The Secrets of El Dorado, uncovering a legacy
of greed and deception. A story by Jason Moimer,
narrated by the International Community Schools
High School Marketing Class of 2024. About the
story. In The Secrets of El Dorado, a gripping
tale of adventure, mystery, and historical intrigue,
Professor James Hawthorne and a group of unlikely
allies uncover one of the greatest secrets buried
in the annals of American history. The Setting
In the heart of California, nestled within the
Sierra Nevada foothills, lies the quaint town
of Coloma. This small town, just a 40 -minute
drive from Sacramento, holds a significant place
in history. It was here at Sutter's Mill in January
of 1848 that James W. Marshall stumbled upon
gold, igniting the famous California Gold Rush.
This event marked the beginning of a transformative
era, drawing thousands of fortune seekers to
California in hopes of striking it rich. The
entire area surrounding Coloma became the epicenter
of this historical event, forever etching its
place into the annals of American history. Today,
Coloma is part of El Dorado County. It's a classic
American town that thrives on a blend of agriculture,
tourism, and education. El Dorado College, which
opened in 1948, exactly 100 years after the beginning
of the gold rush, helps contribute to Coloma's
vibrant, young, and energetic community. El Dorado
County and college were named after the legendary
treasure city of South America, sought by the
early Spanish explorers in the 16th century.
Gold, wealth, and riches are etched into the
heritage of this place. The county is full of
natural beauty and is a haven for adventure enthusiasts
and nature lovers alike. Whether it's whitewater
rafting on the rivers, downhill skiing in the
winter, boating on nearby Lake Tahoe, hiking,
camping, or simply enjoying the breathtaking
scenery, El Dorado County has a lot to offer.
The Characters This is Ava Turner and let me
tell you a little bit about myself. I'm 24 years
old and I've been out of school for about a year
now. I actually grew up in Coloma and I've always
enjoyed the history and mystery of the town and
its past. I enjoy coming back to visit whenever
I can and one of my best friends, Sierra, still
lives and works here. My parents moved away a
year ago, but that doesn't keep me away from
there. There's so many places that I still call
home. And growing up, I always wanted to be a
reporter. Maybe it's because I watched one too
many of those crime and mystery shows. Either
way, I was thrilled when the Sacramento Bee,
a well -known and famous newspaper, hired me
right after I finished my undergrad degree in
journalism at Cal State. The Bee has been around
for over 165 years and it's a well -respected
news source for the area. I'm currently working
as one of their junior investigative journalists.
I love finding the story behind the story and
then piecing all the elements together like a
puzzle. I'm not sure what I like better, the
investigation part or the writing part. I'm curious,
tenacious, and maybe even a little bit reckless.
I'm also really passionate about the inequalities
and injustices I see in the world. I hope to
make a difference by raising awareness through
journalism and telling stories. Above all, I
seek truth and I want to report and write my
stories with this principle. Hi, I'm Sierra Reese.
Like Ava said, we are best friends and have known
each other since elementary school, even though
she's a year older than me. I'm 23 years old,
and I just graduated from El Dorado College with
a degree in art education. I not only love to
make art, but I love to teach it as well. In
fact, if you notice some of the murals around
town, you'll probably see my signature at the
bottom, along with others who collaborated with
me. always been amazed at the natural beauty
of this place which inspired me to do the murals
that you see in town along main street these
are done pro bono of course i'm currently working
as a barista at ethan's cafe well what's now
known as Ethan's Cafe. This job has helped me
pay for college. I'm super thankful for this
job and it will be such a sad day when I have
to move on as I'm looking for a new job in the
field of education where I'd like to teach art
full -time. I've got to put that expensive degree
to good use now. I'm creative, empathetic, and
I have a good intuition when it comes to situations.
My job at the cafe also helps keep me connected
to the town gossip, for good or bad. I'm Ethan
Brooks, the cafe owner. I bought and took over
the cafe a little over a year ago from the previous
owners who were retiring at that time. I sunk
a lot of money into the place to revamp the menu,
replace old equipment, and fix it up. It's in
a good location in Coloma. My investment has
paid off as the place is pretty much always full.
My life took a significant turn over a year ago
when I left a tech company to help start in San
Jose. I still own shares in the company, and
it continues to do good, but I just got completely
burnt out working 80 hour weeks for 5 straight
years in Silicon Valley. Man, it was fun while
it lasted, but it essentially felt like I was
just a tool. I'd say I'm pretty good at tech.
I graduated from the University of San Francisco,
one of the Bay Area's top tech universities,
when I was just 21 years old. I completed both
my undergraduate and graduate degree in just
under three years. To be honest, I don't know
what will happen in the future, but I'm content
with my quiet, peaceful life running a cafe here
for now. I'm quiet, measured, and concise, and
I feel like I have a good intuition when it comes
to the uncertainty of some situations. Being
known as a cafe owner instead of a techie is
fine with me. Hello, I'm Lily Han. I'm from Beijing,
China, and I'm in the U .S. studying forensic
science at El Dorado College. This college, although
it is small in comparison to Cal State or UCLA,
has a great science department with a lot of
different specialties. Many of the U .S. best
forensic scientists from the last 20 years have
either studied here or have been guest speakers
or lecturers. We even know about this program
back in China. I applied for a general science
scholarship during my last year of high school
in China, and I was one of the three people who
won. The only two other people are at different
universities. I just finished my third year with
one more to go before I'm done with my undergrad
degree. I'm not exactly sure what I will do when
I graduate. I'd really like to stay in the U
.S. and keep studying or find a job. I do miss
my family though. My study group this year spent
a lot of time at Ethan's Cafe. We feel like it's
our home away from home. We love that place,
especially since the new owner took it over.
The staff are friendly and helpful. They even
let us stay late sometimes to finish our studies.
I'm analytically friendly and consistent. I like
to think of myself as having the voice of reason
when it comes to working with other people. I
secretly love adventure but still just did not
have much opportunity for that until I came to
the U .S. for college. I love to help others
and I tend to see the good in everyone. Professor
James Hawthorne here. My life is quite stable
and pleasant at the moment. Well, I guess you
could say it's been that way for a long time
now. I'm sure my wife would agree with me on
that. I'm 55 years old and I'm a professor of
history and archaeology at El Dorado College.
I've been on staff at the school for close to
25 years now. Before that, I worked in Mexico
and parts of South America on several archaeological
digs as an independent contractor. That's where
I met my wife as she worked on several of my
dig teams. After having kids, we needed to settle
down, so we moved back to California, where we're
both from. We settled in Coloma because of the
job at the college. This community, the town,
and the area is just a great place to live and
raise a family, and it's full of a rich history
which has always fascinated me. Our two kids
are now grown and moved away, but often come
back and visit when their work schedule allow.
My wife is well connected in the local co -op
and farmer's market, which have basically become
a full -time job for her now. I've done a lot
of study on the history of this area. I've written
several books about the people, locations, and
the events that have helped shape this place,
with a special focus on the midnight 1800s, the
time before, during, and after the famous gold
rush. I know a lot about the town, its lore,
its secrets, and some of its mysteries. Some
are true, and some seem just to be legends. Sometimes
it's hard to separate truth from fiction, I guess.
I'm adventurous, knowledgeable, and somewhat
of a pessimist. However, I try to keep that latter
attribute hidden from my students at the college.
I've been to most of the historical locations
throughout the county, exploring and looking
for relics and artifacts, not only from the gold
rush days, but also from the Native American
cultures that resided here as well. I'm always
up for an adventure. Part 1, The Disappearance.
It's early June in Coloma and this small town
is bustling with activity and excitement. The
annual Gold Rush Festival just began and the
college spring semester ended, which ushers in
almost three months of peak tourist season. El
Dorado College, situated near Coloma's downtown
district, has an undergraduate student population
of about 4 ,000 students. Some of these students
return home for the summer. However, many of
them stick around town. The town's population
swells during the summer months, which is great
for both the local businesses and for all the
broke college kids looking to make some extra
money. And if you're a tourist, it's really hard
to find last -minute vacancies at hotels, Airbnbs,
and even campsites. It's always advisable to
book well in advance. There is one main street
running down the center of town. It's a popular
street lined with historical buildings, charm,
and some of the best food and activities in the
county. Ethan's Cafe, a well -known local hangout
spot, is known for its amazing pastrami sandwich
and root beer floats. Although they don't start
serving those until 11 a .m. each day. But before
11, they have an amazing assortment of coffees
and pastries. Ethan's, as the locals call it
now, sits on one of the busiest corners on Main
Street opposite the bank and post office. Sierra
loves the summertime crowds in the cafe. She
gets to meet so many interesting people from
all over the world, especially this time of the
year during the two -week -long Gold Rush Festival.
Not to mention, she gets to work a lot of extra
hours. She needs the extra money because she's
been wanting to trade in her old car for something
newer and more reliable. She barely made it through
this last winter season with the old piece of
junk she still drives around. It's the second
full day of the Gold Rush Festival in Coloma,
and Sierra is working a long day shift which
started at 6 o 'clock a .m. It's mid -morning,
and she just came off her first break. Sierra
notices Lily coming into the shop and gives her
a quick smile. Sierra knows Lily quite well,
along with Lily's study group from this past
semester. Lily and her college friends would
come into the cafe quite regularly to study and
hang out. Lily orders her usual and looks around
to find a seat. The cafe is quite full already,
so Lily tells Sierra that she is going to stand
by the door and wait for a table to clear before
she sits down. Sierra asks, you're not going
to sit up at the bar? Lily explains to Sierra
that she's meeting someone in a few minutes,
so she'd like to sit close to the door. After
all, she doesn't want to miss Chen when he walks
in. Eva is already about 30 minutes into her
first article of a series that she's writing
for The Beat. She too is in the cafe and just
finished her second cup of coffee. The article
that she's researching and writing are focused
on the Gold Rush Festival, but she wants to add
a slight... twist. The Bee's editor wanted Ava
to get out of the newsroom and work on a series
of summer articles that The Bee could publish
over the course of the next few months. The Bee
has been losing some of its readership over the
last few years, partly due to the hot political
climate that exists in the country right now.
So the editors wanted to get back to some of
the paper's original roots of focused stories
about local and regional topics. Ava notices
Lily standing up close to her table that is situated
by one of the front windows and close to the
front door. Since Ava is sitting at the table
with two chairs, she offers the open chair to
Lily. You can sit here if you'd like, Ava tells
Lily, and then points to the empty chair at her
table. Oh, thank you so much, but I'm actually
waiting for someone, Lily responds. Lily's body
language gives off the vibes of being anxious
and worried. Lily notices Sierra walking toward
her with her order, an Americano and a fresh
baked scone. It's too early for lunch yet, and
it's a little past ten in the morning. Sierra
also makes eye contact with Ava, who's sitting
right next to where Lily is standing and says
a quick hello. Ava says to Sierra, you can put
that on my table while she waits for another
table. There's plenty of space. Sierra responds,
I saw you in here yesterday, but I was too busy
to chat. Are you here working or are you on vacation
or both? Kind of both, Ava says. Oh, by the way,
this is Lily, she says this as she nods towards
Lily. She's here studying in the science department
at the college. Hi, I'm Ava. Sierra and I go
way back. We grew up together in Coloma. It's
nice to meet you, Lily. And if you don't mind
me asking, where are you originally from? Ava
asks Lily. Lily responds, I was born and raised
in Beijing, China, and I'm here on a science
scholarship. I just finished my third year and
I have one more left before I graduate. Come
on, you can sit here while you wait. It's no
problem at all. And I need to take a break from
looking at my laptop screen anyway, Ava says.
I'd take a break with you too if I haven't just
gotten off my morning break, Sierra says as she
glances back at Ethan scrambling around behind
the counter, helping get customer orders ready.
Ava continues to notice that Lily is quite anxious
and nervous, so she asks, Is everything okay?
Are you worried about something? Lily answers
as she sits down in the empty chair across from
Ava. I was supposed to meet someone here about
30 minutes ago, but they still haven't shown
up, and they are the type of people who's never
late. Well, you can sit here for as long as you
want, Ava tells Lily. Sierra chimes in. As much
as I like to be part of this conversation, I'm
getting the get over here and help me look from
Ethan, so I better get back to work. All of a
sudden, Lily just starts explaining to Ava what
happened and what this meetup with this another
person was all about. Lily explains, I received
a text message last evening from an acquaintance
of mine, someone I don't know very well, and
it seemed urgent and didn't make a lot of sense.
Lily shows Ava the text message. Ava noticed
that the name of the person who sent it was Chen.
The message reads, I know we don't know each
other very well, but it's important that we meet
tomorrow morning in person if possible. It's
quite urgent and there's something I need to
give you for safekeeping. Ava notices that Lily
responded and said, okay, we could meet somewhere
public like Ethan's Cafe at 10 a .m. Chen replied
and read, yes, see you then, thanks. Sierra lingered
around just enough time to hear most of that
conversation before she went back behind the
counter and started taking more customer orders.
Part 2. Uncovering Secrets You pick out where
we left off to Ethan's cafe. By now, it's closer
to noon hour and Ava and Lily have been talking
together about life and other things for the
better part of an hour or so. Occasionally, Sierra
would pop over to their table in the cafe to
chime in when time allowed her to. Mainly between
taking orders, delivering orders, and cleaning
tables for other customers at the cafe. Lily
seemed to have forgotten about the text messages
and was talking about forensic science in college
with Ava, saying that forensic science was very
challenging and required an in -depth understanding
of scientific principles and techniques. She
also told Ava that she wasn't getting enough
sleep due to the amount of homework. However,
there was something about that text message that
just didn't sit well with Ava. Maybe it was just
her curiosity or maybe it was her investigative
nature that kept it on top of mind. Either way.
Ava wanted to bring it up again with Lily. Can
I see that text message again? Ava asked Lily.
Sure, Lily replied. Lily passed her phone to
Ava just as Sierra was talking back in. Are you
guys still trying to figure out what that message
means? Sierra said as she walked by. Ava reads
it again to herself. I know we don't know each
other very well, but it's very important that
we meet tomorrow morning in person if possible.
It's quite urgent and there's something I need
to give you for safekeeping. Ava thinks to herself
again, this is a message from a person named
Chen, probably a guy, and Lily didn't know him
very well. Ava looks up at Lily and asks, who's
Chen? Before Lily could respond to Ava's question,
Ava says, I think we need to find who Chen is
first, and then maybe you'll be able to solve
your little mystery of why he stood you up this
morning. Lily responds, I met him only a couple
of times over in the science department labs
during the first semester this year. We did not
talk much, but I do know that he is also from
China. He is or was working as an assistant to
one of the professors at the college, and he
graduated several years ago. We exchanged contact
information and briefly talked about where we
were from in China. Besides that little bit,
we really did not interact with each other or
in the same circle of friends. At this point
in the conversation, Sierra is standing right
over Ava and Lily's table, looking down at them
with a half smile. I have an idea for a fun lunch
break activity. Since Ethan's making me work
a longer shift today, he's allowing me to take
a 90 -minute lunch break, which starts in five
minutes. Anyway, why don't we go over to the
science lab and see if Professor Sharpton is
still in and just ask him if he's seen Chen around.
Professor Sharpton won't mind if we show up and
ask him, especially if I bring him a pastrami
sandwich. He comes in here two to three times
a week for lunch and has his own tab. I guess
Ethan and him have an agreement or something.
Actually, many of the professors from the college
have that agreement with Ethan. No wonder why
they all love this place. Lily, how about it?
Sierra asks Lily. Sure, are both of you going
to come with me? Lily asks Ava and Sierra. Ava
responds, yeah, I need to stretch my legs anyway.
I've been sitting here all morning working on
this story for the B, and it's not really going
anywhere right now. So yeah, let's go. I can
drive. My car is parked right out in front already.
Sierra watches as the clock turns to noon and
then informs Ethan that she'll be back around
1 .30pm after her long lunch break is over. Sierra
appreciated that Ethan was totally fine with
her taking her long break over the peak lunch
time of the cafe. Ethan always schedules more
staff to work during the summer season. Sierra's
position would be covered by two other part -time
staff who just clocked in. Ethan was happy if
his customers and employees were happy. He did
as much as he could to make sure that his VIP
employees were well taken care of. Sarah, being
one of those VIP employees, he didn't know that
she often did the work of two people, which meant
she was saving him money every shift she worked.
And the customers loved her. It would be a sad
day when she moves on from the cafe to a different
job. He knew she was wanting to start her teaching
career and figured that she would probably be
leaving this job after the summer was over. Before
Sierra was able to leave the cafe, Ethan had
a quick question in her favor to ask her. You
see, Ethan still had Silicon Valley blood flowing
through his veins and was always working on side
technology projects. Ethan hands Sierra what
looks like a small paperclip. He asks, I'm working
on the small tracking device system and I finished
the small transmitter part last night late, but
I haven't been able to test it out yet today.
Anyway, could you put it in your pocket and take
with you? I want to check it and see if the tracking
software I wrote last week will work with this
small transmitter I built. Basically, I need
you to give it a field test for me. That's all.
Sierra was half listening to Ethan's explanation,
took the small paper clip and put it in her pocket
and said, Sure, no problem, Ethan. Thank you,
Ethan said as the three ladies left the cafe.
A few minutes later, Ava found herself parking
the car in front of the four -story science building
at the college. Lily, Sierra, and Ava enter the
building and make their way to the front reception
desk area and notice that no one is around. Makes
sense, since the semester is pretty much done.
They decide to go check out the labs and see
if anyone there is working. They walk over to
the lab elevator, which is secured by keycard
entry only. Lily's student ID allows her to gain
access to the basement lab area, which consists
of many different lab rooms, which are also secured
by keycard entry only. The labs are in the basement
of the building, which helps keep the different
experiments, equipment, and chemicals away from
the upper floor offices and classrooms. Lily
notices that only one of the lab rooms is open,
and that Professor Shepton is in there helping
supervise several students who had begun working
on their summer projects. However, Lily didn't
recognize any of the students' interns. They
looked to be an upperclassman or post -graduates.
Either way, Lily didn't think much about it.
nor did she mention it to Ava or Ciara at that
time. After having a brief conversation with
Professor Sharpton, the trial found out from
Professor Sharpton that Chen actually works as
an assistant to Professor James Harthorne in
the history department, which is one building
over. Professor Sharpton also revealed that even
though Chen doesn't technically work as an assistant
to any of the professors in the science department,
Chen still had the freedom to use the labs when
projects overlap between the two different departments,
which they do a lot. The trio also noticed that
Chen's name was on one of the lockers in the
hallway outside the lab room. As the trio was
leaving the science building, Sierra notices
that Ava has a big smile on her face. What's
with the big smile, Ava? Sierra asks. Ava quickly
responds, I love doing this kind of stuff, you
know, trying to solve a quote -unquote mystery.
Besides, this is so much more interesting than
my half -written article I was working on back
at the cafe. Lily asks, Do you have time to go
with me to the history building? We can just
walk there from here since it's close. I'm a
bit nervous since I don't really know anyone
from that department. Sure, Ava replies. No problem.
I have like an hour before I have to go back
to work, Sierra says. The three walk over to
the history building and enter through the front.
They should search the main floor directory and
find that Professor James' office is on the third
floor. They walk to the elevator and push the
up button and wait. The elevator dings and the
door opens. There stands Professor James. Professor
Hawthorne looks up as the doors are opening and
there stands three people, two of them he somewhat
recognizes, Lily and Sierra, having been former
students of his from a previous year. But he
didn't recognize Ava, but he could tell that
they were all together. May I help you? Prof.
Hawthorne asked. These weeks suffered since she
could tell he recognized her. She had taken one
of his archaeology classes the previous year.
and really enjoyed the way the class connected
well with some of her forensic science classes.
Lady spoke up and said, Professor Sharpton said
that you have an assistant working for you by
the name of Chen. If he's here, could we talk
with him? We tried to text him and call him,
but I didn't get any replies. Hmm, funny you
asked, said Prof Hawthorne. He's supposed to
be here today, but he never showed up this morning,
which is not like him. If you know Chen, you
know he's very punctual and responsible. the
reason why so many of his professors wanted him
as their research assistant this year. So I was
pretty lucky to get him. I tried calling him
earlier today as well and did not get a reply,
which is not like him either. He's pretty good
about returning calls, especially when it's related
to his responsibilities here in this department.
However, before he left work yesterday, I do
recall him telling me that he was going to come
back later in the evening. He said he'd come
back around 8 p .m., I think. He wanted to use
one of the science labs in the other buildings
for about an hour or so. 3D steps forward and
shows Professor Hawthorne the text message she
received on Chen last evening. She had received
the message around 9 .15pm. Professor Hawthorne
pulls out his phone and tries to call Chen again.
It rings for a while and goes into voicemail.
Chen, Prof. Hawthorne here. If you get this message,
call me back when you get a chance. Thanks. Professor
Hawthorne knew that Chen was working on something
special in the lab, something Chen had even talked
to him about recently. He also knew that Professor
Sharpton, the science department chair, had approved
Chen's side project, so long as it did not interrupt
Chen's other responsibilities at work. Professor
Hawthorne asked Lily, So you don't know what
Chen was going to give you for safekeeping? No,
and I'm not sure why either, Lily responded.
Meanwhile, Ava is taking notes on her phone as
the conversation continues between Professor
Hawthorne and Lily. Ava is thinking to herself
quietly about the series of articles she's needing
to write this summer for the beat, and is again
quietly hoping this situation could turn into
maybe a larger story. Sierra chimes in and says,
Hey guys, I got to get back to work soon. You
can stay and chat if you want, but I have to
head back. I'm sure Ethan is swamped and needs
me back at the cafe. Lily and Ava decide to head
back to the cafe with Sierra as the conversation
with Professor James Hawthorne was ending anyway.
As the trio were leaving, Professor Hawthorne
said, I was going to head over to Ethan's to
grab a bite to eat, so maybe I'll see you over
there. As the trio left, Professor Hawthorne
heads back up to his office. The entire conversation
about Chen sparked a memory of an interaction
he had with Chen the week before. He hadn't thought
much about it until now, especially after seeing
the text message Chen had sent to Lily. Now back
in his office, Professor Hawthorne grabs an old
book from his shelf, opens it up to one of the
inner pages, which was hiding a folded up piece
of paper Chen had given him the week before.
Professor Hawthorne would often hide papers and
notes in his old books. This was done more as
a habit from his old days doing field work on
dig sites. As he took notes at dig sites, he
would slip those notes into a book for safekeeping.
Let's face it, you can't carry a filing cabinet
with you into the field, and back in those days,
they were not taking laptops out to the field
either. On this piece of paper was written some
sort of formula, along with several Chinese characters
that Professor Hawthorne had not been able to
translate yet. He had tried to use his language
translation app, even looked in some old books,
but could not find a way to translate the characters.
Next, he calls Professor Sharpton to inquire
about Chen. The conversation was short and a
little awkward. After hanging up, Professor Hawthorne
noticed that Professor Sharpton seemed a little
abrupt and not himself on that call. After the
brief call with Professor Sharpton, and as he
was getting ready to leave his office, Professor
Hawthorne knew he had seen those Chinese characters
somewhere before. Ah, he thought to himself.
He remembers where he's seen them before, goes
to the filing cabinets, and retrieves a manila
folder from the back. Inside of the folder was
an old manuscript from the 1930s. The manuscript
had never been published at that time because
it was deemed not credible. But there were several
things in the manuscript that Hawthorne was still
curious about, and he's pretty sure some of those
Chinese characters are in the manuscript. The
local library had allowed him to borrow the manuscript
several years ago when he was doing research
for one of his old books. However, he forgot
to return it and the library never called him
about getting it back. So there it sat, in his
office in the back of a filing cabinet. As Professor
Hawthorne makes his way over to Ethan's Cafe
for a late lunch. He's got two things on his
mind, a delicious pastrami sandwich and the items
in his briefcase. The folded up note from Chen
and the old manuscript. Part 3. The Map Sierra,
Ava, and Lily are back in the cafe. Sierra has
clocked back in and is busy again behind the
counter taking customer orders, cleaning tables,
and doing dishes. She catches Ethan out of the
corner of her eye, waving her over to his laptop
that's sitting on one of the counters behind
the main bar area. Hey, check this out. Ethan
tells Sierra as he points to his laptop screen
and shows her a map of the squiggly lines on
it. Oh, can I have that thing back that I gave
you before you left for your lunch break? He
asked. He then goes on and thanks her for testing
out his newest tech device, a small tracker that
looks like a paperclip. This small device is
a medium power, medium range transmitter that
transmits a simple ping every 30 seconds. Ethan
kept the power and range just under the US regulations
so that the device would not have to be licensed.
Basically, Ethan wants to sell the device to
his old company in the hopes that the stock price
will increase, which in turn will increase his
personal nest egg. Plus, it's just a really cool
device. Sierra looks intrigued and a little skeptical
as she says, Wow, that's pretty cool. So you
can basically track anywhere that device goes
within a certain range? It goes on. Yeah, and
that other cool thing about it is that its range
is quite large in comparison to all the other
products on the market. It's small and powerful.
I've made several prototypes and I'm just now
testing them with the software I wrote. The mapping
software I created then shows the location of
that device in real time. So that's what you
are looking at, where you went the last hour
and a half during your lunch break. It looks
like you went to the college campus and spent
some time in two different buildings. Sierra
is standing there with a straight face. She's
not really wanting to hear all the technical
details about the device, nor is she super thrilled.
that she was unknowingly testing a tracking device
for one of Ethan's side projects. Don't get her
wrong. She likes it and thinks it's cool, but
she's also thinking about all the other tasks
she has to finish during her shift before she
can clock out and go home. Meanwhile, Ava and
Lily are back sitting together again in the cafe.
Since most of the double tables are occupied
already, they're sitting up at the bar counter
opposite, where Ethan and Sierra are having their
conversation behind the bar. Lily is asking Ava
a lot of questions about some of Ava's past articles
she's written for the Bee. Professor Hawthorne
enters the cafe and heads right to the counter
to place his order. I'll take my usual, thank
you, as he tells one of the other cafe employees
who's working the register. He notices an open
seat at the bar counter and goes to sit down.
Right then, he realizes it's next to Ava and
Lily. Oh, we meet again, he says, as the two
girls turn around to see who the person is that's
going to sit next to them. Do you mind if I sit
here? he asked. I usually sit up at the bar when
I come in for lunch since I'm typically in a
hurry and I'm by myself. No problem, Lily replied.
Ava notices right away that Professor Hawthorne
had brought his briefcase and had it sitting
up on the counter where he got situated. She
watched as he struggled to find a place to set
the briefcase down. Professor Hawthorne opened
up the briefcase and pulled out the old manila
folder and a folded up piece of paper and set
them on the counter in front of himself. He then
shut the briefcase and set it down on the floor
next to his bar stool. Since bar stools stand
higher than regular table chairs, he had an awkward
time sitting back up straight after setting the
briefcase down on the floor. Ava watched all
this happening and then saw Professor Hawthorne
accidentally knock the manila folder off the
counter as he was sitting back up. The folder
and the old manuscript that was inside fell on
the opposite side of the counter behind the bar.
Professor Hawthorne said under his breath, but
loud enough so Lily and Ava could hear him. Oh
man, well look at that. I guess you can't take
me anywhere. Lily quickly offered to help pick
up the papers that had fallen out of the folder,
but felt a little timid since they had fallen
behind the bar. Ava quickly scanned the cafe
looking for a staff member, of which they were
all busy doing something else in another part
of the shop. Ethan had gone to the back room
to take a phone call a minute earlier, and Sierra
was busy taking several customer orders up at
the cash register. Ava quickly reacted and said,
I'll grab them for you since Sierra won't have
a problem with me sneaking behind the counter
for a second. Ava went around the back of the
bar counter and started picking up all the papers
that had fallen. She noticed that all the papers
looked quite old and worn, she thought to herself.
This looks interesting. I wonder what Professor
Hawthorne is up to. After she had gathered all
the papers off the floor, she noticed several
paper clips sitting on the counter next to the
laptop. She picked up one of the paper clips
and attached all the pages together, and then
walked around the counter and handed the stack
of paper to Professor Hawthorne. There you go,
she says. Thank you so much, Professor Hawthorne
tells Ava. As he's waiting for his lunch, he
asks Ava and Lily, how do you all know each other?
Ava responds first. Sierra and I grew up together
in Coloma, but we went to different colleges.
I'm back here visiting right now for work. The
bee has me doing a series of articles on the
Gold Rush Festival this summer. Oh, I see, says
Professor Hawthorne. Lily chimes in and says,
I come to Ethan's a lot, especially during the
school year. to study and hang out with my friends.
Sierra was always so kind in allowing us to sit
at the big table and study. Of course, we needed
to buy drinks or food. Oh, by the way, I really
enjoyed taking forensic archaeology from you
last year. It was super helpful to learn about
how archaeology can assist criminal investigations.
Professor Hawthorne responds to Lily, Ah, thank
you. That's actually one of my favorite classes
to teach because it's practical. more skills
-based, and less academic than most classes that
I teach. Professor Hawthorne goes on, Coloma
is a small town and it's a close -knit community.
Everybody knows everybody and you got to be okay
with everybody knowing your business. For sure,
Ava replies. That's one of the reasons I wanted
to go to university away from home, actually.
Well, that and Cal State has a great journalism
program. By this time, Sierra was done with some
of the rush orders. Grabbed Professor Hawthorne's
order and walked back over to where they were
all sitting up at the bar. She handed Professor
Hawthorne his sandwich and iced tea and interrupted
and said, So, have you found out what happened
to this guy Chen yet? Professor Hawthorne was
just about to take a big bite out of his sandwich
when he heard Sierra's question. He put the sandwich
back down on the plate and pointed to the manuscript
papers and the note sitting next to his plate
on the counter. He said, no, but I did bring
a note Chen left me last week and an old manuscript
to study over lunch. There may be an interesting
connection between the two. Li Li was looking
over toward Professor Hawthorne as he opened
the folded piece of paper which had what looked
like some sort of formula, along with several
Chinese characters scribbled on it. Li Li blurts
out, Those are Chinese characters. Did Chen write
these? As Professor Hawthorne begins answering
her questions, she noticed that the characters
are not the typical and modern Chinese characters
she is used to seeing. Professor Hawthorne continues,
Chen gave me this note as he was leaving work
on Friday and didn't say much about it. He just
said that he wanted me to have a copy of something
that he was working on and if I could just hold
it for him for the time being. I didn't think
much about the note at the time. I glanced at
it briefly, noticed there was some weird formula
written along with some series of Chinese characters.
I tried my new image -to -language translation
app to my phone to see if I could read the characters,
but no luck. Translation app did not recognize
the characters, so I folded it up and put it
in a safe place in case Chen came back for it
sometime. Ava, who was sitting on the stool between
Professor Hawthorne and Lily, asked Professor
Hawthorne if she could take a photo of it. and
send it to one of her colleagues at the Bee,
who's an amazing researcher. I'll just send a
photo of two or three of these characters, but
not all of them, and I'll see if my buddy Ted
can do his magic for us. He owes me a favor anyway,
Ava says. She quickly snaps a photo of the several
Chinese characters and sends Ted the photos along
with a short message that reads, What type of
Chinese characters are these? You know you owe
me, followed by three smiling face emojis. As
Ava is taking photos and sending Ted the text,
Professor Hawthorne takes another bite of his
sandwich, puts it down on the plate, and then
starts thumbing through the manuscript papers
that are paper clipped together. The manuscript
is about 120 pages in length, makes some interesting
claims about the gold from this area, and also
includes detailed illustrations of different
locations surrounding Sutter's Mill, the surrounding
mountains, and some back horse trails. Sierra
glances over towards their direction and notices
they are all talking and looking very serious.
She decides to pause for a moment on her way
out to the cafe's sitting area to clean up a
few tables. As she walks up to where the three
are sitting, she asks lightheartedly, Did you
solve the mystery yet? Ava pipes out, Nope, not
yet. I'm actually trying to figure out this weird
clue from Chen's note. These Chinese characters
I'm not familiar with, Li says. Hmm, interesting,
Sierra replies. She then says, Chen has nice
handwriting, though. Right at that moment, and
as Professor Hawthorne started taking another
bite of his sandwich, he pauses as he finds what
he's looking for on the manuscript. There, on
page 87, are some of the same Chinese characters
written on the margins. Some of the characters
look similar to the characters in Chen's note.
Professor Hawthorne thinks to himself, there's
no way this can be a coincidence. Eva, who's
sitting right next to Professor Hawthorne, looks
down at the manuscript and blurts out and asks,
Whoa, are those the same characters that are
on Chen's note? Yes, it appears that way, and
I have a hard time believing that this is just
a coincidence, replied Professor Hawthorne. Lydia
and Sierra are also looking over at page 87 of
the manuscript that's open on the counter. Lydia
asks, what's page 87 about? Sierra repeats the
question. Yeah, what's on page 87? At that moment,
Ethan comes out of the back room and notices
the three girls and Professor Hawthorne's all
staring down at something. He stops and says,
looks like a serious meeting here. Is your sandwich
okay, Professor? Yeah, Ethan, it's great, as
usual. Thank you. Just then, Ava's phone dings
with a message from Ted. She says, hey guys,
Ted just texted me back and he thinks those characters
look like they might be part of an old code,
but an old code that isn't used anymore. His
text also said that he found a really old article
in the Bee's internal online archives that references
an old Chinese telegraphic codebook that was
used in the late 1800s for the purpose of encoding
and translating Chinese characters to Morse code
used for a telegraph machine. no sooner did ava
get those words out professor hawthorne stood
up and said ted's exactly right This manuscript,
even though it may have some inaccuracies, does
contain plenty of other helpful information about
this place, including that many of the workers
who helped complete the railroad line through
this country after the gold rush were immigrants
from mainland China. Professor Hawthorne turns
to another page in the manuscript, which describes
the difficulty many of the railroad workers had
being so far from home, not knowing the local
language. no way to communicate with other family
members, and so forth. He goes on, Meanwhile,
and during this entire conversation, Ethan has
his back turned to the group and is tapping on
his keyboard, almost appearing as if he wasn't
even listening. However, he picks up his laptop
and turns it around towards the group. As he
even points to his laptop screen, he says, Look
what I found online. Here's the entire Chinese
telegraphic codebook from the late 1800s. Looks
like it's obsolete. Or at least, that's what
Wikipedia says now. Well, maybe you could at
least translate those characters now so Sierra
can get back to work. He says this with a half
-grin. The team translates the Chinese characters
from Chen's note first. It's a grouping of two
sets of numbers alongside two English letters.
N, 38, 51, 21, and W, 120, 26, 55. I know exactly
what these are, said Professor Hawthorne to the
group. These are coordinates, latitude and longitude,
degrees, minutes, and seconds. Ethan, can you
look up these and see where this is, asked Professor
Hawthorne. Ethan quickly types in the coordinates
online. The coordinates point to a place named
Silver Creek by Junction Reservoir off the old
El Dorado National Forest Road, Ethan replies.
It's southwest of the larger Union Valley Reservoir.
Ethan looks up at the others with a half smile.
So, is this some sort of secret message then?
Lee responds, So, what do we do now? What about
the characters from the manuscript? Could you
look those up as well? Ava asks Ethan. Ethan
translates the characters from the manuscript.
N38, 55, 28, and W120, 24, 12. He enters in the
two sets of coordinates and then says, The other
set of characters translate to the coordinates
as well. Those coordinates point to Rob's Peak,
a 6 ,600 -foot mountain just north of the Union
Valley Reservoir. Professor Hawthorne pulls out
his phone again and tries to call Chen. He's
wondering to himself if there is some connection
between what the author of the manuscript is
communicating so many years ago and now to what
Chen is trying to communicate, or found. Ava
is taking notes as she secretly hopes this is
something bigger than just a missing person case.
Her editor at the B would love it, and maybe
even give her a promotion. She's cautious not
to get ahead of herself, though. By the way,
we aren't even sure if this even is a missing
person case since Chen hasn't technically been
missing for 24 hours yet. Sierra is studying
the code table that Ethan still has open on his
laptop screen, wondering how and why Chen decided
to use a coded message, sort of like making a
map but without using the typical topographical
symbols. Part 4. Histories and Legends. It was
late afternoon when the gang began making more
progress on the situation. Now they're armed
with a historical manuscript, Chen's note, and
two different coordinates directing them to two
different locations, kind of like a map. Professor
Hawthorne examines the coordinates on the manuscript
again. N38, 55, 28, and W120, 24, 12. He reads
out loud, and that's Rob's Peak, a little bit
north of the Union Valley Reservoir. What about
it, Professor? Lady asks. I know that area well.
I've been there several times on past projects.
It's a fascinating place, Professor Hawthorne
recounts as he looks through the cafe windows.
You know what, he says, I'm going to take the
day off tomorrow and go there to see what's up.
Ethan looks up from his laptop. That sounds like
fun, Professor. Actually, now that I'm thinking,
Rob's Peak is a decently high mountain, right?
I'm working on another small piece of tech. It's
sort of like a mini -drone, and I've been wanting
to test it at a higher altitude. It looks like
Rob's Peak would be a great place to try it out.
Okay, that sounds cool. Why haven't we talked
about this stuff before, Ethan? I had no idea
you were such a tech and gadget guy. You should
come with me then and I could use the company,
Professor Hawthorne smiles. I'll show you around
the mountain. Perfect. Let's see, tomorrow. Yep.
I can take the day off as well. You can work
both the afternoon and evening shifts, right,
Sierra? You already are working a double shift
today, though. Ethan turns in Sierra's direction.
Are you up for that tomorrow? You'll be doing
me a big favor. Sierra smiles a little. Sure,
Ethan. I got you. Thank you, Sierra, Ethan says.
The cafe's in good hands. Professor Hawthorne
finishes the last bite of his sandwich before
asking, Lily and Ava, do you want to come with
the guys tomorrow? Hiking is not really my thing
to do. I do want to help out, though. Let me
think. Oh, Lily exclaims, her brown eyes growing
white. We have Chen's note, right? And he has
some of the symbols and formula written out.
I've got an idea. I could spend some time in
the college science lab tomorrow and see what
I can find out about the formula on that note.
She stabs a quick photo of the note with her
phone. That's perfect. I bet we'll get to the
bottom of all this soon, Ava smiles, though part
of her wish is it wouldn't end just yet. After
all, the bigger the story, the better her peace
for the bee will be. Sierra tilts her head before
voicing aloud a thought that just crossed her
mind. Lily, you have access to the lab and all
that, right? I do, Lily chirps. I have my student
ID. This gives me access to the science labs
we visited earlier. Awesome. Concrete evidence
from research is always a plus. Ava takes a quick
look at her work calendar before replying to
Professor Hawthorne's question, saying, I don't
think I'll be able to go either. I do love the
outdoors, and especially the idea of an adventure.
I've really got to make some progress on the
PSAP turret for the B. Deadline's coming up soon,
unfortunately. Professor and Ethan, you two have
fun. All right, it's settled then, Professor
Hawthorne says. Ethan, you take all your tech
equipment you want to test out, and I'll take
the manuscript, the note, and my notebook to
see if there's something else I may have missed.
Ava frowns a little, glancing at the manuscript
on the table before asking Professor Hawthorne.
You know the way there, though, right, Professor?
Yep, I'm going to take the manuscript with me
just in case. There may be other clues I'm missing
now that it seems things are connected in some
way. Plus, I'm finding I forget things easily
these days. Professor Hawthorne chuckles a little
bit. Meanwhile, Lily takes a quick glance at
her watch, her heartbeat racing as she says,
Oh no, I almost forgot. I have an interview for
a summer internship that starts in 20 minutes.
I better go. She looks around frantically for
her backpack and sees it against the chair that
Ethan is sitting on. Ethan, could you pass me
my bag? She asks. checking her watch a second
time. Sure, Eden says. As Eden picks up the backpack
and passes it to Lily, he drops in one of the
small tracking devices, the thing that looks
like a paper clip, into one of the small side
pockets of her backpack. He thinks to himself,
I need to test these things some more since I'd
like to get more than a few hours of data, plus
I need to know how long the batteries last. However,
for some reason, he doesn't tell Lily. He figures
she'll just retrieve the device sometime in the
next few days when she comes back to the cafe.
Thank you. Keep me updated with what you find
out, Lili says, her words carrying out the door
before the king gets to wish her luck on her
interview and the research at the college tomorrow.
All right, Professor Hawthorne turns to the rest
of the group. I better get going as well. I've
got some more work to finish at the college,
and my wife and I have dinner plans with some
old friends who are in town this week. Ethan,
I'll see you at eight in the morning. How about
we meet here at the cafe? Sounds good, Professor,
Ethan replies. Great. Have a great evening and
thanks for the sandwich again, Ethan. Great as
always. Professor smiles as he gathers his briefcase,
the manuscript, and the note before leaving the
cafe. Eva also has plans to grab dinner with
her grandmother, so she bids goodbye to Sierra
and Ethan before driving away from Ethan's cafe.
Punctual and on time the next morning, Ethan
is standing outside the front of his already
busy cafe with a small backpack containing some
tech gear, a bottle of water, and some sunscreen.
He's dressed for a day in the hot sun as he waits
for Professor Hawthorne to arrive. As Prof. Hawthorne
pulls up to the cafe in his old Ford Bronco,
he yells out the window, Hey Ethan, good morning,
and hop in. Professor Hawthorne smiles as Ethan
gets into the Bronco and gets situated in the
front passenger seat. Are we ready to get rolling?
Professor Hawthorne says. Sure am. Let's go.
Ethan says before a thought pops into his mind.
Hey professor, you know a lot about the history
here, right? Are there any cool stories you could
share along the way? The professor thought about
plugging one of his books and almost said, Yeah,
I do know a lot of history about that place.
You could too if you would have read one of my
books. But he didn't say that. He didn't want
Ethan to think he was being sarcastic. And he
didn't want to sound like a jerk. So instead,
Professor Hawthorne said, Yes, there is a lot
of history around that area and the reservoir
as well. Professor Hawthorne continues as they
travel out of town toward the mountains. You
see, Rob's Peak especially was the site of several
popular mines back during the gold rush days.
Legend has it that much of the gold that was
found in the small streams and creeks around
Rob's Peak actually originated from the mountain.
There's evidence that suggests the gold, especially
the small pieces and small flakes, would get
deposited. in the small waterways during the
spring snowmelt from the mountain. So many of
the people who came here looking for gold only
looked in the streams and creeks around that
area. Very few prospectors went up on the mountain
looking for gold, and fewer yet dug the small
mines that are still on the mountain to this
day. Most of the people back then wanted to get
rich quick, plus they didn't have the right tools,
equipment, money. or the time to dig a proper
mine into the mountain, except for a couple families
from Virginia, who traveled all the way out here
together in the spring of 1849. You see, this
is why we called the people who came to this
area during that year the 49ers. They came by
ship, on horseback, and by covered wagons from
all over. Gold prospectors came from North America,
Latin America, Asia, Europe, and Australia. It's
estimated that this area saw an increase in population
of more than 300 ,000 people in just one year.
A year later in 1850, California entered the
Union, joining the United States, establishing
itself with a state constitution and government.
I guess I should have been paying more attention
in history class. I don't remember learning any
of this. So what happened to the family from
Virginia that you mentioned? Well, it's a miracle
they made it. I'm not sure how they did it since
everything west of what we now call the Missouri
River was, at that time, unorganized and ungoverned
territory. It was literally the Wild West. It
was rugged and dangerous. These families had
to navigate their way around and through mountain
ranges, through plateau grasslands, make numerous
river crossings, put up with unpredictable weather
patterns, all the while crossing through hostile
and non -hostile Native American tribal lands.
And in the spring of 1849, they settled down
at the base of Robb's Peak with the main goal
of digging several mining shafts into the mountain.
The other interesting fact I forgot to mention
in the cafe was that many of the prospectors
were recent immigrants to the United States and
that these immigrants were not treated very well
by the non -immigrant population. And some of
these immigrants were Chinese. In fact, this
manuscript I have documents some of the activities
that went on in some of the mining camps and
settlements. Since the information that was written
in the manuscript could not be verified by anybody
else besides the author, it was deemed not credible
and was never officially published. Oh wow, I
guess I should resell your history books. So
the mines that are on the mountains were dug
by the families from Virginia? Yes, Rob's Peak
is named after one of the families, Charles Rob.
I can't find a lot of information about them,
but I do know they were from Virginia. There
was a lot of happening in the southern states
at that time in history, and it wasn't all good.
Slavery was rampant, and there was talk of some
of the states breaking off from the Union. Virginia
eventually did in 1861. It seceded from the United
States and joined the Confederacy. and Richmond
became the capital of the Confederacy. This is
the same year the Civil War broke out, a very
dark time in the history of the United States
of America, to say the least. Wow, thanks for
the history lesson, Professor. I feel I have
a better understanding about where we are going
today and the history of the place. By this time,
Professor Hawthorne and Ethan were almost 45
minutes into their one -hour drive from Coloma
to Robb's Peak. You see, there were two main
routes to the top of Robb's Peak. One went south
and one went north. The northern route was about
20 minutes faster, which the professor opted
to take. Ethan glanced at the GPS and noticed
that they would be arriving at the destination
around 9 .15 a .m. Meanwhile, moving away from
the boys and their little adventure for a bit,
Lydia arrives at the college around 9 o 'clock.
Her interview had gone well yesterday, but she
was unsure if it was good enough to land her
an internship. I'll find out soon enough, she
thought to herself. At the college, she sees
a few friends who stayed back for the summer
to do more independent research, so she waves
hi to them. Then she makes her way over to the
science building, heads down in the basement
labs, and uses her ID to swipe in. as she sets
her backpack against the lab desk. She's thinking
about how she can test out Chen's formula. She
opens her phone to look at the formula and turns
on some music and starts getting to work. It's
not until around noon before she takes a quick
lunch break at one of the cafes on Compass. Half
-wishing Ethan's cafe was just a little bit closer.
The distance versus her hunger versus her motivation
to face that hot sun. She thinks, shaking her
head a little, maybe next time. After a quick
lunch at the Canvas Cafe, she returns to the
lab only to find Professor Sharpton standing
at the door. She seems to be deep in thought.
Oh, hey, Professor Sharpton, Lee says, smiling
at the professor. The professor takes a step
back. Not having expected company, Professor
Shepton returns her greetings as he smiles at
Lily, curiously asking what she's working on
over the summer break. Lily is delighted at Professor
Shepton's interest, and she invites him inside
to show him what she's been working on. Lily
thinks to herself, maybe Professor Sharpton could
help her out since the formula Shane wrote on
a note to Professor Harthorn calls for some element
that the lab seems not to have in inventory.
Some substance or mineral Lily did not recognize.
Meanwhile, Ava is working on her piece for the
beat at her grandma's mother's house, getting
a little frustrated because the words that naturally
spilled from her fingers seem to be stuck today.
Pursing her lips, she decides to take her laptop
to Ethan's Cafe to work instead. It'll be nice
to see Sierra again, and the change of scenery
usually does the trick. Sierra feels a smile
grow on her face when she sees Ava walk into
the doors of Ethan's Cafe. She says a quick hello
to her before taking another customer's order.
The cafe is busy as usual, since it's only the
third day of the town's annual Gold Rush Festival.
However, the lunch rush hour was ending and most
of the customers were getting done and leaving.
Ava is at her usual table by the front window,
setting up her laptop as she waits for Sierra
or another server to take her order. Being in
the cafe again makes her think back to yesterday's
events. It was a pretty exciting afternoon. Then
she wonders about what Ethan and Professor Hawthorne
are up to. By this time, the professor and Ethan
had been at Rob's Peak for almost three hours
now. Rob's Peak isn't like it used to be back
in the old days, rugged, remote, and dangerous.
It's now quite developed with roads leading directly
up to the peak of the mountain, one from the
south and one from the north. At the top of the
mountain, there's a small gravel parking lot
flanked by a wooded picnic area and a small canteen.
The canteen is more like a small general store
with snack -type foods and drinks. And when the
kitchens open, they make a mean grilled hamburger
with a side of potato wedges. The canteen offers
hikers, campers, backpackers, and day trippers
a nice place to rest and grab some food. For
about the first hour when they arrived, the professor
studied the manuscript and some old typographical
maps while talking with the owners of the canteen.
Ethan stayed outside in the parking area where
he assembled and practiced flying the mini drone
he had built and brought along. He was also excited
to discover that the drone worked just fine in
the higher altitude. They spent the second hour
hiking down to the first gold mine site on the
north side of the mountain. This mine site was
the most popular with the tourists as it was
easily accessible and the entrance of the mine
was not sealed shut. This meant that if you were
brave enough, you could walk about 100 or so
yards into the mine before being met by a vertical
shaft that went straight down into what looked
like a black hole into the mountain. The vertical
shaft was closed though with bars and padlocks.
This part of the mine had been closed to the
public for years since it was a hazard to curious
tourists and novice explorers. The professor
turned on his flashlight and walked into the
mine all the way to where the shaft was located.
Meanwhile, Ethan stayed outside the entrance
and flew his drone around the area taking aerial
video and photos of the surrounding. Ethan was
thrilled that his new device was working like
a charm. He wanted to give it one more test before
bringing it back down and turning it off. He
decided to test his flying skills by maneuvering
the drone via his phone into the mine and all
the way back to the area that the professor had
walked to. He also wanted to test the night vision
ability of the camera that he had installed.
The drone hummed down the narrow, horizontal
mine shaft towards the professor. Sure enough,
Ethan could see the professor standing by the
locked -up vertical shaft gate in camera view.
Ethan watched on his phone in camera view as
the professor turned around and waved at the
drone and gestured that he was going to be walking
back out. Ethan then maneuvered the drone to
turn 180 degrees and fly back out of the mine
shaft while the professor followed. As Professor
Hawthorne exited the mine, Ethan said, Ah, hey
professor, you're going to want to see this,
as he pointed to his tablet which he had... which
said the footage his drone had captured while
inside the mineshaft. Meanwhile, in back in Coloma
at Ethan's cafe, Sierra notices Ava has come
back to the cafe for a light lunch. Hey Ava,
didn't know you were coming in today. Sierra
stops by Ava's table. Happy to see you though,
you want your usual? Yep, thank you, girly, Ava
smiled. Of course, of course. All right, Sierra
remembers. And how's that piece for the beat
going? Ugh, Ava says, it's not where I want it
to be. I'm having writer's block today. It's
really frustrating. Oh, I'm sorry to hear. Hope
that goes away soon. Maybe the sandwich might
help. Sierra looks at Ava. I hope so too, Ava
tells Sierra before she goes to put in Ava's
order. After Sierra leaves, Ava thinks about
the reason she hasn't been working as much this
morning. She stumbles upon a thought and suddenly
she knows why. She's got a theory, to say the
least, and she waits eagerly for Sierra's shift
to end. She tells Sierra this as Sierra brings
Ava her sandwich. Alright girl, Sierra says,
I'm done with my shift. Spill, what's up? Okay,
Ava says, putting her journalism hat on. I think
the professor is sketchy. Sierra's eyes widen.
You mean Professor Hawthorne? Yeah, Ava says.
Wait, why though? He's helping us out. I know,
but think about it. Yesterday when I asked him
about needing the map, he was almost defensive
about it, remember? Why would he need the manuscript
with him? Wouldn't that get all dirtied on the
hike? He could have just taken a photo. Ava looks
at Sierra, eyebrows raised. Maybe you have a
point, Sierra reflects. Right, Ava nods. And
also, if he had knocked his briefcase yesterday,
would he even be showing us the manuscript that
matched Chen's note? Why was he even carrying
Chen's note? Why did he even have the manuscript
in the first place? Why were they in his briefcase?
What was he going to do with them? And think
about it. He's also pretty close to Chen, right?
So what if he has something to do with Chen's
disappearance? No way, Sierra explains upon realization.
Yeah, no way, Ava echoes. What are we going to
do? Who are we going to tell? No, no, no, Ava
rushes. Girl, we can't tell anyone. If we tell
anyone, that could tip off Professor Hawthorne
and we'll lose the manuscript. Besides, it's
just a theory. Oh no, you're right. Sierra looks
at Ava. What do we do then? Ava thinks for a
bit, lips pursed, before she shakes Sierra's
hand. I know, she says. Are you free tonight?
Yeah, I think so. Why? Sierra asks. Remember
how there were two coordinates that go to two
locations? I say we go explore the other location
tonight and see what we find out. Luckily, I
took a photo of Chen's note the other day. I
knew it would come in handy. Sierra thinks about
it for a bit and agrees. And, not telling anyone
right, she double checks. You got it, not a soul.
Ava says, tracing two fingers from one corner
of her mouth to the other, zipping her lips,
making a motion and throwing the key away. Sierra's
eyes immediately brightened. This was their secret
code back in high school. She laughs a little
before following suit. All right, I'll see you
then, Ava says. 7 p .m., your place? Sierra nods.
I'll see you then. Ava smiles as though shooting
down her spine. She's always loved mysteries
and adventures, especially nighttime adventures.
One way or another, she's going to get to the
bottom of this. Meanwhile, back in the lab at
the college, Lee spent working on trying to figure
out the formula that Chin had written down on
a note he had given to Professor Hawthorne the
week before. Professor Sharpton was in the lab,
along with several other students working on
their own projects. Lee was waiting for Professor
Sharpton to be free as she really needed some
help with one part of the formula she didn't
understand. However, Professor Sharpton had been
in the back office talking on the phone for over
20 minutes. Professor Sharpton walks out of the
back office and straight over to Lily and asks,
Okay Lily, let me see what you're working on.
Maybe I can help. After Professor Sharpton says
this, he looks up at the door to the lab and
nods his head toward the person standing outside
the lab. Part 5. Secret Society We find Ethan
and the professor on Rob's Peak as they have
discovered something on the video from the drone
Ethan had flown into the first mine location
they were exploring together. They are both looking
down at the drone footage on the tablet Ethan
is holding. Ethan blurs it out. Professor, is
that what I think it is? Yes, it looks like it,
the professor responds. The drone's high -definition
camera had captured something etched into one
of the side walls in the mine shaft. right to
the left of the sealed off vertical shaft. This
was the same place the professor was standing
for a few moments before the drone caught up
with him. Professor Hawthorne says as he looks
up at Ethan, I couldn't see that symbol etched
in the rock wall when I was there. It looks to
be quite an old etching, not very deep into the
rock and very faint and small in appearance.
It looks really old and it also looks similar
in the style to the Chinese symbols on both the
note and the manuscript. Ethan replies, it looks
like the same style of Chinese character that's
on the note from Eat Chen and in that old manuscript
you have. The professor nods his head in agreement
as he says, yes it does, Ethan. Speaking out
loud, the professor says, the camera on that
drone must be super sensitive to be able to capture
those small details. If we had cell service out
here, we could look up the meaning of that symbol.
I bet it comes from the same cipher chart as
the other symbols. Professor Hawthorne asks Ethan
to save the image to his device and suggests
they make their way to the second and third mine
sites before the day gets away from them. The
professor looks at Ethan and says, Alright buddy,
hope you are ready for some rugged trails. The
paths to the second and third mines are not easily
accessible. As the professor turns around and
gestures to Ethan to follow him, he says, But
hey, it's part of our adventure today. Ethan
takes a deep breath and thinks to himself, Great.
Don't think I signed up for this type of adventure
today though. The two move further into the rugged
mountain terrain towards a second mine which
is on the west side of the mountain and at a
slightly lower elevation from their current location.
About 20 minutes later the two reach a clearing
on the west side of the mountain and take a quick
break to catch their breath, eat a snack and
drink some water. The professor looks over at
Ethan who is finding a place to sit down and
says, The elevation can get you if you're not
used to it. We need to stay hydrated as well.
The professor notices Ethan digging around in
his backpack for his trail mix as he continues.
The second mine is just over that small ledge
beyond the clump of trees. We are almost there.
Maybe another 5 -10 minutes max. Once we get
there, I'll check it out again and see if the
front metal gate is open. The entrance of the
mine is usually closed up and locked up. I'm
not sure I'll have access to it like the first
mine. I guess we'll see when we get there. Ethan
is snacking on some trail mix he made at the
cafe while listening to the professor talk about
the plan for the second mine shaft. If it's alright
with you, professor, I'll just stay outside the
mine and test my drone again. I want to gather
some data at this altitude and get some more
footage of this side of the mountain. Sounds
good. Okay, let's get going. The professor says
as he turns and starts walking in that direction.
As Ethan is standing up and starting to walk,
he hears a ding from his phone. He thinks to
himself, oh, cell service must reach the side
of the mountain from the valley below. Good.
I can check to see what the symbol stands for
from that old Chinese telegraphic code sheet
I found online. And I can check out my cafe to
see how things are going. Hopefully sales are
up. After a few minutes, the two reach the second
mine site. Professor Hawthorne steps up to the
entrance of the mine, something that can't be
seen from the rough trail because of the overgrown
underbrush. As he pushes his way through the
underbrush, the professor turns his head and
shouts back to Ethan, who is following him. Yep,
just like I thought. Looks like the gate is shut
and padlocked. Oh wait, the padlock is either
broken or it's been cut. Hmm, that's interesting.
Ethan looks up as he brushes some dirt and thorns
off his pants and says, that doesn't seem normal.
Maybe some tourists got a little carried away.
Yeah, definitely is not normal. Not many people
know about this site, especially the tourists.
And not many people want to hike all this way
anyway. Well, I'm going to go walk into the mine
a little ways with my flashlight and see what
I can see. You wait out here as I'll only be
a few minutes. If my memory serves me right,
this mine is not very deep, so I won't be but
a few minutes. As the professor removes the broken
padlock, opens the metal gate, and enters the
mine, Ethan gets on his tablet and checks if
there's cell coverage. He discovers there is
weak coverage, but just enough to retrieve the
image of the telegraphic code chart he saved
to his cloud storage device. As he pulls up the
code chart, he notices that the symbol he and
the professor found in the first mine translate
as a minus symbol. Ethan makes a mental note
of it and then sees the notification pop up on
his tablet. The notification is from his custom
tracking software that is connected to the tracking
devices that he was testing earlier. Interesting.
Ethan thinks to himself as he pulls up the tracking
software app on his tablet. Because the coverage
is so terrible at this location, the high -resolution
map he's using in the software is loading very
slowly. He taps his fingers on the tablet as
he patiently waits. Come on, come on, Ethan says
softly as he watches the map slowly load on his
screen. Meanwhile, Professor Hawthorne makes
his way down the narrow mine shaft of the second
mine site, turning on his flashlight as the passageway
gets darker and darker. As the professor is looking
down at the ground, so as not to stumble on any
loose rocks or other debris, he notices footprints
in some of the soft dirt areas of the path. He
makes a mental note of it and keeps moving. The
professor comes to a Y intersection in the mine
shaft. There's an option to veer left. On the
path or veer right on the path? Both of these
paths lead deeper into the mountain and the professor
is not equipped to go any further. So he decides
to turn around and head back out of the mine.
As he is turning, he flashes his flashlight on
the rock walls and right away notices the same
symbol etched into the wall that Ethan had discovered
with his drone in the first mine they explored.
The professor pulls out his phone and takes a
photo of it before walking back out of the mine
and back out the gate and broken padlock. As
the professor exits the mine, he yells out to
Ethan, who's standing a little distance away.
Hey, Ethan, I found another one of those symbols
sketched into the rock. It looks like the same
symbol we found at the first mine. The professor
walks over to Ethan and shows him the photo he
took of the symbol and asks, So what do you think?
It's the same symbol, right? Ethan replies, yeah,
that's the same symbol. While you were in there,
I was able to get a weak cell signal. I pulled
the telegraphic coding chart to see if that symbol
was listed, and sure enough, the symbol appears
to translate to the minus sign. So what was the
first minus? The second minus has the symbol
carved into the wall of the shaft, and they are
both close in proximity to the entrance of the
mine. Ethan could tell the professor was snaking
by the expression the professor had on his face
while Ethan was talking. So Ethan asks, What
is it? What are you thinking about? I think that
symbol actually translates to negative. Even
though the telegraphic code chart has it listed
as the minus sign, I believe it's like a marker
or message and it means negative, you know, the
opposite of positive. I think it's a sign that
communicates to anyone who comes into the mind
that this mind produced negative results. The
professor goes on as Ethan listens. So my assumption
is that there was no gold found in this mine
similar to the first one. By this time in Ethan
and the professor's conversation, Ethan noticed
that the map had bloated on his tablet. Ethan
said, it gets even more weird. Check this out.
Ethan went on to explain to the professor that
he slipped one of his small paperclip tracking
devices in Lily's backpack as she left the cafe
yesterday. He goes on, according to the software
I built for my small tracking devices, it works
up here as well. The tracking software is showing
that Lily's backpack is located at the reservoir.
Ethan finishes the last part of his statement
as somewhat of a question. Although, this other
dot on the map here is us. This is the device
that's on the old manuscript you brought with
us. Ethan says this very excitedly as he is very
pleased in the range and power the small tracking
devices contain. The professor looks up from
his phone after finding he has weak cell service
and says, okay, well, maybe the trio decided
to go check out the second set of coordinates.
They did take a photo of Chen's note yesterday
before leaving the cafe. I mean, if Ava is a
journalist at the Sacramento Bee, then she's
probably doing some investigating herself. The
professor continues, it's getting late, so let's
go check out that third mine site. I don't want
to be hiking out here in the dark. He points
toward the direction they need to go and says,
It's actually not far from here, maybe about
a ten minute hike. Mines two and three are much
closer in proximity together than mine one. Ethan
grabs his gear and follows the professor as they
head south toward the third mine site. As they
are walking, Ethan asks the professor, So professor,
what do you think this all means? The professor
stops for a moment, takes off one of his hiking
shoes, and as he is shaking out several small
pebbles from his shoe, he says, I'm not sure
yet what this all means. I mean, all of it seems
to be connected in some way. At least the evidence
seems to be revealing that to us. In these types
of moments, I try to stick to my archaeological
principle, which is to allow the evidence to
point us to the truth, and hopefully it will
help us solve whatever mystery we've stumbled
upon, especially with the disappearance of Chen.
Oh, that reminds me, when we get back to town,
I need to stop in at the county sheriff's office
and file a missing persons report about Chen
and notify them about the broken padlock and
the footprints I discovered at the second mine
site. Several minutes later, the professor and
Ethan arrive at the third mine site. This site
is different from the other two in that the entrance
is larger in size and the mine's house seems
to be wider and taller than the previous two.
Ethan looks over to the professor and says, since
there's no gate and padlock on this Mine, why
don't you let me fly the drone into the shaft
and see how far it goes? That should save you
from having to walk in there again. We can just
sit outside the entrance of the mine and study
the drone footage. The professor responds, yeah,
good idea. My feet hurt anyways. Plus, the drone
can cover more ground and faster. The professor
glances up and watches as the drone whizzes over
his head toward the entrance of the mine and
then watches as it disappears into the black
hole in the mountain. Several minutes later,
he hears Ethan yell out, Hey professor, I found
something. Check this out. Ethan sends his drone
into the mine shaft about 100 yards, similar
in distance of what he had done for the first
mine shaft. Ethan switches back and forth between
regular, infrared, and black light mode on his
camera. He's trying to capture as many features
as possible. Ethan bursts out, and there it is,
another simple edge into the rock, and it also
appears there are about three different directions
the shaft leads. They all slope down towards
the center of the mountain. Ethan could not send
his drone down any of - The professor asked Ethan,
so is the symbol the camera captured the same
as what we saw in the first and second mines?
No, it's different, Ethan answers. Ethan pulls
up the color chart again and finds a symbol in
the color chart. Look at this. The symbol from
the third mine translates to the plus symbol.
The professor interrupts and says, yes and no,
Ethan. Yes, it's a plus symbol, but it translates
to positive. That's what that means. The first
and second mine sites indicate a negative and
the third mine site indicates a positive. This
kind of makes sense then. I'm thinking out loud
here as I'm making some assumptions from our
findings. But it's quite possible that the reason
there are only three mines on this mountain is
because the third mine was dug was the mine that
ended up producing all the gold. So why dig more
mines if you don't have to? I mean, back then
and at that time, remember this is back in 1849,
digging a mine was hard and laborious work. If
they struck gold veins in the rock in this third
mine, then why dig a fourth or fifth or sixth
if you didn't have to, right? Right, that makes
sense, Eden replies. Professor, there's something
else in the video that you might want to look
at. I switched back and forth between several
camera features, regular, infrared, and blacklight
mode. Well, when the camera was on the blacklight
mode, it picked up some features in the rock
at the entrance to the first inner shaft. I didn't
fly the drone into any of the three inner shafts,
but at the entrance, there seemed to be some
features or element in the rock that stands out.
It doesn't appear to be rock. As the professor
is looking at the video of what Ethan is talking
about, he reaches into his side pants pocket
and pulls out a pocket knife and tells Ethan,
Wait here and I'll be right back. I need to scrape
off a sample of whatever substance is in that
rock. I've not seen that before. The professor
walks into the mine with a small empty snack
baggie he got from Ethan's backpack, his pocket
knife, and his flashlight. About seven minutes
later, the professor emerges from the mine entrance,
the sun already starting to go down, holds up
the baggie, which contains small shards of what
look like an off -white substance, and says,
Ethan, we have an interesting discovery here
that I have not seen before on any of my past
digs. It kind of looks like salt. I scraped some
samples from the rock wall, the best I could
do with my pocket knife, but it should be enough
to get it tested at the lab and see what it is.
It's getting dark and we need to hike back. Ethan
and Professor Hawthorne seem to have discovered
something interesting. Meanwhile, at 7 p .m.,
Ava meets Sierra at her house and is ready for
their own adventure. Sierra greets Ava with a
smile before they drive to the reservoir where
the coordinates had pointed to. Sierra is driving
and Ava sits shotgun. blasting pop music all
while helping Sierra navigate. A little over
an hour, three playlists, and 23 sounds later,
they reach the reservoir. That's interesting,
Sierra says, pointing to the cars parked as they
pull up to the reservoir spill dam, which is
situated on the southwest side of the reservoir.
It's pretty late. Wouldn't tourists have left
already? Ava frowns a little. You're right, Sierra.
Hmm, I wonder why... They don't think too much
of it. Parking Sierra's car a distant away from
the group of other cars parked near the walkway
that goes over the dam. After they get out of
the car and approach the walkway over the dam,
they walk past a group of cars. Ava notices that
several cars had governmental license plates.
This made her very curious and she pointed this
out to Sierra as they walked past the cars. Out
of instinct. Ava snaps a few photos of the license
plates, thinking to herself, you never know,
these photos could be helpful. When Ava points
out the license plates to Sierra, Sierra's eyes
widen. You're right, Ava. Ava responds, just
to be safe, I took a few photos. They could come
in handy, or they could be used as evidence,
or they could just be part of our insurance policy
if something were to happen. Sierra shoots Ava
a weird and worried look. Good call, I guess.
I mean, I hope we are not in danger? Sierra nods
before pointing to the walkway on top of the
dam. Let's go explore that part. Oh yeah, we
should. Ava says as they start walking in that
direction, she continues, Remember coming here
in high school and just hanging out with our
friends. Those were good times, remember? Yep.
Best hangout spot, Sierra smiles, closing her
eyes as she thinks back to the good old high
school days. With that, Ava and Sierra make their
way up to the walkway over the dam, chatting
about old classmates and teachers. On either
side of the dam, there were small concrete buildings
with small half windows. These buildings have
a steel door, usually locked, and the building
house controls switches and a small office area
that is used for operations and maintenance of
the dam. This reservoir provides water to the
valleys surrounding this area and the dam controls
the flow of the water at different times of the
year. Suddenly, Ava spots a light coming from
one of the small half windows of the closest
maintenance building to the parking lot. It's
not terribly bright, but Ava thinks it's unusual
for it to be on at this time of the night. She's
never seen workers here at this time in the past.
Ava stops abruptly as they're walking. Sierra
notices this and follows Ava's line of sight.
She could also swear she heard something, so
she asks Ava, Did you hear that? Hear what? Ava
asks. You can't? Sierra says, repeating the words
she hears in a hushed tone. Here, listen. I don't
think so. That's even more risky. Even not. Yeah,
yeah, I can, but not so clearly. Let's get closer.
With that, the two girls inch closer towards
the half window, which is open, though they're
careful not to make too much noise in case someone
heard them. They listened for a few more minutes,
but the voices had become fainter and fainter
until even Sierra herself couldn't hear anything.
Hmm. Sierra mutters underneath her breath, wishing
there was a way for them to be able to eavesdrop.
Glancing around, Sierra spots a small wooden
picnic table. She nods to Ava to help her and
they both quickly pick the small table up and
move it close to the window. The window sat higher
on the side of the building and the two girls
could not see into it without having something
to stand on. The two girls climb on top of the
picnic table and try to peek in through the window
opening. They see four or five people gathered
around the table, maybe three men and two women.
They couldn't see very clearly because the window
was dirty and cloudy and wasn't open the entire
way, but they could hear their voices very clearly
now. Ava quickly takes out her phone and opens
a voice recording app. She and Sierra are standing
there together at the open window, listening
to the conversation happening inside. This is
about to get interesting. Sierra sees Ava's recording
app open and gives her a thumbs up. Together,
they hear and record the following conversation.
Don't do that. That's not smart. We might get
caught, the first man says as he sits in a way
at the table so his face is turned towards the
open window. Right, that's true. Or, you know,
we could just do away with them. Make them disappear.
Make it look like an accident. A second voice
brings out, deeper this time. The first man responds,
What? You mean... Then he gestures, making a
horizontal cut across his neck with his finger.
What do you think I meant? The second voice says.
Or we could deport them? The boy and the girl?
They're not citizens, are they? Get their visas
revoked and then threaten their families. A third
voice says, and she sounds more collected and
measured. That's smart, but there's no guarantee
they won't slip up after some time. We can't
have that. The first voice or the second voice?
Sierra's not too sure. How could anyone find
out? And what if someone else finds out? What
are we going to do then? This is the first voice.
Sierra's sure. His voice went up several octaves
higher. Stop. Stop panicking, you fools. I'll
tell you what to do with the foreign boy and
girl. Sierra's eyebrows angled, and she exchanged
puzzled glances with Ava. She could have sworn
she heard that voice before. It was a little
too familiar. Sierra could tell that both her
and Ava were thinking the same thing at that
moment, which was, could they be talking about
Chen? And who is the girl they are talking about?
At that moment, The corner of the small picnic
table snaps off with a loud crack from the weight
of the two girls standing on it. Neither Sierra
nor Ava knew that the side of the tabletop was
partially rotten when they decided to stand on
it. Ava and Sierra quickly pick themselves up
off the ground and run to the backside of the
small building which faces the spillway side
of the dam. There is a short five -foot drop
off to the narrow ledge which runs along the
entire length of the top of the dam. Below this
narrow ledge is a 60 -foot drop -off almost straight
down to the bottom of the spillway. Without thinking,
they quickly and carefully climbed down onto
the narrow ledge. They did this to hide from
whoever was coming out of the building to see
what the noise was. The girls have to be careful
not to slip. If they did, they would fall straight
down to their death. Thankfully, the wind is
light and the ledge is dry. They pressed their
bodies firmly against a side concrete. Ava breathes
heavily, catching her breath. her feet are firmly
planted on the ground and she looks at sierra
look at sierra she thinks herself don't look
down don't look down don't look suddenly Ava
hears the sound of the people in the meeting
scurrying as they walk around above them and
around the building, searching for the source
of the noise. Sierra presses her fingers to her
lips, signaling to Ava to be quiet. She also
hopes Ava knows that they have to be super still
and careful not to fall as their backs and hands
are pressed up against the exposed side of the
spillway. Sierra grabs Ava's hands and squeezes
it, almost as if saying, we can do this together,
just hold on and don't move. As Ava and Syrah
stand there in silence and not moving, for what
seems like forever, they suddenly hear some voices
from up above, not further away, maybe from the
small parking lot. The individuals in the meeting
sound like they're all getting into their cars,
starting their engines and driving away. Ava
looks at Syrah next to her and mouths the word,
my car. Meanwhile, Professor Hawthorne and Ethan
had wrapped up their time on Rob's Peak by exploring
all three old gold mine sites. They had been
on the mountain longer than intended as it was
now getting dark. However, the day wasn't a total
bust as the professor had made an interesting
discovery in the third mine. So he thinks. After
making their way back where the professor had
parked his Bronco, they decided to take the south
road back to town, even though it will take an
extra 30 minutes. The south route back to town
runs right by the reservoir where Ethan's tracking
device shows Lily to be, and where Ava and Sierra
most likely are as well. Professor Hawthorne
tells Ethan, if your tracking device shows that
Lily is still at the reservoir by the time we
get there, let's stop and meet them. Maybe we
can regroup and catch up on what's been happening.
While driving back, Ethan keeps an eye on his
device screen, which shows him that the device
he put in Lily's backpack is still located at
the reservoir. Ethan also notices that the vehicle
behind them has been following them since they
left the mountain. Ethan thinks to himself, could
this vehicle be following us? Ethan's not sure
if Professor Hawthorne notices the car but decides
to keep it to himself, especially when the professor
turns into the reservoir access road and the
car behind them continues straight. The car does
not follow the professor and Ethan onto the reservoir
access road which leads to a parking lot by the
dam. However, Ethan turns around and looks out
the backside window as they turn onto the access
road to get a look at the car behind them as
it passes by. Ethan notices that it is black
and dark blue and has a Different style license
plate than a standard California tag. Finally,
Professor Hawthorne and Ethan reached the reservoir
parking area by the dam and spillway. According
to Ethan's calculations and his tracking software,
this was the area Lily was to be. The professor
steers his Bronco into the small parking area
and parks it near the small building next to
the dam and spillway. Meanwhile, Sierra tilts
her head. Eyes silently questioning Ava whether
they were ready to try and climb out of this
position somehow. But first, they needed to figure
out if the people were gone. Ava gives her a
thumbs up, nodding. Okay, phew, that was close.
We can talk now. I think they're gone. Let's...
Ava is cut off by the whir of a car engine that
seemed to just enter the parking lot. Sierra
feels chills down her spine. Oh no! She thought
they were safe with the people being gone. One
of the cars must have come back. Sierra takes
a deep breath before succumbing to the silence
again. They must be quiet. Ava and Sierra hold
their breath as they hear footsteps approaching,
crushing the gravel in the parking lot louder
and louder. They do not hear voices at first,
but as the mysterious people get closer, they're
able to make out what they were saying. Something
about mines and gold? Something about drones?
Ava's eyebrows scrunched. Who are these people?
The voices sound familiar. Sierra, as it turns
out, has been trying to do the same thing, figuring
out who the people were. Suddenly, Sierra whispers
to Ava, I think that's Ethan and the professor.
I think you're right. Ava whispers back with
a smile. Taking a chance, Sierra shouts out,
Ethan? Professor? We're stuck over here, on the
ledge over the spillway. We can't get up ourselves.
Can't you help us get up? Ethan asks the professor
if he hears them. Do you hear that, professor?
Ethan says to the professor. The voices sound
familiar. In fact, it sounds like Sierra. Professor
Hawthorne looks over at Ethan and says, I do
hear that, but I can't tell where it's coming
from. Follow me, Ethan says. It's coming from
that building. Ethan walks towards the small
building, which sits next to the den with the
professor. They both notice a broken picnic table
along one of the sides of the building and then
hear Sierra's voice once again calling out. Hey
guys, we are down here, on the ledge, Sierra
says again with confidence as she is sure she
recognizes Ethan's voice since she works for
him every day in the cafe. Ethan cautiously moves
around the backside of the building which overlooks
the spillway and includes a drop -off that goes
straight down almost 60 feet. Ethan looks down
and sees both girls looking up at him. Professor,
they're here, Ethan says to the professor as
the professor rounds the corner of the building
to where Ethan is standing. Professor Hawthorne
immediately freezes as he is looking down at
both Sierra and Ava who are standing pressed
against the ledge wall with a 60 -foot drop beneath
them. The following questions enter the professor's
mind. How did they get themselves into this position?
And more importantly, why did they climb down
there? That seems like a very foolhardy thing
to do. How are they going to get out if we didn't
show up? And most importantly, how are they going
to get out safely? Well, we found two of them.
Ethan whispers to Professor Hawthorne not wanting
Sierra and Ava to hear him. The professor nods
back and says, we need to help them up before
they slip and fall. This is a very dangerous
situation and I don't want it to end up tragically.
The professor goes on, we must not panic. I mean,
I must not panic. We can't have them falling.
The professor looks down at Sierra and Ava and
says, can you turn around on the ledge slowly
and reach your hands up to Ethan and I? We will
grab your hands and pull you up one by one. Make
sure you hold on to our hands really firmly,
okay? Get a strong grip and we'll do the rest.
Professor Hawthorne instructs the girls and Ethan,
making sure his voice is level and calm, or at
least calm enough. Do you want me to go first,
Ava? Sierra asks before she remembers. Oh, you're
scared of heights, aren't you? What's best for
you? If you go first or if I do, I'm good with
anything. Uh, Ava hesitates, internally telling
herself to absolutely not look down. I'm too
scared to move right now. Uh, is it okay, can
you go first? Sure, of course. Sierra shoots
Ava a reassuring smile, before making sure she's
pressed against the ledge. Sierra slowly and
carefully turns herself around so she is now
facing the wall, pressed up against it firmly
with both her arms raised up. With her hands
and part of her arms reaching slightly above
the edge of the ledge, she is thinking that safety
is only seconds away. She looks up at the professor
and Ethan who are standing right above her and
says, I'm ready. Pull me up. Ava watches as two
pairs of arms hoist Sierra up. Sierra looks confident,
gripping onto the arms and holding on tight.
Ava feels her heart in her throat. A blink of
an eye later, Sierra is out of sight, safely
off the ledge and topside. Her heart beats even
more furiously. Your turn, Ava. Are you ready?
Ethan shouts out. No. Ava screams inside her
head. Instead, she croaks a smile. Okay. She
hears her rapid breathing and in a distance,
she hears Sarah shouting words of encouragement.
She follows what she saw Sarah do earlier. Turn
around slowly and cautiously. Raise her arms
and hands up high. Ready? All right. The professor
says, hold on tight. Ava swallows, channeling
all her remaining strength to hold on. She lets
out a scream as she feels her feet being lifted
off of the ground. Her feet dangle in the air
now, and in the realization, she panics. Ah,
she screams, and in the haze, as all logic and
reason slip into pure fright, faintly registers
her sweaty palms slipping away from the grip,
slowly, slowly, slowly, slipping away until Ava
slides back down on the ledge, her feet barely
catching again. Whew, that was too close for
comfort. Let's try that again, Ava. Only this
time, dry the palms of your hands off on your
pants first. We got you, the professor says.
Sierra can only imagine what was going on on
the other side of the ledge. Remembering how
scared Ava can be with heights, she remembers
the technique their friends used when Ava panicked.
Ava, stop! Sierra yells out. She hopes this would
snap Ava out of her panic. Calm down. Listen
to me, okay? Breathe in. One, two, three. Breathe
out. One, two, three. Okay, good. Stay with me,
Ava. Ava breathes in and out, focusing on following
what Sierra tells her to do. She ignores the
sensation of being in air, rising up and up in
the possibility of what could have happened.
No, don't think about that. She scolds herself.
Instead, focusing on Sierra's clear voice, instructing
her to breathe in and out. Breathe in and out.
Breathe in and... You can open your eyes now,
Ava, Sierra says. Good job. We're alive. Ava
takes a deep breath and opens her eyes to see
her standing in front of Sierra. She can tell
that her feet are firmly planted on the ground
once again. She tackles Sierra into a hug, thanking
her for her calm voice and encouragement. She
also thanks Ethan and the professor for their
steady hands and for showing up when they did.
Professor Hawthorne says, I'm really, really
glad Ethan and I found you out here tonight and
that everything went well. Otherwise, I don't
know if I would have been able to live with,
What thankfully didn't happen. Ethan agrees and
is standing there in silence as he's coming down
from the adrenaline rush that's still pumping
through his veins. All right, he glances back
again to check that Sierra and Ava are safe and
says, Is Lily on the ledge as well? I didn't
see her. Sierra's eyes grow wide. What do you
mean, Professor? Lily's not with us. Ava's a
little shaken from earlier, but manages to ask,
Wait, why did you think Lily was with us? Professor
Holden looks at Ethan as if expectantly. A few
seconds later, Ethan feels the gaze of Sierra
and Ava on him too. Uh, he says, I can explain.
In a few words, he explains how the day before,
he had slipped one of the small paperclip tracking
devices into Lily's bag without thinking much
about it. He only wanted to test out the range
of the device, since they'd agreed that Lily
would go to the college and Ethan and the professor
would go to Rob's peak. He then went on to tell
them how later on, He received a notification
from the tracking device once he had gotten service
on the mountain. The notification from his tracking
software showed Lily's location to be here at
the reservoir. Ethan then said that he told the
professor about it and that they both then assumed
that Lily must be with Ava and Sierra at the
same place. Together, Sierra and Ava, oh, in
understanding. Before Sierra asked, so where
is Lily then? Does your software show she's here
somewhere? Ethan pulls out his phone and opens
up his tracking software, and a map of the area
around the reservoir appears. The map shows a
blinking red dot, showing Lily's location. Ethan
then says while pointing to the map on the device
screen, According to the tracking device, Lily
is here, a little to our right. They all glance
up, to the right, following Ethan's line of sight.
The small utility building that the people had
been in earlier stood there. Ava, feeling much
better now, rushes to the metal doors to entrance
to the small building. The others follow. Alright,
we should be safe to go in, Ava says. That said,
Ava pushes the metal doors as they slowly creak
to open. Together, the group moves into the small
space, which is now only dimly lit by the moonlight
coming in through the small side of the half
window. They quickly scan the room while calling
out Lily's name. Lily, where are you? Are you
in here? Ava says with some hesitancy as she
looks around. Ava recognizes the meeting table
and the chairs that had been used up earlier
by the secret group who was meeting in the first
place. She also spots the chair that the mysterious
person sat in, the one whose face they couldn't
see because of the angle of the window. With
every growing second, Sierra's worry grows. Where
could Lily possibly be, she thinks to herself.
The room is small, no other doors or spaces to
hide, just a square room with some utility panels
on the wall and the table and chairs. Lily was
obviously not in the small room. Sierra thinks
to herself, this doesn't make any sense. Maybe
the tracking device is not working properly,
or maybe Lily is there around the building somewhere
and can't hear them. What if she's unconscious?
Or worse, what if she is... Sierra's thoughts
spiral down and she knows it. This often happens
when she's worried or anxious. There's got to
be a switch that turns on the light, she thinks.
Now where can that be, she whispers to herself.
She fumbles against the wall until her hand finds
the switch. The light flickers on thanks to the
one fluorescent light bulb hanging from the ceiling
above the table. Now, scan the roof for anything
that could tell you where Lily is. She sees it.
Lily's backpack. She sees the backpack sitting
on the floor in the back corner of the room and
quickly walks over to it and picks it up. Lily's
backpack, Ethan exclaims. Ethan walks over to
Sierra, who is holding the backpack, and reaches
into the side pocket and says, Here it is. This
is the tracking device I put in yesterday. It
works just fine. Where's Lily, though? Sierra's
voice shakes a little as she looks up at the
others who are standing there. Ava is still squinting
from the bright fluorescent lights as she says,
Lily's not here, but her backpack is here. Ava
frowns, her mind immediately piecing together
the puzzle. Oh no, the people who are meeting
in here have her. Oh, the Chen. We heard them
talking about it and recorded it. Hold on, what
people from before? Professor Hawthorne takes
a step back. Ava explains how they saw the government
issued cars and they heard voices eavesdropping
on a secret meeting between several people. The
picnic table, the loud noise from the broken
picnic table. The people coming out to investigate
and why she and Sierra had to be rescued from
the ledge. Oh, wow, the professor says. I was
going to ask you both how you ended up on that
steep ledge but got caught up worrying about
Lily and if she had fallen. And now everything
has just happened so fast. It's starting to make
some sense now. Do you remember what they were
saying? Were you able to see who they were? Ethan
asks. He had been quiet for a while, thinking
about... The day's events, I'm wondering how
compared to today, yesterday had been so uneventful.
Ava nods. She then glances over at Sierra. Sierra
could not stop pacing back and forth in her worry
for Lily. Ava touches Sierra's shoulder, saying,
Sierra, I know you're worried, we all are, but
right now freaking out isn't going to help. How
about we play the recordings we took and then
maybe the conversation will tell us where they
could have taken Lily and possibly Chen too.
Sierra nods and sits down on one of the chairs
at the table. The others do the same. All right,
Ava says, pulling up the recording app and suddenly
feeling a shot of gratitude for having thoughts
to record the conversation before pressing play.
Here we go. This is what we heard. Professor
Hawthorne looks down at the table as he listens
intently to the recording. He then looks up and
freezes when he hears a very familiar voice and
blurts out, no way. Ava pauses the recording,
asking, what? That's Professor Sharpton from
the science department at the college. where
at least that sounds just like him. In fact,
I'm sure it's his voice. I'd put money on it,
Professor Hawthorne explains. Sierra exchanges
glances with Ava, before both of them respond,
Oh, that's why. No wonder they thought that voice
sounded familiar when they heard it. They had
run into Professor Sharpton two days ago while
looking for Chen at the college. Both Sierra
and Ava now realize this is the man who was sitting
in the chair below the window and whose face
they were not able to see. This was Professor
Sharpton. Professor Hawthorne could not believe
his ears. Quite literally, dumbfounded, he says,
What? There's no way. He's one of my oldest friends
at the college. He's the chair of the science
department. We've worked together for years.
This is impossible. This has got to be a mistake.
I just can't believe it. Professor Hawthorne
explains, his voice getting louder and louder
into a shout. Professor, Ava says, turning to
face him. I understand your disbelief, but why
are you defending him? What do you mean by that,
Ava? Professor Hawthorne asks. Why do you refuse
to believe he's involved in this? It's clearly
his voice. It's almost like you're trying to
defend him, Ava rushes, feeling the adrenaline
the way she usually does when she's on the brink
of another discovery. What else are you hiding,
Professor? What? Where is this coming from? What
would I have to hide, Professor Hawthorne says,
overwhelmed with the thought of one of his closest
work colleagues being mixed up with something
like this, lying, kidnapping, and who knows what
else. Ava, calm down a little, Sierra says, before
turning to the Professor, gently explaining what
Ava was getting at. Yesterday at the cafe, you
brought the manuscript with you, and you could
have just easily given the manuscript to Lily.
He knew the way to Rob's Peak, so you didn't
really need the map. We were thinking about why
you wanted to take the manuscript with you there.
Right, and if your bag hadn't fallen on the ground
with its contents spilling out, would you have
shown us the manuscript? Besides, why did you
have the manuscript with you in the first place?
Ava asks one question after another. Ava and
Sierra, you can't possibly be suggesting that
Professor Hawthorne is a part of whatever this
is, are you? Ethan asks. Silas fills the room.
They were all looking at each other. Here, I
can vouch for him. If he didn't want us to know
that it was Sharptent who was speaking on the
recording, he wouldn't have mentioned the name
in the first place, right? Besides, on our way
here, he was calling the sheriff to report Chen's
disappearance. If he was involved in Chen's and
now Lily's disappearance, he wouldn't have done
that, would he? Oh, Ava says quietly before turning
to the professor. Professor, I'm really sorry
for accusing you of being involved in that. I
know that when I get heated, I tend to jump to
conclusions, even though my job is all about
finding evidence before making any claims. Though,
it's always been in my nature to be skeptical
of everything, and just about everyone, too.
Still, though, I'm working on it. Sorry again,
professor. That's okay, Ava. I can understand
from your perspective, the professor says before
realizing something. Hold on. Is that why you
and Sierra didn't tell us you were exploring
the reservoir today? Because you were suspicious
of me? Ava exchanges glances with Sierra before
admitting yes to the professor's question. That
was the reason why Ava responds. Hmm, I see.
And that makes sense, I suppose. Hopefully I've
earned your trust by now, and I haven't forgotten
that you do work for the B and assume you are
working on a story as we speak, the professor
responds. Ava quickly changes the subject and
asks, Ethan mentioned you called the sheriff's
office to report Trin's disappearance. How did
that go? The professor responds, well, to be
honest, he didn't seem to be troubled by it,
almost like it was no big deal. By contrast,
our town had a missing persons case last fall
when a woman went missing for about a week or
so. The sheriff's department was all over it
within 24 hours, followed up by a daily news
briefings as they coordinated with the mayor's
office. The woman was finally located safe and
sound at one of her family's homes outside the
county. It turns out it was all a big misunderstanding.
So to answer your question, the sheriff's response
was not what I expected. Maybe he's just being
a little cautious so as not to repeat another
media blitz without proof. He listened and jotted
down the information I gave to him about Chen
and then thanked me. Said he would look into
it. That was it. Honestly, I'm not even surprised,
Sierra says. I'm only worried this means that
Chen, whoever he is, isn't getting the help he
needs. And now what about Lily? According to
what we heard from this group meeting here, they
both have been taken. Sierra continues, Professor,
should we call the sheriff back and ask if we
can come see him and bring the recording this
evening? We need to report Lily's disappearance
now as well in the evidence what we heard and
saw. It all points to something larger, something
that doesn't really make sense. Ava and I took
several photos of the group's license plates
earlier. We could give the sheriff all of our
findings and let them handle it from here on
out. Ava could tell Professor Hawthorne was thinking
as he did not respond to Sierra's question right
away, so she offered another option that may
allow them to gather more proof information without
tipping anyone else off. Ava had very much gone
into her investigation zone and was secretly
wanting this unfolding mystery to be big. She
was concerned for the two missing people. but
she did not know them personally, so much of
her motivation was taken or was driven by the
need to solve this mystery and write a great
set of articles for the Bee. Ava speaks up before
Professor Hawthorne could respond to Sierra's
question, or we could wait until tomorrow to
contact the sheriff. This would give me time
to have my colleague at the Bee look up the license
plates we took photos of tonight. It seems the
people meeting here tonight assumed there would
be no other people here. Otherwise, they would
have probably chosen a different location and
not have driven their own cars. What do we know
so far? Sierra interjects, Chen and Lily are
missing, presumed kidnapped by this group or
someone associated with this group. And Professor
Sharpton was in the meeting tonight and did not
sound very happy. Ethan then chimes in, Lily
was going to the science lab at the college earlier
today to work on the formula Chen had written
on his notes of Professor Hawthorne. The same
lab that Professor Sharpton oversees. And there
are two sets of coordinates that lead to two
different locations that seem to be connected
somehow. The reservoir and Rob's Peak. And the
coordinates were coded using the old Chinese
telegraphic code system. We seem to be missing
something. Something that connects these things
together. The professor had been looking up at
the half window as he was listening to the group's
conversation, still thinking and contemplating
on what to do regarding Chen and now Lily's disappearance.
He is still very upset at what he had heard on
the recording, and especially knowing that the
voice he recognized was Professor Sharpton. It
sounded sinister and dark, a tone in the voice
of Professor Sharpton that Hawthorne had never
heard before. Professor Hawthorne looks back
down at the group and interjects, Ethan, you
forgot that we discovered something in mine site
number three today on Rob's Peak. Something that
I had never seen before around here, a substance
in the rock face. And the padlock was cut, which
gave us access to enter the mine, which is usually
not the case. I also noticed other footprints
in the dirt, and they seemed fairly recent. Maybe
just a coincidence? I think not. We should consider
that all this is connected somehow. As the professor
is still talking, he pulls out the manuscript
and spreads some of its pages onto the table
in front of the group. As the professor is thumbing
through different pages of the manuscript, Ethan
looks around with a slight smirk on his face
and says, Guys, it's kind of weird how we're
having our own secret meeting in the same room
the other group had their secret meeting a minute
ago. So weird. It's like the bad guys meeting
and the good guys meeting. Ava glances at Ethan
with a smile and says, yep, definitely going
to use that in my story. Ava then asks the professor,
what are we looking for in these manuscripts
pages? Before answering Ava's question, the professor
says, I think they closed the reservoir's access
road gate at midnight, so we need to hurry as
it's already almost 1130. The professor sends
a quick text message to his wife, letting her
know he is still out and will be coming home
soon. Not wanting to alarm her of what the group
had discovered, he leaves out all the details
and why he will be later than what he had told
her earlier. The professor then looks up at the
group and says, OK, the manuscript is not that
long, about 120 pages or so. If we divide up
the pages, it'll go a lot faster. And if I remove
the pages that contain irrelevant lists of materials
and supplies, the local shops carried at that
time and the drawn maps of the three mines on
Rob's Peak. then we are down to about 80 pages
total. So let's divide up the remaining 80 pages,
20 pages or so, give or take, for each person
and go from there. The professor continues, scan
each page as quickly as possible. We are looking
for anything that seems out of the ordinary,
information that may seem important to what we
already know, like formulas, mentions of minerals
or substances, gold, or names and or places we
don't already know about. I looked at this manuscript
several years ago, but I didn't study it thoroughly
enough at that time to remember every detail.
So, with the knowledge we already have, it's
important we look for more clues in these pages.
There's a reason this was never published, and
maybe we can discover why. The group gets to
work. A short while later, Sierra speaks up.
I think I found something interesting. At least
as interesting to me as I've not heard of this
before, and I grew up in Coloma. Sierra puts
the page on the table and points to the paragraph
in the middle of the page and says, This paragraph
has mention of a network of tunnels in and around
Sutter's Mill. It also states that these tunnels
were used to store significant amounts of gold
that was discovered during the height of the
gold rush in 1849. Sierra continues, This information
is contained in only two sentences on this page,
and the ink is quite faded. I mean, at least
I think that is what the sentences say. Someone
else can check the writing and see if that is
what is actually written there. Ava grabs the
page and looks at the paragraphs Sierra is pointing
to and says, Yep, that's what it says. Hmm, this
just got even more interesting. Kidnappings,
a secret group, and now a network of tunnels.
I grew up in Coloma as well and I've never heard
of this network of tunnels. Very interesting
to say the least, Professor Hawthorne responds.
If this is true, which I have no reason to believe
otherwise, my guess is that someone does not
want these tunnels to be discovered. I've never
heard of these tunnels either, nor have I heard
of anyone at the college having knowledge of
these tunnels. Eton speaks up. I may have found
a connection to the Chinese symbols that were
used on Chen's note on the margin of one of the
pages on the manuscript etched into the walls
of the mine. Really? The professor asks. Ethan
goes on. This page mentions that there were two
brothers from China who came to America around
1847, maybe to work on a railroad or to be daily
birds of some sort. Ethan continues. The next
paragraph reveals that the two brothers from
China found work under the supervision of a man
called James W. Marshall. Mr. Marshall, so it
seems, was tasked with building a sawmill near
a riverfront on the property of a man named Johan
A. Sutter. Ethan stops for a moment and looks
up at the group, and then continues. My assumption
is that the river mentioned is the American River
as we know it, which runs right through the heart
of Colombo, and the Solomon Mansion is Sutter's
Mill, where the first gold was discovered. Okay,
this is starting to make a lot more sense, the
professor says. This information is not known
to any of the historians who have studied and
published books about the Great Gold Rush. It's
not my expertise, but I have read some of those
books. The Two Brothers from China, A Network
of Tunnels, only one of the three mine sites
that seem to produce gold. The Golded Chinese
Characters, but how does this connect to the
reservoir then? Also, I found a substance in
one of the shafts of the third mine that I couldn't
identify. I collected a small sample. I need
to get it tested. Ava jumps in with something
she found. This page I have must come after one
of Ethan's pages, as it also mentions some information
about the two Chinese brothers. This paragraph
says that the two brothers, after they found
gold flakes discovered at their sawmill building
site, the two brothers built a small cabin on
Rob's Peak overlooking the valleys below. It
goes on and says that between the work contracts,
the two brothers would spend a lot of time on
Rob's Peak. Maybe they were hoping to strike
a bridge as well so they wouldn't have to keep
working for someone else, Ethan says. The professor
then interjects, and at that time, back then,
this reservoir did not exist. The place where
we are now sitting was part of the valley region.
This dam, the spillway, and this reservoir lake
was not here. This all came about after the gold
rush. However, during the gold rush, these valleys
were full of makeshift campsites, worker camps,
mining camps, which held all sorts of logistical
materials and supplies that the gold rushers
needed and used while looking for gold. And many
of these camps were supported and run by the
foreigners. Many of the workers in these camps
came here after working on the railroad crews,
many of which were from China, and they weren't
treated well, as some of the other pages in this
manuscript describe. Professor Hawthorne looks
at his watch and says, We need to pack up and
leave as it's almost midnight. The gate will
be locked and we won't be able to drive out of
here. Ava looks around the room and asks, What
next? What's our plan? I mean, we've got some
valuable new information. Two people missing
and we also may be in danger now. The professor
looks directly at Ava, then Sierra, and then
Ethan and says, As of now and with this new information,
I am not going to tell the sheriff yet about
Lily's disappearance. My previous interaction
with the sheriff about Chen being missing is
not sitting right with me. So for Chen and Lily's
sake, and for our own sake, don't tell anyone
what we've talked about tonight. Let's meet at
Ethan's cafe right when it opens tomorrow morning.
Ethan, can we meet by the back door in the alley
and then meet in your office? Add a view of the
customers in the cafe? We need to be discreet
and plan our next moves carefully, as I feel
Chen and Lily's lives might depend on it. Sure,
Ethan replies. Come about 15 minutes before opening
time at 6 .45am, and I can let you through the
back door. Knock three times in a row like this.
Ethan then demonstrates how they should knock
on the back door by knocking on the table they
are sitting around. Sierra looks around and says
quietly and a little nervously, Cool, we have
a secret knock now. She then clears her throat
and adds, I'll take Lily's backpack with me.
As the group gets up from the table, turns out
the light, exits the small room and closes the
metal door. Ava is quietly thinking to herself
of how she can contact Ted tonight and ask for
another favor. It's a big favor and it's really
late. This favor will involve Ted having to use
his contact at the San Francisco FBI office.
Ava really wants to know who the other people
were at the bad guy meeting which took place
earlier that evening. After all, she has photos
of some of their license plates and a recording
of their voices. However, little does Ava know
that the bad guy is also a photo of her license
plate. Back at her grandmother's house and quietly
enters the front door just as the living room
clock chimes once indicating that it was one
o 'clock in the morning already. Ava's mind was
still wandering, searching and thinking about
all the small coincidences and the connections
her, Sierra, Eason, and Professor Hawthorne had
just discussed at the reservoir less than an
hour ago. The ride back to the town with Sierra
was awkwardly quiet. probably because she and
Sierra was trying to still process what had just
happened. Ava also started noticing that her
upper arms and wrists were quite sore from being
pulled up off the ledge over the spillway. The
adrenaline had subsided now, and the trauma of
the last two hours of events had finally set
in. Wide awake still, she wonders if she should
call Ted, her trusted colleague at the Bee who's
helped her out in the past with quick research
and answers she's needed for other stories she
has written. Ted is single and somewhat antisocial.
Plus, Ava knows that Ted is often up late at
night working anyway. She takes a chance and
sends him a quick text message that reads, I
need some help on something big. Can't wait till
morning. Call me if you're still up. Ethan gets
to his job a little before 6 .30am, still quite
tired from all the activity and excitement from
the day before. He thinks to himself while unlocking
the back door to his cafe. Was it literally just
one big dream or did it really happen? He already
knows the answers to the question. Yesterday
was not a normal day for a guy like Ethan, but
he feels a sense of pride knowing that the tech
projects he had been developing all seemed to
work quite well. The tracking device, the integrated
software, and the mini -drone. He enters the
shop through the back door and turns the lights
on in his office, knowing that the others would
be showing up through the back door in about
15 minutes. The morning bakery crew was already
in the shop. kitchen, preparing and plating all
the evening's fresh baked bread and pastries
for the day. Ethan loved this time of the day
as it was calm before the busyness of the day.
As he glanced from the back room for the cafe
seating area at the front windows, he noticed
that there were already customers starting to
line up to get into the cafe first. As Sierra
made her way to the cafe that early morning,
she would often walk down Main Street and enter
through the front doors about 15 minutes before
her shift would start. However, on this day,
Sierra walked past the front of the cafe, past
a dozen or so customers who were waiting outside,
and turned the corner to the alley and made her
way to the back door of the cafe as Ethan had
instructed the night before. As Sierra turns
the corner to the alley, she notices that Professor
Hawthorne and Ava are already standing by the
back door of the cafe talking quietly. Professor
Hawthorne looks down at his watch and he notices
Sierra walking toward both him and Ava in the
alley and says, Alright, let's knock on the door
and get inside before anyone else sees us out
here altogether. Ava knocks to Sierra as if to
say hello without actually saying hello and then
turns around and knocks three times on the back
door of the cafe as Ethan had instructed. Ethan
hears knocking on the black door, rushes over
and opens the door. He's greeted by the professor,
Sierra, and Ava as he gestures to them to hurry
inside and go straight to his office, which is
situated just off the main kitchen in the back
of the cafe. He looks at the three as they enter
the back of the cafe and says, Make yourself
at home. I've got a check on the front area and
make sure my staff are ready to open and then
I'll be right back. At this time, it was almost
7am in the morning, opening time, and the crowds
from the town's annual Gold Rush Days festivities
were already up and mingling around the downtown
area. The line in front of Ethan's cafe had gotten
longer as well. After entering Ethan's office
and getting situated, Ava looks at Sarah and
Professor Hawthorne and says, Guys, I've got
some news to share but I'll wait until Ethan
gets in here. At that moment, Ethan pops his
head in the office and says, Guys, one of my
morning front cafe staff members hasn't shown
up yet so I have to go cover for her until she
gets here. You can get started about me, just
fill me in later. Ethan turns around and walks
out of the room and says under his breath, man,
the joys of owning your own business. Ava jumps
right in as soon as Ethan leaves. I couldn't
sleep last night when I got home, so I texted
my colleague at the B and asked for another big
favor. Thankfully, he was still awake. Anyway,
he reluctantly said yes after I persuaded him
that he could be included as a collaborator on
one of my articles. He got in touch with his
confidential contact at the FBI in the middle
of the night. who ran a tag check on the two
licenses plates in my photo. Long story short,
one of the cars from last night is registered
to the office of the mayor of Coloma, Anthony
Ruiz. Ava could tell by the look on Professor
Hawthorne's face that he was as stunned as she
had been last night when she had found out the
news. Neither the professor nor Sarah said a
word. They both just had a look of disbelief
on their faces. Ava goes on. Guys, this gets
even deeper. The second car in the photo is registered
to the office of... None other than California
State Representative Deborah Stewart Brown. You
could hear a pin drop in the room. Sierra quickly
looks at both the professor and Ava and then
says quietly, So we now know the identities of
three of the five people who were in that meeting
last night. A prominent professor from the college,
the town mayor, and a state representative. Whoa,
then who were the other two? This is a big deal,
right? Sierra says as she looks at both Professor
Hawthorne and Ava. Professor Hawthorne speaks
up now and says, Ava, how confident are you with
that source at the FBI? Ava responds, he's a
solid source. Another reporter had to be used
the same source to help support the story we
broke about next -gen pharmaceuticals and the
rampant fraud that company was practicing. Yeah,
he's solid, Ava finishes. And there's nothing
to affirm the gain or lose by feeding my colleague
Ted into this info. He just ran the tags, a standard
procedure they do all the time from their office.
The only added bonus for us is that he did it
in the middle of the night. Professor Hawthorne
then says, wow, my good buddy Sharpton, the mayor,
and the state rep Brown are all mixed up in this
thing. I mean, they seem to be involved with
kidnapping two people, first Jen and now Lily.
He continues, thinking out loud here, so if Lily
went to the college lab yesterday before she
disappeared, then what was she working? Ava responds
before the professor could finish the sentence.
I remember her saying that she was going to test
out the formula, or at least try the formula
that Shin had written on the note he gave to
you a while back. The same note where he also
included the coordinates of the reservoir. Sierra
interjects, what if she discovered something
about that formula? And... If Professor Sharpton
was there at the same time, it's possible she
was taken from the lab at that time. Professor
Hawthorne responds, At some point, I think we'll
need to contact the FBI and report to them about
Chen and Lily and give them our leads. This could
be much deeper than what we think, and I don't
want either one of you or Ethan to be endangered.
Avalon says, I hear you, but I'd like to take
a field trip first before we get to the FBI involved.
The only reason I say this is because I think
we need some more evidence in order for them
to secure warrants to search places or arrest
people. Basically, all we have right now is a
recording, a blurry photo of two license plates,
an unpublished old manuscript, a handwritten
note, and the knowledge that two people we know
are presumably missing may be taken against their
will. The FBI could say to us, for all we know,
the two missing people could have just run off
with each other. We need more evidence or a better
lead in order to commit resources and secure
words. Looking right at Ava, the professor says,
I know what you're thinking and we can pull it
off pretty easily. You're wanting to go find
the underground tunnels at the site of Sutter's
Mill, aren't you? Ava nods her head and then
asks, how will that be easy though? Professor
Hawthorne looks at both Ava and Sierra and says,
because I'm friends with old man John Sutter.
the persons whose name is on that deed of land,
the land that's now a historical site and a tourist
attraction. Old Man Sutter doesn't live there,
but I could call him and get his permission to
poke around all over that property. He loves
my previous archaeological work, and we've had
many conversations about it when he's in town.
You see, even though Old Man John Sutter, a distant
relative of the original owner of the land at
Sutter's Mill, his name is on the land deed.
He doesn't take care or manage the property.
He's actually paid by the state of California
to not manage it. Instead, the state manages
it because it was designated many, many years
ago as a historical state landmark. Therefore,
the state of California has the authority and
money to manage and take care of the property
and its surroundings. It's also common knowledge
that the state built an exact replica of the
famous sawmill for tourism purposes because the
original sawmill rotted and crumbled decades
ago. Old man John Sutter lives a few counties
over and doesn't come by here much anymore. I
think he's in his late 80s or early 90s right
now. I'll give him a call in a minute and get
permission to go to his property before it opens
to the public and do some surveying. I'll say
we are doing some research for some of my classes
for next semester. A few minutes later, as the
professor is talking to old man Sutter on the
phone, the professor looks over at Ava and Sierra
and gives them a thumbs up. Professor then says,
yep, it's that easy. And continues. The property
opens to the public at 10 or 10 .30 this morning,
so we should head over there now. I'll drive
since there will be much less suspicion than
having a stranger's car parked on the property
like yours, Ava. Ava looks at Sierra and then
the professor and says, All right, we're doing
this. Sierra, you have the entire day off, right?
Yeah, I do. Sierra answers. But what about Ethan?
I mean, I can go up front in the cafe and tell
him what our plan is. Not sure he can leave the
cafe today again. Sierra leaves the office to
go tell Ethan. She returns a few minutes late
and reports, Guys, the cafe is slammed right
now. So many customers. Ethan said to go without
him. He also said we should each take one of
his small tracking devices, which are in the
top drawer of his desk behind you, Ava. I'll
also bring Lily's backpack with me. Professor
Hawthorne responds as he points to his old worn
messenger bag he never leaves home without. The
manuscript pages I have are clipped together
with one of Ethan's devices already. Good idea,
Ethan, Ava says under her breath as she opens
the top drawer of her desk and grabs one of the
remaining paperclip tracking devices from the
front part of the top drawer. She continues.
Sierra, here's one for you too. Let's just put
them in our front pants pockets. Ethan has the
ability to follow all three of us now. Just in
case something were to go happen to any of us,
Ethan's back here and can help be supported if
needed. My Bronco is parked a block away down
the street on the left. Meet me there in 10 minutes
and I'll drive us over to Old Man Sutter's property.
Ava, I hope you are ready to take notes for your
articles. Professor says as he exits the cafe
office and then leaves the cafe out the back
door into the alley. Sierra and Ava follow a
few minutes later after Sierra fetches both of
them a coffee and bagel for the road. Meanwhile,
Lady finds herself sitting on a small flimsy
mattress cushion she used as a bed the night
before. She's staring at a rocky dirt wall while
a small single light bulb hangs from a wire from
the wall behind her, and dimly lights up the
small space she's being held in. She notices
a metal gate to her right and left that leads
to long corridors, or passageways that then lead
somewhere else. She has a pounding headache that
seems to be getting better, but it still lingers.
Lily has no idea what time it is. or where she's
at. All she knows is that she seems to be trapped.
The last thing she remembers about yesterday
is being in the science lab at the college and
then everything suddenly going dark. Then she
woke up in this small musty space or room a few
hours ago. She says to herself, it seems to be
morning because my body clock wakes me up religiously
around 7 .30 every morning. We're sometimes close
to that. All of the sudden, she hears footsteps
approaching and then hears a familiar voice say,
Lily, I didn't expect you to get mixed up with
this. First Chen, and now you. Come on, man,
you both should have left this alone. You've
put me in a very difficult situation. And now
other people, who are not as understanding and
as kind as I am, are contemplating on what they
should do with you both. Professor Sharpton continues
as Lily looks up at him. It would be in your
best interest to tell me everything you know
and tell me if your friends also know the same
information. Lily responds with a faint voice.
Um, what information are you talking about? My
friends and I were just looking for Chen. Sharpton
snaps back. The formula, Lily, the formula. Where
did you get that formula from? That's what I
am talking about. Professor Sharpton lifts up
Lily's cell phone and shows it to her, then points
to a photo of Chen's note. The note that Chen
had written and gave to Professor Hawthorne the
week before. Lily, you see this photo and the
formula written on this note? Some very important
people are not happy about this note. So, for
your own sake, tell me what you know. He then
follows that up with another question. Is it
just you and the other two girls that are involved?
What do they know? He finishes by saying, Tell
me everything, and this might end well for you.
Realizing that this is not some terrible misunderstanding,
Lady pauses for a moment before answering Sharpton.
She then responds, The two girls who were with
me the other day at the lab don't know anything.
They were having lunch with me and wanted to
ride along when I told them I wanted to see if
Chen was at the lab. Then, when we didn't find
him there, We went and asked Professor Hearthorn,
like you suggested, and he wasn't there either.
Sharpton looks at Lily with a stern expression.
I hope for your sake you are telling the truth.
He turns around and walks back out the same dark
corridor he came from and closes the metal gate
behind him. Lily peers down the long corridor
through the metal gate that Sharpton had just
closed and notices that there was another person
standing further down the passageway. She watches
as Sharpton stops and talks briefly with that
other person. The mystery person is standing
in a shadow so she can't make out clearly who
it is. However, she does notice that the person
is much larger than Sharpton. She then watches
as Sharpton walks off and disappears around a
corner further down the corridor. All right,
Professor Hawthorne says as he turns off the
ignition, we're here. The three of them get out
of the Bronco and pause for a bit to take in
the surroundings. The road they drove up on follows
the American River through the valley. It's a
beautiful drive as it sits in a valley along
the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Alongside the road on this particular section
is a small pull -off area where tourists can
stop, Park their cars before trekking over the
American River by way of a narrow wooden pedestrian
bridge. Three will have to walk over the bridge
in order to gain access to the original site
of Sutter's Mill. Professor Hawthorne looks around
and points toward the pedestrian bridge several
meters away and says, We'll need to cross that
bridge as the original location of Sutter's Mill
sits opposite us on the other side of the river.
However, the original mill is not there anymore.
The State Parks Commission built a replica which
sits on the same site as the original mill did.
At least that's what the sign says. Hawthorne's
familiar with this area as he's been here before
several times, mainly as a tourist, to visit
the original site of Sutter's Mill, where the
first gold was found. the place where the historic
California Gold Rush all started. As the three
are walking to the site, Hawthorne continues
explaining other details about Old Man Sutter's
property to Ava and Sierra. He continues, a small
front portion of the property has been designated
as a National Historic Landmark and is taken
care of by the California State Park Association.
Tourists are allowed to access about half acre
of the front part of the property, which butts
up against the river. This half acre is open
to the public from, I think, 10, 10 .30 a .m.
to 5 p .m. daily. I think the state park rangers
take care to open and close the gate at the bridge
every day. Professor Hawthorne continues talking
as they reach the other side of the river and
continue trekking along a small trail along the
bank of the river that leads to the replica sawmill
site. I bet there have been some tourists out
here this week because the annual Gold Rush Festival
happening in town, the professor mumbles. Ava
sees the mill structure ahead and says, Oh yeah,
I remember coming here a long time ago with my
grandparents when I was a kid. I don't remember
much else, but I think my grandma still has some
photos of me standing up on the mill overlooking
the river below. I don't think I've ever been
here before. I mean, I've seen signs on the road
to this place, but we never stopped to check
it out. It's kind of interesting that when you
grow up in a place that tourists come to, you
don't really go see the sights yourself. Professor
Hawthorne continues, So true, Sierra. I've noticed
that with some of the places I've lived. Okay,
we're here. Let's climb the stairs to the mill
platform, and that will give us a view over the
back fence at some of the property. The three
climb the stairs that go up about 12 feet off
the ground to an open raised and covered platform.
From this vantage point, the three can look out
over the back part of the half acre and see a
little over the back fence that separates the
half acre public access area from the other 30
plus acres. which is private property and not
open to the public. The remaining 30 -some acres
is all fenced in and extends up the side of the
mountain. The slope of the property is not steep
but gradual. There are a lot more rocks, boulders,
and trees on the restricted area of the property.
The property is somewhat a rectangular shape
as it extends up the mountain and the last five
plus acres can be quite steep. The professor
points toward the back right corner fence area
of the half acre lot and says, Old Man Sutter
said there's a small locked gate back there we
can access in order to get onto the back 30 acres.
He gave me the padlock code. If I were to take
a guess, and if that tunnel system is actually
here, it would be on the private property, probably
hidden from sight and maybe obscured a bit by
natural surroundings. If you were to hide something,
whatever it is, Ava says after a moment, her
shrewd eyes sweeping across the landscape, it
would be this place. historical site, and tourist
attraction and all. They're smart. They might
have done bad things, but they're smart. I'll
give them that. Sarah nods, a look of worry on
her face. You're right. The only thing is, that's
bad for us. The smarter they are, the more dangerous
I feel we can get into. Ava swallows, thinking
to herself. And the bigger the story will be
for the bee. She keeps quiet, however, before
speaking up. Okay, professor, should we go and
try to access the property? Yes, we didn't come
all this way just to look at it from up here.
I mean, this is quite unsettling and we need
to find some more answers and evidence so we
can get the FBI involved. The professor says
as he climbs back down off the replica mill platform.
Besides, we didn't come here as tourists. Sierra
and Ava follow Professor Hawthorne as they make
their way to the back of the half acre and finds
the small metal fence gate at the right corner
of the fence as described by Old Man Sutter.
She looks around and realizes that they were
the only people on the property and says, we're
really lucky to be the only ones here right now.
Otherwise, tourists would definitely have questions
for us. Yeah, for sure, Eva says before glancing
down at her watch. All right, it's a little past
10, so we should hurry up as there may be some
more showing up soon. Professor Hawthorne nods,
unlocks the padlock with the code that old man
Sutter gave him and opens the squeaky fence door.
After all three of them make their way through
the fence door, exiting the public access area
and entering the private property, the professor
secures the fence door shut and locks the padlock.
Don't be alarmed, but I need to shut the fence
door and lock the padlock. We don't need any
curious tourists accidentally wandering back
here where they don't belong. They begin hiking
around and exploring areas of the back property,
areas that are not flat. rock formations and
other natural formations that may hide an entrance
to a tunnel system. They continue doing this
as they trek upwards towards higher elevation.
After about 30 minutes of hiking around and exploring,
slowly and methodically, their efforts seem fruitless.
Suddenly, Sierra spots a large rock formation
jutting out of the side of the mountain, some
25 or so meters up ahead of the tree. The large
rocks were partially covered by underbrush and
obscured by several large pine trees. The rock
formation included two large boulders which rested
next to each other with a small space left between
them. It looked like a shallow cave at first
glance from the distance she was at. She yells
out to the professor and Ava, I see something
that looks to be an entrance to either a shallow
cave or something else. She starts walking towards
it and notices Ava and the professor moving to
where she was at and then following her. After
several minutes, they reach the large rock formation.
Sierra peers through the space between the boulders
at the shallow cave and sees nothing, just the
back of the cave which was just some muddy dirt.
Ava and the professor walk around to the back
of the rock formation where the rocks seem to
go into the side of the mountain. Ava is out
front and notices right away that there are no
trees or underbrush growing around this area.
Maybe this is on purpose for some reason, she
thinks herself. Ava looks back at Professor Hawthorne,
who is right behind her, and says, Hmm, there
doesn't seem to be any sort of entrance around
here, but it does look a little suspicious as
if the underbrush and trees were cut down on
purpose and recently. I agree, Professor Hawthorne
says, now walking past Ava as Sierra is now standing
there as well. The professor continues and says,
I wonder how they would have... Professor Hawthorne
stops mid -sentence. Sierra watches in slow motion
as his left foot trips over something, making
a metal clanging noise. He then loses his balance
and starts to fall forward. Sierra and Ava, both
standing close to him, reach out and grab his
arm and backpack, steadying the professor on
the ground before he falls. Oh, I'm alright,
thank you. You've returned the favor from the
other night at the reservoir, thank you. The
professor says as he bends down and rubs his
shin he just bruised. I think we just literally
stumbled upon a metal door or entrance. That
said, he walks over to the spot where he tripped.
carefully this time, to reveal that amidst the
grass and cut underbrush stood a metal lever.
It was U -shaped and it clearly did not belong.
Ava and Sierra now stand next to the professor
as he carefully pulls the lever and slowly a
metal door comes into view. As it turns out,
the grass and underbrush had concealed the door
which seemed to lead directly into the mountain
when open. Sierra is amazed at the sight of a
door on the side of the mountain. Once the professor
pulls the heavy door open and the sunlight glimmers
in a bit, Sierra and Ava are able to see the
faint outlines of what look like to be wooden
stairs that lead downward. The stairs were narrow
and the wood used for the stairs look quite old
and worn. She is suddenly overcome with fear.
All right, look at that, Ava says, light shining
in her eyes. Are you ready to explore? Ava. Sierra
starts, and she puts a hand on her now fiercely
beating heart. I don't know if we should go in
there. Professor Hawthorne nods, peering down
at the darkness below. Ava, I think Sierra is
right. I don't know if we should. We need to
move ahead cautiously and be smart about our
next decisions. However, this may or may not
be the evidence we need in order for a warrant
to be issued. On the other hand, we need to remember
that Chen and Lily are still missing, and those
people are still out there. We have no idea what
is down in this tunnel. Besides, these are the
people who took Lily and Chen. I don't know how
safe it is. Professor Hawthorne thinks about
his family and the girls' families. I really
don't want anything to happen to either one of
you, or myself. Ava bites her teeth, thinking
less about the danger and more about the excitement
and her bangings and the article for the beat.
I mean, she heaves a sigh. I know where you two
are coming from, and it's definitely dangerous,
but the only thing is this wouldn't be enough
evidence. The most we can do without going down
is, what, take some photos? That's probably not
going to be enough. Besides, the FBI could easily
dismiss this as some old storeroom or, I don't
know, a door to some weird cellar in the forest
on an old guy's property. Ava, you do have a
point. But let's not deny this could happen if
we proceed. Think about it. We're going down
into an underground tunnel without knowing where
it leads. We may run into someone from that bad
guy meeting you observed the other night. Then,
then what? The professor asked. That's true,
that's true. But you know who might also be down
there? Lily. And possibly Chen. You're right,
it's dangerous. But Lily and Chen, they're also
in danger. Every minute we wait or hesitate,
they may be closer to a terrible ending, Ava
says. That's true, Sierra says, before thinking
of something. And honestly, I'll want to have
known that I tried helping the best I possibly
could. And doing the best isn't standing in front
of the tunnels where she's kept and choosing
to go home. I'm a little scared, but I'll be
okay. I'm in if you are. Professor Hawthorne
sighs, torn between his curiosity and the responsibility
he feels for these two girls with him. All right,
let's do this very cautiously, the professor
says, ignoring the unsettling feeling he feels
in his gut. With that said, the professor pulls
the door open again slowly, and all three peer
down into the dark entrance of the tunnel. As
the professor holds the door open, Ava and Sierra
turn on their phone flashlights and one by one
they carefully climb down the narrow staircase
some eight rungs down toward the dirt ground.
Ava first, then looking up to give Sierra the
thumbs up sign. Sierra follows and then reaching
to the bottom looks up at the professor who is
still holding the door open and gives him the
thumbs up. The professor climbs down the stairs
and carefully closes the door above him which
makes a metal latching sound. With that, they
transcend into the darkness. Save for two faint
rays of light from their phones that might not
be enough to save them. The light from the phone
is enough to see just a few meters in front of
them. And when Ava tilts her phone downwards,
they notice freshly made footprints under their
feet leading into the dark, dark tunnel. Unbeknownst
to Ava, Sierra, Professor Hawthorne, or Lily
herself, the underground room that Lily is locked
in is not far from where the others were. Lily,
after being questioned by Professor Sharpton
and then watching him leave her small room, she
takes a moment to study her surroundings better.
To the right, through the metal closed gate,
down the corridor that Professor Sharpton left
from, is the silhouette of the larger man she
saw. Still standing there, She assumes this person
is a guard or something. Looking forward and
toward the opposite wall that she is sitting
against, she notices what looks like a dirty
piece of clothing. She gets up and grabs it.
It's a sweatshirt, she thinks to herself. It's
a college sweatshirt and the initials on the
inside tag spell C -H -E -N. This is Chen's sweatshirt.
He must either still be here somewhere or maybe
they moved him. As she is thinking this, she
looks to her left toward the other corridor that
blocks off with the metal gate. She looks closer
and notices that the metal latch and lock on
that gate is not properly fastened. She lets
out a soft gasp. Time seems to be crawling along
for Lily. It's been about 30 or so minutes since
Professor Sharpton had interrogated her about
the note, the formula and her friends, and then
left abruptly. She's pretty confident. It's mid
to late morning and that she had spent the night
in this small dirty space, which seemed to be
underground. Still sitting on the small flimsy
cushion, Lily squints as she tries to look more
closely at the lodge and gate that seems not
to be secured properly. With Chin's sweatshirt
in hand, she turns her head and looks back at
the large man who's standing halfway down the
other corridor. She assumes this large man is
guarding her as he's been standing there the
entire time she's been awake. All of a sudden,
she notices the man stepping out of the shadow
slightly. turns and looks in the opposite direction
from her. He's looking down the corridor toward
the corner that Professor Sharpton had disappeared
around earlier. He's standing more at tension
with his arms at his waist, as if he hears something
coming from the other direction. Meanwhile, Ava,
Sierra, and the professor find themselves inside
the entrance of the main tunnel entrance. which
is located on Old Man Sutter's property. Ava's
phone flashlight reveals what looks to be fresh
footprints in the dirt right in front of her.
In a hushed tone, he points at the footprints
and says, Look here. Someone's been here. And
recently, too. Hmm, you're right, Ava, the professor
says, nodding his head and thinking. All right,
let's move forward slowly and together in a single
line, hoping we don't run into anyone. The professor
moves around Ava and Sierra and starts walking
forward deeper into the dark corridor. He stops
for a moment, turns around and points to the
walls and whispers, This tunnel was made a long
time ago. Thankfully it's large enough we can
walk upright. We are standing in history. You
see these old chisel marks in the rock? These
are some of the same types of marks Ethan and
I observed in the mines on Rob's Peak yesterday.
This tunnel system was built old school style,
with pickaxes and hard labor. He turns back around
and continues walking forward slowly. Sierra
and Ava quietly follow the professor down the
narrow tunnel, walking in a single line. The
three kept walking forward, another 10 -15 meters
before the tunnel starts to gradually widen and
then ending in a small rectangular room. Sierra
stops and looks around while standing very close
to Ava's side. The professor turns around and
whispers again to the girls, this must be used
as some sort of ventilation shaft or room for
the other parts of the tunnels. They all notice
that the air inside the small chamber was fresher
than the air in the passageways, and it smelled
better, not as damp and musty. Squinting her
eyes as she shines her phone's flashlight around
the chamber, she realizes the problem and then
says softly, Oh, there's two ways out of this
chamber now. There's one forward, and then there's
one on our right. Which way should we go now,
straight or right? Sarah looks at the professor
and then looks at Ava. Ava has her head down
and is sketching the layout of the tunnel in
her small notebook she just pulled out of her
bag. She's shining her phone light on the notebook
page so she can see what she's drawing. She stops
for a moment and says, Thought I'd draw a map
of this place. Might help us out in the future.
Responding to Sierra's question first, she answers
with another question as she looks at the professor
and points her phone light at him. Hmm, should
we split up or stay together, she continues.
The footprints we've been observing lead down
to the path going straight, but there doesn't
seem to be any footprints that go right down
the other way. Yep, I see that too, Ava, the
professor says. The professor hesitates for a
moment and then asks Ava if he could see her
drawing. The professor peers down at the sketch
that Ava was drawing and continues, That's pretty
accurate, Ava. It would be great if you could
continue doing that as we make our way through
the tunnel. The professor then stops for a moment,
reaches into his bag, and pulls out the old manuscript
he's been carrying around with him. He flips
through the pages and finally stops on a page
that's filled with sketches and symbols and says,
Seeing your sketch, Ava, it reminded me of this
part of the manuscript we were studying at the
reservoir yesterday night. Hmm, here it is. The
professor points to the faded ink on the page
that appears to show some sort of schematic drawing
and says, Ava, shine your light right here. You
see this drawing right here on this page? This
drawing in the manuscript looks like a schematic
of something. It could be the layout map of this
tunnel system we are in right now. Ava shifts
her light from the manuscript page up towards
the professor's face and says, Sure looks that
way. This manuscript is proving to be super accurate.
It keeps corroborating with all our discoverings.
It's no wonder this thing was never published.
It holds all kinds of information. Ava then turns
her light around to face Sierra, who is still
standing really close to Ava's side and asks,
You still doing okay? Sierra cocks her head slightly
and says, Yep. I'm hanging in there just trying
not to panic a little and trying not to think
about all the bad things that could happen to
us. Yeah, Ava says, then giving Sierra her notebook
and pencil, saying, Here, this will help keep
your mind off of things. You sketch the path
out as we make our way through the tunnel. You're
a better artist than me anyway. The professor
was standing there in the darkness as Ava had
shifted her phone light toward Sierra. As the
girls were talking, the professor peered down
the path that led straight and noticed a faint,
faint flicker of a light some distance ahead.
Professor Hawthorne scratches his head and contemplates
what to do next and then says, Alright, I got
an idea. Let's divide and conquer. He says this
as he clicks on his small keychain flashlight.
His flashlight is about half the strength of
Ava and Sierra's phone lights and has less battery
time. He does not want to let Ava and Sierra
know that he saw a very faint light in the path
that led straight, so he continues. I'll continue
straight on this path, and you girls take the
path that goes right. Are you okay with that?
He asks both girls as he looks straight at them.
I'm good with that if you are, Ava. Sierra turns
to look at Ava. I'll continue sketching this
part of the tunnel since this part of the map
in the manuscript is very faint and hard to see.
Yep, let's do it, Ava says. She offers up an
idea well before they part ways. Let's say we
meet back here in 15 minutes, and if we find
ourselves getting confused or lost, we can just
always backtrack our steps back to this spot.
They all nod in agreement, and with that, Ava
says to Professor Hawthorne, good luck and be
safe. The professor walks slowly forward down
the straight path that leads toward the faint
light he noticed earlier. He looks back as Ava
and Sierra disappear down the other path. Meanwhile,
Lily gets up from where she was sitting and walks
slowly to the gate that was locked, peers through
it, and notices that the guard who was standing
there had walked around the corner and was nowhere
to be seen. She waits for a moment, wanting to
make sure he wasn't coming right back. She then
makes a quick decision, turns around and quickly
walks to the other gate, the one that is not
lodged properly, and pries it open with both
hands. It took all her strength to reach the
launch. Move it upward and then push the gate
open. She couldn't believe it. She was staring
into the darkness. Down another tunnel that led
out the other side of the small room she was
in. But it was the way to freedom she was hoping
for. She bravely starts walking forward while
holding Chen's sweatshirt, not realizing how
important that sweatshirt will be in the days
to come. Slowly but surely. taking one step after
another as she says to herself, You got this.
You got this. Sierra and Ava, with two rays of
light from their phones, continued walking down
a side passageway they took after leaving the
small ventilation room where they parted ways
with Professor Hawthorne. This passageway started
getting narrow again, then curving slightly toward
a sharp corner that turned left. To keep her
mind off the fear she was facing, and by now
it was mostly claustrophobia, this was something
that her and Ava shared, a fear of opposite things.
Ava's fear of heights was revealed at the reservoir
and now Sierra's fear of small spaces is being
revealed. Sierra whispers ahead to Ava who's
leading the way down the tunnel slowly and cautiously.
Man. i can't wait to get out of here they both
come to the corner and then walk slowly making
the turn left and peer down another's passageway
all the while and to help her keep her mind off
the small passageway sierra continues to sketch
out the pathways they are taking making sure
her drawing and number of steps they are taking
are recorded with accuracy down this new passageway
they walk another 10 to 12 meters before noticing
that the tunnel starts to get wider revealing
some light ahead. They move slowly forward and
then all of a sudden they enter a large rectangular
room which is dimly lit by one small light bulb
hanging from one of the old wooden support beams
above their heads. This room is larger in size
and the air seems better as well. Maybe another
ventilation room or maybe something different,
Sira thinks to herself as she is sketching in
the notebook. Sierra and Ava turn off their phone
lights to save battery. Sierra briefly checks
to see if she has cell reception. No luck. And
then turns and shows Ava as they both shrug their
shoulders while looking around the room. Look
at that, Ava exclaims, pointing around the room.
There's shelves, documents, and what's that large
paper chart on the wall? Wow, I bet a lot of
this stuff will make great evidence. Okay, okay,
Sierra. How about you take the left side of the
room, I'll take the right, and then we'll gather
anything that looks important. Oh, I'll also
take a photo of the chair on the wall. Ava continues
as she watches Sierra pull Lily's backpack off
and sit it onto the ground. Okay, let's fill
that backpack as much as possible, and if we
run out of room, grab photos of the other stuff
we can't carry. On it, Sierra says, hurrying
to the other side of the room. This side of the
room contained an old wooden table that was covered
with old papers and yellow documents. Sierra
noticed that the scatter of documents on the
table looked to be various maps, letters, and
an old accounting ledger book. Bingo, Sierra
says as she holds up the ledger book and turns
to show Ava. She blurts out in a regular voice.
This gotta be important. This ledger book is
full of names, dates, weights, and money amounts.
Ava turns around and looks at the ledger book
Asira is holding up and says, Wow, okay, that
might be the ticket. Make sure you secure that
in the backpack along with as many of those old
papers as possible. Ava gets back to work snapping
photos of them. Old tools and such that are being
held in small wooden crates that seem to be quite
old. Nothing you would find in a hardware store
these days. The tools and other materials, much
of the wooden parts of the tools were either
rotten or coming apart, looked to be items that
were used in a mine. They were all old and worn
out, Eva thinks to herself. Maybe these are some
of the old tools from the early cold rush days.
She then spots some engravings on some of the
handles of the tools. The engravings look to
be Chinese characters. She stops for a moment.
carefully focusing her camera phone as to not
take blurry photos and systematically taking
photos of more than a dozen tools which had engraved
characters on them. She turns around and looks
at Sierra who's folding and packing papers and
maps into the backpack and says, This is the
goal of mine, Sierra. Pun intended. Get as much
as you can. Sierra, after packing the backpack,
turns her phone light full on and says, The passageway
opposite the way we came in seems to lead to
another room like this. Let's go check it out
as well. I don't think there's anyone down there.
Eva looks up at Syrah as she snaps one last photo,
cracking half a smile as she says, You're getting
the hang of this, girl. Yeah, let's go check
it out. The girls exit the room and walk through
a short passageway and then enter the second
room. This room was slightly smaller. However,
it did have a single light bulb in the center
of the room hanging from one of the horizontal
ceiling support beams. similar to the other rooms
it just came from. There were two ways out of
the second room. You could either go back to
the way you came from or take another passageway
that exited from the right side of the room.
Ava notices that Sierra is looking down and sketching
again in the notebook and says, thanks for mapping
out the design of the tunnel system. It'll be
so helpful when we turn all this stuff into the
FBI. Ava looks over towards the left side of
the room, opposite of the exit passageway they
haven't explored yet. and notices several old
wooden shelves with what looks to be a series
of old glass jars filled with different things
and all covered in dust. They all had lids on
and old worn -out labels on the lids. She glanced
at Sierra and says, I hope you have a little
more room in that backpack. Professor Hawthorne
finally makes his way to the source of the light
he saw earlier. The room is much larger than
the ventilation chamber he and the girls had
parted ways from a short time ago. He steps just
inside the room with the dark passageway he just
came from directly behind him. As the professor
clicks off his keychain light with squinted eyes,
he looks up and scans the room quickly in an
effort to get a feel of the size of the space,
which is poorly lit and mostly empty. He sweeps
his eyes from left to right, the right side of
the room being more lit than the left. As he
peers through the dimly lit and dusty air toward
the dark left corner of the room, he immediately
freezes and stops breathing. There stood a large
figure of a man standing concealed by a shadow
in the left corner of the room. The professor
recognizes the man's pants and shoes immediately.
Then, in a split second, the professor, who's
visibly startled, notices the large man move
out from the shadow with a gun drawn and pointed
directly toward him. Without thinking the professor
takes one quick step to the right while at the
same time a piercing loud bang goes off. The
sound of the gun going off in the small room
immediately produces a loud and painful ringing
noise in the professor's ears. The professor
was hit by shattering rock and dirt on his left
side from where the bullet hit the wall right
next to his body. The professor turns around
immediately and runs back down the dark passageway.
the same direction he came from, knowing that
this way led directly back to the main entry
door he and the girls had entered the tunnels
from. While running back down the passageway
toward the entry door, the professor clicks on
his keychain light. He enters a small ventilation
chamber first. This was the same place the girls
parted ways with him. He hesitates a moment and
then he hears the large man coming down the same
passageway toward him. Meanwhile, Sierra and
Ava were grabbing small glass jars from off the
old wooden shelves and carefully placing them
into the backpack Sierra had. The jars were heavy
for their size and contained what looked to be
small gold nuggets and fragments of gold pieces.
Ava noticed an old cloth covering some items
on the bottom shelves. She bent down, grabbed
a corner of the cloth, and pulled it to the side.
Whoa, she blurted out. While looking at Sarah,
who was trying to pack the backpack so they could
leave, Ava could not believe her eyes. There,
under the old cloth, stood several identical
gold bars. Without thinking, Ava picked one up
and immediately felt the weight of it. These
are real, Sarah, she says to Sarah as they both
stand there in silence, staring at the shiny
gold bar Ava is holding, while looking down at
the gold bar. Eva notices that it is stamped
with the words, U .S. Treasury Department. All
of a sudden, the silence is broken with a loud
crack, followed by echoes of boom, boom, boom,
boom. Immediately, Eva and Sierra's joy and laughs
just moments ago turned into fear. By instinct,
they both bent down and put their hands over
their ears. Ava dropped the heavy gold bar she
was holding, and Sierra dropped one of the glass
jars she was holding, the glass breaking and
spilling its contents into the dirt floor. Neither
one of them could tell where this sound had come
from, but they knew it came from within the tunnel
system. Ava looks directly at Sierra as they
were kneeling down and says quietly, That sounds
like a gunshot. We need to leave right now. The
sound came from the same direction we came from.
What about the professor? Sierra responds with
a concerned and shocked look on her face. Ava
responds back, we can't go back the way we just
came. We can only hope that the professor is
able to retrace his steps and leave the way we
all came in. We need to get this backpack, the
stuff we collected out of here. It's the only
way we can prove what was going on in here. They
both stand up and grab what they can. Sierra
grabs the heavy backpack and zips it shut while
she is looking down at the broken jar she dropped.
The contents are on the dirt by her feet. Sierra
notices that it looks similar to the rocky powder
substance that Professor Hawthorne had collected
from one of the mines on Rob's Peak. Knowing
this, she quickly looks back over at the wooden
shelf and grabs one more small jar with what
looks like to have the same substance inside
and then looks back over at Ava and says, I want
to leave now. They may be coming for us now.
Ava stands back up with the heavy gold bar in
hand and says, let's get out of here. Her voice
is trembling. Like, right now. The two take the
only other exit out of the room that doesn't
lead back the way they came into the room. This
passageway exits out the right side of the room.
The girls with their phone lights in hand, the
heavy backpack and gold bar run down the passageway
a few meters and into another room that's about
the same size as the last one they just came
from. This room has a large wooden pallet filled
with what looks like blocks stacked up, one on
top of each other, covered with a canvas tarp.
The girls run past it and look at each other.
There's no time to investigate what's under the
tarp. Sierra hesitates for a moment as she notices
that there are two ways out of this new room.
She looks at Ava and stops dead in her tracks
and says, Which way should we go? She looks right
and then left. Ava, should we go right or left
from here? Neither one of the girls knew at that
moment that the left passageway would take them
back to the place that Lily was being held. Without
thinking, Ava shouts out, let's go, hurry, let's
go right. Ava runs past Zira, grabbing her arm
as they both take the right passageway out of
the new room they just discovered. Less than
a minute later, Ava sees what looks like the
outside light shining down onto the dirt floor
a few meters ahead. She looks back at Zira, who's
right behind her and still holding her hand,
and yells out, it's an exit outside, we can get
out of the tunnel this way. As they reach the
beaming light that is shining through what looks
like an old wooden plank door above them, they
need to crouch down slightly as the tunnel height
gradually gets smaller the closer they get to
the exit. They climb the wooden stairs, only
four rungs high, and then both push up on the
wooden door and watch as it swings open to the
outside wooden area. As Sierra and Ava emerge
from the tunnel, out a different area from where
they had first entered, they are met with the
daylight which feels incredibly safe. but also
overpowering. They both squint their eyes, needing
a few seconds to get used to the bright daylight
that meets them. As Sierra is rubbing her eyes
and looking around to see where they are at on
the property, she sees Lily just standing there,
a few meters away, next to a tree and staring
right back at her and Ava. Professor Hawthorne
briefly stops and looks down the dark passageway
the girls had gone and only sees darkness. He
then continues toward the entrance metal door.
He reaches the wooden steps and climbs quickly
knowing that the man who just shot at him has
got to be getting close. The professor fumbles
around with the metal door latch. After a few
seconds, which felt like minutes to Hawthorne,
he's finally able to slide the latch and unlock
the door. He then pries the door open slowly
and pushes it outward. Professor Hawthorne is
immediately met with the bright daylight and
is blinded for a few seconds as he tries to get
his bearings. Hawthorne, realizing that the man
chasing him would probably be close to reaching
the door in a few seconds, decides to let it
slam shut hoping the inside latch gets stuck
like it did for him. The professor quickly looks
around and sees a large heavy rock just off the
right side corner of the door. He moves over
the large rock and starts pushing it towards
and onto the top of the door. Hawthorne thinks
to himself, I hope this slows that guy down.
After pushing the large rock on top of the door,
he quickly starts running in the direction where
he knows the property line is located. Out of
breath and still quite startled, the professor
finally reaches the property line fence. The
fence is not as high on this part of the property,
possibly eight feet. The professor without hesitation
climbs the fence to the top and then swings his
body up and over the top of the fence hoping
that ground on the other side is not too hard.
As he drags his body over the top of the fence
he snags the right side of his shirt and rips
a large hole in his shirt. At the same time he
sustains a large gash right under his ribs which
started bleeding. Ouch! The professor shouts
as he continues over the fence and falls to the
ground on the other side. The professor was lucky
as he landed on the ground and there was a series
of rocks and thorny underbrush just to his left
that he missed when he hit the ground. Professor
Hawthorne picks himself up and starts jogging
down the mountain following the fence line toward
the river. He is outside Old Man Sutter's property
which is just on the other side of the fence.
He thinks to himself as he continues to make
his way down the mountain toward the river, I
hope Ava and Sierra are not still in those tunnels.
If so, at least I've flushed out the bad guy.
I'd rather him be chasing me than them. Lily
yells out, Sierra, Ava, oh my, where did you
just come from? Were you in the tunnels? What
just happened? What's going on? Sierra responds
as she races over toward Lily and gives her a
big hug. Lily! Are you hurt? Are you okay? I'm
so glad we found each other. Ava joins them and
says, We need to get out of here, so let's move.
As the three begin to walk quickly down in the
direction they think the river is, Ava tells
Sierra to call Ethan to tell him they found Lily
and to ask him to check his tracking software
to see where Professor Hawthorne is. On it, Sierra
responds as she dials Ethan, trying not to trip
on the uneven ground. She's holding her phone
to her ear with one hand while securing the heavy
backpack with her other hand. Yet, she feels
a great sense of relief to have found Lily and
to be out of the tunnels. Ethan's phone rings
twice before he could reach it to answer. He
sees that it's Sierra and says, Hello? Where
are you guys? What's going on? Sierra blurts
back without saying hello. Ethan, we found Lily.
She's safe and with Ava and I right now. We don't
know where Professor Hawthorne is. Can you check
your tracking software to see if he is close
to us? Ethan responds, Sure, one moment. Ethan
hurries to his office and grabs his tablet from
his desk and opens his application. While the
application is loading, he asks Sierra, Where
are you guys? It sounds like you're outside.
Are you out of breath or something? Sierra answers
back, We'll tell you when we see you, but first
we need to know where the professor is. Ethan
looks down at the application as it finishes
loading and then says, Okay. I've got three dots
on the map and they're all actively moving in
the same direction. I assume that the two that
are close together are you and Ava, and maybe
the third one is the professor. The third dot
on my map is about 50 to 60 meters away from
you, up the mountain. It looks like he's to the
right of where you are right now. Ethan then
instructs Sierra. If you turn right slightly
and then keep going, you'll run right into each
other as it appears he's moving faster than you
are right now. You'll need to hurry so you don't
miss each other. Sierra responds back. Will do.
Thanks a ton. I'll call you back once we are
on the road heading back to town. Sierra then
hangs up abruptly. Sierra tells the girls to
verge right toward the property fence they can
now see and to pick up the pace. The fence is
still only 8 feet tall at this point, but it
gradually gets taller to around 12 feet as they
get closer to the public access half -acre section
of the property. Ava reaches the fence first
and accidentally drops the heavy gold bar to
the ground as she grabs her knees to catch her
breath. Sierra and Lily are right behind her
and do the same. Ava says, Let's stop here and
wait a moment. Maybe we can intercept the professor
as he's coming down this way. Lily looks down
at the gold bar and says, Is that gold? Yeah,
we found it in the tunnels along with a bunch
of other stuff we put in your backpack that Sierra's
wearing. Ava answers, This thing is heavy and
it also contains a lot of important looking stuff
from the tunnels. We need to get it to the authorities
as evidence. Sierra responds as she pulls the
backpack off her back and sets it to the ground.
Lily says with a surprised look on her face,
Wait, you have my backpack? Where did you find
that? Was that in the tunnels? It's a long story,
and we can fill it in, in a bit. But basically,
we found it at the reservoir last night, Sarah
says with pride. Ava moves up against a fence
and tries to peer through the small gaps between
the wood and the chain link and says, I hear
someone coming towards us. Sounds like they're
running. I bet this could be the professor. Ava
looks back at Sarah and Lily and puts her finger
to her lips and says, shh. A few seconds later,
She gets a glimpse of the professor as he pushes
through with some light underbrush. He's jogging
down towards her right along the fence. She waits
for a moment, and just as she gets close to where
she's standing, she yells through the fence at
him. Professor! Professor Hawthorne! It's Ava!
We're standing on the other side of the fence.
As soon as she yells this out, she sees the professor
stop for a moment and peer directly towards her.
She can tell he sees her face peering through
the narrow gap between the wood and the chain
link. Oh, thank goodness, the professor yells
out. Where's Sierra? Is she with you? Ava responds
back and says, Yeah, we're all here, all three
of us. And Lily's here with us as well. She's
okay. We can explain as soon as we get back to
your car. The professor says, That's wonderful.
Okay, listen carefully. We need to leave right
now. I'm not sure if the guy who shot at me is
still pursuing me or not. Here, write this down
really quick. Here's the padlock code to the
fence door we used to get into the property.
I'll meet you at the Bronco. Keep moving no matter
what and don't stop until you are back at my
Bronco waiting. Ignore the tourists who may be
at the mill. Just keep going and don't talk to
anyone. With that, he started jogging down the
mountain along the fence line toward the river.
Ava, Sierra, and Lily do the same. After about
five minutes, they finally reach the fence that
separates the public access, half acre from the
top 30 acres. They race over to the left corner
of the fence boundary, enter the padlock code,
open the old metal fence gate, and immediately
find themselves in the public section of the
property. There stood several families with their
little kids, walking around and taking photos
of the old historic mill, the river, and its
surroundings. The three girls hurried past the
tourists, who were busy snapping photos and videos
of the place, making their way down over the
river and using the bridge to run over to the
professor's bronco. There are several other vehicles
parked there as well, probably the tourists.
Sierra and the other girls are leaning up against
the bronco, trying to catch their breath and
hoping the professor gets there soon. Looking
up and back toward the bridge they had just crossed,
she sees the professor emerging from the river
and now walking towards them. She shouts to Ava
and Lily, There he is! The professor! It looks
like he's hurt! And he's soaking wet! He had
to wade, or swim, across the river because he
didn't have access to the bridge. Ava, Syrah,
and Lily watch as Professor Hawthorne approaches
them at the Bronco. She says, whoa, you're hurt,
Professor. Ava and the girls notice a large rip
in the side of his shirt and says, oh no, it
looks like you're bleeding. And where did you
get those scratches on the side of your face
and your arm? The professor responds as he stands
there dripping wet and out of breath. I was able
to stop the bleeding, but I will need stitches
once we get back to town. He says this while
pointing to the gash over his ribs. He then touches
the left side of his cheek and explains, These
scratches must be from the bullet ricocheting
off the rock and dirt wall in the tunnel. The
professor hesitates for a moment and then says,
We need to leave. We can talk in the car on the
way back. After saying this, the professor unlocks
the car, jumps in the driver's side and turns
on the ignition. He looks at the girls as they
are getting into the car and says, We need to
make a plan on our way back to town. It's time
to get the FBI involved. It looks like we have
enough evidence to back up our eyewitness testimony
for them to issue arrest warrants now. Just as
he finishes saying this, he pulls out of the
parking space, does a three -point turn on the
main road, and then heads directly back towards
the direction of town. It's about a 30 -minute
drive back. Once on the road, the professor looks
in the rearview mirror back at Sierra and Lily,
who are sitting in the back seat, and says, Lily,
it's good to have you back. We were so worried
about you. Are you hurt? Lily smiles and says,
It's good to be back. They didn't hurt me. She
continues, Professor Sharpton came and saw me
this morning, several hours before I escaped.
He basically said that something bad was going
to happen to me if I didn't tell him everything
I knew. He was asking about Ava and Sierra and
the formula Chen had written on that note to
you. Ava, who is sitting in the front seat next
to the professor, then interjects, Sierra and
I have found a trove of evidence in the other
part of the tunnels. She then uncovers the gold
bar she's holding and shows it to the professor.
As Ava was just done speaking, Sierra adds, we
took a bunch of other stuff, maps, letters, a
ledger book, and some small jars filled with
what looks like gold and some other substances
that look familiar to what you found at the mine.
The professor, not wanting to take his eyes off
the road as he drives through the winding roads
in the valley, nods his head and gives the girls
a big thumbs up. He then says, okay Ava, call
your buddy at the B and let's get the ball rolling
with both the media and the FBI. He continues,
we need to bypass the county sheriff's office
as the guy in the tunnel who shot at me is one
of the deputies. Thankfully he missed, otherwise
I wouldn't be here right now. Ava immediately
calls Ted. Her colleague at the beat and puts
it on speakerphone so everyone in the vehicle
could hear. She waits a bit. Four rings. Then
finally, Ted answers. Before Ted could get one
word out, Ava blurts out, Ted, are you ready
to help me break what might be our biggest story
of our careers? For a moment, there was no response
from Ted. Just silence. Then everyone in the
car heard this faint and unsure, yes, I suppose.
Ava jumps right in. into everything that just
happened at old man Sutter's property and told
Ted they had physical evidence at hand. The professor
had been shot at and Lily had escaped. However,
Ava did not tell Ted exactly what kind of physical
evidence her and Sierra had found. She knows
well enough to keep the leverage of the events
in the favor of the four people in the Bronco
as long as possible. As a journalist, she knows
to keep the knowledge circle as small as possible
for as long as possible, even if they speak to
the FBI. She thinks to herself as she looks down
at the gold bar weighing heavy on her lap with
an inscription stamp on the top that reads, U
.S. Treasury Department. And she thinks, keep
the leverage in her favor as long as possible,
especially if the feds get involved. We don't
want to show our hand too early. We've all been
through too much to have this just flipped under
the carpet by the feds. Ava then asks Ted. How
reliable was your source and a friend at the
FBI? The one that ran the tax free last night
in the middle of the night? Ted's response back
was exactly what she hoped. Ted vouched for him
and then suggested that he be put on the call
as well. Sierra hears this and says from the
backseat, thank goodness we can finally get the
FBI involved. The professor looks over at Ava
and gives a quick nod of approval as if to say,
yeah, it's time to involve the feds. For the
next 20 minutes, the four and the Bronco share
a three -way call between Ted from the Sacramento
Bee and Agent Seth Carson from the San Francisco
FBI office. The professor and Ava do most of
the talking and share the sequence of events
that have occurred over the past few days. They
also inform Agent Carson they possess a trove
of physical evidence to back their eyewitness
stories. The professor is confident the FBI will
now get involved, and quickly. As the call ends
and as they enter Coloma, the professor says,
Did you hear that, everyone? Agent Carson suggested
we all go home and stay there until he and his
partner arrive. He couldn't guarantee that they
would be able to come tonight. They have a two
and a half hour drive, so they may wait until
tomorrow morning. He's got Ava's number in mind,
so when he calls back to confirm when they are
coming, we'll let you know. Sierra interjects,
I don't feel comfortable going home right now.
I think Lily and I will go to the cafe and wait
in Ethan's office. Lily follows with, Yes, I
do not want to go back to my apartment right
now. I'm sure they will find out soon enough
that I escaped and want to come looking for me.
The professor responds, Okay, it's settled. Let's
go back to the cafe and debrief there with Ethan.
It's a public enough space and we can meet and
wait in his office. I'll call Doc Rivers from
Ethan's and see if I can pop over right after
his office closes. I need him to clean and stitch
this cut on my side. His office sits almost directly
across the street from Ethan's. Eva then says,
I don't want to change the plan, but I really
need to stop and check in on my grandma first.
If you could drop me off there first, I can then
meet you all back at Ethan's cafe a bit later.
Several minutes later, the professor pulls into
Ava's grandmother's driveway and puts the Bronco
in park. Ava looks at the professor first, then
back at Zira and Lily and says, Okay, I'll see
you real soon. Here, keep this gold bar with
all the other evidence. I don't need my grandma
seeing me walk in the door with that in hand.
She puts the gold bar down on the passenger side
floorboards, exits the Bronco, and walks through
the front door of the old colonial -style house.
She looks over her shoulder and then waves at
her friends as she watches the professor's bronco
back out of the long driveway and then drive
down the road out of sight. Ava then enters the
front door of her grandmother's house and calls
out, Grandma, I'm back. Are you here? Are you
doing okay? Grandma Turner responds, Hey, sweetie,
I'm in the kitchen. Ava enters the kitchen and
finds her grandma sitting at the small kitchen
looking up at her with a smile. Ava immediately
notices that her grandma is not alone. She has
company. There's a man sitting across from her
grandma and he has his back to Ava. He sits there
still and poised. The man slowly turns around
and looks at Ava as grandma starts to introduce
him. Ava, this is Professor Sharpton from the
college. He said he needed to stop over and talk
to you about a project that one of your friends
was working on. And since you weren't here, I
told him he could just wait since I knew you'd
be back soon. Remember, you said you'd help me
with the garden today. We need to prepare the
flower bundle so I can take them to the farmer's
market this weekend, Grandma Turner says. Professor
Sharpton looks directly into Ava's eyes with
a straight face and says, Hello Ava, remember
me? We met the other day at the college and I
have some concerns about your friend's project
that she's working on. I'd hate for her to get
mixed up in something she doesn't understand.
Maybe we can go talk to her together? Eva, trying
to keep her composure and not wanting to involve
her grandma in this mess, responds, Uh, sure,
I think that's a good idea. I didn't see your
car out front. Professor Sharpton responds, It
was a nice evening, so I decided to walk. I don't
live far from here. Plus, Your grandmother has
been an excellent host. He holds up a cookie
he's been eating and says, These cookies are
to die for. By now, Grandma Turner was having
an unsettled feeling in her stomach about the
situation. She observed Ava's body language and
facial expressions and knew something was off.
Something wasn't right. Ava had never attended
the local college and hadn't lived in Coloma
for some five -plus years now. So how would she
know who this man is, the man who's sitting at
her kitchen table right now? Ava tries to keep
a straight face as she feels herself getting
angry and scared all at the same time. Professor
Sharpton is sitting at her grandma's kitchen
table with a smug expression on his face. She's
also wondering how the professor found her. At
this point, Ava is unaware that the guard, the
off -duty sheriff's deputy who had shot at and
chased Professor Hawthorne, the same guy who
was guarding Lily, called Sharpton. As soon as
he discovered, Lydia escaped. In the time it
took Hawthorne to drive them all back to town
from Oldman Sitter's property, the guard had
notified Sharpton and informed him about the
situation. Ava shoots a snappy comment back at
Sharpton. Yeah, these cookies are to die for,
she continues. If you like these, you really
should try our homemade brownies. You'll never
be the same again. She then excuses herself and
says, if you could excuse me for a moment, I
need to clean up in the bathroom before I can
join your little tea party. I had a long morning
hike, which proved to be quite rewarding. She
then adds, grandma, I noticed a package outside
your front door when I came in. It looks like
it might be for your neighbor, Frank. It appears
the post office delivered it to the wrong address
again. You really should go get it and take it
over to him while I freshen up. As Ava is saying
this, she points to Sharpton with her eyes and
then looks up at Grandma Turner. Ava then retreats
down the hall, which is directly behind her,
opens and closes the bathroom door to make it
sound as if she went into the bathroom. Ava then
quickly and quietly exits the back of the house
through the back screen door, making sure not
to let the door slam as she closes it gently.
As she runs across the backyard, through the
neighbor's yard, and then onto the next street
over, she's hoping and praying Grandma got her
hint and was able to leave out the front door
and go to the neighbor's. Ava has always been
a fan of adventure, doesn't mind tension, and
even enjoys a healthy amount of danger. However,
the last two days have proven to be a little
bit too much. She finds herself still catching
her breath, having just sprinted across her grandma's
backyard through the neighbor's property and
onto the back street. After having put some distance
between her and Sharpton, who was sitting at
her grandma's kitchen's table, she's now bending
over and inhaling sharply and trying to calm
down. She pulls up her phone and calls Sierra
to warn them. And knowing... Hawthorne and the
other girls sure they can't be that far away
yet since Ava's entire interaction with Professor
Sharpton was only about five minutes or so. She's
also wanting them to come back and pick her up.
She notices that her heartbeat is beating twice
as fast as it normally does. Sierra feels her
phone buzzing in her side pants pocket, pulls
it out and looks at it. She's puzzled when she
realizes it's Ava calling her. I mean, she did
just drop off a few minutes ago. I wonder what
she could want? Sierra thinks to herself. As
soon as Sierra hits the green accept button and
puts it on speakerphone so Hawthorne and Lily
can hear, they all hear Ava's frantic and out
of breath voice. Ava sounded terrified, her voice
dripping with fear. Ava takes a deep breath.
The professor shoots a look over at Sierra, who
is now sitting up front in the passenger seat
with Lily still in the back seat. His eyes grow
wide as he contemplates what to do. Keep her
on the line, he instructs Sierra. Don't hang
up. We're coming right now. We're only a few
minutes away. A dozen questions raised through
the Hawthorne's mind. Sharpton is at Ava's grandmother's
house? How did he know she was on to something?
What else does he know? Is Sierra's family in
danger? Is my wife in danger? What about Ava's
grandmother? What did Lily tell Sharpton about
us? These were all questions he could not answer.
As soon as the road widened a bit, Hawthorne
did a quick U -turn. That quick movement to turn
the steering wheel reminded him of the large
gas in his side. Ah, he quietly said as he straightened
the Bronco back on the road, headed in the same
direction they just came from. Lily, who was
sitting in the backseat, sits there frozen. She
had just experienced her own trauma a short time
ago and never ever wants to hear Professor Sharpton's
name again. She taps her foot anxiously on the
backseat floor. Several minutes later, Hawthorne
pulls into Grandma Turner's neighborhood, making
sure not to drive down her street. Instead, he
drives past it and then makes a turn onto 11th
Street. Professor Hawthorne then says out loud,
so Ava can hear him on speakerphone, Ava, we
are on 11th Street. Direct me to where you are
at. Ava whispers back in her phone, I see you
guys coming towards me. I'm hiding behind a trash
can beside the red house on your left. As soon
as you pull up, I'll jump in and then we can
go. Professor Hawthorne pulls up to the place
Ava had directed them and looks over at the side
of the red house and says, Here she comes. Lily,
open the door for her and move over so she can
hop in. Lily opens the side door and then moves
over in the seat to make room for Ava. Lily sees
Ava and moving quickly toward them and says,
Get in quick, Ava. Phew, that was close. Thank
you so much, guys. Ava says, having finally caught
her breath, let's get to the cafe. Sierra, Lily,
and the professor nod in agreement as - Professor
Hawthorne drives off again. As the Bronco pulls
out of the neighborhood, Ava feels her phone
vibrate. She answers it and almost starts crying
when she hears her grandma's voice. Grandma Turner
says, Oh, there you are. Are you okay, Ava? I
figured out your coded message and went over
to Frank's house when you excused yourself to
go to the bathroom. I left that Sharpton guy
just sitting at my kitchen table. I don't understand
what's going on. And where are you? Grandma Turner
was quite stressed and worried at this point.
Yes, I'm safe and okay. Ava responds and tries
to reassure her grandmother that she's safe.
I can explain later, but you will just need to
trust me right now. Don't go back to your house
until I call you back and tell you it's safe.
See you at Frank's for now. I'm heading to the
cafe to meet with the others. I'm so sorry I
got you caught up in all this, Ava says. Her
grandma has to be safe to have been able to have
made this phone call, right? Oh honey, don't
worry about me. I understood your cues back at
the house. I'm safe and sound at Frank's place.
Him, his wife, and their two big dogs are keeping
me company, Grandma Turner says. Hearing her
words in confirmation, Ava signs with relief.
Okay, that's good. I'm so sorry for putting you
in danger, Gran. Ava feels a growing anger towards
Sharpton for having tried to use her grandmother
as bait and possibly leverage. Ava - Doesn't
mind putting herself at risk, but when a family
member is put to danger, the fear she felt before
becomes anger and motivation to move forward
and to end the story. Absolutely, and no one
gets to make my family feel unsafe. I'm really
sorry for not having seen through that professor's
lies. He seemed like such a nice man, and yet,
there seems something off about him, and now
I know why. Grandma Turner says before voicing
out the thoughts she had had since Sharpton had
stepped foot into her house, worries spilling
over as she continues to ask more questions of
Ava. How do you know that man? How does he know
where I live? Are you in danger, Ava? Are you
in danger? I don't know, Ava thinks herself.
I don't know. Not wanting to further risk her
grandma or make her more worried, Ava responds
and says, Gran, I'll be okay. And once we get
to the bottom of this, I can come tell you the
whole story, okay? She breathes again, reassuring
her grandmother that everything is going to be
okay. Grandma Turner feels a little more relaxed
now, thinking that Ava will be safe. Just before
hanging up, Grandma Turner tells Ava, Oh, I almost
forgot to tell you. I told Frank to watch out
the front window, and he said he saw that man
walking away from my house, go across the street,
get in a parked car, and then drive off. Ava's
eyes widen before telling her grandma to stay
put in Frank's house, telling her to be safe
and to take care of herself. Ava hangs up the
call and immediately informs Professor Hawthorne,
Sarah, and Lily that her grandma is safe at her
neighbor's house and that Sharpton has left.
Ava then says out loud, I wonder where Sharpton's
going now. Meanwhile, back at the cafe, Ethan
sees off another large group of customers who
stayed for a late lunch. He walks with them to
the front door, thanks them, and then tells them
that they are always welcome back when they're
in town. It was almost half past two in the afternoon
already, far later than the time the last group
of customers from the day before had left. At
least, that's what his staff had reported to
him. Lunch was especially busy today, with all
the people in town for the Gold Ridge Festival,
and with the freaking right around the corner.
Ethan's happy about the sales in the cafe, and
hopes this summer is even bigger than last summer.
He strolls back to the kitchen, almost forgetting
the other saga that's happening with his friends.
Just then, he hears a knock on the back cafe
door. It was a secret knock Ava, Sierra, and
Professor Hawthorne had used earlier that morning,
even thanks to himself. It must be them again.
He hurries to the back door before any other
staff could get there, unlocks it, and opens
it. Come in, come in, quickly, he says. Ethan
watches as Sierra, Lily, Ava, and then Professor
Hawthorne all enter the back of the cafe and
retreat to Ethan's office again. After closing
and locking the back door, Ethan meets them in
the office and asks, I bet you guys are starving.
Especially you, Lily. I can have my staff make
you all something. Just let me know. Hey Ethan,
thanks for the welcome back. Lily smiles, suddenly
feeling like she was finally safe. I'll definitely
take your famous sandwich with amanda fries and
something to drink. I haven't eaten in... Lily
hesitates, trying to remember back, before realizing,
I don't even know the last time I ate. Maybe
yesterday morning? Ethan, can I get something
too? We haven't had lunch, Ava says, before looking
around to find Sierra and the professor nodding,
then adding, and something for Sierra and the
professor too. Whatever you're making Lily eat,
if you can make for them. Sure, no problem, Ethan
said. Give me a second to get these orders from
my kitchen staff, then when they're ready - I'll
have them deliver to you in here so you can eat
and talk. In the meantime, you should get Lily
caught up on what happened yesterday after she
was taken. Thank you so much, Ethan, Lily says
as she pulls out one of the chairs, takes a deep
breath, and then sits down. Wow, the past two
days have been crazy. As Lily says this, she
points to the gold bar now sitting on Ethan's
desk, and then points to her backpack which is
resting on the floor next to Sierra. And where
did you find my backpack? And what's inside of
it? Professor Hawthorne smiles and then takes
a seat across from Millie and gives her a brief
recap of what he and Ethan's field trip to Rob's
Peak, the characters they discovered in the mines,
and the substance they had found in the mine
number three. After finishing the story about
Rob's Peak, he then scratches his head and says
out loud, Hmm, what else happened yesterday?
I mean, it feels like forever ago. A lot, Ava
responds. Sierra and I had our own little adventure
at the reservoir after Sierra got off work and
late into the night. Hold on, I'll write all
this down since it's fresh in our minds. We'll
need to record the sequence of events with as
much detail as possible. It'll be helpful for
when the FBI gets here. Ava says all of this
while thinking in the back of her mind that the
document she creates will also help her write
her series of articles for the B1 in its time.
However, she doesn't say this part aloud as she
does not want to come across as self -serving.
Ava looks over it. At Sierra, who was sitting
next to Lily. Hey, Sierra, why don't you catch
Lily up about what happened at the reservoir
and how we found her backpack? And maybe even
the scary ledge part. This way, I'll type while
you talk. Of course. Sierra responds before telling
Lily about being suspicious of Professor Hawthorne,
which became the reason the two girls went without
telling him or Ethan, and how Ethan's tracker,
which she put in Lily's backpack for a test,
was what allowed the Professor and Ethan to stop
at the reservoir on their way back from Rod's
Peak because they thought Lily was there, but
instead finding Sierra and Ava trapped on the
spillway ledge and holding on for their dear
lives. She then tells Lily about the meeting.
Her and Ava overheard the bad guys taking blurry
photos, having an audio recording, and then discovering
that one of the bad guys was Professor Sharpton.
Sierra then tells Lily that they found her backpack
in the room the bad guys were having their meeting
and that she thinks they forgot to take it with
them because they left in a hurry after hearing
the breaking picnic table. Yup, Ava interjects.
Lily, we were still worried when we found out
you were gone. We were all over the place trying
to find where you were. Sierra was especially
worried. She's the sweetest. Aww, Lily says.
She is the sweetest. Thank you all for worrying
about me and then finding me in the woods and
then driving me back. What happened after the
reservoir then? We were really overwhelmed by
all the facts and new knowledge that presented
itself that night. The most pressing and heaviest
part was that we realized whatever this is, it
was a lot bigger than any of us. It's not just
about a kidnapping or two or a simple misunderstanding.
There are some important people, public figures,
and prominent community members involved. And
I think this has been going on for a long time.
And they've used the tunnels on Old Man Sutter's
property to keep all their secrets from the public.
I mean, if the secrets of El Dorado County came
out, as I think they will now, this county, this
state, and potentially in the entire country
will not be the same again. U .S. history books
may have to be rewritten. We have in our possession,
in this office in fact, what appears to be a
trove of damning evidence that dates back to
the mid -1800s. Just then, Ethan returns with
trays full of sandwiches, fries, and drinks.
All right. I hope I didn't miss too much. What
went down today? Wow, these look great. Thanks
so much, Ethan, the professor says as he grabs
a sandwich and a soda from the tray. You're just
in time, too. Lily knows about Rob's peak and
the reservoir. The professor continues as the
others are getting their food and getting situated
in the office. Also, really early in the morning,
Ava came through with her contact at the B who
had connections with the FBI. We now know the
identities of two of the other people in the
meeting at the reservoir besides Professor Sharpton.
Let's see. Mayor Ruiz and California State Rep.
Brown. We are unsure about the other two identities,
but my guess is that they are quite prominent
in our community or state. Lily's eyes widen
as she says, Wow, that's crazy. And then she
asks, So how did you end up at the same place
I was being held, the tunnels? It's actually
pretty simple. We went on a hunch and followed
some more clues from the manuscript, the professor
answered. However, we had no idea what we were
getting into to say the least. I mean, look at
me, my clothes are still wet and I still need
to go see the doctor about this cut. And I've
never been shot at before. The professor pauses,
sits back in his chair. Ethan then interjects.
The professor's right. Lily, we met here this
morning and talked about the plan for today.
I couldn't go since I was caught up with the
cafe because one of the morning staff members
didn't show up. Ethan goes on and asks, Lily,
how did you escape? Ava stops taking notes for
a minute and looks up to repeat the question.
Yeah, Lily, how did you escape? We haven't heard
that part yet. Having just taken another bite
of food, Lily waits a moment and then gives them
all a play -by -play account of what happened
in the tunnel and how she was able to push the
gate open, find her way through the dark maze,
and then out to freedom. She explains to them
about the guard being distracted by what may
have been the noise of the other three entering
the tunnel. about her being scared but brave,
her thought process discovering Chen's sweatshirt
and then wondering what they have done with him.
You're so right, Lily, Ava interrupts. There's
still a missing person out here, she continues.
I mean, I assume Chen was held in that very room
you were, but before they brought you there.
So where did they move him to? Lily points to
the dirty sweatshirt hanging over the back of
one of the chairs and says, his name is written
on the inside tag. Lily continues talking. I
really need his help with the formula that he
wrote. I think that is why they took him. I think
that formula is the key to why we are all in
this situation. She goes on. I mean, I don't
remember much about being taken yesterday morning,
but I do remember that I was in the science lab
at the college and the formula called for a substance
that the lab did not have. So, I asked Professor
Sharpton, who was there monitoring the lab. If
he could help me, as soon as he saw what I was
working on, all these bad things just started
happening to all of us. Sierra lets out a sigh
and adds, I don't know Chen very well. I know
him just as a customer here at the cafe, but
I do hope he can be found. I hope he is safe
and hasn't been harmed yet. Hawthorne interrupts,
I hear you, Sierra. He was one of my best students
and a great TA. I think he stumbled upon something
he was not supposed to, tried it, discovered
it, worked, and then that's what triggered all
these things. The professor continues, So Lily,
you mentioned a mystery element the science lab
at the college did not have, an element the formula
calls for? Yes, Lady answers. Lily proceeds to
grab a piece of paper from Ethan's desk and starts
scribbling down a formula and then says, See
this symbol right here. This is the element I
need in order for this formula to work. I also
memorized the formula yesterday morning as I
was tired of having to go back and forth between
my phone and the lab tools. The professor jumps
in just as Lily is done speaking and says, I
don't want to get ahead of myself, but I think
Ethan and I found the missing element you need
for the formula. I mean, I'm not 100 % sure,
but the substance we found in mine number three
on Rob's Peak, which was labeled positive by
the miners. contained some sort of element in
the walls of one of the shafts. I scraped off
some samples, which I left here in the office
this morning. Oh, there's the sample, over there,
that's on the shelf by the door. The professor
gets up and grabs the baggie off the shelf, looks
down at it, and continues. I've been around a
lot of different rocks and dirt in my lifetime,
and this sample here, well, it's unique and rare.
Wow, Lily responds. The two things I was missing
in the lab yesterday to make this formula work
was, number one, extreme heat. More heat than
the small Bunsen burner the lab has on hand.
And that substance you are now holding, Professor,
we need to find a way to test this. That's the
only way we will be able to know why these people
want to keep it a secret. Sarah, half listening
as she finishes her salty fries, says, Lily,
did I just hear you say you need extreme heat?
One of my artisan friends has a kiln at her house,
and according to her, she has to fire her porcelain
pieces at a much higher temperature than her
clay pieces. Maybe her kiln would work. If so,
then don't we have what we need? Lily answers,
yeah, I think that would work. Okay guys, let's
not get ahead of ourselves just yet. Now that
we have our sequence of events all figured out,
Let's lay out all the evidence Ava and Sierra
pulled from the rooms in the tunnels and see
if we can put more of the pieces together. He
continues, We haven't received a call back from
Agent Carson yet, so we're not sure when he's
going to show up, and I don't think it's safe
yet for us to be out and about, especially while
it's still light out. Also, Lily, there's probably
a few other items you would need to get from
the science lab that the formula calls for that
you don't really have on you right now. Ethan
jumps in and says, I'll bring up the big elephant
in the room. I mean, there's a U .S. Treasury
gold bar sitting on my desk and with the look
of it, it's probably over 25 pounds. And also,
what's with all the old dusty stuff in Lily's
backpack? Actually, Ethan, if that gold bar is
what I think it is, then it's 27 .4 pounds or
12 .4 kilos. That's the international standard
for traded gold bullion between central banks.
I wrote about it in one of my books. It's also
got the U .S. Treasury Department stamped on
it, which means it either was minted by the Treasury
Department or was minted and is heading to the
Treasury Department. Either way, the thing sitting
on your desk is worth about three quarters of
a million U .S. dollars. Everyone in Ethan's
small office immediately stopped eating, looked
up at the professor, and then around the room
with faces that said, you've got to be kidding
me. Ava breaks the silence with a question to
Sierra and says, Sierra, do you remember that
large pallet that was covered with the tarp in
the tunnel room? Yeah. Sierra answers, knowing
where Ava is going with this question. Well,
there's probably hundreds more. Maybe upwards
of a thousand of those gold bars down in one
of the tunnel rooms Sierra and I were in. They
were covered with an old cloth tarp. We didn't
get to look, but the shape and the size of the
objects under the tarp match description of being
a lot of those gold bars all stacked on top of
each other. Ava is smiling as she's saying this.
Okay, but let's get back to the backpack. I'm
not going back down those tunnels again right
now, Sierra says. Yeah, I would not go down those
tunnels either, but back to the backpack. Come
on guys, there could be close to $750 million
in gold sitting down that tunnel. Ava pauses
for a moment, thinking about it, and then continues.
Sierra and I found a lot of other odds and ends
in one of the other rooms. We filled Lily's backpack
with what we could carry, but there was a lot
more of this stuff down there than what we could
carry out. My hope is that we can study this
together and it'll help us piece the other parts
of this puzzle together. We'll need to be efficient
about looking at all the stuff in the backpack
and making note of each item, though. Once we
hand it over to the FBI, we probably won't ever
see it again, and it's our only leverage we have
at this point. Sierra and Lily open the backpack
and start laying out all the items from the backpack
onto the small table sitting against the wall
in Ethan's already small office. Sierra then
says, I'll just pick up an item, pass it around,
and see if we notice anything about it. Ava then
instructs. Once you're done looking at it, place
it over by the door on the floor. I'll take a
photo of it and then I can make a note of it.
This is exciting. I'm actually doing things we
learned about in forensics classes this past
year. I can't believe it. This is so surreal.
The professor and Ethan watch as the girls lay
out and organize the items that were jammed into
the backpack. Professor Hawthorne, noticing the
pain more now from his cut on his side, then
says, I'm going to need to sneak over to Doc
Rivers' office across the street as soon as he
closes. He's going to need to clean and stitch
this cut. Let's get started and see how far I
get. Sierra passes around old newspaper clippings,
mostly intact from old and local small newspapers
from the early and late 1930s. Some were quite
hard to read and were too torn or faded. However,
the group found several references in the clippings
about several families in the local family that
were relatives of the family who had traveled
from Virginia in search for gold. One of the
interviews that the paper had conducted was with
a very old man who told some outlandish stories
about what his relatives had done. Ava then says,
He reads a few of the clippings and then says,
the man being interviewed alleges that the two
Chinese brothers who owned the cabin up on Rob's
Peak were robbed and murdered because of something
they had discovered in one of the mines. Oh,
he also says that the two brothers made gold.
Weird. The article then talks about large amounts
of cargo being wagon -trained across the U .S.
back to Virginia, especially between 1851 to
1861. Then it continued after the Civil War by
railroad train to Virginia and Washington, D
.C. The professor then adds, this old map here
confirms the location of some of the cabins on
Robb's Peak along with the worker camps that
used to be in the valley of what we now know
as the reservoir. You see, there used to be a
dozen or more worker camps along the reservoir
valley. Ethan interrupts everyone and says, well,
this seems like a classic cover -up of some sorts.
Steal from the little guys. Destroy the evidence
and get rid of all the witnesses and then cover
up what you did. The room went silent for a moment
and then the professor followed that up with,
Okay, let's go with this theory and assume that's
what the evidence is showing us. He continues,
Bear with me as I play out this theory. Okay,
the two brothers from China come to the new America
looking for work and a better life. They bring
over some ancient alchemist formula, discover
that it works after they find the one element
they're missing in Mindsight number three. This
Mindsight also included an inscription of the
Chinese character that translates as positive,
as Ethan and I discovered. The two families from
Virginia, who were part of the ruling and political
class back east at that time, sent several family
members here at the beginning of the gold rush
in 1849. I'm assuming they were either wanting
to get rich themselves or were needing the gold
they were going to find for something else. I
mean, why would they come all this way? They
were already wealthy and well -to -do back in
Virginia, unless the professor stopped for a
moment. They needed the gold for the South because
at the time, the Southern states were wanting
to secede from the Union, the Northern states.
They wanted to find gold and send it back to
Richmond, Virginia, which was the capital of
the South. Eva says all of this as she slowly
gets up out of her chair and takes a couple steps
over to the table that's holding all the stuff
in the backpack. She then picks up one of the
dirty, old, sealed glass jars, tries to pry the
lid off. No luck. So then she drops it onto the
floor. Glass breaks and shatters, revealing all
the contents inside. Yup, Ethan says. I think
my theory's gonna be proved correct, if I'm not
mistaken. These look like real gold nuggets.
The room is silent for a moment as all of them
look down at the numerous gold nuggets laying
around the broken glass pieces. The professor
then says, If this is true, if that formula has
the capacity to make gold, then that's a pretty
big secret that needs to be kept quiet. I'll
bet that some of that gold made here back in
those days was used to help fund the Confederate
Army during the Civil War. Those two families
from Virginia not only had ties to the political
class in Virginia, but also had ties to the military.
Sierra then asked another question to the group.
When Ava and I were down in the tunnel room,
we found old, I mean really old, mining tools
that had Chinese characters etched into some
of the wooden handles and on some of the metal
parts. What could that mean? Ava took... photos
of some of them. Lily then asks, Ava, let me
see those pictures. I may be able to tell what
the characters represent. Lily looks at several
of the images and then blurs out. Those characters
are family names. Those tools have the names
of families on them. My guess is that those tools
belong to certain worker families. Ava then says,
here's another article from, I guess the same
time period as the other ones we read. And it
talks about the gold rush days as well. And then
it talks about the several large fires that ripped
through all the worker camps, killing many of
them. And then some of the workers and their
family members just disappearing, never to be
seen again. I told you, Ethan replies. A classic
cover -up. Wow, it sure looks that way. This
is huge. Wait, okay, so the two families and
their paid cronies just basically wiped out over
a dozen worker camps and murdered countless prospectors
and their family members? And they took that
formula and made gold and then sent it back to
the East to fund the Confederate war effort against
the Union? Eva's creative mind is spinning all
over the place as she continues to type out all
the details the group is talking about. As they
are picking up the glass and looking at the small
gold nuggets they had been on the floor, Sierra
sees the ledger book sitting on the table under
a few other newspaper clippings and old letters.
She grabs it and then opens it and says, I forgot
I grabbed this, but this ledger booklet may also
be important. It contains dates, names, weights,
and money amounts. This ledger has names and
dates that range from the 1850s through the early
1900s. There are two names that show up a lot
here, Stewart and Johnson. Professor, do either
of those names ring a bell? Professor Hawthorne
thinks for a moment and then says, California
State Rep. Deborah Stewart Brown. He pauses for
a moment and continues, She kept her maiden name,
Stewart. When she was campaigning many years
ago, I remember her making a big deal about why
she kept her maiden name when she got married.
She said something about how her family helped
build the state of California and how she always
wanted voters to remember that when they heard
her name. The professor stops for a moment, cracks
a half smile, and then says, Hmm, the irony here.
This ledger book records hundreds of payout amounts
to the Stewart family over 50 plus years. And
I'm guessing these are all bribes. Wow, this
is huge, especially if this is still happening
today. I mean, think about it. State Rep. Stuart
Brown helped pass legislation years ago to create
the dam and the reservoir. Here's an article
from that pile about how her bill passed and
then became law. The article praises her as being
a conservationist, along with her efforts to
protect and preserve the natural beauty and water
resources of this area. She also controls the
budgets of certain parks and rec areas in El
Dorado County. The ledger that you found in the
tunnel incriminates just about every one of her
ancestors. Fast forward to today, my guess is
that this secret group is still using their power
and wealth to bribe corrupt politicians and prominent
city and county officials like the mayor, Professor
Sharpton, maybe even the sheriff's office. I
mean, the man who shot at me in the tunnel still
had his deputy's uniform on. Ava knows they've
hit the jackpot and can't wait to get started
structuring her series of articles. Ava picks
up her phone and calls her editor at the bee
and asks for more resources. She informs the
editor that she's working on a series of articles
that will hit the national news. Probably the
international news circuits, too. She requests
the help of Ted along with a larger budget so
she can set up a working office in Coloma for
the next few months. The investigation and coming
warrants and arrests will take months to follow
and report on, and she wants to be on the front
lines. She doesn't want the story to fall into
the hands of any other reporter, especially since
she and her friends have risked so much to get
the information they're now looking at. As all
of this has been happening, Lady has been going
over the formula and this new element in her
head. She's also been looking at some of the
other old papers found which include chemical
symbols, numbers, and temperatures. She's pretty
sure the formula Chen had will work with the
right heat, and this new element the professor
had a sample of. She picks up another cell jar
that is sitting on the table and then notices
that the contents look similar to the element
the professor found in mine site number 3. She
then says, I've got enough information and substances
here to recreate the experiment. It looks like
this other jar contains the same substance the
professor and Ethan found in the mine site. She
continues and says out loud, I think this formula,
if mixed properly, can convert a base metal like
lead, zinc, or tin into gold. And depending on
what base metal is used, the gold produced could
be graded between 18 to 24 karat gold, the latter
being 99 .9 % pure gold. If I had to guess, that
gold bar there looks to be close to 24 karat
gold. Professor Hawthorne then says, The FBI
will need to investigate the connection between
all of this and the U .S. Treasury Department.
I hope the corruption does not go up that far
in our federal government. Ava chimes in. You
never know, Professor. Money makes people do
weird and unforeseen things, she continues. Our
little secret bad guy group is being paid, and
it's paying other people to keep their little
secret. So now that we know how all the history
stuff is connected, We still need to find out
how Chen came about getting this formula and
where he's been taken. The conversation among
the group is like popcorn. The evidence and details
help them connect just about all the dots. Ethan
then says, I looked up the name Johnston online
around that time period in history, specifically
during the 1850s and 1860s, and, well, according
to what I found, there was a family with the
same name that played an important part in the
political structure of the South at that time.
If I had to bet, these people are probably related.
Ava then interjects, I think I found an identity
of one of the other persons in that secret meeting
at the reservoir. I'm not 100 % sure, but there's
been a recently published magazine that includes
a long and flowery article on the newly elected
Coloma City Council member, Margaret Deason.
Sierra then responds, if she's potentially the
fourth person in that room, then who was the
fifth? We know it was a man. Was this man large?
The professor asked with the hopes it was the
guard he encountered in the tunnel. No, he wasn't
very large. I would say he was average build,
Sierra answers. The professor looks down at his
watch, feeling quite tired and achy, and says,
I need to head over to Doc Rivers' clinic across
the street. The clinic just closed and I need
to catch the doc before he leaves for the evening.
I also need to check in with my wife and let
her know what's going on. There's no hiding these
scratches on my face or my ripped and dirty shirt.
By this time, the group had looked at and documented
all the things Ava and Sierra had taken from
the tunnels. The professor stood up and looked
around at all the others. Ava was still typing
some of her own thoughts and ideas out. Sierra
was still snapping photos of some of the last
bits of items from the backpack. Ethan was studying
some of the letters that were recovered and Lily
was inspecting the gold nuggets she had picked
up off the floor. Before the professor could
walk out of the office, Ava's phone rings and
startles them. Almost at the same time, the professor's
phone rings. The professor answers and then says
to the group, It's the FBI. It's Agent Carson.
The professor stands there nodding his head and
then replies, No, we're all together. It wasn't
safe for us to go back to our own houses. He
continues, Okay, yes, we're currently in town
and hiding out in the back of Ethan's cafe. Yes,
we have the things we took from the tunnel. No,
we haven't interacted with anyone or shown anyone
those things. The professor listens a bit longer
and then hangs up the phone and says to the others
who are looking back and forth at Ava and the
professor who are both on calls at the same time.
Agent Carson is on his way here as we speak,
and he's being accompanied by the special agent
in charge of the San Francisco FBI field office
and by a forensic officer. I think he said his
name was Williamson or something. This is a pretty
big deal if the lead field office agent and the
forensic officer will be here within the hour.
Ava then jumps into the conversation. I just
got off the phone with Ted and he and the editor
will be here tomorrow mid -morning. This is a
big deal if the B's editor is coming here personally.
She says this as she's trying to hold back her
excitement at what will probably be a career
-changing event for her, and in a good way. The
professor then says that he's standing in the
doorway getting ready to leave for the clinic.
Okay, okay, we know this is a big deal, so let's
not slip up right now. Let's keep all this evidence
here in this room. The FBI is going to want all
this stuff intact when they arrive, and I'm assuming
they'll tag it, bag it, and take it with them.
The professor turns around and then adds as he
exits the office, I'll be back shortly, so stay
put. He exits the cafe and into the alley, closing
the back cafe door behind him. He takes a few
steps and then his phone rings again. He answers.
Hey honey, I was just going to call you and ask
if you could come meet me at Doc Rivers Clinic
on Main Street. I had a small mishap today. No,
no, I'm okay. Nothing serious. I'll tell you
when I see you. It's a long story. Yeah, sorry.
I must have been in a place with no cell phone
service. No, I didn't get your text message either.
As Hawthorne talks with his wife, he observes
many of the downtown shops starting to close
early because of the annual Gold Rush Festival
parade, which will be happening that evening.
The parade starts several blocks down and several
streets over and comes directly down Main Street
in front of Ethan's Cafe and all the other shops
located there. The parade attracts a mixture
of local town residents and tourists as they
all cram into the downtown area to enjoy a family
fun summertime event. The parade often includes
festive and decorated floats that are usually
pulled by pickup trucks and tractors, two or
three county high school marching bands, local
clubs, and the ever so popular El Dorado College's
award -winning drumline members. The parade is
a colorful and fun event that brings so many
people together from all over the place. The
evening then concludes with a controlled fireworks
display, which the county park's office approved
since there was plenty of rain and snow melt
during the spring season. No worries of forest
fires this year. Professor Hawthorne's phone
is about to die because of the water damage it
sustained during his swim across the river earlier
that day. So he says to his wife quickly, My
phone is acting weird and it may cut off, so
really quick, can you bring me a fresh shirt
as well? yes i'm walking over to the clinic right
now i will see you in a few minutes no okay really
quick the professor stopped walking and just
stands here on the sidewalk now next to ethan's
cafe and directly across the street from the
clinic professor hawthorne then says abruptly
wait what bill sharpton called you today really
no no no you didn't do anything wrong okay okay
just get here as soon as you can I'll be at the
clinic, so just knock on the front glass window
and someone will come out and let you in. Hawthorne
then walks across Main Street toward the clinic.
One other person emerges from the alley but stays
close to the building's side wall. This person
had been hiding near the fire escape staircase
on another business' back door. The stranger
peers across the street and watches as the professor
greeted, by the doctor at the front door of the
clinic and then is let inside. Sierra, Ava, Lily
are patiently waiting in Ethan's small office
in the back of the cafe as Ethan helps his staff
close up the kitchen, bar, and seating area.
The cafe, along with most of the businesses on
Main Street, are closing early. The annual Gold
Rush Festival parade brings a ton of people to
the downtown area. In fact, there are a lot of
people already stinging out their turf by setting
up their lawn chair mats along the parade route
to hopefully get a front row seat at the parade.
and all its participants walk and drive past.
Sierra turns and looks at Ava and says, I forgot
the parade was tonight. Oh man, there's going
to be so many people down and around here tonight.
Ava responds, Well, for now, we're just going
to hang out until Agent Carson shows up. But
if for some reason we have to leave the cafe,
we could blend in with the crowds pretty easily
if we had to. Lady then asks, So what do we do
when Agent Carson arrives? Ava, I think you should
do the talking first if Professor Hawthorne isn't
back yet. I mean, you have experience with this
type of thing, right? Ava laughed slightly and
then responds. Experience with the FBI? Nah.
Experience with trying to piece together a story
and communicate the facts? Yeah. Lily, thanks
for your confidence in me. I've only been at
this job for a little over a year now. I do have
to say, though, I learned more in my first six
months in this job than I did in all four years
at university. Just follow my lead if Hawthorne
isn't back by the time Agent Carson shows up.
Ethan popped his head into the office and says,
I'm busy helping close the cafe, so I'll be up
front and in the kitchen if you need me for anything.
No sooner did Ethan leave the office area when
all three of the girls heard three distinct knocks
on the back door. Sarah particularly heard it
the clearest as she was sitting closest to the
entry of the office, which is only several feet
away from the back door of the cafe. Sarah turns
and says, that must be Professor Hawthorne. Wow,
that was fast. Sarah gets up from her chair and
goes to the back door and opens it and freezes.
Ava is still sitting in the office and observing
Sarah as Ava has direct line of sight to the
back door. sierra is standing right in her view
but notices that sierra is just standing there
staring and not moving Ava gets up from her chair
and says, Sierra, what's going on? Is that Professor
Hawthorne? By this time, Lily was now paying
attention to and looking forward the back door
where Sierra was standing very still. Sierra
stood there with a very surprised and confused
look on her face. There stood a man who looked
similar to Chen, just standing there looking
back at her. In the split seconds it took for
her to open the back door, the following thoughts
went through her head. Is this Chen? I mean,
I only seen him in the cafe a few times, but
this person looks similar to him. But something's
different. Is it his eyes? His nose? Pardon speaks.
Your secret knock is not really a secret anymore.
But don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. I
need to come in off the streets if possible,
and I have some information you're definitely
going to want to hear. By this time, Ava was
standing right behind Syrah and was looking over
her shoulder directly at the stranger who was
looking back at both of them. Ava then says,
Tell us who you are, what you know, and maybe,
just maybe, we'll let you in. Paul responds,
I'm in as much trouble as you are. But we have
some mutual enemies and I need to not be seen
in public right now. And I've got nowhere to
go. And besides, it wasn't too difficult for
me to figure out where you were hiding out. Paul
continues, Now let me in before we are all seen
here indeed. the alley. Paul notices that neither
girl is moving from their door blocking positions
so he then says okay to prove my point let me
guess someone named Lily is also here with you
and you're still looking for someone named Chen.
Lily's ear perked up in a split second she was
over at the door with the other two girls looking
at this stranger who seems to know who she is
and who Chen is. Lily blurs out you know Chen?
Paul responds you must be Lily and yes. I know
Shen. He's actually my younger brother. My name
is Paul, by the way, and I live and work here
in San Jose. All three girls' faces looked shocked
and confused. None of them had known Shen had
an older brother, but none of them had really
known Shen well. Anyway, the girls moved out
of the doorway and let Paul in the back door
and then closed the door behind him. At this
point, Ipin had just run to the corner from the
kitchen and was standing in the small hallway
as well. Ethan, surprised by finding a new stranger
in the back of his cafe, says, Uh, what's going
on here and who is this? Ava responds first.
Ethan, this is Chen's brother, Pa. He's from
San Jose. From the next 15 to 20 minutes, Ava
and the others listen to Paul tell him about
the situation that Chen had gotten mixed up in.
Ava sits and takes notes as she and the others
listen intently to Paul as he explains how his
family back in China has a century and a half
old peace agreement with certain prominent families
in the United States. The peace agreement between
the wealthy and influential family in China and
the two wealthy and influential families in the
United States was established after two families
from Virginia had come to California and had
stolen a long -kept secret Paul and Chen's ancestors
had been keeping. Lily with a surprised look
on her face interrupts and says, So you're telling
me you are part of the Lei family clan in China?
Paul responds, Yes, that's correct. Wow, I'm
from mainland China and everybody knows about
your family. Impressive, Lily says. Please go
on, Eva says. Ava continues to take notes as
she listens to what happened back in history,
events that occurred, the tragedies, the crimes,
and corruption that both Paul and Chen's family
and the American families have committed in order
to keep their secrets a secret. When it comes
down to it, the two American families had stolen
the gold -making formula from the two Chinese
brothers during the height of the gold rush in
1850 and covered up all their crimes by bribing
and paying people off to look the other way.
These two American families and their ancestors
have used a formula throughout history to make
gold and buy influence among some of the most
prominent political and military leaders in the
United States. He also explained that his family
and his ancestors back in China have done the
same. Sierra then asked, So you are saying that
both your family and the two American families
have kept this secret for more than a century?
But they have also used this formula to make
gold, enrich themselves, and buy off people in
order to keep this secret a secret? Yep. That's
the gist of it, Paul answers and then adds. However,
my family and my ancestors have kept this secret
for over 8 ,000 years. You see, when the two
brothers, my ancestors, came to America looking
for work back during the gold rush, well, yes,
they were looking for work, but they were also
looking for that one element in the formula they
needed in order for it to work. Well, that element
was quite rare in China, so they were sent here
to find it. And when the word came that there
was some gold found here, place back in 1849.
They came here in search of the rocky element
that usually is found in the same places as gold.
I can't explain why, but all I know is that The
two brothers found that element on Rob's peak,
tried the formula with a clump of lead, and the
formula worked for them. The two American families
found out that the two brothers had discovered,
stole the formula, and then exterminated the
workers' camps and everyone that knew about it.
And I suppose you found the evidence by the looks
of stuff sitting on that desk. So taking notes
and without hesitation, Ava looks up and says,
Please go on, this sounds so crazy that it may
just be true. It's true. Shen and I are not like
the rest of my family. We are different and we
don't want to keep trying to cover up this secret.
Well, this formula either needs to be destroyed
so no one has it or it should be shared with
the world. Paul responds and continues. We do
not want anyone to get hurt because of this thing
anymore. Too many people already have and it's
time it stops. Intrigued by the entire conversation
and especially the technology and science behind
such a formula, Ethan then says, If this formula
was released to the public, gold markets would
crash and gold would become virtually worthless.
Its value would tank and potentially be worth
less than copper. Paul responds, Theoretically,
yes. That could happen if this formula was published
and released to the public. Sierra then asks,
So, was the gold rush real? Did people actually
find gold or did they just make it using this
formula? Paul answers and says, Did people come
here looking for gold and did they find gold?
Yes, but was that gold actually from the earth?
Was it natural gold? Was it here before they
arrived? No, at least the vast majority of it.
Paul continues, Some of the small amounts that
were discovered in the early 1849 were real,
but the majority of the other gold found here
was actually byproduct of the formula being used.
You see, the formula needs extreme heat to convert
larger amounts of another base metal to a larger
amount of gold. If you lack that extreme heat,
then the formula will only produce small flecks
and specks of gold. So, my guess is that... Those
small flecks and specks of gold washed up in
the river and other places where they were trying
to use that formula. Lady asks, so a pottery
kiln could potentially provide the extreme heat
needed for the formula to work? Probably, Paul
answers. Sierra then adds, so my pottery friends
could potentially become gold dealers and break
the stereotype of starving artists. Sierra pauses
for a minute and then says, That's pretty cool.
At the moment, there were three more knocks on
the back cafe door. Ava jumped up from her seat
and walked to the back door and said, I bet that's
Professor Hawthorne. Man, is he going to be surprised
when he gets in here. Professor Hawthorne moves
out of the way as the back door swings open into
the alley and sees Ava standing there with a
grin on her face. He asks, Why so happy? Did
something happen when I was gone? Professor Hawthorne
says this as he watches his wife drive off down
the street. He instructed her to go to her friend's
house for the evening as precaution. Ava responds,
well, you'll find out for yourself when you get
in here. Ava walks back into Ethan's office,
which is pretty much a standing room only right
now, since there are so many of them hiding out
here. She watches as the professor enters the
office and then sees Paul, the stranger they
knew nothing about just 30 minutes ago. standing
there conversing with the others like they were
best friends. Hawthorne stops for a moment as
he enters a small office and says, Wait, wait,
wait a minute. You've got to be related to Chen
or something. You look just like him, but maybe
a little older. Pa replies, You're correct, but
I'm his older brother by almost five years. Pa
then hesitates for a moment and looks around
the room at everyone and says, I overheard a
couple of you talking about your incident at
the reservoir a moment ago. Well, I was one of
the persons in that meeting, and just to be clear,
even though I was in that meeting doesn't mean
I agree with the people who were there. I was
just representing myself and my brother's best
interest. That's all. Neither he nor I have anything
to do with what the other people in that meeting
may or may not do. I had no idea that they had
kidnapped Lily earlier that day. Paul continues,
have you ever heard that saying, keep your friends
close and your enemies even closer? Well, that
was what I was doing. Shen and I want nothing
to do with what those people are doing or planning.
However, and unfortunately, Shen tipped our hand
by playing around with that formula last week
in the lab when Professor Sharpton was there.
That then started a domino effect of events to
what brings us here now. Sierra then adds, Oh,
that makes sense now. We were wondering who that
fifth person was in the room. It was kind of
dark and blurry and we couldn't see who you were
clearly. Lady then asks, If Chen is hiding and
hasn't been taken, then why did I find Chen's
sweatshirt in one of the rooms in the tunnel
where I was being held? Paul replies, I took
him there to hide for a day and then moved him
to a safer place once. I knew we could move without
being detected. Several of those in that meeting,
The other night, I assumed one of the other members
had kidnapped Shin, but in reality, none of them
knew the truth. Professor Hawthorne adds, well,
that is good to know. We are no longer dealing
with a missing person then. This should make
it easier for the FBI to move quickly and decisively
when they get here. Hawthorne hadn't really thought
about what he had just said in front of Paul,
but then suddenly realized it when he saw Paul's
expression. Oh, Paul, looks like no one has told
you yet. But the FBI will be here any minute.
So this is good timing that you have found us.
I assume you won't run before they get here.
The professor says as he looks directly at Paul
and the back door of the cafe, which is closed
and locked. No, I'm not going to run. I've already
thought through my options and I want to strike
a deal, if possible. What kind of deal? The professor
asks Paul, point blank, as if to demand an immediate
answer. You do realize you may be implicated
in crimes if the others involved give their statements
to the FBI? At that moment, Ava's phone rings.
She looks down and notices that the caller ID
says, unknown caller. She pauses a minute before
answering. Hello, this is Ava Turner with the
Sacramento Bee. Oh, hello Agent Karsten. Yep,
we're all here together and are waiting at Ethan's
Cafe on Main Street. No, Professor Hawthorne
is with us as well. No, I think he was having
problems with his phone. Yeah, I don't plan on
publishing anything yet. However, my editor and
another reporter will be here tomorrow morning.
And I guess you're not going to want to sit on
the story for more than a day. Okay. Okay, we
can let you in the front door when you arrive.
Eva says this last part as she looks at Ethan
and nods her head as if to say to Ethan. Right,
Ethan? We can let them in the front door? Ava
then hangs up the call and says to the others
in the room, Agent Carson and Special Agent Williamson
are parking right now and will be coming in to
the front door. Hope that's okay, Ethan. As Ava
says this, she catches eyes with Sierra and they
both look at the gold bar still sitting on the
shelf in the office. They both know what each
other is thinking. Ethan responds, yeah, no problem.
I'll go up front and wait for them to arrive.
The shop is closed now anyways, except for the
people outside on the street sitting and waiting
for the parade to start. It couldn't have been
five minutes as Professor Hawthorne watches from
the back hallway by Ethan's office as Ethan opens
the front cafe door and greets the three FBI
agents. The agents identify themselves, show
their badges, and then enter the cafe. Hawthorne
watches as Ethan then locks the front door and
walks the agents back toward where he is standing.
Professor Hawthorne extends his hand and says,
Hello, my name is James Hawthorne. Agent Carson
spoke with me earlier today. Agent Carson shakes
Hawthorne's hand and then introduces his superior
special agent in charge, Derek Williamson, and
their forensic officer, Ruby Neal, and then says,
So is everyone in here? Yes, they are right back
here in the office. Hawthorne responds as he
walks them back to the office and then introduces
the agents to the others who were standing and
sitting in the small cramped office. Agent Carson
then says, all the evidence you said you have
is sitting in here by the looks of it. Agent
Carson continues, Special Agent Williamson has
asked me to take the lead on this investigation.
So if you don't mind, I'd like for all of us
to go in front of the seating area of the cafe
so Ruby can start analyzing and logging the evidence
in this room. She's also going to have to fingerprint
all of you since it appears you have touched
and handled most of these pieces. We need to
do this so we can rule you out of the suspects.
Then, if she finds any other fingerprints on
the pieces that don't belong to any of you, well,
that will give us cause to follow up with that
person or persons. That is if we have the fingerprints
in our - system already. The professor leads
the way as they all one by one, first Professor
Hawthorne, then Sierra, then Lily, then Paul,
and then Ava make their way to the front of the
cafe area and sit down at some of the empty tables
and chairs. Ethan hangs back for a bit to make
sure Ruby, the forensics officer, has what she
needs and as she begins looking over the documents
and other materials in the office. She had brought
two black medium -sized suitcases in the cafe
with her. assuming this is how she would collect,
pack, and then carry out the evidence. Ethan
feels a little put out and frustrated when Ruby
tells him he's not allowed back into his office
until she says so. He watches as she puts up
yellow tape across the doorway. She does this
not to block anyone from actually going back
into the office, but rather, it's more of a subliminal
message to everyone that says, stay out. From
outside the office door, Ethan watches as Ruby
starts rummaging through everything, even some
of his personal items, on and in his desk, moving
and displacing things. He takes a deep breath,
rolls his eyes, and then says, Oh well, that
figures. He then turns around and walks up front
and sits down with the others in the cafe. agent
carson along with special agent williamson listen
and take notes as they record voluntary testimony
from everyone there a guy named paul goes last
and offers to turn state evidence in exchange
for witness protection for both him and his brother
who he says is hiding out of fear for his life
after getting everyone's testimony agent carson
says to paul you'll be taken into custody for
your own safety and if what you tell us checks
out and you offer your unwavering help along
the way in this investigation, then yes, there
is a possibility to get a deal like this. Agent
Carson gets up from his chair and then says,
I need to check in with Ruby, and then make a
phone call. Hang tight for about 10 minutes.
Agent Carson then walks back to the office to
talk to Ruby as Special Agent Williamson stays
with everyone else. As they wait for Agent Carson,
Sierra and Lily peer through the front window
of the cafe out toward the street. And all the
people who have now lined up on both sidewalks
were waiting for the parade to come marching,
dancing, and riding down Main Street in front
of the cafe. They all can hear the faint sounds
of what sounds like one or two marching bands
from a few blocks away. Sierra then looks at
the others and says, The parade has started.
Can you hear that? She watches as the others
look toward the front door and windows from inside
the cafe. They all sit there in awkward silence
for a few minutes, not really knowing what to
say. A few minutes later, Agent Carson emerges
from the back of the cafe having already made
his phone call, and having talked with Ruby,
he then says to the group, Alright, I have good
news. The judge has authorized a search warrant
based on this evidence and your testimony. And
with this back of the DA, we have issued two
arrest warrants at this time. It's still early,
so don't be frustrated. We will probably be issuing
more arrest warrants in the coming days, if this
all turns out to be true. Ava's been unusually
quiet for some time, but finally speaks and asks,
Agent Carson, we're happy to work with you and
the FBI, but I know that the B is not going to
sit in on this story for too long. This is way
too big and the public is going to want to know
about this. Well, at least most of it. Ava says
this because right before the feds showed up,
the six of them who were in the office together,
Professor Hawthorne, Ava, Lily, Sarah, Eason,
and Paul had all made an agreement. were packed
that they would not voluntarily offer up the
formula in its current form. In fact, if the
FBI asked them about it, they would say that
the formula that Lilly had tried in the lab was
not correct and it didn't work anyway. It's all
true. The formula didn't work for Lilly in the
lab. This is one of the secrets of El Dorado
County that can't and shouldn't be released to
the public. History has proven it offers more
harm than good. Agent Carson continues, Special
Agent Williamson and I are prepared to make two
arrests this evening. We have two more FBI agents
en route and they will be here in about 10 to
15 minutes. I'm going to need you all to put
your phones on this table in front of Special
Agent Williamson while you wait. We do this as
a precaution. Then Agent Carson looks at Professor
Hawthorne and says, Professor, I'm going to need
your help this evening. The professor listens
as Agent Carson proposes a plan to lure Bill
Sharpton out in the open in order for Carson
and Williamson to make the arrest without incident.
Hawthorne is quiet as he contemplates the plan
and strategy Carson has described. After a minute
or so, Hawthorne says, Okay, just to be clear,
and to make sure I heard you right, you'd like
for me to call Bill and ask him to meet me somewhere?
Somewhere that would not cause suspicion? You
want me to tell him that I found out some things
about him that I don't think are true? And as
a friend and longtime work colleague, that we'll
need to work it out amongst ourselves so that
both parties can benefit from the agreement?
Then, when he shows up to meet me, you'll arrest
him there on the spot? No questions asked? Agent
Carson responds, yep, that's correct. We'll need
you to go there and wait until he shows up. Of
course, we'll be there as soon as he shows himself.
After talking over several different meeting
locations with Agent Carson, Professor Hawthorne
calls Bill Sharpton from his phone, which was
still acting weird because of the water damage
from earlier. Hawthorne listens to it ring several
times and then hears Sharpton answer. Hawthorne
says, Bill, this is James. We need to talk, but
not over the phone. There are some things we
need to iron out so that all parties can come
out of this with a win, if you know what I mean.
Well... I know, but what happened earlier today
sure didn't seem like just a small misunderstanding.
Scratches on my face and stitches in my side
would seem to tell a different story. Yes, I
want that too. I think we can come to an agreement
then. Meet me at 8pm near where they shoot off
the end of the evening fireworks. You know, the
South Lawn at the college. No, it's just me.
No one else needs to get involved in this. No,
no. That reporter from the B doesn't have enough
for a real story. Yeah. Yes. I'll be there. 8
p .m. sharp. You have a chance to make this right
for me if you get what I mean. Professor Hawthorne
then hangs up, looks at Agent Carson and says,
It's on. 8 p .m. on the south lawn of the college.
By this time, the parade was in full swing and
the noise and excitement was happening right
outside the sidewalks and street in front of
the cafe. Ava noticed Sierra and Lily, looking
quite bored, sitting close to one of the front
windows, peering through the blinds and trying
to get a look at the festivities and excitement
that was happening outside. Ava looks at Sierra
and says, This time last year, that was us out
there having fun and enjoying life without care
in the world. Sierra replies, I'm glad you came
home again this summer for the festival. I mean,
we're going to remember this for a very long
time. Just as Sierra finished saying this, they
all heard a hard knock on the front glass window
door. Ethan gets up and notices that Special
Agent Williamson is right behind him. Ethan peers
through the glass door at what looks to be two
more agents standing outside staring back at
him. He hears Williamson instruct him to open
the door and let him in. Ethan complies and then
goes and sits back down. Ethan then hears Special
Agent Williamson say something to the effect
that the agents need to use Ethan's shop as their
basic operations for the evening. After hearing
this, Ethan looks over at Steera and Ava and
says, Well, nothing like the Feds to take over
my shop. Ethan pauses for a moment and then responds
to Special Agent Williamson and says, I guess
I'm okay with that. My morning staff arrives
at 6 .30am tomorrow morning, so you'll need to
be out by then. Ethan then sighs, looks back
at Ava and Sierra and says, looks like I'll be
spending the night here tonight. Sierra replies,
Ethan, I work a full shift tomorrow, don't worry.
I can help clean up and get this place ready
again before tomorrow. I can stay as late as
needed. Ava watches as now four agents, along
with their laptops and a printer, are all spread
out in the cafe talking and working. She's always
wondered how the bureau operates and they seem
to be quite efficient. She notices that one of
the agents is taking Paul's testimony and then
sees Paul making a written statement. Ava assumes
this is related to his involvement and also wanting
immunity and witness protection for both himself
and his brother, Chen. After some time, Professor
Hawthorne noticed that it was now past 7 p .m.
and was wondering how long Agent Carson and the
other agent would need to set up the sting operation
for Bill Sharpton. Hawthorne approaches Agent
Carson, who is typing on his laptop, and says,
We may want to leave soon since it'll take us
about 10 minutes to drive over to the college,
and I'm not sure how long you guys need to get
set up. Agent Carson looks up and responds, Yep,
give us two more minutes. We are coordinating
a few other things at the moment, and we'll be
ready to go. Two minutes turned into five minutes,
but eventually the three of them, Hawthorne,
Agent Carson, and one of the other new agents,
who hadn't introduced himself yet, departed out
the back cafe door into the alley and then made
their way to their vehicles. Professor Hawthorne
was instructed to drive his own car to the meetup,
and the agents would follow some distance behind
and then look for a different parking space once
they were close to the south lawn of the college.
A few minutes after Hawthorne, Agent Carson,
and the other agent left for their sting operation,
Ava, Sierra, Lily, Ethan, and Paul were sitting
in the cafe. Paul, however, was not sitting close
to the others and was being watched by Special
Agent Williamson. Ava had noticed that Williamson
had been on and off the phone for the latter
part of the evening. She assumed he was trying
to work out a deal for Paul and Chen in exchange
for Paul's testimony against the others from
the secret group. All of a sudden, Ava, who's
sitting close to Sierra and Lily, and by the
front glass door, hears loud banging from the
outside of the front door. By this time, the
parade outside was starting to come to a close.
The El Dorado drumline members, who were usually
at the star ending finale show of the parade,
were just setting up on the main street to give
the spectators a show. The college's drumline
consisted of around 24 members with snares, tenors,
basses, and cymbals. They always put on a spectacular
performance, especially during the Animal Gold
Rush Festival Parade. They were about to begin.
Upon hearing the loud banging sound on the front
door of the cafe, Ethan immediately rushed to
the front door and peered through the glass to
see a large man staring back at him with a smile
and holding up his serious badge. That's odd,
Ethan thinks to himself as the man was not in
uniform. Ethan, without hesitation, opens the
door and is immediately pushed aside by the large
man who takes a few steps into the cafe. The
man then informs Ethan that someone in the community
called the sheriff's office as they had noticed
people had entered the cafe after it was closed,
and that since he was already close to his location,
he came to check it out. At the moment, the drumline
outside on Main Street begins. There's almost
simultaneous things happening at the same time.
The large man pushing his way into the cafe.
The noise of the drumline outside the front door
on the street startling everyone in the cafe.
Even Special Agent Williamson and the other agent
who were sitting on their laptops were visibly
startled. Ava watches as both agents jump up
to their feet and look in the direction of the
large man who is now standing there looking right
back at them. She can tell the large man recognizes
these two guys were feds by the way they were
dressed. The lady then bursts out. That's him.
That's him. That's the guy from the tunnel who
was guarding me after I was taken. Sierra grabs
Lily's arm and pulls her back toward the corner
of the cafe sitting area and then looks towards
the FBI agents who are now moving towards the
large man. Sierra notices that one of the agents
had grabbed a paper from the printer and was
holding it up and studying it, as if to check
if the photo on the printed document matched
the man who was now standing in the cafe looking
back at them. Ava, who's close to the door, watches
as both Special Agent Williamson and the other
agents start moving toward the man, who has now
figured out he's about to be arrested. The large
man looks down at Ava and then back at the agents
coming close to him and turns around and runs
out of the cafe into the sidewalk with both agents
following him. Ava steps out onto the sidewalk
as she watches both agents running after the
suspect. The large man stands out in the crowd
and is also pushing and shoving spectators as
he passes them. The sound of the drumline cancels
out most of the other noises around Ava, including
the agent's calls for the suspect to stop. Ava,
still watching the foot chase, starts walking
in the same direction, following the agents who
are now over a block away. She can still hear
the large man's head and shoulders bopping up
and down from a distance as he is still running
through the crowds on the sidewalk. All of a
sudden, she sees him disappear out of sight.
It looks like he went down, maybe falling. Still
walking, she continues in that direction as the
crowd around where the large man fell disperses.
As she approaches, she sees both agents on top
of the man, one holding him down and the other
handcuffing him. It's on both men to keep him
pinned down and then handcuff him. Ava then hears
a familiar voice come from her right side. Ava,
is that you? Grandma Turner says with some excitement
in her voice. Ava is stunned to see her grandma
standing there. She's standing next to Frank
and his wife. Gran, Ava responds, are you okay?
What happened? Well, we were just sitting here,
Frank, Ethel, and I, enjoying the parade and
the drums when we noticed this large guy here
coming right towards us on the sidewalk, pushing
and shoving people. Then I saw these guys chasing
him and thought, they're the feds, and I bet
they're chasing a bad guy. So we got up from
our lawn chairs to get out of the way and I waited
till that big guy there? Grandma Turner points
to the large man who is now sitting there in
handcuffs with both agents standing over him
and then continues, I kicked out the chair I
was sitting on right as he ran in front of me
and, well, he tripped on it and fell down. I
wasn't really thinking, I just kind of did it.
Ava shakes her head and mumbles, Wow, Gran, good
job. I don't really know what to say except for
thanks for being in the right place at the right
time. If you're deciding to come down to the
parade, I've got to go and I'll call you in a
bit. Please stay with Frank and Ethel for now.
Ava says this and then turns around and walks
back in the direction of the cafe while the agents
were escorting the large man in cuffs. Professor
Hawthorne parks his Bronco in a public area close
to the south lawn of the college and notices
that the fireworks teams, have roped off a section
of the lawn to keep the spectators, who have
already started to come for the fireworks show,
away from where the fireworks would be lit and
shot from. The time is close to 8 p .m. and Hawthorne
knows Sharpton will not be late. He never is.
So the professor quickly finds Agent Carson and
the other agent who have set up out of sight
of the main lawn area and asks for any last -minute
instructions. Mr. Hawthorne, please put this
wire under your shirt and clip it close to your
chin on your chest. Agent Carson hands Professor
Hawthorne a small microphone and wire and then
shows him how to attach it so it is hidden. You're
going to be wired so we can hear and record your
conversation with Bill Sharpton. We'll move in
as soon as we get what we need. Don't worry,
you won't have to carry on much of a conversation.
as the other evidence Ruby has logged in and
collected should be more than enough for our
case against him. Agent Carson's phone rings.
He nods his head a few times and says, that's
great news. One more to go. He hangs up and then
tells Hawthorne that the other suspect is in
custody and is currently being transferred out
of the county. All right, Professor, one more
to go. Just do what we talked about and you'll
be fine. Hawthorne goes over and stands by the
large sculpture that sits almost directly in
the middle of the south lawn and waits. He looks
down at his watch, almost 8pm, and then looks
over in the direction of an old maintenance building
some 20 meters away where Agent Carson and his
partner are stationed and waiting. Hawthorne
hears a familiar voice behind him. Bill Sharpton
walks up from behind Hawthorne and says, Good
evening, Jim. Sharpton calls Professor Hawthorne
by his informal name most of the time. especially
when they are not at the college or in a formal
setting. Sharpton continues as he sees Hawthorne
turn around and look him squarely in the eyes
and then says, Okay, let's figure this out tonight,
right here and right now. And just to be clear,
Jim, I'm doing you a big favor, probably because
we have history together. And let's face it,
I like you. So, with that said, name your price.
Retirement is not far off, and well, I can help
with that in a big way, so... How much do you
want to keep quiet and to stay quiet? Hawthorne
hesitates a moment and then responds back, I
also need some guarantees from you and whoever
else is involved that the girls will be left
alone, that no harm will come to them so long
as they keep silent as well. Sharpton responds,
Okay, fair enough. I can make that happen so
long as they are quiet and then just move on
with their lives. So, what else? By this time
in the evening, there were many people in and
around the South Lawn area who are now waiting
for the fireworks display, which begins around
dusk. Hawthorne notices that the fireworks will
be starting soon, so he then asks, I don't know,
Bill. How much is my silence worth to you? And
for me to look the other way? Sharpton knows
that Hawthorne just started the negotiations
with that statement. So, Sharpton throws out
a very low number to see if Hawthorne bites.
So, he says, how does 250 grand sound? Hawthorne
looks at Sharpton in the face and then says,
Really, Bill? I always knew you to be a cheap
guy. At that moment, Professor Hawthorne sees
both Agent Carson and his partner grab Sharpton
from behind, hold him, and then cuff him. Because
they were standing in the middle of the lawn
near the large sculpture, there were many people
who noticed the commotion. Some even started
recording it with their phones. As Bill Sharpton
is being manhandled by the two FBI agents who
have now started to move him in the direction
of their parked car, he looks back at Hawthorne
and says, What? Really? Come on, Jim. So, this
is how it's going to be? And those are the last
words Bill Sharpton ever spoke to James Hawthorne.
A few days later, we find Ava sitting on her
own couch back in Sacramento. It's early in the
evening and she's got her feet up and just trying
to relax with some mindless TV. She glances over
toward the corner of the room and smiles at what's
stacked up against the wall and covered with
her favorite blanket. The previous few days had
been so busy, from documenting and writing a
series of articles for the Bee and interviews
with the FBI and other news outlets, to reflecting
and wrapping up the adventure with Sierra, Lily,
Ethan, and the professor. She's had countless
meetings with the Bee's editor -in -chief and
Ted about the series of articles the Bee has
already started to release, of course, with the
FBI's approval. The Bee has been careful not
to publish any evidence or facts that may harm
the ongoing investigation that the FBI is still
working on. Ava has also spent a good part of
an hour explaining everything to Grandma Turner,
who took everything better than she thought.
Grandma Turner seemed to be quite excited about
the entire situation. Well, now after the effect,
Grandma Turner felt a small sense of pride for
having helped the two FBI agents apprehend one
of their first suspects. Needless to say, Ava's
beyond tired and leans against a pillow, eating
her favorite ice cream flavor. Ava grabs her
remote and clicks the TV on and notices that
one of her favorite shows had just ended. She
looks at the clock and notices that it's 9 p
.m., so she switches channels to one of the local
news network stations to watch the news. She
watches as one of the local news stations blasts
a graphic across the screen which reads, Breaking
news! City and state officials arrested for bribery,
corruption, and other crimes that span several
decades. She knew more arrests were going to
be made soon, but she and the editor didn't know
when that was going to happen. She thanks herself
as she settles back onto the couch. Okay, I guess
the cat's out of the bag now. She looks down
at her almost empty cup of ice cream when all
of a sudden, she hears one of the local news
anchors says, Ava Turner from her very own Sacramento
Bee, along with several Coloma residents, helped
crack the corruption and expose the crimes and
lies. Upon hearing her name and seeing her photo
on the TV, she drops both her ice cream and remote.
Out of shock, she says out loud, no way. I guess
the editor... was given the green light to publish
the first article. She gets online and pulls
up the Bee's website. Her first article had just
been posted. She watches as the news anchor talks
about and quotes part of her first article. The
anchor turns it over to a reporter. The news
reporter continues to discuss the details of
the arrests as the TV station shows footage of
the FBI making arrests in the past hour. The
mayor of Oklahoma, a city council member, and
the last and the most prominent state representative,
Stuart Brown. At the moment, her phone rings.
It's Ted, and he answers. Hello? Um, yeah, yes,
sure. I'll be okay. I guess I didn't know when
the articles were going to be released. Makes
sense. Okay, so my articles will be published
over the next few days, one after the other?
Okay, sounds good. Oh, hey, before you hang up,
thanks for your help, Eva says, before hanging
up the phone. Even though Ava was there from
the start and knew of their involvement before
anyone else did, it was that much more real when
seeing it on the news. Letting the sound of the
TV fade into the background, Ava closes her eyes
and says she thinks back to the events that have
occurred in the past few days, some of the craziest
days in her life and short career. She couldn't
have imagined how different her month and summer
would have been if she had not returned to El
Dorado County. Just then, her phone rings again.
Ava is startled but not surprised. I mean, her
face and name was just plastered all over the
news for the last 10 minutes. She picks up her
phone to see an unknown number. She taps accept
and introduces herself. She sits up straight
again on the couch as she listens to the other
person on the line say, Ava, this is Ben Michelson
from Reuters. She holds her excitement back as
she listens and responds. Nice to meet you, Ben.
No, you're the first call. Okay. I'll discuss
that with my editor. Okay, yes, email me the
details. Thanks. She continues to chat with the
reporter from Reuters before hanging up. She
finally slouches back down on the couch, looks
down at her empty ice cream cup, smiles, and
says to herself, Well, I guess my little life
is about to change in some really big ways. It's
mid -August and Professor Hawthorne has yet to
prepare for the upcoming fall semester which
starts just after the U .S. Labor Day holiday.
He's tried to keep a low profile for the last
two months, mainly keeping to himself at home,
taking some time off with his wife and writing.
He's only done a few news interviews about his
part in helping uncover the truth about the gold
rush and the rampant network of corruption that
existed among some of the more prominent members.
Many of his interviews were also structured so
he could provide historical context so the viewers
or listeners would understand how large and long
the corruption secrets and crimes went on. Professor
is at home, relaxed, sitting at his desk, looking
out the back window. Just sitting there and thinking.
His laptop is open and the cursor is blinking
in the middle of the blank page. Hawthorne hears
someone enter the room behind him, so he turns
his head and says, Hey there. His wife had just
entered the room. She was smiling and walking
toward him. The professor asks, How was lunch
with your friends at Ethan's? It was great. It's
always nice to catch up with them when I can.
Ethan was there and sends his greetings. Mrs.
Hawthorne is now standing next to the professor
and looking down at the blank screen on his laptop
with the bouncing cursor and then says, Oh. Two
packages were just delivered as I was pulling
into the driveway. They're rather heavy for their
size. I set them on the floor behind you. They're
addressed to you, she then says. Did you come
up with a title yet? Professor Hawthorne was
inspired by the recent events to write yet another
book, and he had just finished the first draft
in record time. Several publishers had sent in
high bids wanting to help distribute and publish
it for him. The draft read like a story out of
a fiction novel, but it wasn't fiction. It was
all true. All of it. Hawthorne's intention was
not only to tell the story of what happened to
the five of them, himself, Ava, Sierra, Lily,
and Ethan, but also he wanted to make sure the
old manuscript was referenced and the history
and events that preceded everything were revealed,
while all but one of them. He was still committed
to keeping one secret a secret. That was the
formula. Hawthorne looks up at his wife and says,
I got it. He smiles and then looks back down
at his laptop and the blinking cursor on the
blank white page and types, The Secrets of El
Dorado. There it is. That's the title, he says.
Mrs. Hawthorne watches as James types out the
title and then adds, Yep, I like it. I think
the others are going to like it too. The professor
swivels in his chair, gets up, walks over, and
then bends down to inspect the two boxes that
were delivered. He slices open the tape and then
opens one of the boxes. Inside the box, surrounded
by packing popcorn and tightly wrapped in brown
butcher paper, was a polished and bright, solid
gold bar with no markings. Without a word, the
professor looks up at his wife with a half -smile
and then pulls a small card out from inside the
box and it reads out loud, Thanks for the adventure.
What's next? Signed, A and S. The Secrets of
El Dorado Epilogue, one year later. As for Ava
Turner, after publishing her series of articles
and making numerous appearances on talk shows
and other news networks, she was promoted to
be one of the executive editors for The Bee.
She's more passionate about seeking the truth
and uplifting marginalized voices more than ever,
and she volunteers at an organization that teaches
journalism to low -income students every week.
She also has dinner with Grandma Turner every
now and then, and of course, visits Ethan's cafe.
With Ava and Sierra's little side venture after
the first initial arrests were made, over a year
ago, Sierra paid off her college debt and bought
a house just outside of Coloma. She's dedicated
to pursuing her passion of art, design, and education
as she recently landed a high -profile teaching
position at a local private school. She no longer
works full -time at Ethan's, but does help out
on the weekends from time to time when Ethan
calls and asks. She's not ready to give up her
employee discount just yet. Besides, she loves
seeing and talking with her old customers. Lily
Han is on her way to earning her undergraduate
degree at the college, debt and worry -free with
the gifts she too received in the mail. Between
classes, Lily loves to pop into Professor Hawthorne's
office and talk about their adventures and the
new things he has been working on. Because of
her help with the investigation, she was awarded
a permanent green card with permission to live
and work in the U .S. for as long as she wanted.
She still loves to study at Ethan's Cafe and,
sometimes, she gets lucky and runs into both
Sierra and Ava there. Ethan Brooks is still loving
his cafe as it remains a local favorite. He's
added several new sandwich options, but the famous
pastrami stack is still the favorite. Ethan sold
his tracking device and technology and software
to the FBI and then bought the 30 -plus acres
of old man Sutter's property, hoping to build
a small cabin for himself. He continues to tour
around with tech and loves the hobby, even though
he still receives numerous job offers from firms
in Silicon Valley. Some of his newest inventions
and prototypes are for the food and beverage
industry. and involved the integration of menus,
tables, and AI. He's already had two investors
from the Valley show interest. And finally, Professor
James Hawthorne went on to publish his book,
instantly becoming a big hit. More and more readers
became intrigued by the history of El Dorado
County and the gold rush and the events that
took down one of the longest crime and corruption
sprees in U .S. history. There were also several
online chat groups about Hawthorne, with one
even being called Hawthorne's History. which
typically consists of discussions of his past
work, some of his latest findings, and past lectures
from the college. He became somewhat of a celebrity
in academia with no plans to retire. Just yet.
Thank you for listening. The Secrets of El Dorado
is available in book form as a downloadable PDF
from our website or in paperback version on Amazon
.com. Just visit studentsincorporated .com to
find out more.