Legacy

Hello, I’m Luther Farnsworth, I’m a bit of an amateur treasure hunter.  I’ve had some success.  For example after much study on the matter, and using metal detectors I was able to locate a couple of Jesse James money drops.  They were always at a base of a tree and usually contained gold and silver coins.  That was his way of discreetly repaying favors.

But now I was ready for big game.  Namely Al Capone’s hidden fortune.  I’d watched much on the TV History Channel about all of Al Capone’s secret escape tunnels and deep hidden meeting rooms beneath certain hotels.  Much theory was bantered around about where he stashed the millions never recovered.  There were caved in tunnels, boarded up tunnels, hidden rooms with the entrances blocked over, and many other possibilities’

Dare to say much effort was made by professional treasure hunters to find it.  There were even TV cameras present for the grand revealing after soundings determined a large hollow at one point in a tunnel.  With much confidence and fanfare they broke through the concrete and indeed there was a sealed off room.  Emptier than Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard.

I remember laughing hard while watching because it was such a flop.  High hopes, but no goodies I had studied Psychology in college and I had   remembered a short text blurb. That said “if you take time to notice, you will observe that men pat their rear pocket several times a day.  Whenever the knee jerk nee  is felt to do so.  That’s to make sure their wallet is still there.”

I concluded that men liked to keep an eye on their valuables, and probably keep them as near as possible.  On that revelation, I took my metal detector around to some abandoned farms.

I’d go into the old farmhouse and find the main bedroom.  Then I’d look out the window, made no difference whether or not glass was still in it; and observe if there was a good place not to far away that a farmer might hide his stash.  Usually one he didn’t want his wife to know about, be it liquor or cash or gold.

Six or seven times I’d taken note of old stone fences not to far from an old farm house.  That was a good line of sight to a place a farmer was likely to hide something.  In a stone fence was a historically popular place to stash things.  Now one could walk stone fences for miles.  That didn’t work for me, so the line of sight from a bedroom window narrowed the fence search area considerable.

Granted it was a hit and miss operation, but twice out of those six or seven times I hit pay dirt.  Both times it was an old tobacco can with $40.00 to $50.00 in gold and some silver coins.

Not a lot of face value, but the collector value was not too bad It encouraged me enough to keep trying.  One night as I was having a hard time getting to sleep, it occurred to me that Al Capone might have been like those farmers of yester year.

If that was the case then all the treasure hunters were looking in the wrong place.  I figured it was somewhere in the house he had in Cicero just outside of Chicago. I told the wife that I was going to check it out.  She thought I was nuts, and reminded me that someone’s probably living there.  I told her that she was probably right, but I’d deal with that.  I told her that I’d head out first thing in the morning as it would be about a four hour drive from our home in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She gave me the old over her glasses stink eye look and I knew she wasn’t happy.

As I left in the morning she smiled and wished me luck.  Didn’t sound too sincere, I think she meant that with any luck I’d have a flat tire.  Oh well!  A fellow’s got to do what a fellows got to do.

I got to Cicero a little after one PM.  I located the house by two PM.  Knocked on the door and introduced myself and ask if I could come in as I had a business proposition to offer them.  I explained the whole deal which included the promise to repair anything damaged in the search and to split fifty, fifty with them.

They said that was acceptable because they had nothing to loose, it was my time and my dime.  They started laughing and then sort of apologized.  They explained that they were the third set of owners since Al Capone went bye, bye.   That all the previous owners and including themselves had already gone over the place with a fine tooth come.

I was however undaunted and confident because I had the Psychology of the wallet pat on my side.  They gave me a quick tour of the house so that I might decide where to start.

I found the basement most interesting because while the house had a brick foundation it had nice stuccoing on the inside and was white washed. The floor was tiled.  Old style, but sort of pretty.  Had a bar at one end, some tables and chairs.

The eye catcher was a large  old style plush upholstered arm chair.  It had been restored of course, but I was told that Al liked to play cards down there and that big chair was his favorite, sitting just where he left it.  He supposedly spent much time in it looking over his books.

I thought going on the pat the wallet theory that I’d sit in it and look around from that point.  Nothing jumped out and bit me, there were some pictures that were interesting, especially the portrait of Al himself.  I thought if I’d been Al  I’d have a wall safe behind that picture.   I was pretty sure that someone had already thought of.

But with a knee jerk reaction, I figured I had to look anyway, attitude took hold I got up and moved the picture.  Darn, no wall safe; really hadn’t seriously expected one anyway.

The only thing behind it and that I almost didn’t notice was a small hole about the diameter of a pencil.  Foundation flaw no doubt, hope it don’t let water in.  I wondered if it was clear through so I pulled out my pencil and stuck it in the hole to see.

What I got was about three inches in was a click, spring movement sound, and  a crunch as a drawer pushed its way through  the stucco and stopped about two inches out.  Made a bit of a stucco flake mess on the floor.  It looked like it was a spring loaded drawer with secret release and a thin stucco coating to hide it.

Anyway, I was hollering Bingo loud and repeatedly.  The residents heard me and rushed down to see what the ruckus was all about.  I said I found something.  They said what?  I said a hidden drawer. They said what’s in it? I said I don’t know I haven’t looked yet.

Well I reached over and finished pulling it open and this is what we pulled out; one large gold bar, some jewelry, and quite a number of packets of something.  Whatever it was it was wrapped in heavy wax paper as to preserve something.  We opened one up and it was a stack of one hundred one hundred dollar bills.  Like I said there were a number of those packets.  Two hundred thousand dollars face amount.  However since they were silver certificates they were worth much more as collector’s items.

All together with the cash ,gold bar, and jewelry  we estimated current value at about one million, two hundred thousand.  As agreed we split right down the middle.  The mystery of Al Capone’s stash had been finally solved.  Even though it was considerably less than legend had it, we were still mighty pleased.

We agreed that it would be prudent to keep the find to ourselves as there was no point in inviting the States of  Illinois and Indiana to want a share.

I got home and plopped my cut on the kitchen table with a big smile and a look in my eye that said, you just got an attitude adjustment.  I bet when I make future endeavors you will cheer me on.  Of course I didn’t say that but I sure was thinking it.