more steadily. Before long, the entire lake was churning with waves. ‘Sometimes Ludwig wasn’t satisfied with calm waters, so his designers installed a wave machine. This way, when his servants rowed him around the lake, he felt he was facing the elements.’
Payne laughed in amazement. ‘Un-friggin-believable!’
She called out from the control panel. ‘I thought you’d like that, but believe me, the best part is yet to come. If you don’t mind, do me a favour and take a few steps forward on the path. I want you to have the best view for the finale.’
Payne moved forward until she was satisfied.
‘Okay, that’s perfect! Prepare to be shocked.’
He glanced round the grotto, wondering what was going to happen next. All of a sudden, he heard a soft rumble coming from the walls themselves. He glanced up and spotted a large opening in the rock face above him. The outer surface of the hole was glowing red while the interior was light blue. Over the years, Payne had been involved in enough practical jokes to sense when one was being pulled on him. Luckily, he stepped aside a split-second before water came roaring out of the spout, or else he would have been drenched by Ludwig’s waterfall.
‘Shoot!’ she yelled from her position behind the boulder. ‘I almost got you!’
He stuck his hand into the water, imagining how cold it would have felt on his back. ‘You’re lucky you didn’t. Otherwise, you would have gone for a little swim.’
She laughed as she headed his way. ‘That’s not nice.’
‘Neither is luring someone under Niagara Falls.’
She playfully punched his arm. ‘Oh, please! You can hear the water coming from a mile away. I didn’t think it would actually get you.’
He stared at her. ‘But you were hoping it did.’
She giggled softly. ‘Maybe.’
Jones listened to their banter and rolled his eyes. He didn’t have the tolerance to listen to their flirting. ‘Sorry to bust up your honeymoon, but didn’t you say something about swans?’
‘Swans?’ she asked.
‘You know, the riddle. The reason we’re here.’
‘The riddle!’ she exclaimed. ‘Yes, of course, how silly of me! It’s been a while since I’ve given a tour through the grotto. I guess I got caught up in the excitement.’
Payne reassured her with a smile. ‘Don’t worry about it.’
Heidi took a moment to gather her thoughts, then pointed at a golden cockleshell boat that was near a colourful mural which had been painted in a large alcove at the far end of the lake. The mural depicted a scene from Richard Wagner’s opera Tannhauser, one of Ludwig’s favourites, and looked as though it belonged in a museum, not an artificial cave. As the group walked closer to the painting, Heidi hustled over to the control panel and turned off the wave machine. Although it was an impressive special effect, it was rarely used during regular tours because the ‘fake’ waves eroded the artificial environment like ‘real’ waves on a beach. Then she turned off the waterfall, so they wouldn’t have to shout above the roaring water.
‘How much do you know about Lohengrin?’ she asked.
Ulster answered for the group. ‘I know enough to fill a notebook, whereas they know the basics. I filled them in only yesterday.’
Payne glanced at him. ‘You did? You better refresh my memory.’
Ulster nodded. ‘Lohengrin was the son of Percival, one of the Knights of the Round Table. He was sent to rescue a maiden in a far off land. Wagner wrote an opera about him.’
Payne had a blank look on his face. ‘Go on.’
‘He made the journey in a cockleshell boat pulled by a magical swan.’
Jones laughed at the description. ‘I remember that! Ludwig used to dress up in his costume and prance around the halls of his castle.’
Payne finally remembered. ‘The Swan Knight.’
‘Yes!’ Ulster exclaimed. ‘Ludwig was obsessed with him, which is why Ludwig is often called the Swan King. If you remember, Ludwig even sealed his mysterious correspondence with a black swan. Hence, the black swan letters.’
Jones grinned. ‘Ludwig going rogue.’
‘Actually,’ Heidi said, ‘if you believe the rumours, that’s exactly what Ludwig did. He went rogue. Having bankrupted his personal fortune building places like this, he was forced to turn to outside sources to maintain his standard of living. The money he collected would have been the source of his mythical treasure.’
Payne nodded. ‘Which leads us to the riddle.’
Heidi pointed at the elaborate boat. It was elevated just above the waterline by a discreet metal stand to keep it in good shape. Painted gold and shaped like a giant cockleshell, the boat featured carved fish near its base, wooden doves attached to the back of the shell and several strings of dried flowers draped from its edges. Inside was a small padded bench and a single back pillow covered in red velvet. Two wooden oars were affixed to their stands.