“Harder,” Seth urged. “Pull harder,”

The sounds of boot soles scrabbling for purchase on the gritty salt floor mixed with puffing and heavy breathing. Finally, a complaint creaked from the vault door, and it swung open.

“All right!” Stratton yelled.

“Thank God,” Morgen muttered.

Inside the vault was a room from another age. It was a good twelve or fifteen feet wide and at least twice that in length. It was arranged like an office, with a desk, chair, lamp, and long conference table. The floor was carpeted. The two long walls were covered with wood. The end wall was concrete, and set into it was another safe.

They walked in slowly. Morgen looked like a man exploring an almost forgotten dream.

They played their flashlights around the walls.

“There,” Morgen said, pointing toward the middle of the right-hand wall. Ridgeway looked, but failed to see what the priest had been pointing at. Morgen walked up to the spot and pointed toward a nail. “This is where the picture hung,” Morgen said. “Sergeant von Halbach took it from here. He must have. I saw it that time. I saw it.” He turned to them as if he didn’t expect them to believe him.

But Gunther and Seth moved quickly past him, anxious to get the last phase of the job done. They reached the end of the vault and spread out the papers on the table.

“The combination is a standard one,” Gunther said, as they looked at the papers. “But once the door’s open, we have only ten seconds to insert the gold ingot from the picture in the slot, here.” He pointed first to a drawing of the safe door, then at the slot on the door in the wall beside them. The slot was blocked by a piece of metal. Ridgeway produced the ingot from his pack.

“There must be some sort of counterbalance mechanism inside,” Gunther said. “It is probably activated by an object of the correct size and weight.” Seth nodded. “Will you hold the light for me?” Gunther asked. Seth nodded as the Austrian turned to the safe and began to twirl the dial.

There were sixteen numbers in all, and Gunther dialed them slowly and precisely. Finally, with the last digit in place, there was a clicking and momentary whir as the slot was suddenly free. The second hand on Seth’s watch hit 3:13:26 and kept moving.

“Quickly,” Gunther said. “Give me the ingot” Seth handed the ingot to Gunther.

3.13:29.

Gunther turned to face the safe. His hands shook as he brought the ingot to the slot.

3:13:30

Gunther cursed as he hobbled the ingot.

3:13:31.

The ingot thudded quietly on the carpet

“Oh, God! Quickly!” Gunther and Seth dropped to their knees simultaneously as the mechanism in the safe ground on.

3.13:34.

“Here,” Gunther handed the ingot to Seth. “You do it.”

Seth stood up.

3:13:37.

Seth rammed the ingot into the slot It quickly passed out of sight, swallowed in the mechanism of the door. The whirring stopped.