“That’s quite a lot of ‘for the sake of argument,’” Jun pointed out.
“I know, but let’s say in every instance I was wrong and Cassidy was right.”
“Very well.”
“Glen mentioned Cassidy believing Jack found the lost Spanish treasure in 1871, the same year he disappeared from public accounts. It’s the same year Smith died under mysterious and conflicting circumstances. And yet, if he did discover the mother lode, where’d it go? How do that many coins justvanish? Maybe Jack hid them before he died. Maybe he even died because of the coins.”
“I’ve never heard you say ‘maybe’ so many times when it comes to history,” Jun said warily.
I made a face and shook my head. “Believe me, to say any of this without facts and evidence is making the cronut come back up, but it makes sense, doesn’t it? Cassidy was convinced of all of this, and why else would he break into Smith’s home but to look for a clue as to where the fortune was stashed? And since we’re dealing with pirates, it has to be a map.”
Jun sipped his coffee again. “I suppose I can see where you’re going with this.”
“The map is in the captain’s study,” I continued. “That’s where you saw evidence of people.”
“Yes, but I wouldn’t be able to tell you if something was amiss more than the knocked over ropes.”
“And until the police let us in, we can’t say for certain if anything was taken by the Smith Ghost intruder,” I concluded. “But I can guess.”
“How?”
“One of Smith’s actual maps was on display.” I held my hands out, palms up. “This far into the game, I’d be shocked if ithasn’tbeen stolen.”
Jun was quiet in response, ruminating on the shaky facts and assumptions.
I took another sip of my decaf before asking, “Do you believe in ghosts?”
“Why?”
“Someone killed Cassidy. And… I know it was a man. A living, breathing man. But I can’t deny that who I saw upstairs might as well have been Smith’s twin. And the phone calls—Don’t go back inside, and saying he was Smith.”
“Someone is trying to intimidate you, that’s all.”
“So is that a no?”
Jun sighed. “In Japan there is an event calledObon. For many in this day and age, it’s seen more as the time of year to have a family gathering, but it stems from the belief that in summer, the spirits of loved ones return to visit the homes of their relatives. Families travel to clean the graves of their ancestors, and shrines are given candles and fruit.”
“What’s your point?”
“My point is, these beliefs are hundreds of years old, and all around the world, you hear stories of ghosts. Perhaps this worldwide phenomenon originated for good reason.” Jun smiled.
“Nice and cryptic, thanks.”
“Do I believe Smith is haunting the home? No. But I do believe someone wants you to think that.”
THE RADIOdidn’t really play Jun’s preferred music—considering most of it was pretty explicit or indie, likewhoa, but all the back-and-forth driving we’d done that day proved that occasionally something would come on that he liked. I just found it a little amusing that my straightlaced G-man knew all the lyrics to songs like Styx’s “Renegade.” He murmured the words under his breath, his deep baritone adding that little extra oomph a song about running from the law probably should have had to begin with.
“Did you know this song was released on their album,Pieces of Eight?” Jun asked.
“So?”
“Isn’t that the type of Spanish coin that sank on the supposedTeresa?”
“Yeah, but—oh. That’s freaky.”
He chuckled.
“It’s like a sign.”
