a boulder at the top of the shaft. Set into a nearby wall was a large square panel of silver that looked for all the world like an oversized cat flap. ‘That’s the trap. There’s a reservoir behind it – if you trip it, the flap opens and the water shoots down the hole and knocks you into the spikes.’
The trap was not foremost on the minds of the others, though. Instead, they stared, almost mesmerised, at the city before them. The cave floor sloped quite steeply, the Inca settlement constructed in tiers rising back into the shadows. The structures nearest the cavern’s entrance were small, like those in Paititi, but they became larger and more grand higher up the hill. Visible near the top was what appeared to be another Temple of the Sun, curved walls standing out amongst the rectilinear buildings around it. Behind it, rising above all else, loomed a palace.
‘I have to admit, Nina,’ said Mac, taking off his rain poncho, ‘this is far beyond anything I expected to see. Anything I imagined seeing, even. Pictures of the places you’ve discovered are one thing, but actually being here in the flesh . . . ’
‘It’s incredible, isn’t it?’ she replied, still awed by the sheer scale of the find. ‘But it wasn’t only me who discovered it, though. If it wasn’t for Leonard’s knowledge of Inca history and culture, it would have taken years to put together all the clues – if we ever managed to at all.’
Osterhagen was equally effusive. ‘No, Nina, you did far more than I. You realised the importance of the khipu – and if not for the IHA, I would not even be here at all. And to think I was angry to be asked to meet you!’
‘We both owe a lot to Kit and Interpol as well,’ said Nina, turning to the Indian. ‘He came up with the connection between the artefacts on the black market and the statues.’ The case containing the two – and a half – stone figures was amongst the gear the team had ferried up through the waterfall.
Kit adopted a humble look. ‘I only made a suggestion. I had no idea whether or not it would be true.’
‘All right, can the mutual admiration society hold its annual meeting somewhere else?’ said Eddie as he helped the second of the two soldiers out of the shaft. ‘We’ve still got to explore this place yet.’ He noticed Macy’s somewhat pensive expression. ‘What’s up with you?’
‘I just thought of something,’ she replied, taking out the folder containing the photographs from Paititi. ‘On the map, this place is coloured in gold, yeah? Just like the sun disc we found.’
‘Yes?’ said Nina, wondering where she was leading.
Macy waved a hand towards the waiting buildings. ‘So . . . where’s all the gold?’
‘Maybe it was only symbolic.’
Osterhagen shook his head. ‘No, she has a point. The Incas really did put gold on their buildings – the most important ones, at least. The Temple of the Sun in Cuzco was covered in sheets of gold. They were among the first things the Spanish stole and melted down.’
All eyes turned to the silent settlement. Even in the low light, it was plain that the only building material was stone, not precious metal, without so much as a golden glint even from the temple or the palace.
‘Perhaps we are not the first to find this place,’ said Cruzado.
‘No,’ said Nina firmly. ‘Something this big, there’s no way it could have been kept quiet. The Conquistadors would have bragged about finding it to rub in their victory over the Incas, and there isn’t a treasure hunter in history who could have resisted the fame of revealing a find like this. Besides, look at it. The whole place is almost intact. If it’s been looted, they were very orderly about it.’
It was true. Unlike the ruins of Paititi, where the ceaseless growth of the jungle and the rot of climate and insects had left only broken shells, here the majority of the buildings still had roofs. The coverings of woven leaves had long since gone, but the skeletal wooden beams that had supported them remained in place. ‘Then,’ said Zender imperiously, ‘we must explore the city and find the treasures the Incas left behind.’ He paused, then continued more hesitantly: ‘What are we looking for?’
‘Riches beyond imagination,’ said Osterhagen in a portentous voice, sharing a smile with Nina. He pointed up the slope. ‘The map from