He didn't have a lot of information that was useful, but he was able to fill in a little of Bill Flynn's history. He had been working on and off for Flynn for a few years, "taking care of things that needed taking care of." Although Flynn had never seen the inside of a jail cell, he was well-known to law enforcement and had been suspected of running drugs for years. Foley, the wounded man, confirmed that all those suspicions were true. Foley said that Flynn came from a long line of crooks dating back to the beginning of the 20th century.

"Did he say why he needed you?" I asked.

"Naw, that wasn't how it was done. He just gave me an assignment and I did it. No explanations." Then he added, "I think this one had something to do with his father. The old man died about six months ago and Flynn was real distracted about something right after his death. When this chick showed up at his door asking questions about something, that's when he called me. I was supposed to kill her and you and Guidry. It was supposed to be an easy job. But then your girlfriend came on the scene and you started to travel around asking questions. He was obsessed that anyone connected with this should die. Was it all about gold?"

He didn't rate an answer, so I ignored it.

Foley had nothing else of consequence to say, so we sat him on the wagon with the gold and made our way to the dock. I was trying to figure out how this was all going to be taken care of logistically, but Emil saved me the trouble.

"I have a fast boat," he said. "I can take Foley to Santarém and turn him over to the police. I know a lot of government officials there—the advantages of coming from a wealthy family. If you want to give me names of whoever they need to contact in the states, I can give them all the information. I can take you too. I'm sure you're anxious to get back and to get word to the authorities up there. I can get you to Santarém in a third of the time it would take Luis and Paulo."

We agreed that it was probably a good idea for us to move quickly, so we took him up on his offer.

"What about the gold?" he asked.

"We don't want to put more responsibility on your shoulders, but do you have any suggestions?"

"There are a lot of organizations here that could use the money. A lot of poverty. I can find out the names of some reputable gold dealers and distribute the cash. I'd give some to the residents here, as well."

"You wouldn't mind doing all that?" asked Sabrina.

"I have a lot of time on my hands. It's the least I can do."

"We want three of the bars to go to Luis and Paulo. After all, they did save our lives."