"You're looking for someone who speaks English, I'm told."

Except for a very slight accent, he could have almost passed for an American. He must have seen the surprise on my face.

"I went to college in New York. SUNY Albany. Majored in business." I looked around and he laughed. "So what am I doing in such an out-of-the-way place?"

"It crossed my mind," I said. "I'm Del and this is Sabrina."

He held out his hand. "Emil." I cocked my head. "My father was German," he said by way of explanation. "And to answer your question, I came here at the request of some friends who wanted to restore the town and turn it into a tourist destination. A few days here convinced me that their idea would never fly. So they abandoned it—much like Henry Ford did—and I stayed. Suddenly my business background seemed silly. I loved the peace here, so I moved into one of the abandoned houses. That was five years ago."

"How do you earn a living?" asked Sabrina.

"Don't really need to here, but I cheat. My family has money. I keep a boat on the river and any time I feel the need to remember why I'm living here, I'll take it and go to a city or town for a few days. I'm always ready to come back." He opened his door wide. "Come in. Have a beer with me and tell me why you're here. You don't look like tourists."

"We're not. It might take two beers. It's a long story."

So we told him. Sabrina and I were quickly on the same wave-length and knew that we didn't want to mention the eggs. We did use the word treasure, though. When we finished, he said, "so what is the treasure?"

We liked him. He was intelligent, friendly, and forthcoming. His eyes didn't light up when we said treasure. He seemed more interested in the story and in the hunt.

"Part of it is gold," I said. "There is supposedly something else, but we'd rather not say what it is until we can confirm it."

"Fair enough. If it is gold and you find it, what are you going to do with it?"

We looked at each other. We had never actually talked about it.

"I suppose," said Sabrina, "if we find gold here, it should go to the Brazilian government or the people of Fordlandia. Like you, we both have money, and to be honest, it's not the gold we're after. It's the other thing. And even that we wouldn't keep. We'd turn it over to a museum. Believe it or not, this is more about clearing up the past than it is about finding treasure."

"I could use something to do right now. It may be peaceful, but it does get a little boring around here sometimes. What can I do to help?"

"We have a photograph of a painting. It holds a clue, at least we hope it does," said Sabrina. She took out her phone and showed him the photo. I had to give him credit, he didn't critique the quality of the artwork.