Colonel Georges Voko was in a good mood. For the first time in over two weeks his hemorrhoids were not bothering him. A letter in the morning’s mail from headquarters in Athens commended him on the efficient apprehension of a jewel thief who had fled north from the islands after relieving several rich tourists of their valuables. And it was the warmest day of spring so far, sunny, bright, and promising, a perfect day to dig up a fortune.
Or even better, not to.
The Colonel had assembled a convoy of seven cars and a truck to transport the digging force of eighteen men to the hunt site, a remote mountainside off one of the minor feeder roads. He had to admit, it had been extremely thoughtful of the British to leave the gold in his district. He had always liked the British, and now he was feeling even more kindly disposed toward them. It would be a shame, of course, if they weren’t able to find the money within the two-day limit, but alas, that was life. Once the government officially declared the search over, the gold would still be there for private hunters to dig up. Perhaps even an off-duty police colonel.
And if by accident they did find the gold, Zakros assured him the three had not taken notice of the clause “in accordance with Greek law.” It was illegal to transport gold out of Greece except in the form of limited personal jewelrey, thus the foreigners would be able to dispose of their fifty percent only with the help of the colonel. Either way, it would work out very well.
Khoury, Ritter, and the girl were subdued during the drive from the hotel. Perhaps it had all been too obvious. But what could they do about it? Nothing. It was the colonel’s game, and he was making up the rules. Nevertheless, he reassured them by telling them that with the large group of men, there would be no question of not completing the dig in the given time.
“It is just that I am very busy,” the colonel explained. He was sitting in the back of the car with Michelle and Khoury. Ritter sat in the front with the driver. “I am responsible for law and order in this entire region. I just can’t devote more time to this. But I have brought sufficient men. We could dig up the entire mountain in two days, not to mention a small cave blown shut with a hand grenade.”
Ritter ignored the obvious exaggeration and turned to face those in the back. “It is more manpower than we originally counted on, Colonel,” he conceded. “Maybe it will be enough.”
The American was an interesting sort. Obviously a man of the outdoors. It would be hard to guess his age if Voko didn’t already know it. Ritter had kept himself in extraordinarily good shape, a fact the colonel noted with a touch of envy mixed with guilt. He had an easygoing manner about him, but also traces of insolence. Under other circumstances he might be a pleasant luncheon or drinking companion. He suspected Ritter, like himself, had a knack with women. One could always tell.
Voko was thus both intrigued and bothered by the revelation that Ritter had been in northern Greece during the war. At the time of the attack on the train, an American and an Englishman were killed. There had been another American who almost immediately afterward was picked up by the British. Someone Voko had never met. Could this be Ritter? It was widely rumored at the time that the American had saved Melanie’s life and had an affair with her. She certainly had behaved strangely when he mentioned the man’s name. He wanted to know more about this.
Khoury, the Lebanese-Greek, sat on the opposite side of the car, saying nothing. He was a smart one. No question of that. And obviously upset at having his share trimmed from its original thirty-three percent. If only he realized the truth, thought Voko, he would be delighted with getting seventeen percent. But for the moment, it was good for him to grumpily believe he was going to get away with only a lesser amount.
“We have all the digging tools we need,” said the colonel. “We’ll have the boxes out of the ground perhaps by the end of the day.” He smiled his most diplomatic and appealing smile. His teeth were sharp white against his swarthy coloring. The smile was always a hit with the ladies.
Almost always. He looked at the girl next to him, smiling mechanically when she had to, making little secret of her feelings. An arrogant look sharpened her eyes. Challenging, one could say. She was a crafty one. Resourceful. With strong passions. That was the kind he liked. He would love to have her for a night. He would teach her a few tricks she had never imagined in her wildest fantasies, certainly things she would never learn from the American. His thoughts drifted briefly to the last attractive female prisoner he had. At first she spit on him defiantly. Two hours later she was on her knees begging him to do anything he wanted, begging him to let her please him. A very satisfying evening. Her mutilated body was found by peasants miles away a few days later. The official report said she had been attacked by a wild animal while walking along the road, and her death was attributed to natural causes. Case neatly closed.
Khoury directed the driver in Greek as they led the convoy to the digging site. Shortly after nine-thirty A.M. they were looking up at the caves on the mountain about 150 yards above them.
“Somewhere up there,” said Ritter, pointing.
“I don’t see anything that looks like it has been blown shut with explosives,” said the colonel.
“From here, I don’t either,” said Ritter. “But just think, it’s been thirty-four years. Let’s get up there and have a closer look.”
Led by Ritter, the party scrambled up the hillside to the base of the layers of rock that formed the caves. Some were just small openings, little more than stone shelters. Other holes obviously led to more substantial caves. But many areas where rocks had piled up from slides or other causes offered no openings. Even with all the men it was going to be tough to cover the entire area in only two days.
“I recommend we break the men into teams of two. Elias and I will form one team,” said Ritter. “With Michelle. We’ll just pick out the most likely-looking sites and start digging.”
The clank of picks and shovels soon rang out over the normal stillness of the valley. For the next three hours the party worked steadily, Michelle with a shovel alongside Khoury and Ritter. It was a site chosen by Ritter that looked particularly hopeful. The colonel stayed below near the cars, talking on his car radio and watching intently. No one expected him to take part in the actual digging.
“Now I know why I like diving so much more than this,” wheezed Ritter. He had stripped off his shirt, and small rivers ran off his sturdy body. It was the first heavy physical work he had done in weeks, and he could feel his muscles straining. But he needed it. He was too old to permit his body to fall out of shape. After a certain age it became too difficult to get back into form, the temptations of a soft life were too much to resist. Khoury was breathing heavily. He certainly was feeling the effort. He would be stiff by nightfall, Ritter knew. Not used to this kind of heavy stuff. Michelle was in surprisingly good shape, helped undoubtedly by her relative youth. She worked steadily alongside them, never complaining. Ritter thought he detected a sense of competitiveness on Khoury’s part as he struggled to show he could not be outworked by a female, even a much younger one. Some of the men began to drift toward the convoy. “Looks like it’s about time for lunch,” said Ritter.
“Not a minute too soon,” huffed Khoury, dropping his pick. Ritter and Michelle put down their own tools, and, they all made their way down the hill to the vehicles.
“You have been working hard,” said the colonel. “How does it look?”
“It’s early, Colonel. We’re just getting warmed up. It’s tougher to dig through that rock than I thought. And none of us is any younger than we used to be.”
“With the possible exception of Miss Simonet.” The colonel carefully leered at her. The expression did not go unnoticed. “Well, come and have some lunch,” he said. “We’ve got rations in the truck.”
Most of the men were already lined up for a feeding of cheese, bread, olives, and fresh hummus, but stepped aside for the colonel and his three companions. No question of who’s in charge here, Ritter thought.
Someone produced several bottles of white retsina. They sat at a table and four chairs put up by one of the men. Michelle held up her hand to show a blister to Ritter and the others.
“You need something for that,” said the colonel sympathetically. He snapped his fingers, and an aide ran forward to take an order. In a few minutes the man returned with a first-aid kit and tape for the offending palm.
“Anyone else?” asked the colonel jovially as he cut off strips of tape for Michelle.
Somewhat sheepishly both Khoury and Ritter put out their hands to display blisters, which were then taped by Michelle.
“The results of what you Americans like to call good honest work, heh, gentlemen?” needled the colonel. “You do not seem so used to it.”
“It’s a bit out of my bag, I admit, Colonel,” said Ritter. “But I can use the excercise. I was getting a bit soft researching my book.”
“It is also not my usual style,” allowed Khoury. “But for so noble a cause…”
They laughed. All for different reasons.
“By the way, Mr. Ritter, when did you say you were here in northern Greece?” said Voko conversationally.
“Pardon, Colonel?” A stalling question. A moment to gather his wits.
“You said you were here during the war. When was that?”
“Oh. September 1943.”
“Don’t think we met.”
“No, I don’t believe I had the pleasure.”
“You weren’t by any chance at Kilkis during the attack on the train when the American and English officers were killed?”
“I was with them. I was flown out with the papers we captured. Wasn’t exactly the time for social calls, Colonel.”
“It was rumored you found a surprising amount of time for socializing, Mr. Ritter.” A visible cutting edge in his voice.
Careful. Careful, Ritter thought, not clear what he knows. Or how he feels about it. “Idle stories, Colonel. Most of the time I was laid up with a head wound. I left the morning after the raid.”
“Unfortunate about your comrades. They were among so many victims of Communist duplicity and treason.”
In less than an hour they finished lunch and returned to the mountainside. Ritter, Khoury, and Michelle were working a face that appeared to have been covered years before by a rock slide, a likely-looking spot. Chipping at the large rocks demanded enormous energy and strength. The benefits of the restful lunch break evaporated quickly.
At one point Ritter strolled along to inspect what the others were doing. The men had dug a number of holes and escavated several caves. But they had found nothing resembling the boxes. One group uncovered some animal bones. Another found some pottery shards dating back perhaps several hundred years. As the sun began to sink behind the mountains, the work crews drifted back to the vehicles. The day’s search was over.
Ritter, Khoury, and Michelle dragged themselves down to the cars. It had been an exhausting and fruitless day.
“Nothing, heh?” said the colonel a bit too cheerfully. “Well, tomorrow is another day. You and my men covered much of the hillside today. Tomorrow there should be no difficulty in covering the rest and finding the boxes.”
They crawled into the car and began the long drive back to the hotel. Khoury and Ritter exchanged places and Michelle fell asleep on Ritter’s shoulder.
“I apologize that I will not be able to ask you to join me for dinner,” said the colonel as they arrived. “Unfortunately, I have another obligation. I hope you will excuse me.”
“It’s all right,” said Ritter. “I’m not sure we would be such good company anyway. I think we’ll all turn in early.”
The colonel flashed his usual smile, glanced at Michelle, and with a trace of a bow bid them good night.
“Hot-bath time,” said Ritter. “But maybe we ought to have a drink first.”
“Not me,” said Khoury. “I just want to sleep. I’ll have dinner in my room.” He was obviously exhausted.
“While you’re having that drink,” said Michelle to Ritter, “I’ll run the water. That’s one thing I like about this place. They have bathtubs big enough for two.”
* * *
“The colonel apologizes, but he is tied up this morning. He will join you later,” the driver said.
Ritter, Michelle, and Khoury looked at each other but said nothing. They climbed stiffly into the car sent by Voko, strongly conscious of the beating their bodies had taken the previous day. They arrived at the dig site about nine-thirty. The others were already there, moving up the mountainside to begin digging in the caves. It was another warm morning, and some of the men quickly shed their shirts to take advantage of the spring sun.
“Still a bit too cool for me to copy that,” said Khoury as Ritter again pulled off his shirt.
“Me too,” said Michelle.
The digging began. At about eleven, they saw the colonel’s official-looking black Mercedes; Voko waved to them from below but did not come up.
“Executive hours,” said Michelle.
“Rank has its privileges,” said Ritter. Khoury glared down at the colonel but said nothing.
To their left, one of the men began to shout. He had found something. The three scrambled over to the digger, who was quickly surrounded by other members of the work party. He was holding up several rusted clips of .303 rifle ammunition, possibly from British Enfields.
“British,” shouted the man, holding it up for all to see. “We’ve found something.”
Voko came running up the hill. He was breathing heavily and obviously excited when he reached them.
“What is this?” he shouted.
“British rifle clips, Colonel. It certainly means the English were here,” said the man.
“This could be a definite clue,” said Ritter. “This is an out-of-the-way area, certainly not the kind of place where the English spent a lot of time. It’s possible that when they buried the boxes, these clips were left behind.”
“I agree, Mr. Ritter. We’ll concentrate the digging here. Does this look like it could have been the place?”
Ritter took a few steps for a broader look. “Could be, Colonel. It’s not too high up. The area is a bit overgrown, and that’s not a bad sign. An explosion thirty-four years ago could have disrupted the earth enough to have encouraged plant growth. Also, thirty-four winters of snow and rain and normal erosion, one can’t expect a place to look exactly as it did when they buried the gold.”
“Probably not,” agreed the colonel. “All right, men,” he shouted in Greek, “let’s start digging.”
An editorial “let’s,” thought Khoury.
Ritter, Khoury, and Michelle joined the excavation work at the new site. But the next hour they worked steadily, digging into the mountain, but shovelful after shovelful of earth and stone turned up nothing further.
A whistle blew. Lunch break. The men quickly made their way down to the truck for their rations.
“Maybe we’re too low or too far off to one side, Colonel,” said Ritter as he, Michele, and Khoury joined Voko at the table set up for them.
“It is hard to say,” said the colonel. “But finding the clips is very encouraging.” He had them on the table before him. They were badly rusted and caked with dirt. “If only they could talk,” said Voko wistfully. “It could save a lot of work.”
“Too bad you can’t apply your usual methods, heh, Colonel?” said Ritter lightly.
The colonel decided to accept the comment as a joke. He smiled and opened a bottle of retsina, pouring for all. “To a successful hunt,” he said, raising his glass and looking at Ritter. He would settle with the American later.
They finished their meal and turned wearily back to work. Voko drove off, apologizing once more for his heavy schedule.
“Do you think there’s something here?” Michelle asked.
“Let’s find out,” said Ritter.
For the rest of the afternoon they helped excavate the area around the spot where the clips were found. As the sun began to dip behind the mountains, they had found nothing more.
“There go our two days,” said Ritter, staring into the approaching sunset. “Now what?”
“We will see tomorrow,” said Khoury. “It looks like the committee will have no choice but to let us continue this dig.”
“That should prove most interesting,” said Ritter.
“The colonel’s move,” said Michelle. “I don’t think we should do anything until he’s played his hand.”
They returned to the cars and were driven back to the hotel. It was well after dark when they arrived.
“Drinks are on me,” said Ritter.
“An offer we can’t refuse,” said Michelle.
“Yes, Brian,” answered Khoury, “a double anything would be most welcome for these tired bones.”
They made their way to the bar and ordered a round of drinks, which quickly disappeared. As they were ordering seconds, a waiter walked up to them. “Mr. Khoury? Someone to see you.”
They looked around as the colonel’s aide, the droopy-mustached lieutenant approached.
“Would you come with me?” the man commanded stiffly. Shrugging they followed.
“Please sit here,” he ordered, motioning them to couches in an out-of-the-way corner of the lobby. The colonel has instructed me to ask you to sign this.” He produced a legal--looking document from his pocket. It was typed in Greek. “You all must sign.”
Khoury unfolded the paper. “Here it is.
“It says that on May 4 and 5 of this year,” he began translating, “the three of us, in accordance with the agreement we signed in the prefect’s office, carried out the search and excavation at the site. It says that on our direction, an area about two-hundred meters long and thirty meters high was thoroughly searched. No treasure was found and work was terminated.”
“Sounds like the party is over,” said Ritter.
“What does this mean?” said Khoury angrily, shaking the document in the lieutenant’s face.
“I have my orders. You must sign,” said the man.
“You tell the colonel we are complying under extreme protest,” said Khoury.
“I will relay the message. Please sign now.” He thrust a pen into Khoury’s hand. With an obvious gesture of futility and anger, Khoury took the pen and signed the document. He handed the pen to Ritter, who calmly signed. And then Michelle.
The lieutenant picked up the paper and carefully folded it before slipping it into his pocket. “You are hereby officially requested to leave this hotel no later than an hour after dawn tomorrow. You must be out of the country in twenty-four hours. Failure to comply with these orders could lead to your arrest and a charge of conspiracy.”
“Conspiracy to what?” demanded Khoury.
“I have nothing more to say. You have heard the order. I must leave now.” The lieutenant stood up and left.
The three looked at each other grimly.
“Let’s go up to a room and talk there. It will be more private,” said Ritter. They walked up the stairs to Khoury’s room. As they closed the door, their expressions of anger and dismay dissolved into uneasy smiles.
“Just what we thought,” said Ritter.
“Shh,” said Khoury. He walked over to the radio and turned it on loud. “It is safer this way.”
“So the colonel has us out of the way and now will go back and dig up the treasure all by himself,” said Ritter.
“Hmmm, lucky,” said Michelle.
Ritter laughed. “I wonder how long it will take him to realize we led him to the wrong site?”
“I can imagine him digging for days and not finding anything. Maybe he’ll never catch on,” Michelle laughed. The idea of the colonel sweating over something not there tickled her.
“Yes, it’s a funny joke,” said Khoury more seriously. “But our problems are just beginning. Now we know for certain Voko was trying to cheat us out of the gold. But what do we do now? The order to leave the country is serious. Maybe no one will get the gold now.”