Murder is Everywhere

 Maybe it's due to the pandemic that I've been paying more attention to the newsfeeds about discovered treasure. And 'Nazi Gold'. Is it me or do these words, which pack a punch alone, do even more together? In Paris treasures are discovered in walls, under floorboards, old cafes and cellars.

In my book, Murder on the Quai, the underlying plotline dealt with WW2 gold bars the Germans sent to Portugal for needed Tungsten. True fact. But I fictionalized what could and might have happened as the gold train hurtled through France during a storm.  I though I'd got all that treasure hunting out of my system.  Yet, treasure pops up all the time. In my news feed anyway. In France 24 an article reported:

 An owner, a woman in her 50s, inherited an upscale apartment from her mother this year in Paris. She approached a real estate agent for a valuation of the property. When the agent arrived to inspect the cellar, they found it locked. After failing to track down the person who had taken over the cellar, the flat owner called out a locksmith, opened it and found the cash laden suitcase. 

Just last month it was reported in the Jura region near the Swiss Alps of a 2020 discovery. Gold coins and bars. Here's the story taken from the Guardian with a happy ending: These gold bars and golden coins were the second discovery made at the house by the Mairie of Morez. The property had previously belonged to a line of rich merchants whose last two descendants had no children. The person who then inherited the unoccupied property sold it to the mairie for €130,000, as it was said to be "full of junk" and they preferred not to deal with it. The mairie was clearing out the house as part of an urban renewal campaign when it made the golden discoveries. Gold was discovered last year, with five gold bars and more than 1,000 20 franc coins estimated to be worth €500,000, found in jam jars. The mairie is now likely to use this unexpected money to reinvest back into the town’s development.

The Nazi gold train or Wałbrzych gold train is an urban legend about a train laden with gold and treasure that was hidden by the Nazis in southwest Poland during the last days of World War II. Supposedly rumored to be sunk or hauled into tunnels under this castle. 

To me, the smartest treasury discovery was in Charade, the amazing classic film. There's so many reasons to watch: Audrey Hepburn in Givenchy, Cary Grant being Cary Grant, set in Paris, a shoot out in the Palais Royal, and Nazi treasure. What's not to like? 

Well, the bonus is the plot's ingenious - fictional -and it's based on Peter Stone's novel. Don't read anymore if you haven't seen the film yet or want to re-watch. The treasure was in front of us the whole time. That's totally ingenious.

SPOILER ALERT Basically the CIA knows that in 1944, five members of the Office of Strategic Services were ordered to go behind German lines and deliver $250,000 in gold to the French Résistance. Instead of delivering the gold, they buried it, intending to report that the Germans had captured it. But on their way back to base, a German war patrol ambushed them. Now after the war they're back to find it. 

Happy Treasure hunting Tuesday,

Cara