The Atlantis Keystone (24 page)

“I’m not sure. We don’t want to disturb evidence or incriminate ourselves but I suppose a little peek can’t hurt.” They exchanged a long look once again.

“Let’s do it. Let’s open it.” Erik carefully tried to lift the lid. “It’s locked.” The front of the chest displayed a key hole which made sure it was not possible to open the lid.

They looked at it carefully for a few moments until Emma said: “Erik, you know what. Do you know what I think?” She looked at him with something resembling relief. Her cheeks were red from excitement and the cold wind. “This chest hasn’t been opened! Look at the lock. Look at the lid. There’s no sign of anyone opening this recently! The lock has not been touched for a very long time. You can see that the space between the lid and the rest of the chest is full of dust and stuff which could only have got there over a period of many years – at least, not a few months.” She touched it gently with the back of her index finger. Erik inspected it closely.

“I can’t believe it; I actually think you’re right! But why? Why would someone go through all the trouble of stealing the chest and then not even bother opening it? It doesn’t make any sense. Paul would have wanted to see the tablet. He would have hired the burglar to take careful pictures of the tablet which was supposed to be hidden in the chest. If the burglar didn’t even open it he would have been well and truly ripped off.”

“Or maybe Paul wasn’t the perpetrator.”

Emma’s suggestion was left lingering in the air. Erik looked again at the lock close up and then felt a rush of excitement.

“Actually, we may not need to open the chest by force. I think I might know what key would fit!”

“How can you possibly know that?” Emma’s voice was full of doubt.

“After all I’ve spent my whole life in the vicinity of the old stone house and I know it very well. You know the key that was mentioned in the Torpa journals; it’s still in the house. I’ve always wondered about it but now, looking at this lock, I wouldn’t be surprised if we’ve found where the mysterious key belongs!”

Despite this realisation about the key, they decided to put the chest back in the plastic bags and into the hole for protection. They needed to call the police. Realistically, opening the chest was out of the question. The last thing they wanted to do was to destroy any evidence which had the potential of clearing Paul’s name. The fact that the chest was unopened was helpful for him. They re-covered the hole with earth and flattened it so that it would look as if they had not been there. Although it was fairly obvious that the earth in the spot had been disturbed, they hoped that not many people ventured out there.

“Are you sure it will be safe to leave it here? Would it not be better to stay here and wait for the police to arrive?” Emma asked as they had finished and stood and admired their work.

“It will take a long time before they get here. We had better get home. Besides, I didn’t bring my phone. Did you?” Erik felt his pockets as he spoke. Emma did the same.

“No. I’m afraid not. I suppose we don’t have a choice then, unless I stay here and you go back to the house.”

“That’s out of the question. I’m not leaving you alone here. Come on, let’s go.” He took Emma’s hand for a moment to pull her away from there.

They ventured off in the direction of the house, reluctantly leaving the chest in the hole by the rune stone. They were half running down the familiar path, which by now, Emma pointed out, seemed much shorter than it had done all those months ago. They both felt some sort of urgency, not wanting to risk the chest being stolen once again. As they reached the house Erik immediately called the police. They promised to come straight away. As soon as he had hung up Erik suggested that he venture out to the stone house to fetch the key. Emma insisted on joining him.

▪ ▪ ▪

The old abandoned house was cold and Emma was glad she had kept her winter jacket on. She had not been in there since the summer’s day when the camera hole had been drilled. Being there brought back memories of the Torpa ghost who she was sure she had seen but who may actually have been Erik’s eccentric grandmother on a nocturnal excursion before she died. The space in the wall looked different. The wall had been carelessly opened and the space between the outer and inner wall was plain to see. The space had no windows and no furniture; only thick white and grey walls. The only thing found had been the chest and after its sudden removal the space had been left empty. Somehow the sight of the space scared her even more than when it had been bricked up. Her imagination started to run riot and she imagined that any ghost trapped in the space would now run wild in the house, leaving them exposed and vulnerable. She kept these deluded thoughts to herself though but was hoping that Erik would find the key quickly so that they could leave. He led them to the room where she thought she had seen the white haired person, possibly Erik’s grandmother, that night in August. As they entered, chills were running down her spine. An old solid oak chair had been placed in a lonely corner next to the window. She imagined how the old woman had sat there when the burglar had entered the house. A kerosene lamp was on the floor next to it. The room was sparingly furnished with a grand fireplace at one end and an old wooden dining table in the middle but there were no dining chairs. The red thick curtains had been infested by moths and showed clear signs of age. That this house had once been inhabited was plain to see but it was equally obvious why ghost stories had emerged out of its cold, dark and dingy rooms. She could feel her teeth chattering as they crossed the room. Almost laughing at her own stupidity, Emma suddenly thought she had seen Erik’s dead grandmother in the corner of her eye by the chair. She spun around so hastily that Erik turned to see what she was doing. He immediately spotted her discomfort and could not disguise an irritating smile. She didn’t like him noticing her weaknesses. Torpa had clearly proved to be one of them. However, when they both heard a loud unmistakable noise from somewhere in the building Erik stopped smiling and got hold of Emma in one swift movement. She let out a little scream at his hasty action and felt herself, and possibly Erik, shaking from fear. There was definitely something there. Something appeared to be nearing the door to the room they were in. Erik was hugging her as if he wanted to protect her from all evil. When the door slowly started to open Emma let out a loud scream and Erik let her go to grab hold of an old fork-like object in the corner next to the fire place. The sight greeting the intruder was almost comical, with Emma at that stage sitting on the floor and Erik, like a knight ready for a duel, directing the fork in the direction of the door. When they saw the surprised face of Erik’s father, they both felt ridiculous.

“What are you two doing in here?” he asked, walking over to give them a welcoming embrace. Erik’s parents had only just come back from Stockholm to spend the weekend at Torpa.

“That’s a long story,” Erik responded elusively whilst lowering the fork. “Let’s go back to the house and we’ll explain.” Before leaving the room Erik found the rusty old key on the shelf where he had last seen it and put it in his pocket.

Less than forty minutes had passed but it felt like an eternal wait before two police officers finally arrived in one police car. Erik had warned them about the size of the chest and the weight of it but they didn’t seem to have brought any special equipment. Erik and Emma came out to greet them. Erik’s parents had already gone again, this time to go shopping in a nearby town.

The lack of resource on the part of the officers was immediately explained by one of them: “We had to call head office before heading off and I understand that your find is connected to a police investigation. We really can’t do anything until the detective in charge arrives.”

It was agreed that Erik would show them how to get there by car via their neighbours, to avoid a long walk. Emma was instructed to stay in the house and wait for the police to turn up. She felt generally jumpy after the nerve racking episode in the old house and didn’t enjoy being alone. To keep herself occupied, she spent this time nervously browsing random books in the Torpa library, keeping an eye on the window with a view over the drive way. After an absent minded glance through, she noted that they certainly had an impressive Egyptian collection. Clearly someone in the Torpa family had at some point had a keen interest in ancient Egypt. But there were also books on other civilisations. The Olmec civilisation in Mexico seemed to have been a favourite as well as the pre-Inca civilisations in Peru and Chile. To her fascination Emma also found a book on Ankhor Wat in Cambodia. Most of these books seemed to be early 20th century. When Erik appeared after over an hour and a half, having walked back, Emma was taken by surprise and much to her annoyance she let out another girly scream. She was relieved to see that it was him and to hear that the chest was still there and guarded by the two local police officers.

An hour later the other police team arrived; and in style. They had certainly taken the report of the find of the chest seriously and had brought a police van as well as a car, one senior officer and, as far as Emma could tell, six constables or detectives. She hoped that among them was someone specialising in ancient finds. She could not wait to find out what was hidden in the chest. What if the tablet was still in there? What if it contained other prehistoric discoveries brought back by the Vikings? What on earth could be hidden in there? Hopefully they would know very soon. Emma was suddenly excited. One question that kept troubling her was why the burglar had not bothered to open the chest. She mentioned this to the senior officer and added that in her opinion this provided support to Paul’s innocence. He made a note of her submission but remarked that this could simply have been a breach of contract by the hired burglar; that he had failed to open the chest, contrary to his instructions. Clearly he was not one to jump to conclusions.

Following a few discussions in Swedish, which Emma didn’t understand much of, it was decided that the chest should be opened in situ before being taken away for analysis. This would prevent any unnecessary damage to the contents as a result of inappropriate packaging. The team had brought an array of equipment and tools which were all stored in the van. Emma and Erik got a lift in the police car leading the way to the neighbour’s house near the rune stone. The neighbour in question didn’t seem to be at home and Emma doubted that any permission had been sought to trespass on their property. This didn’t seem to bother Swedes too much. The team very efficiently unpacked and soon they were all walking in the woods on their way to the chest, only five minutes away. Emma laughed to herself as the procession reminded her of Snow White’s seven dwarfs on their way to the mine looking for rubies and diamonds. She started to hum the little jig…Heigh-ho, heigh ho… but somehow she didn’t feel much like Snow White.

She wondered what occupied Erik’s mind at that moment. He was looking his normal handsome self, talking politely to one of the detectives in front of her. But she knew that inside he must be upset and concerned about what they might find in there. He had coped remarkably well with the find of Anna’s body but Emma was worried that he had not allowed himself to think about it or to prepare himself psychologically for the funeral. She hoped that the opening of the chest would not cause him further distress…

When they reached the spot she was amused to see the two local police officers quickly pretending to be busy on the crime scene. One of them appeared to have burnt his hand in an attempt to conceal his cigarette. The police team quickly sprung into action. It didn’t take them long to dig up the chest, remove the plastic bags, lay plastic sheeting on the ground, apply protective covering and prepare to open the chest. With a serious grin, Erik handed over the old key to the man in charge.

“This is what I believe might open the chest,” he said unnecessarily.

It was time. Finally. It had been a long wait following the glance at the chest back in August and then the disappointing break-in. Now, at last, they would find out what had been hidden in that space in the wall for so long. If anyone had any suspicions of what they would find, they certainly didn’t voice it. No one said anything, except for some technical comments in Swedish. Erik seemed to have stopped breathing in anticipation. Emma walked over to him and took his hand. It was warm and felt comforting. She had intended to lend support to him but she now found that he was giving her strength to keep looking. The image of the tablet was etched on her inner eye. This is what she was hoping to see but never had she been more unsure about their theory than at that moment.

The lid slowly went up and they all gasped, a couple of the officers stepping back in disgust.

“Helvete!” swore one of the officers

“Now this is clearly not what we were expecting!” Another one said.

“I now declare this a murder investigation,” the Officer in charge concluded.

E
mma could not look at it. It was too sickening. From what she had seen in the split second, before her eyes shut in a reflex movement, there was a dead woman in there. She must have been dead for some time. Her body was fully decomposed but the face of the skeleton displayed a strange expression of fear and pain. She looked over at Erik. He was looking at it with intensity and so were all the police officers surrounding the chest. Emma seemed to be the only one who had decided that the scene was too upsetting. She resolved to have another glance. The woman had long blond hair. It was difficult to tell how old she was but Emma guessed she was young. From what she had been able to guess, it was certainly not a burial from the middle ages, rather the woman must have been around in modern times, although she wasn’t sure when. The body was heavily crumpled up in the chest, as if it had been forced in there. From what Emma could see, the woman’s look was one of horror, mouth and eyes open at the time of death. She was suddenly wondering whether she had been buried alive. The facial expression seemed to suggest that but she could not be sure.