Damn, she was good.
“Let me go get the ledgers.”
“Do you need help?” I asked.
Louise slowly rose from her chair, her back hunched from age, but she was still pretty spry on her feet. “Your Mr. Jun can help,” she said, waving a hand for him to follow.
I waited until Jun had gone inside the climate-controlled room with Louise before grabbing scrap paper and a pen from her desk. I needed a timeline to work with, so I wrote down the gist of everything I knew.
1850—1871 Smith was a wrecking captain. Worked with Rogers three times during his career.
1853 Smith built his house in town.
1861—1865 Civil War.
1861 Smith has accident at sea and loses his eye. Same year One-Eyed Jack is mentioned in records.
1867 Captain Rogers claims to have been attacked by theRed Ladyand then recants. His diary claims to have seen Jack enter a sea shanty and come out as Smith.
1871 Jack supposedly finds the long-lost Spanish treasure of theSanta Teresabefore mysteriously vanishing from all records. Smith’s death is reported in the same year.
I sat on my knees, rested an elbow on the desk, and ran a hand through my hair as I stared at the dates and events. Rogers popped up in Smith and Jack’s life more than I realized. Had it surpassed what could be considered coincidental? If Jack had really attacked Rogers’s ship, why would a pirate basically saylol jk, and vamoose?
Unless… after the many times Smith had come to Rogers’s aid, they were friends? And when Smith/Jack realized who he was attempting to pilfer, he decided against it?
I hit my forehead against the desk. I was basing this on zero historical evidence. However, it did raise an interesting thought: Did Rogers have anything to say on Smith/Jack’s mysterious death? Would he have made a notation in his 1871 diary? St. Augustine was over a seven-hour drive, so no way I could go see for myself—but the staff was only a phone call away….
“Oh look, he’s gone and fallen asleep on my desk,” Louise chastised from nearby.
I raised my head. “I’m awake.” I stood, folded my note, and tucked it into my back pocket. “Any luck?”
As she seated herself, Louise motioned to Jun, who was carrying an old ledger. He’d been given special gloves to wear while handling the book. “Set it down right here,” she told Jun as she made space on her desk. Jun did as requested before handing Louise the cotton gloves, which she in turn put on.
I moved around the desk to lean over the book. “Was there ever anything odd about the court records between Rogers and Smith?”
“What do you mean, odd?” Louise asked as she carefully turned each page one at a time.
“I don’t know. Did Smith ever charge Rogers less than his other wrecks?”
Louise stopped on one page and pointed at the tight, cursive script of the time. “The first court date between the two was in 1855. Smith was awarded 30 percent value of the ship and cargo.”
“Quite lucrative,” I murmured. “Was there any dispute?”
“No. Rogers went with it. But he was new to being a captain,” Louise said before turning the pages. “The next date wasn’t until 1857. It looks like Smith was awarded….” She paused and leaned closer to read. “Only 9 percent.”
“That’s odd,” I said.
“Why?” Jun finally piped up.
I glanced at him, and he appeared extremely interested. “The average reward for saving wrecked vessels and cargo was 25 percent. It could dip as low as 3 or as high as 50, but Smith was pretty consistent with a good payout. Judge Marvin had a great deal of respect for Smith, and he was the one who ultimately decided the percentage, based on several factors, of course. I find it strange that Smith received so little.”
“Was there ever an incentive for judges to award higher payouts?” Jun questioned.
“Everyone had incentive back then,” Louise muttered.
I made a face and motioned Jun to stay quiet. There were judges not on the straight and narrow, just like wreckers, but Marvin and Smith were not to be spoken of that way, lest Louise take away my archive privileges.
“No dispute from either party on the percentage,” Louise stated.
