In the Shadow of the Cypress (25 page)

The elder Wu and his son suddenly appeared almost dumbstruck. They looked at each other with raised brows, and then looked back to Luke.

Mr. Wu forced a smile. “Please continue, Mr. Lucas, you seem to be doing quite well for the present.”

Luke nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Wu, I will. Your corporation owns a controlling interest in six overseas banks, as well as extensive holdings in commercial real estate, both domestically
and in Asia. It is also reported that you sit on the board of two of the largest West Coast shipping companies, and you control a cargo airline that operates twenty-six heavy-lifting 747 aircraft. I could have found more information, but this was all I needed to fit the parts of the puzzle together.”

Robert’s father leaned forward. “And what puzzle would that be, Mr. Lucas?”

Luke smiled with an air of self-satisfaction. “Well, sir, first I asked myself why you would go to such expense to have us here, and just why you would be so intensely interested in what we’ve discovered. But I think I know the answer to that question. In fact, I’m certain of it.”

Now both father and son looked at each other with expressions of concern. The elder Wu nodded again without the polite smile. “Please go on, Mr. Lucas.”

Luke obliged. “Well, from my research I’ve deduced that the Three Corporations at the time of the discovery of Zhou Man’s artifacts were more powerful than any of the California tongs, and I’m quite sure they have always kept far better records. When we said at our last meeting that we needed access to better information, you knew exactly where to look for it: in your own files. In fact, I’m fairly persuaded you already knew all about Zhou Man’s testament. It’s also my belief that the Three Corporations have known about this matter since 1906. But then something unforeseen happened, and all trace of the artifacts was lost.” Luke nodded toward the table with the wrapped package. “It’s also my belief that tonight you have brought records that indicate your proprietary interest in those artifacts.”

Mr. Wu nodded. “It seems I’ve underestimated you, Mr. Lucas. But do you mind telling me where you came by all your information?”

Luke clasped his hands together, looked down, and chuckled with slight embarrassment. “Please forgive me, but in truth, my last two roommates in college were the most outrageous computer geeks you’d ever want to meet. They’re first-class, full-blown savants, if such a thing exists.” Luke smiled and blushed slightly. “Well, to make a long story short, they owed me big-time for getting them through their humanities courses, so I called in a few chits. Frankly, Mr. Wu, if I’d been so inclined, I could have had your social security number, your FICO score, your passport records, and any driving violations you might have collected over the years. But those particulars were none of my business . . . How am I doing so far?”

The look of surprise on the faces of both son and father was palpable. After a moment Wu senior spoke again. “So far, Mr. Lucas, you have exceeded all expectations, and you are correct in almost every particular. And the fact is that we do have a proprietary interest in Zhou Man’s artifacts. Indeed, though we’re somewhat embarrassed to admit it, you might say that the artifacts were technically in our possession when they were lost. You will need my son to do the translations, of course, but in that package on the table you will find all the original records of a transaction my company initiated with the Bao tong in Monterey. They concern two treasures discovered near the shores of Monterey Bay. They are referred to in those documents as Zheng He’s Warrants. But that’s a polite way of saying that Admiral Zhou Man, who left the artifacts in Monterey, was sailing under the orders and authority of Admiral Zheng He, who in turn received his warrants from the Ming emperor Zhu Di.”

Mr. Wu paused, looked at his son, nodded, and then continued to address Luke. “But I think, Mr. Lucas, that in the end you must be the judge of what I say, as I must be the judge in
light of other interests.” Mr. Wu’s expression brightened. “So now, to leach a punch line from an old joke, I’ll show you mine if you’ll show me yours.”

Luke was amused that this austere Chinese gentleman would even know the joke, but he nodded, arose from his seat, and invited father and son to join him at the table. Luke pulled out a penknife and carefully opened his package. He laid out the original rubbings, the photographs, and Dr. Gilbert’s hand-penned journal. Then Mr. Wu raised a finger, and Mr. RI appeared from out of the shadows and opened the other parcel. He laid out a series of Chinese documents as well as ink-and-brush illustrations that appeared similar to the artifacts described.

Luke called upon Robert to look at his father’s papers, while he sorted out material for his father’s examination.

After a couple of minutes Robert stood up. “These look like the real thing to me, Luke. They even contain some rather arcane characters that haven’t been used since the turn of the century, and the paper looks about right for the period, but I’d have to check the watermarks to be sure.”

Robert’s father pondered his son’s remark and grinned to himself. “I can assure you those records are the originals.” Then he nodded and bent over the table to examine Luke’s photographs and rubbings. Without looking up, he motioned to Mr. RI, and almost telepathically, Mr. RI handed his master a folding magnifying lens. Noting every minute detail, he continued to examine the photographs.

A bizarre but interesting possibility slowly breached the surface like a whale, and Luke instantly felt stupid for not recognizing the prospect before. He addressed his host in a serious tone. “I respectfully suggest that I feel we’re going through some
kind of charade, Mr. Wu. In fact, I believe you may already know where Zhou Man’s artifacts are. That is to say, even if you can’t lay your hands on them at the moment, you know approximately where to look. You profess to have paperwork indicating a legal and proprietary interest in the artifacts, so why don’t you just go get them? One way or the other, you don’t need us. You already know more than we do. So why all the window dressing and mystery?”

Mr. Wu straightened up and riveted Luke with a stern expression punctuated with a sardonic grin of logical superiority. “You seem to have a very good mind, Mr. Lucas, and it appears you know how to use it with some dexterity. Yes, in fact, we do know what happened to the artifacts, but we don’t know how, or where, to find them after all these years. You’ll obtain this information in those ledgers, but I’ll give you a shorthand picture. The Three Corporations paid out a great deal of money in gold to take protective possession of the artifacts. The Monterey tong, being small and poor, could not secure the treasures properly, so we made them a generous proposition, which they eventually agreed to. My grandfather Dr. Lao-Hong was a young man at the time. His uncles sent him on behalf of the Three Corporations to Monterey to negotiate the exchange, which he did successfully. When the time came to bring the treasure north, a small steamer was chartered, and one of our most trusted secretaries was sent south to escort the artifacts via the chartered steamer to Santa Cruz, and from there by mail packet to San Francisco.”

Luke interrupted. “I don’t understand. Why would you transport such valuable material by water, and in a small steamer at that? Why didn’t you take it north by railroad?”

Mr. Wu smiled. “The San Francisco earthquake of April
1906 did more than just destroy one city, it shattered numerous outlying communities, and with that, many railroad lines were made unserviceable. It took many weeks for some lines to restore a regular, albeit limited, schedule. At the time, ships were filling in for the railroads in every capacity. Aside from putting the artifacts in a cart and walking them north, ocean transport was deemed the safest way to go.”

Luke suddenly caught the drift. “And your ship sank on the way to San Francisco.”

“Not the ship, Mr. Lucas, the chartered excursion steamer taking the artifacts to Santa Cruz to meet the ship. According to the survivors, deep swells and whitecaps made for a rough passage. Suddenly there was a boiler explosion and fire. The people escaped to a small boat relatively unscathed, and were ultimately rescued by a passing fishing boat, but the steamer drifted away from land engulfed in flames; it then presumably sank. There was no one around to witness her last moments, but she took Zhou Man’s treasure down with her.”

An incredulous expression crossed Luke’s face like a blush. He felt as though he’d lost the thread. “I hope you’ll forgive me for asking, but what’s the problem? Your company has more than enough money to mount a search of its own. All you need is a dependable research vessel and crew, a couple of side-scan radars—computer-linked to a broadband sonar, of course—throw in a couple of RUV units and a half dozen deep-water divers, and off you go. It shouldn’t take you more than eight months to plot every piece of debris off the coast of Santa Cruz for a hundred-mile radius. If you run a thorough plot with the best equipment and the best people, the search shouldn’t cost much over three hundred thousand a week. But of course, that’s not counting little things like food, a qualified medical officer
and supplies, diesel fuel, maritime insurance, and a bunch of stuff like that.”

Luke carefully watched Mr. Wu’s expression for a hint of what was on his mind, but drew a blank and continued. “Assuming that the steam launch was made of wood, which is par for the course in that era, and that she did in fact burn to the waterline, the chances of finding any trace of the hull itself are negligible at best. Being a screw-driven, steam-powered vessel means the only metal you’re likely to find would be a simple two-or three-cylinder engine and a boiler and firebox. But if there was an explosion as reported, you may not find the boiler or firebox in the same location. Then there’s the matter of a hundred years of silting. If the artifacts weren’t already effectively shattered by cold seawater coming into contact with red-hot stones, they’d probably now be buried under several meters of silt, depending on where the burning hulk ultimately went down, of course.”

Luke could see that Mr. Wu was getting the point, but the man was still curious. “Tell me, Mr. Lucas, why do you presume the stone objects were destroyed by the fire?”

“I didn’t say they were destroyed by the fire itself. The stone artifacts were most likely wrapped and sealed in some kind of waxed cloth, linen most likely, and packed tightly around with straw inside an appropriately sized wooden shipping crate, because that’s what people did in those days. Agreed?”

Mr. Wu nodded. “I will take your word for such details, but finish the equation if you please.”

“Of course, sir. So now we have a stout wooden crate packed tightly with flammables like dry straw and waxed cloth, and a fire breaks out all around. The box then becomes a self-consuming furnace; the waxed cloth and tightly packed straw
make stupendous fuel. One must assume, therefore, that the temperature of those stones during the fire must have been very considerable. And if they didn’t shatter to pieces from the heat, then certainly immersion into cold seawater from that state would have done the job quite nicely. So it’s very possible that what you’d be looking for now might be little more than unrecognizable chips and chunks of stone.”

Mr. Wu was silent for a moment. “So you don’t hold out much hope of finding either the wreck or the cargo intact?”

“I didn’t say that. Anything is possible. Perhaps the boat sank before the fire reached her cargo. There were no witnesses to the final moments, so no one knows. But these days they seem to be finding every important ship that ever went to the bottom. I just don’t believe that in this particular case a full-blown research expedition is appropriate, at least not right now. For one thing, it’s far too expensive, and second, if you don’t know what you’re looking for or where to begin looking for it, you’re just wasting money. It’s far better to spend that money on preliminary research first. There is a mountain of information out there to be gleaned and cross-referenced. Things like old tidal charts, known wrecks and obstructions, historical data, even local newspapers of the period can prove helpful. Perhaps some passerby onshore saw the smoke from a fire at sea and pointed out some landmark to draw a heading upon. Who knows? But you won’t find anything without looking.”

The elder Wu nodded. “I understand. So you’re not altogether discounting the possibility that the stones could still be found intact.”

Luke chuckled. “I’m not in a position to doubt anything at all, Mr. Wu. It’s all up for grabs to my way of thinking. Perhaps the explosion blew the cargo overboard, I don’t know. But I am
saying that it really doesn’t matter to me one way or the other.”

Mr. Wu looked surprised. “What do you mean, Mr. Lucas?”

“Well, I can’t speak for my colleague, of course, for I’m sure he has his own ideas on the subject, but personally I have enough evidence here to publish one whopping great paper without finding the stones at all. Your son and I have even discussed coauthoring a paper together. Our combined fields of study draw on some very powerful arguments for credibility. And now that we know the other half of the story, I really don’t believe we would be faulted for not finding the solid evidence. But perhaps someone else might, and then you can show them your ledgers. That’s going to make for a very interesting court case.”

The elder Wu appeared to be seriously digesting everything Luke had to say. After a few seconds he motioned Luke back to the dinner tables, where, magically, three snifters of fine brandy and small pots of coffee had been deposited by unseen hands. Robert stayed bent over the ledgers, making notes.

Luke resumed his seat, tasted his brandy, and smiled. “If you’re at liberty, might I ask you a question, Mr. Wu?”

“By all means, Mr. Lucas. I’ll answer if I can.”

“Since your company has known about the loss of the steam launch since 1906, how many attempts have been made to find and salvage the contents before now?”

“It’s odd that you should ask, because I only recently discovered that two attempts had been made. In 1921 a group of Japanese abalone divers were employed to make a search in a promising location. Unfortunately, the information used was erroneous and after one man died, and nothing of interest was located, the project was abandoned with bad feelings on both sides. The second attempt took place in 1938 using salvage
divers from San Francisco. Both attempts proved fruitless, deadly, and rather expensive.”