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

Good fortune

By the time we get there, I did not even have to open the door. She was looking out the window. There was wine. We are confused but not worried. Carmine told me that the box of coins was bought as a lot. He stopped short saying how much. He said that the watch was the biggest hit.

“I have been told by that one that if any more of this type of items came into your possession, there would be a bonus if he was the first to see it.”

Now Martha speaks. “Your account now has had a deposit of two and a half million.”

They both made a good commission. They are now smiling ear to ear. She tells us that she had the ring appraised and it was shy of a half a mil. Carmine then looks at her, then us and said that the four coins were also shy of a half a mil.

I act like I did not hear. “I have a question for you both. We need to start working on my business. Do either of you know who would like to take over the renovation as a general contractor. Someone to handle all the permits and hiring?”

They are both stunned but I break the mood, “We can afford it now.”

We all break out laughing. “It’s not hard to figure out that our living in the carriage house is on purpose. I do want cameras around the whole property. Twenty four seven monitoring by security people that you would trust with your family. No one but Shela and myself goes into the carriage house.”

Both of them now know that I have just upped our trust in them. Time to nail it home. “I won’t elaborate on the how but I have inherited a way of finding lost items. They must not be something that anyone owns today. That watch and that ring came from a trunk that was loaded on the Titanic and was retrieved the morning before the iceberg. We have a few from others like Guggenheim. Those clothes are from those trunks. They would have been rotted away before the ship was discovered.”

I look at them and tell both to breathe.

Now I float some things. “They discovered George Mallory’s body recently on Mount Everest. Now there is a question whether he was on his way down from the summit. Thirty years after Mallory was lost, Edmond Hillory was declared the first to summit Everest. Mallory had a camera that has never been found. He most definitely would have taken a summit photo. What if it was found? How much would that go for? How many lost things that, if they showed up, how much would you be able to sell them for. Some of it like the watch, can only be seen by the buyer. Knowing that it should not exist.”

I look at Carmine and say, “You said it yourself. That watch should have been at the bottom of the Atlantic. It would have been lost but you held it. I am telling you that I will be investigating but after the home and business is underway.”

Both are on the phones and within minutes, they say that we all need to go over to the house. There will be people over there waiting.

We all go and sure enough. There were a few very tough people there along with more professional people. They are walking the property and inside the house. Everyone is not even looking at the carriage house. That is because there are two men standing there that have a “Don’t even try” look.

The professionals come down and introduce themselves. One is the one that will handle the renovations. The other is the one that will be handling the designing. We tell him that the outside needs to look like it was just the best Victorian. Shela tells them that she really sees a turret on the right side but the inside must be a combination. As if Victorian mated with modern. The old trim but open.

They will have prints and sketches in two weeks. They first needed to use a 3d measuring tool that will make a computer model inside and out. Permits and all hires upon approval.

The toughest one at the carriage house comes over and tells us that tomorrow, they will be surveying the lot for boundaries. “The area around the home and the carriage house will be wifi cameras focusing on the areas away from the house. I don’t want to see them close I want to see them sneaking onto the property. There will be backup cameras that are hard wired with battery backup. There will be people here for the night and until we are satisfied.”

It dawned on me. “I would like you to work up security on the building that I am making into my invention factory.”

He tells me that it will be no problem. I tell both security and construction that they send any bill and quote to the accountant.

“One vital thing. The cellar stays dirt floor. No digging in the dirt. I have plans after the house is finished. It needs to remain as is.”

There are no questions on that.

I thank everyone but take Martha and Carmine aside. “Once the renovations are done. We will sit and work out what our future sales. I did remember something. Didn’t the Titanic go down with a 1912 Renault Coupé de Ville on it?”

I could not help myself. I have them come to the carriage house and open the door. slightly to show them the Renault sitting there. They can see that the bottoms of the wheels are still drying out. “I grabbed this just as it started to take on water. Do not advertise it just yet, but when the house is done, I wonder if we can find Al Capones vault.”

You could see that we have a good business team.