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POPE WAS PACING BACK AND FORTH ON THE PORCH. He had read almost all of the diary already and was now analyzing it closely like he had to write an essay for it for English class or something. He read to them, "Guys, this is from Denmark's diary. 'August 15th, set sail from Port-au-Prince on calm seas. Came upon the Spanish ship San Jose on fire. The entire deck was aflame, and we could hear the screams of men trapped below. The Spanish captain cared about only one thing, his valuable cargo, the Cross of Santo Domingo and countless bars of gold. Once the cargo was on board, we went to help the crew, but Captain Limbrey ordered us to pull bayonets and not to let any of the Spanish crew on board. He robbed them and left them to die.'"
"So it didn't go down off Bermuda," JJ concluded with a slow nod, listening to the reading more intently than he had ever listened to any reading ever.
Kie added bitterly, taking a sip from the beer in her hand and looking like she wanted to spit it in Limbrey's face, "And it was a Limbrey stealing shit again."
"This diary proves that both the gold and the Cross of Santo Domingo were on the Royal Merchant," the Heyward boy pointed out.
"Why didn't we find it in the well then?" the Maybank boy questioned. He had been playing with his lighter, but then, he sat up in his chair and looked over at them while he spoke. "I mean, if Denmark was able to get this, like, bedazzled cross off of the Merchant to shore, why didn't he just hide it with the gold?"
They all thought for a second before John B realized and answered the question. "Because it was too big."
"You're right. He had to hide it someplace else," Pope said.
"But where?" the brunette girl quizzed curiously because she was really confused. "I mean, where can you hide a giant, sparkly cross where no one will find it?"
Pope responded to her, remembering something from what he had read in the diary, "Right before he was hanged, Denmark said he'd buried the treasure at the foot of the angel."
"I thought this was about the key," JJ muttered.
Kiara nodded, taking in all of the information and trying to link it all together. She was failing, as were the rest of them. "Right. So what's the connection?"
