The Buried Treasure (2) - Ill-gotten Gains

“Good morning, madam, is your husband at home?”

“No. he hasn't come home yet; he is on his allotment still shocked by what he found there.”

“That's what we want to talk to him about.”

“It isn't far, I'll take you to him.”

Mrs. Brown locked the door and started walking followed by two burly gentlemen wearing dark glasses, one of them carrying a black holdall.

Further down the road, she turned into a lane leading to a fenced vegetable plot. She opened the gate and called out:

“John, dear, two gentlemen to see you.”

John Brown was busy gathering loads of loose potatoes, carrots and parsnips which had surfaced while he was earnestly digging a hole in search of what was now in evidence on the ground: a rusting metal container caked in clay, containing several plastic bags stuffed with banknotes.

“Good day to you, Sir. Let me introduce ourselves: we are federal agents of the Money And Finance In Abeyance division empowered to investigate and deal with misappropriations and malfeasance of currency. We understand that you reported finding a suspicious cache of what you described as 'dirty money'. Those bills are certainly in need of a good clean by the look of them, but you are right in your assumption that they are ill-gotten.”

“There may be fingerprints on those bags”, he added, “ which might enable us to trace the thieves, so before we take possession of the loot, we shall take your prints to eliminate you as a suspect. I shall wear gloves to transfer the money into our case so as not to contaminate the evidence. My colleague will give you a receipt.”

It didn't take very long; the deal was very efficiently done by the two agents who shook hands with John Brown, who heaved a sigh of relief for having got rid of that burden and departed in a black limousine that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

Mrs. Brown who had followed the proceedings was frowning.

Her husband looked at her apprehensively and asked: “ What's the matter, love?”

“Sometimes I wish I was quicker at solving crosswords and puzzles. I would have understood that when they talked of the notes needing a good cleaning they meant 'money laundering' and the acronym of Money And Finance In Abeyance would have revealed who they really are.”

© Luigi Pagano 2023