“You’re in luck,” Selma said without preamble. “Milton Gregory is one of the foremost experts on World War Two arms. It didn’t take him long to identify that handle.”
“What’s the verdict?” Sam asked.
“Japanese army Type 30 bayonet, without a doubt. Probably mounted on an Arisaka rifle — the most commonly issued rifle for Japanese forces during the war.”
“He’s sure?”
“Absolutely. The bayonets used by the Allies had a completely different handle. He’s positive. And there’s something else: on one end of the handle you can see faint markings. They’re the Japanese symbols for Aoba.”
“What?”
“One of the Japanese regiments that was stationed on Guadalcanal was the 3rd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment.” She paused. “The Aoba Regiment.”
“When did it land?”
“September eleventh, 1942.”
Sam was silent for a few moments. He nodded to himself and turned from the monitor.
“I have a project for you, Selma.”
“I suspected you might.”
“Your ESP is working. I want you to research the Japanese occupation of Guadalcanal. Who commanded it, how many soldiers were stationed here, when they left, how they were evacuated, the whole works.”
“How detailed do you want?”
“Give me everything you can find. All sources, along with a summary.”
“Will do.”
“How long?”
“I’ll put Pete and Wendy to work as well, so if we’re lucky… How soon do you need it?”
“As usual, Selma.”
“So, yesterday?”
He smiled. “That might be a little late.”
“All right. I’ll get on it immediately.”
When he hung up, Remi was watching him expectantly. “Japanese, I presume?” she said.
He nodded. “Good guess. But it also makes tracking down any information harder.”
“History is written by the victors.”
“Correct. And that assumes that any record of a Japanese operation to recover sunken treasure is not going to be in the encyclopedias.”
“True. But if we’re lucky, we’ll pick up the scent.”
Sam looked at the sun glittering on the surface of the sea. “Imagine what that had to have been like. Diving, day after day, off an island during wartime, enemy attacks taking place constantly. With technology that predates scuba. The old copper diving helmets… like something out of Jules Verne.”
“They were obviously successful. One look at the walls proves that,” Remi said.
Sam looked back at the monitor with a thoughtful expression. “No question.”
The rest of the day went by slowly even with the improvised suction pump. Leonid’s impatience created a palpable tension. When the dive teams finally called it a night, everyone gathered in the galley for dinner, the good-natured banter of the men lively and filled with laughter as they feasted on fresh fish.
Des tuned in to the local radio news for updates on the unrest, which appeared to have calmed somewhat over the course of the afternoon. According to the somber announcer, record numbers of police were on patrol and any disturbances were being met with a swift response from the authorities. Over twenty people had been arrested, but there was no mention of anything of significance in the hunt for the rebels. So for now, at least, it looked like they’d gotten away with murder.
The following morning, Sam used the satellite Internet to check his e-mail. There was a message from Selma with a file attached. He downloaded it and studied the pages as Remi lingered over another cup of coffee. By the time she was done, he’d skimmed the summary and zeroed in on a few promising threads.
“The Japanese had a hell of a time supplying their troops here. That was the main reason they ultimately evacuated. When the surviving soldiers made it to the ships, they were suffering from starvation. Some of the reports are grim. Dysentery, malnutrition, you name it.”
“How long did the Japanese have control of the island?”
“Only about seven months. From June 1942 until February 1943. And it was some of the bitterest fighting of the war.”
“Then there’s not a long time period for us to cover.”
“No, but there’s also very few records from the Japanese side.”
“Right, but since we know they found whatever treasure was here, the question is what happened to it? Why hasn’t it surfaced since the war?”
“You beat me to the punch. If you’d discovered gold, and who knows what else, what would you do? Remember, you’re in the middle of a battle zone with fighting going on every day, your side losing the battle, starvation setting in, heavy casualties, an uncertain future.”
“I’d want to get it off the island.”
“Right, but that’s easier said than done, with the Allies throwing everything they had at you.” Sam’s brow furrowed in thought. “And there’s another wrinkle. To dive that site, there had to have been a ship anchored over it for weeks. That would have naturally attracted unwanted Allied forces attention.”
“Then I think we can safely assume that the mother ship wasn’t an official Japanese vessel.”
Sam nodded. “It was probably a converted long-range fishing vessel or an innocuous, seemingly empty barge. It would have had to have been something that looked innocent or it would have been sunk by the Allies.”
Remi frowned. “And there’s no wreckage.” She sighed. “Are you saying that once the Japanese were done bringing the treasure to the surface, it just steamed out of here?”
Sam shook his head. “Highly unlikely. Especially as the Allied campaign intensified. They obviously couldn’t afford the sinking or search and seizure of whatever craft they used. The Allies had created a tough enough barrier that the Japanese couldn’t even supply their troops. I can’t see anyone risking high stakes on the open seas.”
“Then what?”
“Well, let’s think this through. Imagine what it must have been like. You have the treasure, but you’re starving, and the enemy’s landed on the island and is preventing any vessels from reaching you. The shoreline is littered with sunken Japanese and Allied boats, but the Allies have control over the sea during the daylight hours. What would you do?”
Remi thought for a moment. “Submarine!”
“That’s one possibility, but a sub would still run considerable risk of being discovered if anything went wrong or took longer than planned. Also, it’s harder than it sounds to get one close to shore, presumably at night, without risking grounding it or being a sitting duck.”
“Then I’d hide the treasure until I could get it off the island safely.”
“Okay, fine. But get it off how? It’s increasingly obvious that the Allies aren’t going to give up. And no matter how patriotic you are, how devoted you are to your cause, it’s a virtual certainty that Japan isn’t going to be able to hold the island forever.”
“I’d… I’d probably wait until a big push, when I had the best chance of making it off the island with it.”
“Like minds think alike. If you look at the chronology of the occupation, there’s only one point where it seemed certain you could get off the island alive.”
Remi eyed him. “Which was…?”
“The final evacuation. For whatever reason, the Allies didn’t prevent the Japanese evacuation of the troops. And you would have known it looked like a sure thing, if you had communications capability, because the initial run in February went uncontested, as did the next run on February fourth. The final run was on the night of February seventh and it was also unchallenged.”