Ross exclaimed, “Gold! You’re saying the whole mausoleum is made of gold?”
“No, I think just that wall.” Decker pointed to the ground. “That’s why the crypt is only sunken on this side. That was the reason for the concrete foundation—to keep it stable because of the added weight of the gold. Only over the years it didn’t work out so well. The gold’s under the brick veneer.”
“Check it,” Ross ordered another of his men.
The man grabbed a chisel and hammer and worked away at the brick until he had chipped off part. He gasped and looked up. Ross held a work light over the brick. The veneer of brick was gone and underneath was a lustrous gold color.
Decker said, “Now you can see the connection to Australia.”
Ross glanced at him. “But what is this Kalgoorlie place?”
“Kalgoorlie is the site of the Golden Mile, perhaps the greatest concentration of gold deposits on earth.”
Lassiter said, “But how did you figure that out?”
“I couldn’t think of another reason why Baron would have gone there. From all accounts, he just cared about making money, not taking vacations. He engaged a private ship, and brought back a fortune, probably in gold dust and nuggets. And then he turned it into gold bars covered by a brick overlay, using the molds he ordered from O’Reilly’s.”
Ross looked at the large wall of bricks and did a swift calculation. “There must be hundreds and hundreds of gold bars in there.”
“Must be,” agreed Decker.
“But Decker, how did you work out it was in the wall of the mausoleum?” asked Lassiter. “Not just from the thing being partially sunk in the dirt.”
“I knew something that you didn’t, and neither did Costa.” He pointed to Baron. “He let me in the mausoleum when we first came up here. Inside, I saw that a couple of walls were fouled with the stains that you would expect to see in an old burial vault. But on the interior that wall was all covered with white streaks just like it is on the outside. Over time brick and mortar will leach out white alkaline. You’ve probably seen it on brick chimneys and walls. It actually happened to my house back in Ohio, and the guy who repaired it told me about it. Now, marble is a porous material, so what’s underneath it will eventually end up on the outside of it. Knowing from the O’Reilly letter that Baron had purchased molds and clay, I knew he was going to make bricks. I also figured the brick was probably under the marble and that the white alkaline had eventually leached through. Coupled with the trip to Kalgoorlie, it made me think that concealed in the brick were the gold bars. And on the inside of the mausoleum I noticed that the interior was about a foot narrower on that side of the wall.” He rubbed his leg. “I smacked my leg on a crypt because it was jutting out farther than the ones on the other side.” He glanced at Ross. “Sort of like in your office. The extra space was to accommodate the brick. The other walls didn’t need that additional space. They were just solid marble.”
“But why bother covering the gold with brick veneer if the bars were going to be inside a wall?” asked Ross.
“Well, even though they were heavy, it would at least hide the gold bars from the workers who built the mausoleum, and if the marble ever got damaged it would just reveal bricks underneath and nothing more, just like you thought when your guy opened up the wall.”
“But who killed the men and put them under the crypt?” asked Baron.
Decker shrugged. “For all I know, Baron the First and his butler did. They could have put the bodies inside that chamber and then had somebody come in and close it up. In fact, in the letter to his son, Nigel said it was possible that he might end up in hell and he was sort of asking for God’s forgiveness. That might have been his guilt as a murderer coming out.”
“What would a wall of gold be worth, do you think?” Ross asked.
Decker quickly tallied the number of bricks on the wall. “Gold’s over thirteen hundred bucks an ounce now. A gold bar like that weighs over twelve kilos or about twenty-six pounds. So that one bar would be worth nearly six hundred thousand dollars.”
Lassiter exclaimed, “Oh my God. Each bar?”
“Yeah,” said Decker as he ran his gaze over the crypt wall. “I’d say you’re looking at maybe nine hundred bricks or so. Maybe more.”
“So that means…” said Ross, obviously trying to do the math in his head.
But John Baron answered. “That comes to over half a billion dollars in gold.”
“And despite the old saying, Baron the First apparently wanted to take it all with him when he died,” quipped Decker. “That’s why I knew the gold wouldn’t be in the potting shed.”
Lassiter said, “God, I knew old man Baron was rich, but damn.”
Decker said, “Well, gold was a lot cheaper back then. Turned out to be a good investment.”
Ross lifted his gaze from the gold bar to Decker. “So, do we have a deal?”
“Actually, I don’t really see how that could happen,” said Decker. “You’ve killed at least ten people that I know of, including my partner’s brother-in-law, not to mention thousands more who’ve overdosed on the crap you’ve been selling. So I’m actually here to arrest you.”
Ross looked at Decker like he was insane. “Okay. But you’re outgunned and in no position to negotiate. And I’ve got hostages you want back. All you’ve got is my old man, who I could give a damn about.”
“No, you’ve got it all wrong, because you made a big mistake.”
“What’s that?” said Ross warily.
In answer, Decker used his free hand to take out his phone. It was on, and in speaker mode. “Assuming I’d be stupid enough to come here without any backup.”
Chapter 73
THE LIGHTS HIT them from all directions.
Long guns slid over the brick walls of the burial ground as the men there stood on breach ladders.
A voice on a PA called out, “Federal agents! Guns down! On the ground, hands behind your heads! Now!”
A chopper emblazoned with DEA on the side suddenly roared over the tree line and cast its spotlight down on them. Assault rifles were trained from the bird on Ross and his group down below.
In the cemetery, some of Ross’s men fired up at the chopper and at the armed men who had suddenly appeared at the top of the brick wall.
Shots rang out all over. The burial ground was quickly shrouded in smoke from all the discharging weapons.
Flash-bangs went off and people screamed. The smoke grew denser. The screams grew louder.
Decker quickly pushed Fred Ross’s wheelchair over next to one of the SUVs.
“Keep your head down,” he told the old man before rejoining the others.
Jamison shouted to Decker, “I’ll get Amber and Zoe.”
She sprinted forward, with John Baron joining her.
Ross and one of his men had also raced toward the hostages.
The two groups clashed right in front of Amber and Zoe.
Ross started to point his weapon at Jamison.
“You piece of shit!” screamed Jamison.
She kicked the gun out of his hand and drove her fist into his nose, and when he staggered back in pain, she nailed him with her knee directly in his crotch. He went down and stayed there. Just to be sure, she jerked his hands behind his back and cuffed him.
Meanwhile, Baron gripped the gun hand of the other man, stripped him of the weapon, bent his arm behind his back, and launched him headfirst into a granite tombstone. The man slumped to the ground and didn’t move.
Jamison lifted Zoe up into her arms and Baron helped Amber to her feet. They took cover behind a crypt as the firefight continued.
Jamison slipped off Zoe’s gag and the little girl looked up in amazement at her aunt.
“Aunt Alex, what you did, that…that was so cool.”
At the gate of the cemetery, something came out of the smoky darkness and struck Decker. He stumbled to the side, slammed into the wrought iron gate, lost his balance, and fell down.
Cindi Riley helped him up as shots continued to ring out and people screamed inside the grounds.