The Time Harvester by D.A.Sanford - HTML preview

A sunken surprise

We are now in our empty building. Before we start demolition, we need to thoroughly search the building for hidden rooms, passages, anywhere a secret treasure could be hidden.

We start in the attic. Right off the bat, I see that the wall of the attic on the roof slope side is just not right. These attic level rooms were for the servants. There would be a drawer or two for them to put some things in rather than a chest of drawers. There is none. The other room is the same. Instead there is a small closet in each room.

I open the closet and see a built in shoe rack on the roof wall. Using my fist I hit the wood. It does not sound hollow like you would find in these period homes. Now I start pushing on each board. One moves a little and the whole shelf moved.

I opened the wall and find more trunks stuffed in there. I step out and call out

“Shela, Could you please come up here.”

“This better be good. You know that attics freak me out. Too many horror movies as a kid.”

She enters the room and the only thing I do is point to the closet.

“I’ll kill you if there is spiders or bodies”

She steps in but almost immediately steps back out. Pointing to the closet, while looking at me she asks, “Am I right? The sticker on the luggage tag on it says Titanic?”

We pull out a few and find that there are more. One had the address name of J J Astor and another had Benjamin Guggenheim. As we were looking at those trunks, I get on the phone and now have a very large dumpster delivered here in the morning.

“My dear it is time for us to start gutting this place.”

“You were thinking the same thing that I was.”

I pull out the Astor trunk and find that it had mainly clothes but some shoes and such. The bottom of the inside is not even with the bottom of the chest. I am able to find the latch and the bottom comes up. There are documents, cut loose gems and paper money. There is also some jewelry along with an engraved pocket watch and chain..

I return almost everything to its proper location and put it back.

“I need to go to the dealer. This time with a box of coins, some of these gems and this Astor watch.”

I have the four coins that Emmily Proctor told me to give Carmine. I have Shela stay out of these meetings just in case. She can say that she never knew.

The store is open and there are a few customers. I deliberately left the box in the trunk. I walk around as he is explaining the finer points of the coin he is showing. He makes a sale and as they leave he makes it a point to say to me so those leaving here.

“Now what can I show you today?”

The door closes and I tell him that I have a heavy box for his review. He tells me deliveries are in the rear. I drive around to the back and he is there. I open the trunk and he grabs the box . Carmine closes the trunk and I follow him in. He assures me that the front door is locked and the out to lunch sign is hanging.

“Before you open this, I need you to not say a thing, just look. Then I think that we should get in contact with the accountant. I want to see what your opinion is.”

He opened the box and swallowed hard. Gold silver and gems. Now I set the watch in front of him. He looks at it then at me. “We definitely do not contact her. She would not like to get tangled up in this. I will not ask but I can say that this watch should be at the bottom of the Atlantic.”

I figure for his sake, “I never wanted to say anything but my late relative was a consort of the highest kind. She was given more of these mementos. She left me a note telling me to sell what she collected. She also said that if that person needed incentive, give him this gift.”

Setting the small velvet pouch in front of him, I motion him to open the pouch. Four coins and he almost passes out. “That is a bonus for you. Above your fee. The accountant got hers with things I gave her. Can you find buyers for these?”

He opens his safe and puts everything in there.

“I’ll sell the coins off in two lots. The gems and the watch, my store will be closed for a few days. I will talk to two different people who collect rare items. You have made the three of us rich. I’ll let you know how much each went for.”

We part company and go over to the accountant.

“Do you have a minute?”

“For you, always. Please have a seat. What can I help you with?”

I explain in general terms what transpired with the coin dealer. I included the story of my relative being a high end consort. I fumble in my pocket and pull out a ring.

“This was in a secret place in her house. Shela does not want it and suggested that you would like to keep it or dispose of it as you see fit. Now I just gave the coin dealer some coins as a gift. This is the same.”

Martha is looking at it and tells me that she thanks me for paying her retainer for the next few years. Now I let it slip.

“I found that in a hidden space in the attic. Shela and I are going to be gutting the place to the bare studs over the next few weeks. I’m quite sure there will be more things found. We did find some clothes from the 1912 era. I find that she horded.”

The accountant told me that most needs to go through the dealer but she has a costumer that would be interested in the clothes. She said the she would set up a meeting at my business for a showing. She is discrete. She has clients that like rare items.

It is agreed and we part and wait for the dealer’s call.