‘Where?’
‘It’s in one of the steps.’
Wasting no time, Payne threw his legs in front of him and flipped over on his stomach. This allowed him to hang his upper torso over the edge of the plateau and examine the interior of the notch with his flashlight. As he suspected, a small handle that activated the locking mechanism inside the stalagmite had been concealed in the notch. Although he wasn’t quite sure how it worked – or if it would work – he realized he shouldn’t be on top of the hatch when he gave the handle a tug. A few seconds later, he was hanging from the side of the stalagmite and pulling on the handle.
Payne heard a creak, then a whir as a series of internal gears rotated into place. It was soon followed by a pop and a clank as the hatch sprang open. The entire process took less than three seconds. When it was done, the edge of the hatch closest to Payne was only a few inches above the outer rim of the plateau, but that was more than enough space for him to insert his hands and lift the hatch on its hinges until it was perpendicular to the lake.
Jones watched the proceedings from the nearby ledge. He immediately leaned forward and shone his flashlight into the centre of the stalagmite, hoping to see a pot of gold or a treasure chest filled with jewels. Instead, he saw a series of rusty iron steps. They had been mounted into the side of a cement tunnel that went deep into the earth, far beyond the beam of his flashlight.
‘Great,’ he mumbled. ‘We found a sewer.’
Payne stared into the abyss. To him, it looked promising. Who knew what Ludwig had hidden underneath the grounds of Linderhof? ‘Stay here if you want. I’m going in.’
‘I wouldn’t recommend it.’
‘Why’s that?’
Jones pointed out the rusty steps. ‘Bare feet and rust don’t mix. When was the last time you had a tetanus shot?’
Payne conceded the point. ‘Agreed. I planned on going back to shore anyway. I have a feeling our friends will want to join us.’
61
Payne and Jones returned to the hatch a few minutes later. This time, they were joined by Heidi and Ulster, who willingly braved the deep waters of the grotto for a chance to explore the secret passageway. Before they left shore, Heidi stashed their personal belongings and Ludwig’s map behind a fake boulder, far from the tourist path. They decided it would be safer there than in the lake and the unknown environment of the tunnel.
With a flashlight clenched in his teeth, Payne entered the stalagmite first. He slowly climbed down the ladder, testing the sturdiness of every step before he shifted his weight to the next one. By the time he reached the bottom of the steps – a distance of nearly thirty feet – he was covered in cobwebs and a wide variety of spiders. He calmly brushed them aside, then took the light out of his mouth to study his surroundings.
An arched tunnel ran uphill from left to right. It was made of cement and looked similar to the passageway he had just climbed through. Payne shone his light in both directions, hoping to see where the tunnel led, but the path curved out of sight.
Jones called down the shaft. ‘Are we clear?’
‘Yeah,’ Payne said. ‘You’re clear.’
Although the trio didn’t know what to expect or what they might find, they climbed down the ladder with a spring in their step. Heidi reached the bottom first followed by Ulster, whose bulk gave him some trouble in the shaft, and Jones, who lowered the hatch but didn’t close it completely in case there wasn’t another way out.
Heidi shone her light downhill to the left. ‘What is this place?’
Payne shrugged. ‘I was about to ask you the same thing.’
‘Honestly, I have no idea. I never knew it was here.’
‘Any rumours about secret passageways?’
She glanced uphill to the right, trying to regain her bearings. ‘All Ludwig’s castles have secret passageways: Neuschwanstein, Herrenchiemsee, Linderhof. I thought we had found all of them during the past century or two. I guess I was wrong.’
While they were talking, Jones studied the composition of the tunnel itself. There was something oddly familiar about its colour and design. He ran his fingertips across the concrete surface, trying to get in touch with the memory that eluded him. A few seconds passed before he figured it out.
‘I’ll be damned,’ he said, laughing.
‘Is something wrong?’ Ulster asked.
Jones knocked on the wall. ‘I was trying to remember where I’ve seen concrete like this before. Then it dawned on me. It’s the same colour and texture as the bunker.’
Ulster considered the possibility. ‘Actually, that stands to reason. Ludwig could have used the same builders and materials for both projects. As I mentioned yesterday, the bunker is less than fifteen miles from Linderhof. It wouldn’t surprise me if the bunker and tunnel were completed in the same year.’
Payne overheard the end of their conversation. ‘Speaking of tunnels, let’s figure out where this one goes. Does anyone have a preference, or should we flip a coin?’
Jones, who was blessed with an impeccable sense of direction, clarified their options. ‘In case you’re wondering, the castle is to the left. I’m not sure if the tunnel goes that far, but the castle is definitely that way.’
Payne pointed uphill. ‘In that case, let’s go to the right. I have a pretty good idea where it leads, but I want to test my theory.’
Jones laughed. ‘You have a theory? About what?’
Payne started walking. ‘About something Petr said.’
Ulster hustled after him. ‘Wait! What did I say?’
Payne glanced over his shoulder to make sure everyone was following. Just to be safe, he signalled for Jones to bring up the rear. ‘Yesterday, you told us a story about Ludwig’s disappearance from Linderhof. You said he vanished without a trace for thirty-six hours.’
Ulster nodded. ‘It occurred the night after he sent the black swan letters. His advisors eventually found him at his house in Schachen.’
‘Covered in dirt,’ Jones added from the back.
Ulster grinned. ‘I’m glad you guys were listening!’
‘We’re always listening,’ Jones assured him. ‘We’re often bored, but still …’
Payne tried not to laugh. ‘Anyway, as a former soldier, the thing that bothered me most about your story was the negligence of the palace guards. How in the hell could an overweight king like Ludwig sneak past all of them without being seen? At first, I thought maybe he dressed up in one of his elaborate costumes, but then I remembered this happened in the middle of the night. The guards were bound to check anyone who passed through the castle gates.’
Jones cleared his throat. ‘Are you getting to a theory?’
‘As a matter of fact I am.’ Payne spotted the end of the tunnel. It was less than thirty feet ahead of them. ‘My guess is he didn’t go through the castle gates. My guess is he took this tunnel under the castle wall. That’s why none of the guards saw him leave.’
‘And why was he so dirty?’ Ulster wondered.
‘If he escaped through the grotto, he had to jump into the water to reach the secret hatch. That means he would have been soaking wet when he left this tunnel and hit the nearby woods. Dirt would have stuck to him like lint on a sweater.’
‘Where did he go?’ Heidi asked.
Payne laughed. ‘How should I know? You’re the expert, not me. But if I had to guess, I’d say he was meeting one of his co-conspirators – someone he didn’t want to be seen with. Otherwise, why go to all this trouble?’
Ulster offered a possibility. ‘Unless, of course, he did this sort of thing all the time. After all, Ludwig was nocturnal and a tad crazy. Who knows what he liked to do after dark?’
‘Or who he liked to do,’ Jones cracked.
‘Either way,’ Payne said, ‘he could’ve used this tunnel to get away.’