Tycho snapped his fingers, “There are an increasing number of people in the market who believe that, too.”

He stood up, pacing around now. “I’ve been hearing that when the next financial crisis comes. And people are fairly sure it will, by the way – it will be bigger than the US Fed or other central banks. Every advanced country’s balance sheets are filled with debt now, so they’ll have very little, by way of cash, to throw at the problem. Unlike the scenario in 2008, 2009, and ‘till present. There are very few clean balance sheets of reputable institutions – maybe the International Monetary Fund’s?”

Bette crooked her neck to one side, pondering what he was saying. She’d read a book recently that said the same thing.

“So?”

Tycho sat down on his chair again, “So the theory is that in such a game, and it is all a game, believe me, when the next crisis hits, and currencies are debased, the amount of gold you have will be the ultimate stack of chips that will let you continue to play. Whoever’s got the highest stack, wins.”

“Let’s say that that’s the working theory that people are using. Or people who matter in the story that could affect me. Whether it’s a plausible theory or not. How does this all tie up?” Bette asked.

Tycho clapped his hands and leaned forward again, “This is where the story comes together and gets interesting. The story isn’t over, by the way. But when it is, remember what I said about how the London market works. And think of what will happen to the market, to other financial markets, also, when this story ends.”

Bette prompted him, “So what’s the story?”

Tycho started, “In early November, 2008, a South African Airways freighter took off from Johannesburg Airport bound for London carrying 1.1 tonnes of gold bullion, then worth about US$26 million. Now, South Africa has been a long-time supplier of bullion processed and turned into standard 12.5kg bricks according to the standards I told you about earlier, London Good Delivery.  From there, ingots are shipped daily around the globe to vaults in America, Europe and Asia.”

“What made this shipment unusual, apart from its size, was that the bars were not originally processed in South Africa, and were of terrifically high quality, nearly 99.7% — very, very few impurities, according to test results performed prior to their shipment. The fact that the gold was not processed there caused confusion later on, to the armies of lawyers, accountants, forensic experts, and investigators deployed, for reasons I’ll explain later.”

“The second unusual part about it was that these bars were the first of 17 such cargoes, a few emanating from Perth, Australia also, of varying quantities and values, which, over the next eight months were eventually unloaded mainly in London and New York. Smaller amounts were delivered to Dubai and Zurich.”

”By the time all those shipments had finished, the total amount of gold moved around was equivalent to about 10.2 tonnes.”

“All of them bore the same watermark.”

“And all bore a series of numbers, none of them sequential.”   He saw Bette’s eyes widen briefly at that.

“That’s not the only puzzling thing about the story either,” Tycho continued.

“What else, then?” Bette asked. Her ”spidey sense” began to tingle.

“The thing that makes this story legendary is that while there is plenty of evidence that’s been established that the gold shipments took place, until today, the courts and the army of lawyers, accountants, and investigators deployed have been unable to clearly establish who initiated the shipments, who owns the bullion, and …”

Tycho paused for dramatic effect.

“And?” Bette prodded him.

“And where the gold is now.”