William continued, "Your Gates family has been infamous for centuries for a reason, Mr. Gates."
William's words left Ben Gates speechless. Everyone looked at Ben, hoping he would rebut, but Ben just lowered his head in silence. Ian, the leader, had to ask William, "Mr. Devonshire, can you tell us the reason? It might help in finding the treasure."
William shook his head dejectedly and said, "Because of Thomas Gates' selfishness. During the twenty years he secretly searched, some of the initial participants who knew the secret passed away. When Thomas Gates realized that the clues he had were incomplete and went looking for the remaining keepers, the Sherlock clue had already become useless, causing the treasure to be lost for centuries."
"Ben Gates, you truly live up to the Gates name, finding this place. But I'm curious, how did you know Sherlock was a ship?"
Seeing everyone looking at him, Ben Gates sighed, acknowledging his ancestors' faults. He explained, "I found a clue in the correspondence between Benjamin Franklin and some others. During the Revolutionary War, a ship named Sherlock, on Franklin's orders, inexplicably left the fleet and sailed north. The last recorded sighting was at Dutch Harbor in northern America, where they resupplied before vanishing. I suspect they encountered an accident while executing a secret mission. By understanding ocean currents, you can deduce that the ship would drift to this location."
"For the past two years, I've been flying between Point Barrow and various archives and libraries in American countries. Eventually, I found a diary in a library at Point Barrow. Forty years ago, there was a year with unusually warm weather, causing the snow on this island to melt, revealing the ship. However, the diarist, adhering to tradition, didn't disturb the dead, noting the coordinates and leaving the ship alone."
After finishing his explanation, Ben Gates asked William, "So, Devonshire, how did you find this place?"
'Yeah, how did William find this place? Was he following us all along?' the group wondered.
William, of course, wouldn't reveal that his grandfather found the clue. He made up a story instead. "In fact, not all the people on the ship died. After the captain died, some crew members who didn't know the exact mission rowed a small boat back to Point Barrow, leaving behind some documents that I found."
Ian immediately asked, "What did the documents say? Treasure?"
'Damn, what a waste of time,' William cursed inwardly.
He shook his head and said, "I don't know. If I did, I would've come here earlier. You should know what I've been doing these past six months. I would've rather spent time in the stock market, earning more than whatever's on this ship. Besides, the Sherlock's load capacity was only three tons. After accounting for the crew, food, and water, there wouldn't be much room for treasure, definitely not even a ton."
Everyone realized that the ship couldn't have been used to transport a significant amount of treasure, leading to a sense of disappointment. Ian, feeling dejected, cursed, "Damn it, two years and millions of pounds, just for a useless ship. If there's no treasure or clue on board, we've wasted our efforts."
Ben Gates, also understanding the implications, didn't want his family to continue under scrutiny if it turned out like Ian said. Shaking off his worries, he said, "There's no point in speculating. Let's dig out the ship first. Maybe there is some treasure."
Ian nodded, instructing his men to start digging, although he looked at William with his shovel, clearly wanting William to join in the effort. William, reading his intent, replied, "Forget it, Ian. I can tell from your accent that you're English. Do you think I'd dig with you?" He then turned to the others, "Anyone want to earn some extra money? Help me dig and I'll pay £2000 an hour, or £10,000 for the whole task." He pulled out £10,000 in cash from his pocket.
Seeing his men eagerly eyeing the money, Ian cursed inwardly, 'I hate rich people.' Although £10,000 wasn't much to him, it was significant for his men. He had no choice but to nod, allowing his men to earn some extra money.
William happily tossed the £10,000 to the four men. Initially, he planned to leave, knowing what the clue in the ship was—an aquamarine snuff bottle, both a clue and a key, but useless to him. However, he decided to stay and see if reality matched his hazy memories and whether he could pin the blame on these people if things went wrong.
The treasure's value was immense, and William needed a solid plan to take it without repercussions. Smiling at the bald man who took the money, William said, "I'll go take a nap. Call me when you're done digging. By the way, what's your name?"
The bald man grinned and replied, "Mr. Devonshire, my name is Sean Fisher, from Devonshire, England."
"That's unexpected," William thought, slightly bewildered by Sean's mention of being from Devonshire. "Alright, call me when you're done," William nodded and walked back to his snowmobile.
Sean, understanding the unspoken agreement, didn't say much and simply waved the money to his three companions, "Guys, let's split the money."
The trio, delighted by the unexpected windfall of £2500 each, laughed and joined Sean. After sharing the money, they divided into two groups. Two drove the snowmobiles, using the front shovel to push the snow around the Sherlock, while the others, along with Ian, Ben, and Riley, used shovels to clear the snow from the ship.
After more than two hours of digging, the Sherlock was finally revealed.
___________________
Read Ahead
P@treon.com/Mutter