on our website, foxnews.com/propertyman. we'll see you next week. [ woman vocalizing ] >> a homemade hatchet man. >> oh, my god, this is not for real! >> it is. >> what are these meant to do? >> those could dismember people. >> an attic of axes... >> i was in shock because it was floor to ceiling axes, knives... >> cannons, guns. >> ready for an off-the-wall inheritance? >> i heard that they thought he was the unabomber. >> one day my mother has a knock on the door, and it turns out to be two fbi agents. >> leave it to cleaver. >> how many really great knife makers can do what he did? >> probably about forty or fifty... >> that's it? >> ...in the world. >> in the world? >> in the world. >> last call, for $2,750. [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ]

[ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] >> i'm jamie colby, and today i am in berkeley, california, home to the famous university and once the epicenter of the hippie movement of the 1960s, hardly the place i'd expect to find this strange inheritance, which attracted the attention of the fbi. >> my name is tom marek. when my brother robert died in 2015, he left me an arsenal of weapons -- swords, knives, guns, hatchets, you name it. >> hi, tom. i'm jamie colby. >> hi, jamie. i'm tom marek. >> it's so great to meet you, but i have to be honest. from what i've heard, your inheritance is a little disturbing. >> it's quite unique. >> well, let's take a look. oh, my god, this is not for real!

i am totally creeped out right now. >> we have axes. we have knives. we have mallets. >> guns. >> there are a few guns in here. >> floor to ceiling, in every nook and niche -- big and small, sharp and blunt. intricate rows of knives, arrays of swords, hoards of hatchets. talk about "axes of evil"! >> you have to look at this more as an art display. i mean, my brother compiled this collection over his entire life. >> and he lived here? >> he lived here. >> in this room? >> his tv's in here, his bathroom is in here, and his bedroom is in here. >> where's his bed? i don't see a bed. >> up in the rafters. >> i know that our show is "strange inheritance," but this is truly weird. >> you had to know my brother. he was a little strange, but he was my brother.

>> robert marek is born near san francisco in 1958. he's the second of four boys. tom is the youngest. >> we had a great childhood. i mean, we were four male children, one year apart, and we egged each other on. >> was there anything about your brother that stood out early on? >> he was a little bit of a clown. my brother was into pyrotechnics. we had weapons, bb guns, .22s. >> nice arsenal. >> it just was a fun house for a young man growing up. >> as a teen, robert is fascinated by stories of war, gore, and weaponry. he and bruce horton become friends in high school. >> he could tell you about conquerors going back 4,000 years and and give dates and names. he loved to read this stuff. >> after high school, robert joins his buddy bruce at uc berkeley. he double-majors in art and art history, with a focus on the craft of ancient weaponry. >> we kind of formed our

own little clique. in the art department, pretty much everybody was weird. >> of course, there's weird, and then there's weird. while his classmates draw, paint and sculpt, robert fashions weapons from scratch. and so begins his collection. how on earth did your brother learn, not just to make a knife, but to make swords and hatchets? >> one, reading up on it, because he really enjoyed reading and the history of weaponry, and, second, from experimentation. he had bought knives and swords. he had seen how they were assembled, and he decided he can do it better. >> in his senior year at berkeley, robert channels his vision into edgy performance art. here he is blowing fire for the camera. >> we had a performance-art group called the architects of doom. bob was like the armorer for us. we basically beat the crap out of everything. [ all yelling ] >> after college robert does odd jobs -- masonry work, medical data entry, even serving

subpoenas. all the while, he dedicates more and more of his time to collecting weapons and making them. how accurate was the historical part of what he did when he would make them? >> his knives had to be able to fool an expert. the composition, the iron had to be correct. the way the handle was mounted with rivets had to be correct. >> how many really great knife makers are there out there that can do what he did? >> probably about forty or fifty... >> that's it? >> ...in the world. >> in the world? >> in the world. >> i'm here at klockar's blacksmith shop in san francisco, meeting with renowned swordsmith francis boyd. he knew robert and shows me how much effort goes into a single knife. i'm no robert, but i think i can do this. >> okay, so grab it. >> got it, got it. >> you got it. now slide it under there. >> okay. >> and push it all the way up and then just hold it level.

okay, hold it. go that way. okay, it's too cold. pull it out. >> it's really hard work, folks. after reheating our steel, francis teaches me how to hammer it into a blade. >> all along the edge. now flip it over. all right? now hammer along there. >> you're a very patient teacher. >> right, right, always move the work, always hammer in the same place. yes. >> yes, i got a yes! but i'm nowhere near done. it will take days of filing, polishing, and sharpening, so francis shows me what our crude weapon can eventually become. >> and there's the finished knife. if you turn this in the light, you'll see a pattern in the metal. where you see this thing along the edge, it's as hard as glass. >> this doesn't just happen in an hour.

>> no. >> you saw how many knives he had collected and made over the years. how many hours did he spend? >> his whole life. you know, like a painter's got to paint, sculptor's got to sculpt, a knife maker's got to make knives. there's no way out. >> where did he work on them? >> at my mother's house. we had a lathe and drill presses and all this equipment my brother could use. >> it's not long before her son's hobby attracts unwelcome attention. >> a mother does not want the fbi knocking on her door asking about her son. >> the fbi? >> the fbi. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. the famous swiss army knife was not originally manufactured in switzerland. was it made in... the answer after the break.

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>> so, where was the swiss army knife originally manufactured? in 1891, the swiss army needed a folding knife that could also open cans and disassemble a rifle. the fish scaler, ballpoint pen, and led light came later. >> a boy fascinated with battles of yore grows up to be an expert craftsman of deadly weapons. some he makes from scratch, like this battle axe. others, he buys for their

historical value, like these world war ii navy knives. in 1986, 28-year-old robert marek is still living at his mother's house near san francisco. he doesn't know it, but his eccentric hobby has landed him on the radar of federal law enforcement. what happened? >> my mother answered the door, and there were two fbi agents there. and they told her they wanted to interview my brother, and she asked why. and they explained to her that they had done a profile on the unabomber. >> at the time still unidentified, "unabomber" was the fbi's code name for a domestic terrorist who sent mail bombs to his victims. he killed 3 people and injured 23 others. >> the unabomber had an association with uc berkeley, apparently was thought to be intelligent, and also worked with wood. and my brother was an artist who went to uc berkeley. he worked with wood. >> did they bring him in for

questioning? >> the following week, they came back to interview him, and my brother was never terribly open about how the interview went. he was a little embarrassed by this episode, but quickly they ruled him out as a suspect. >> the following year, in 1987, robert moves into this house in a quiet berkeley neighborhood, where he can live by himself, surrounded by all his weapons. >> did he have friends? >> well, you know, again, as an artist, you could call him a starving artist. a lot of his friends were on the edge, too, financially. they were just unique people, the type of people that make life interesting. >> his neighbors recall the first time robert has them over for dinner. what was your reaction? >> i was in shock because it was these beautiful wood walls, but floor to ceiling axes, knives. >> cannons. >> cannons. >> guns. >> oh, my. >> yeah, and so after we got in and the door closed, i kind of felt like we were never coming home. >> instead, robert serves them a delicious gourmet meal --

hold the fava beans and nice chianti. do you think he got a kick out of people's reaction. was that part of it? >> you know, probably. he was proud of his collection, but he wanted to overwhelm you. that was his goal. >> for the next 20 years, robert does what makes him happy. he fashions weapons -- lots of them -- and collects them, too. he covers the walls of his house row by row, layer by layer. while his weapons collection grows over the years, he and his brother tom, a straitlaced financial planner, grow apart. >> i moved up to washington state, and as a brother we just separated. >> then, in july 2015, tom receives some distressing news. >> i got a phone call from a female friend of his, who told me he was in the hospital. and at the time they thought he had a ruptured appendix, which he did have. and later on they found out it was cancer. >> robert is diagnosed with stage-iv cancer throughout his

body. how did he react to his diagnosis? >> he was a little scared. he wanted more time in life. the doctors thought he would have a couple more years. >> but just three months after that diagnosis, robert passes away. he's only 57. >> i don't believe he was ready to go. he had more work in life, more knives to make, more pieces to add to his collection. so, it was very sad. >> you had to be close to him to see the full person who he was. otherwise it's just a snapshot, and yeah, he's strange, but he's an incredibly unique person, and we won't see another one of him, maybe ever. >> robert names brother tom his principal heir, but he doesn't forget about his close friends. >> i thought he was very generous, to leave money to people he knew late in life, college friends, people he cared about. >> after his brother's death,

tom visits robert's house for the first time in more than a decade. >> i was just shocked, and i was overwhelmed. i had seen photographs, but they only show one wall or one segment of the collection. >> i would imagine that if he spent this much time collecting, he probably kept very detailed records? >> i wish he had, but no, he did not. >> so, do you have any idea what you have here? >> i really don't. >> but this guy will take a "stab" at it. >> there could easily be a hidden jewel buried somewhere. >> next. >> here's another quiz question for you. what's the name of these weapons built by robert marek? are they... the answer when we return. [vo] when it comes to investing,

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>> so, what's the name of these weapons built by robert marek? the answer is... they were used in medieval times to attack enemies in body armor. >> forged by expert hands, a massive collection of more than five thousand weapons. it's tom marek's strange inheritance, hanging off the walls and rafters of his big brother robert's berkeley, california, house. >> just visually it was overwhelming. it was my brother's life, but i don't think i could have been prepared until i walked through that door. >> he'd like to honor his brother's wishes. >> we had a heart-to-heart talk in the hospital. he would have preferred it to go to a museum. he would have preferred it to go to a single collector. >> but it's clear that's a tall order. >> and he gave me permission to auction off his collection.

he realized that was the most likely outcome. it is sad to me. it's my brother. it's a collection of artwork that he created. >> tom's not sure how valuable the collection might be, or how to sell it, so he contacts michaan's auctions in alameda, california. they send in their sharpest mind -- world-renowned antique weapons expert greg martin. is this a once-in-a-lifetime collection? >> oh, i believe it is. you don't find collections like this, compiled by the maker and the collector rolled into one. >> greg tells me that's what makes this inheritance so unique. it's a combination -- some historical items robert purchased, but most he made himself. >> this axe, this is a handmade piece that he forged and pounded out. >> wow. >> this is really i think very interesting. these are all classic renditions of the bowie knife. >> so, did he research these in order to get them so

accurate? >> he would have had to. but i was going to point out, one of the characteristics of a bowie knife, one of them, is a clip-point blade. >> what does that do? >> and clip-point blade, sharpened, like this one, if you're having a knife fight or something, it becomes handy when you pull back. >> so, both parts of this blade are blade. >> that's right. this is sharp and this is sharp. >> and it's not just blades of every size and shape. robert also dabbled in gunsmithing. >> now, this is a serious piece of metal... >> no kidding. >> ...that robert was working on and evidently he was making himself a very big-bore gun of some sort. >> that's really heavy. >> i understand robert was a real big guy, and, i mean, i can barely get it up. >> greg also pulls some of the historical items that robert acquired. >> this is a very interesting gun. >> it's beautiful. >> it looks like a small gun,

but it is a big-bore gun. this carries a very big, powerful cartridge, and this is known as a howdah gun. >> what year do you think? >> 1880s, most likely. >> so, greg, what do you think this one's worth? >> between $1,500 and $2,500. >> do you have an idea in your mind of what this collection might bring? >> piece by piece, if you, i think it would probably bring a quarter of a million or more. >> a quarter of a million? >> yeah. >> really? that much? tom's ready to find out. so, it's off the walls for more than 5,000 weapons, headed to auction. >> $2,500, go $2,750. $2,750 is now the bid. go $3,000. >> that's next. what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail, or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com.

>> now, back to "strange inheritance." >> it's september 2016, and tom marek is pleased. a small slice of his strange

inheritance -- a 5,000-piece weapon collection amassed by his brother robert -- is up for sale at michaan's auctions. >> they did a very good job setting up my brother's display. beautiful bowie knives i think people will appreciate and a number of rifles and pistols. >> we will begin today's auction. >> first up, three of robert's handmade weapons modeled after the medieval mace and horseman's hammer. >> we'll start the bidding on this lot at $100. $100 is bid. thank you. $100 is on the telephone. $190 is now the bid. go $200. $190, go $200. $200 is bid there. last call, $200. [ cash register dings ] >> on down the line, this early plains tomahawk -- one of robert's historical pieces -- goes for $250. next, a rare civil war collins hospital knife sells for $550. this japanese gunto sword cuts in at $700. >> lot number 23 is a

rigby english double rifle. $1,000 is there. $1,000, now the bid goes. $1,100 i have. $1,200 is bid. $1,200 is now bid... >> now, this one could go somewhere. rigby is a sought-after manufacturer founded in ireland, and this rifle, circa 1900, is in excellent condition. >> $1,300 is there first. $1,400 is seated. $1,900 is here, $1,900. $2,000 will be next. $1,900 is the bid on the telephone. $2,000, new bidder. now the bid goes $2,250. $2,250 is bid. $2,750 is there. go $3,000. last call -- $2,750. [ cash register dings ] >> remember that big-bore english howdah pistol greg showed me? when it comes on the block, tom switches from seller to bidder. >> yeah, i got it. >> that's because he's his brother robert's principal -- but not sole -- heir. so, if he wants to keep any of the weapons, he'll have to buy them himself at auction. >> ...will get you there. $1,000, $1,100's your bid. $1,100. $1,200 is bid here.

>> yeah. >> it's too rich for tom's blood, as the pistol squarely hits its appraisal target. >> last call. [ cash register dings ] >> tom will be more tenacious when bidding starts on some of robert's expertly crafted bowie knives that greg showed me back at the house. >> ...the bid there. is there any advance on $130? $140. $140 is up front. new bidder. $140 now the bid. no advance on $140. up front at $140. last call, $140. [ gavel bangs ] [ cash register dings ] >> i didn't get one of the pistols i wanted. it went for too much money, but i got a couple of beautiful bowie knives that my brother made. i'll bring them home, put them in my cabinet, put them on the wall. i'll remember my brother. >> in total, the sale of just 30 items nets 11,400 bucks. considering there are about 5,000 more still set to go to auction, it seems like that estimate of a quarter-million dollars is well within reach.

>> i'm happy. i think this will do him honor. >> and for the heir in this strange inheritance story, honoring his brother has always been the point. the money, ultimately, is beside it. >> this was a lifelong passion. not many people can do what they want in life, and he did. i mean, he made it work, without much money, but he put together an amazing collection, and he was proud of what he did. >> i bet you're all wondering, did robert ever actually use any of those weapons in his collection? turns out he did. back in his college days, he took care of the landscaping around his mother's house. he mowed the grass, weeded the flower beds, and when it was time to trim the hedges, he did that, too. his tool of choice for that job? you guessed it, a sword like this one from his collection. i'm jamie colby for "strange inheritance."

thanks so much for watching. and remember -- you can't take it with you. >> abracadabra! >> oh, my god, it's my card! >> 400 years of magic secrets... >> did he ever tell you how he did any of those tricks? >> as many times as i asked, he'd never tell me. >> ...hidden in these dusty volumes. >> a lot of them were seen as occult books, and people were a little scared of them. >> the collector himself a closed book. >> so your dad is some man of mystery. >> he's a man of many mysteries. >> it's smoke, mirrors, and money. >> lot 250, "a magician among the spirits," by houdini. we will start the bidding at... [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] >> i'm jamie colby in chicago

today with a story about magic, but also about something magical that happened between a father and son many years after the father was gone. >> my name is rex conklin jr. my dad died when i was in high school and left me a huge collection of magic books. some were old. others were ancient. many held the secrets that magicians have guarded for centuries. >> i meet rex at the magic lounge, one of chicago's best-known spots for magic lovers. hi, rex. i'm jamie. >> hi, jamie, pleasure to meet you. >> i understand that your inheritance is magic, but it's this? >> it's all about magic. my dad collected books, posters, going all the way back to the 1500s. >> 1500s? that's right out of harry potter. cool! rex's father, rex conklin sr., is born in 1904 on detroit's southwest side. what do you know about your dad's childhood? >> i knew he grew up very poor

in detroit. his father was a conductor on the streetcars and didn't bring a lot of money home. >> for entertainment, in an era before movies were big, little rex is drawn to a type of performance then sweeping the nation -- magic shows. >> as a very young boy, probably about six or seven, he saw a performer named howard thurston perform in detroit, and that's what really ignited his interest in magic. >> step up, girls and boys, and see how easily it is for your eyes to be deceived. >> thurston amazes little rex. billed as the "king of cards," he's seen here doing a show outside the white house. >> howard thurston was the most successful magician from about 1908 to 1936. >> magic historian gabe fajuri. >> he made his reputation as a card manipulator. that's how he started out in vaudeville. >> did he have a signature move? >> actually, yeah -- one called "the rising cards." >> howard thurston's magic still mystifies...

>> we're going to do one of my favorite tricks. >> bill cook, a professional magician, is going to show me that signature trick of thurston's, "the rising cards." >> go through that half, pick out a card that you like, a card that calls to you. >> that would be me. >> queen of hearts. >> yes! >> i like that, okay. this is the easy part. >> okay. >> you picked the queen, and we'll put the cards back inside the box. watch. up. all the way. come on. >> you're talking to the card, and she's moving up. is it still the queen? >> of course it is. >> oh, my god. it's my card! >> all the way. >> what little kid wouldn't be enthralled? as a teen, rex dabbles in magic himself, then gets a job as a streetcar conductor, like his dad. when the great depression hits, he loses it and takes odd jobs to get by. things don't turn around for rex until the early '40s, when he opens his own lead-parts-manufacturing shop in

milwaukee. >> i think he was starting to become somewhat successful, and he had, you know, a little bit of money. >> "a bit of money" for the bachelor to indulge his childhood fascination -- magic. he becomes a card-carrying member of the society of american magicians and makes a name for himself, not as a performer, but as an important collector. by the late 1950s, he's acquired a pretty impressive library of magic books, going back centuries. that's when doris pagliasotti, 21 years his junior, suddenly appears. the couple marry in 1959. >> when they were married, my father was 55, and my mother was 34. >> at their ages, children weren't likely "in the cards," but rex has found the love of his life. >> i don't think he had any plans to start a family at that age, but he was very excited. >> then, presto! doris is pregnant. in june 1960, rex jr. arrives.

but the really big surprise comes 30 minutes later -- his sister, connie. you're twins? >> my mother didn't know she was having twins. >> they had no idea. >> they didn't know. >> do you think that was life-altering for your dad? all of a sudden he's a dad with twins. >> oh, absolutely. >> rex jr. and connie grow up in this house in a suburb of milwaukee. did dad do tricks? >> he did small tricks, card tricks, and things with coins. >> did he ever tell you how he did any of those tricks? >> he would never tell me, as many times as i asked. >> nor does he fill his son in on the hundreds and hundreds of magic books around the house. >> i had built-in bookcases in my bedroom, and they were full of magic books, and then we had a breakfront in our living room where the books were all under lock and key. >> hands off. >> hands off, except when he opened the case and stood with me while i looked at the books. >> son and father never explore the secrets in those

pages. in 1977, rex sr. suffers a stroke and dies. he's 73. rex jr. is just 17. >> i never had the opportunity to know him as an adult, which i really missed. >> but his strange inheritance, that library of magic, will make his father reappear in ways he could never imagine. >> i found out so much from this one letter. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question... >> the answer after the break. i love to eat. i love hanging out with my friends. i have a great fit with my dentures. i love kiwis. i've always had that issue with the seeds getting under my denture. super poligrip free. it creates a seal of the dentures in my mouth. even well fitting dentures let in food particles just a few dabs of super poligrip free

is clinically proven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. super poligrip free made even the kiwi an enjoyable experience try super poligrip free. ♪ betty called me at she thought it was a fire. it was worse. a sinkhole opened up under our museum. eight priceless corvettes had plunged into it. chubb was there within hours. they helped make sure it was safe. we had everyone we needed to get our museum back up and running, and we opened the next day.

>> so, which pop singer was granted a patent for a magic trick? it's "b," michael jackson. in 1993, jackson and his co-inventors got a patent for their "lean shoe," which attached to pegs in the stage floor, so performers could lean beyond their center of gravity. >> "the years of our life are 70, or by reason of strength, 80," says the bible. by that measure, rex conklin sr., 73 when he dies, has a pretty fair run. but his 17-year-old son can't see it that way. nor can he see much wonder in his strange inheritance -- shelves upon shelves of books

about magic. it's not until he becomes a father himself and moves the collection to his home that he revisits the dusty, old tomes. is that what drives you? "now that i'm a dad, i want to know more about my own dad"? >> sure, because i wanted to get a better understanding of who he was, for myself, obviously, but also for my children. what's the legacy that i'm going to pass along? >> book by book, rex jr. explores his father's ancient texts, magicians' handbooks, and bizarre diaries of the occult. between the pages, rex finds a copy of a letter his dad wrote to a fellow magic enthusiast. he always knew the great magician howard thurston inspired his dad to dabble in magic. now, from this one letter, he learns that the great magician also started him collecting. >> he talked about how howard thurston gave him his first book. >> so, now you get a little

nugget. >> i did. that was really one of my first clues. >> rex has little clue about the importance of his dad's acquisitions. to understand that, you'd have to be well-versed in the dark arts. >> a lot of them were seen actually as occult books, and people were a little scared of them. ray ricard, a rare-book collector, says rex's inheritance includes some of the oldest magic books in existence. >> some books actually had handwritten prayers that were put in the front of the book that were required to be read before you could actually open the book. >> like "the history of magick," published in 1657... >> the spelling of the word "magic" is m-a-g-i-c-k, which indicates books that are related to the occult, if you will, so superstition, some spiritualism, witchcraft. there's also "hocus pocus in perfection," published in london in 1789... and "the conjurer unmasked" from 1785. but the rarest of them all?

a first edition of reginald scot's "the discoverie of witchcraft," from way back in 1584! >> reginald scot's "discoverie of witchcraft" is considered the first book in english published on magic. he decided that people weren't really witches. they were just clever tricksters and the book itself was issued to try to show people that they were not actually performing weird rituals or killing people. they were simply performing clever conjuring tricks. >> that same letter reveals the book had been in his father's sights for years. >> he wrote that he spent 20 years searching for a good copy of the book. >> what did he pay for it? >> he paid about $1,200 at the time, so in today's dollars, maybe $21,000. it was a substantial amount of money. >> how relevant is the book today? >> it's an important book in the history of the art. some people say that with the tricks that it describes, you could, to this day, make a living as a magician. >> this i have to see to believe. magician bill cook volunteers

to show me a trick straight from the pages of "the discoverie of witchcraft." >> pick a walnut, any walnut. >> the one that speaks to me? >> put it on top of the book. i'll come back to it in a little while. do you have a finger ring or something special i could borrow, a necklace? >> i'm actually wearing a ring of my grandmother's. >> really? can i borrow that? >> are you gonna give it back? >> well, i'll be nice today, and i'll give it back. oh, it's very pretty. >> it's very sweet. >> i need you to hold onto it, underneath the cloth, right there at the top if you would, please. hold it out, a little farther away, and don't let it go until i tell you to. >> okay. >> like now, let go. >> [ gasps ] >> and that's when the ring vanishes. now, i had you pick a walnut earlier. >> yes. >> i brought with a walnut cracker. would you pick up the walnut and put it inside of the, uh... yeah, all the way. >> i hope my ring is in there. >> listen, you can actually hear it break. [ walnut crunches ] >> [ laughs ] >> awesome. that should be enough. take a look inside the walnut. >> i hope you didn't swap the stone.

wow, that really is it. >> yep. >> i got to think about this one. i can't figure it out. that's great, bill. >> that's one of the oldest tricks in recorded magic history. >> so, rex's father basically was acquiring the hogwarts library, book by book. and as rex sifts through it all, a question occurs to him -- why did dad stop? the answer comes at the end of that telling letter that his father wrote to one of his collector friends all those years ago. what did it say? >> he says, "most of these books have become valued and highly treasured friends. however, the time has come in my life when the spiritual call is greater than the material, and my interest in the really great rare and scarce works of magic is waning." >> what year was it written? >> in 1960, shortly after i was born. >> so, what do you interpret that passage to mean, in terms of his life changing? >> he's probably thinking

about, "okay, you know, my children were just born, you know, twin babies. i'm in my mid to late 50s. by the time they're out of school, i'll be an elderly man. so, what's important to me in life right now?" i found out so much from this one letter. >> then he finds this one, written ten years later -- a note from father to son, tucked into the pages of one of the magic books rex jr. will inherit, to be delivered at a time and place of fate's choosing. >> he says, "it's 11:30 at night. you've just finished your third day in fifth grade. i'm so proud of you. you're everything i always wanted in a son. you're my pride and joy of my heart. you're so big and strong, the greatest boy i've ever known. i hope you never change." >> oh, what a passionate, considerate letter you'll have

forever. >> yeah. >> he wasn't in good health at that time, and i think that's why he wrote this note. >> for decades rex jr. just enjoys having his strange inheritance around. he's a marketing consultant in his 50s, living near atlanta, georgia, married, with three daughters, when opportunity knocks. >> a friend of mine told me that there was an upcoming sale at christie's, and it featured some books on the occult. >> rex thinks, "why not?" more than 400 magic books fill his shelves. he takes the oldest -- that 1584 first edition of "the discoverie of witchcraft" -- and puts it on the auction block. what are we talking? >> the world record. >> here's another quiz question for you... the answer when we return. my name is jeff sheldon,

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and start gathering the information you need to help you keep rolling with confidence. go long™. ♪ >> so, which famous general was a member of the international brotherhood of magicians? it's "c," desert storm commander norman schwarzkopf jr., who is said to have practiced his magic tricks to relieve stress during the war. >> in june 2015, rex conklin jr. puts his rare, first-edition copy of reginald scot's "the discoverie of witchcraft" up for sale at a christie's auction in new york. why'd you pick that one to sell? did you know it was valuable? >> i definitely knew that it had value, and, you know, i thought it would be fun to have a book in a major auction. >> collector ray ricard is following the sale online and bidding on the book.

>> it was definitely going up in price, second by second. the value went very quickly from the low estimate right up through $30,000 before you knew it, so i dropped out. >> bids continue to climb -- $35,000, then $40,000. $45,000! when the hammer falls... what are we talking? >> it sold for $55,000. [ cash register dings ] >> the sale is a new world record for any copy of the book. it gets rex thinking about the more than 400 remaining items he inherited from his father. >> i've enjoyed having his collection for many years now, but i'm at a similar point right now where, you know, the material is a little less important to me. >> in chicago, he approaches gabe fajuri, president of potter and potter auctions, which specializes in magic sales. gabe tells me rex has plenty of gems left. >> the first one is a book by houdini. it's the second book he wrote, "the unmasking of robert-houdin."

and this one is from houdini's library, so it has his bookplate, a beautiful autographed postcard of houdini inside. it's also inscribed "a friend of houdini for 35 years, howard thurston." >> houdini's such a big name. you have another houdini book. >> mm-hmm. this is the last book he wrote, "magician among the spirits." >> what else? >> a copy of henry dean's "hocus pocus, the whole art of legerdemain." this is a bestseller from the time it appeared in print, first in 1722. >> good condition? >> i mean, if i look this good when i'm this old, yeah, i'll be very happy. this is a book that actually does a trick and... >> okay, i'm ready. >> so, when you flip through, you may see some pictures of some soldiers. >> i do. >> you breathe on the book, and when you flip through it again, you may see some different pictures, perhaps of flowers. >> upside down? >> and when you breathe through it again, most of the pages are blank. >> gabe says no single book will top rex's previous record-breaking sale. but with 400 volumes on the

block, he hopes to "conjure up" an even bigger payday. >> fair warning...sold! what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail, or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com.

>> now back to "strange inheritance." >> it's december 2016 in chicago, and rex conklin jr. is ready to auction off more than 400 rare magic books from the collection he inherited from his father. >> at $750. $750, we have... >> i feel my dad in this room today, you know. all his prized possessions are around me. it's almost like having him here. >> and now a copy of houdini's "magician among the spirits," including a beautiful photograph of houdini. looking for $1,500. $1,600 right here. looking for $1,700. fair warning at $1,600.

sold! [ cash register dings ] >> remember the other houdini book gabe showed me? the one signed by howard thurston, the legendary performer who sparked rex sr.'s love of magic? it hammers home at $2,600. oh, and "the history of magick" -- with a "k"? >> $2,000. i need $2,600 is next. sold! >> $2,800! >> lot 159 -- henry dean, "the whole art of legerdemain, or hocus pocus in perfection." fair warning at $3,200. sold for $3,200. >> the big numbers keep rolling in. that french "blow book" that gabe demonstrated? it fetches $3,200. >> warning at $850. >> a signed photo of famed magician harry kellar? $3,400. and this book from 1785, "the conjurer unmasked"? $4,200. it's a steady beat of the

hammer, and guess what? $1,500 here, $2,000 there -- it starts adding up. by the end of day, the total is an expectations-beating $105,000. >> overall, i thought it went really well. i'm pleased. it is emotional for me today, to see his things that i've lived with for so many years, but it's another chance to say goodbye and flip a new page. >> but i got to tell you what makes this strange inheritance story so magical for me. i've come across collectors of all sorts of things that were so obsessed, their families wondered if anything else meant as much to them as their stuff. but rex's dad set aside all his "highly treasured friends" the moment his children were born. and the strange inheritance he left his son leaves no doubt what he valued most in life. >> "i know i haven't much longer to live. my final advice to you is never

be afraid to admit your mistakes. never miss mass on sundays. be kind to your mother and sister and your wife when you find the right girl. play life's game straight, be a good boy, and a just man. [ exhales ] love, with the depth of my heart, daddy." he was from, you know, a different generation, but he also had a very big heart. >> did you know he loved you that much? >> i did, yeah. rex jr. has sold most of his father's books and mementos, but he's keeping three rare and valuable howard thurston posters. his plan is to leave one to each of his three daughters, a reminder of how the magic started for their grandfather all those years ago. i'm jamie colby. thanks so much for watching "strange inheritance." and remember -- maybe you can

take it with you. >> from dusty boxes forgotten in the attic... emerge military artifacts handed down across five generations... >> the writing is unbelievable. i can't believe it's in such good shape. >> ...an heirloom that may be a long-lost piece of history. >> i think this is a once-in-a-lifetime find. i'd never seen one before, and i don't expect to see one again. >> value is just rising with literally every fold. >> a war, a map, a mystery. >> i had a little momentary roller coast there. >> will it lead to one family's hidden treasure? [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ]