Apparently a member had just got off the ship from Europe.
Yawning sleepily, Bell reached to push the trunk out of his way as he stepped around it. He was surprised it felt light-already empty. The staff usually cleared trunks the instant they were unpacked. He gave it a closer, second look. It was a battered old trunk, with faded labels from the Hotel Ritz in Barcelona and Brown's of London and the Cunard liner Servia. He could not recall the last time he had seen that name; the ship had probably been out of service since the turn of the century. Among the faded luggage check labels, a bright new one caught his eye. The Cumberland Hotel, New York.
Funny coincidence, last-known residence of Mr. Snake. He wondered why a member of the Yale Club of New York would stay at the Cumberland before moving to the private but austere bachelor quarters. Most likely a decision to stay long-term in New York, as the rates were considerably lower at the club, even counting the cost of dues.
He unlocked his door and took a step into his room. An odd odor tweaked his nostrils. It was so faint, it was almost indiscernible. He paused, his hand already outstretched, feeling for the wall switch to turn on the overhead light. He tried to identify the gamy aroma. Almost like a sweaty pigskin fencing suit. But his was around the corner on 45th Street, hanging in his locker with his foils and saber at the Fencers Club.
The light from the hall spilled over this shoulder. Something on the bed glinted.
Isaac Bell was suddenly wide awake. He bounded sideways into the room so at not to present a silhouette in the open door. Flattened against the wall with all his senses on high alert, he whipped his Browning pistol from his shoulder holster and hit the light switch.
On the narrow bed was a box made of glass, so heavy that it pressed deep into the chenille spread. It was cube-shaped, about twenty-four inches on each side. Even the lid was glass. It was open. It dangled from sprung hinges as if whoever had opened it had hastily dropped the heavy slab, which had bent the metal hinges, and run for his life.
Bell felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck.
He shot a swift look around the small room. The dresser top was empty but for a box of his cuff links. On the night table was a reading lamp, a Pocket Guide to New York, Mahan's The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, and Burgoyne's Submarine Navigation. The door to the closet was closed and the small safe in the corner where he stored his weapons locked. Still pressing his back to the wall, Bell peered again at the glass box itself. The interior was mostly obscured by reflections on the glass. Slowly, he moved his head to view it from different angles.
The box was empty.
Bell stood still as a hunter. There was only one place the snake could be hiding and that was under the bed in the dark space hidden by the overhanging bedspread. Suddenly he saw movement. A long, forked tongue flickered from under the bedspread, testing the air for motion at which to strike. Tight against the wall, moving in minute increments, Bell eased toward the door to get out of the room and lock the reptile inside. Chloroform poured under the door would put it out of action.
But before he had moved half a foot the viper's tongue began flickering faster as if it were about to make its move. He braced to hurl himself out the door in one jump. Just as he was about to spring, he heard the elevator door open. The Old Blues tumbled into the hall bellowing:
Where'er upon life's sea we sail:
For God, for Country and--
Isaac Bell knew he had no choice. If he shouted for the alums to run, the old boys weren't sober enough to understand even if they heard him. At the same time, his warning would either spook the creature into striking him or send it slithering out the door, straight at them.
He reached to the side with the barrel of his pistol and used it to swing the door shut. The air it stirred aroused the lance-head. In a sudden blur of motion, it shifted position under the bed and flew at his leg.
Bell had never moved so fast. He kicked out at the pointed head blazing toward him. The snake smashed against his ankle with an astonishingly muscular impact, staining his trouser cuff with a splash of yellow venom. Only his own animal reflexes and the fact that his boot covered his ankle saved Bell's life. In the space of a breath, the animal spun itself into a tight coil and struck again. By then Bell was airborne. Diving for the bed, he grabbed the pillow and threw it at the snake. The snake struck, spraying the pillow yellow and leaving two deep holes in the cloth. Bell ripped the spread off the bed, twirled it like a toreador, and flung it over the snake to trap it in the cloth.
The snake slithered out from under, coiled again, and tracked Bell with malevolent eyes. Bell raised his pistol, aimed carefully at its head, and fired. The snake attacked at the same instant the gun roared, striking so swiftly that Bell's bullet missed and smashed the dresser mirror. As glass flew, the snake's needle-sharp fangs struck Bell in the chest, directly over his heart.
Chapter 20
BELL DROPPED HIS GUN AND CLOSED HIS HAND AROUND the snake's neck.
The animal was shockingly strong. Every inch of its four-foot length writhed with spasmodic, sinewy power as it squirmed to break his grip and strike him again. Its fangs were cocked inside its arrow-shaped head. Yellow venom dripped from its wide-open jaws. Bell imagined that he could see in its eyes a gleam of triumph, as if the serpent were sure that its deadly poison had already won the battle and that its prey would die in minutes. Gasping for breath, Bell reached with his free hand for the knife in his boot. Sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Snake. But you made the mistake of sinking your fangs into my shoulder holster.
An Old Blue threw open the door. Who's shooting guns in here?
At the sight of the headless snake still twitching in Bell's fist, he turned white and pressed both hands to his mouth.
Bell pointed commandingly with his bloody knife. If you are going to be sick, the facilities are down the hall.
Matthew the doorman stuck his head in the room. Are you--
Where did that steamer trunk come from? demanded Bell.
I don't know. It must have arrived before I came on.
Get the manager!
The club manager arrived minutes later in his nightclothes. His eyes widened at the sight of the broken mirror, the headless snake twitching on the floor, its head resting on the dresser, and Isaac Bell wiping his knife with a ruined pillowcase.
Assemble your staff, Bell told him. Either Lachesis muta here was not blackballed by the Membership Committee, or one of your people helped him into my room.
ICEMAN WEEKS WAS HOOFING IT across town, having watched from a stable until Isaac Bell entered the Yale Club and waited to make sure he didn't come out again. At Eighth Avenue he turned up several blocks, walked under the connector line that linked the Ninth Avenue and Sixth Avenue Els, and knocked on an unmarked door to a house just inside 53rd Street where Tommy Thompson had opened a gambling hall on the second floor. The Gopher guarding the door said, What the hell are you doing here?
Tell Tommy I got good news for him.
Tell him yourself. He's on the third floor.
Figured he'd be.
Weeks climbed the stairs, passed the gambling hall, guarded by another guy who looked surprised to see him, and headed for the third floor. One of the steps sagged a little under his foot, and he guessed it was rigged to dim the electric light in Tommy's room above the gambling hall to warn him someone was coming.
Weeks waited, bouncing from leg to leg, while they sized him up through the peephole. Tommy himself opened the door. I guess you did it, he said. Or you wouldn't be here.
Are we square now?
Come on in. Have a drink.
Tommy was drinking Scotch highballs. Weeks was so excited that the booze went straight to his head. Wanna hear how I did it?
Sure. Just wait 'til we're done here. Shut that light.
Tommy's bouncer pushed the switch, plunging the room into near darkness. He hinged open a trapdoor, and Weeks saw that they had cut a square hole in the floor down through the ceiling below and f
illed it with a smoky pane of glass. Latest thing, chuckled Tommy. One-way mirror. We see down. All they see in the ceiling is their own mugs.
Weeks peered down at the gambling floor where six men were seated around a high-stakes poker table. One of them Weeks recognized as the best card mechanic in New York. Another, Willy the Roper, specialized in rounding up players to be fleeced. Who's the mark?
The swell in the red necktie.
Rich?
Eyes O'Shay says that necktie means he's a Harvard.
What's his line?
Selling food to the Navy.
Selling food to the Navy sounded to Iceman Weeks like a way to get rich. The Navy business was booming. That Commodore Tommy was engaged in separating so exalted a dude from his money by rigging a high-stakes poker game sounded like Tommy had moved up several notches from robbing freight cars. What are you taking this Harvard for? he asked casually.
Eyes said to take him for all he's got and lend him dough to lose more.
Sounds like Eyes wants to have something on him.
Won't be hard. Ted Whitmark is a gambling fool.
What do you get out of it? Weeks asked, pouring himself another highball.
Part of our arrangement, Tommy answered. Eyes has been mighty generous. If he wants Mr. Whitmark to lose his dough at poker and get in hock to lose some more, it's a pleasure to help him.
As Weeks poured his third drink, it occurred to him that Commodore Tommy Thompson was normally more tight-lipped. He wondered what made him so talkative all of a sudden. Jaysus! Was Tommy inviting him to share in the Gophers?
Want to hear how I did Bell?
Tommy shut the trapdoor and gestured for his bouncer to turn on the light. You see that over there on the table? You see what that is?
It's a telephone, Weeks answered. It looked brand-new, all shiny, the candlestick type you saw in the best joints. You're getting up-to-date, Tommy. Didn't know you had it in ya.
Tommy Thompson grabbed Weeks by his lapels, effortlessly picked the smaller man off the floor, and threw him hard against the wall. Weeks found himself on the carpet, his head ringing, his brain squirming. What?
Tommy kicked him in the face. You didn't kill Bell! he roared. That telephone tells me that right now Bell is grilling everybody who works in that club.
What?
The telephone says the Van Dorn's alive. You didn't kill him.
Iceman Weeks pulled the pistol that he had taken from the Cumberland Hotel house dick. Tommy's bouncer stepped on his hand and took it away from him.
THE MANAGER OF THE YALE CLUB woke the staff and gathered them in the big kitchen on the top floor. They knew Isaac Bell as a regular who remembered their names and was generous when the club's no-tipping rule was waived at Christmas. All of them, manager, housekeeper, barman, chambermaids, porters, and front-desk clerk, clearly wanted to be of help when Bell asked, Where did the trunk outside my door on the third floor come from?
No one could answer. It had not been there when the day shift ended at six. A night-shift waiter had noticed it when passing by with room service at eight. The freight-elevator operator had not seen it, but he admitted taking a long dinner between six and eight. Then Matthew, who had stayed at the front door after Bell interviewed him privately, suddenly appeared, saying, The new laundress? Mr. Bell. I found her across the street, weeping.
Bell turned to the housekeeper. Mrs. Pierce, who is the laundress?
The new girl, Jenny Sullivan. She doesn't live in the house yet.
Matthew, could you bring her in?
Jenny Sullivan was small and dark and trembling with fear. Bell said, Sit down, miss.
She stood rigid by the chair. I didn't mean no harm.
Don't be afraid, you've- He reached to comfort her with a gentle hand on her arm. Jenny screamed in pain and shrank back.
What? Bell said. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt-Mrs. Pierce, could you look after Jenny?
The kindly housekeeper led the girl away, speaking to her softly.
I think everyone can go back to bed, said Bell. Good night. Thank you for your help.
When Mrs. Pierce returned, she had tears in her eyes. The girl is beaten black-and-blue from her shoulders to her knees.
Did she say who did it?
A man named Weeks.
Thank you, Mrs. Pierce. Get her to a hospital-not in the district where she lives but the best in the city. I will pay all expenses. Stint on nothing. Here's money for immediate needs. Bell pressed it in the housekeeper's hand and hurried to his room.
Swiftly, methodically, he cleaned his Browning and replaced the spent shell. Wondering again whether a heavier gun would have stopped Weeks before he could stab Alasdair MacDonald, he took a Colt .45 automatic from his safe. He checked the loads in his derringer and put on his hat. He stuffed the Colt and spare ammunition for both guns in his coat pockets and went down the stairs three at a time.
Matthew recoiled from the expression on his face. Are you all right, Mr. Bell?
Not that you would frequent the joint, Matthew, but do you know the address of Commodore Tommy's Saloon?
I believe it is way far across West 39th, almost to the river. But if I ever did frequent the joint,' he added bluntly, I would not go alone.
Chapter 21
ISAAC BELL CHARGED OUT OF THE YALE CLUB. MEN WHO saw him coming moved aside. He crossed Sixth Avenue and Seventh, ignoring the blare of auto horns, and turned downtown on Eighth Avenue. On the nearly deserted sidewalk Bell increased his pace and yet he could not outpace the thundering anger in his head. At West 39th Street he broke into a run.
A police officer in his path, a big man patrolling with a twenty-six-inch nightstick and revolver, looked him over and quietly crossed the street. At Ninth Avenue groups of men and a few women, mostly older, shabbily dressed, with the despairing features of the homeless, had gathered on the streetcar tracks under the El. They were staring up into the dark structure of fan-top columns that supported the overhead train tracks. Bell shouldered through them. Then he stopped short. A man in a sack suit was hanging by his neck from a rope tied to a transverse girder.
An express train on the middle track thundered overhead. As it clattered away and silence descended, someone muttered, Looks like the Gophers wanted the Iceman should die slow.
Bell saw what he meant. They hadn't bound the dead man's hands. His fingers had caught under the noose as if he were still tugging at his throat. His eyes were bulging and his mouth was locked in a terrible grimace. But even wearing the mask of death, he was beyond any doubt the man who had killed Alasdair MacDonald in Camden.
A drunk snickered, Maybe the Iceman committed suicide.
Yeah, answered his companion sarcastically. And maybe the Pope is dropping by Commodore Tommy's for a beer.
They laughed. A toothless old woman turned on them. Would you mock the dead?
He deserves what he got. Evil mug.
An old man in a slouch hat growled, No Gopher ever killed another because he was evil, ya silly bastards. They killed the Iceman because he was getting too big for his britches.
Isaac Bell shoved past and continued west.
Both were wrong. The Gophers had killed Weeks to break the chain of evidence that connected his boss to the murder in Camden. It was justice of a sort, rough justice. But it hadn't been done for justice, only self-protection. What link was left between Alasdair's killing and the spy who ordered it?
He could feel the cold breath of the river now, and he heard ship horns and the piping of tugs. With Weeks dead, he was no closer to the spy who plotted to kill the minds that imagined Hull 44.
He quickened his pace, then stopped abruptly under a signboard above the first floor of a crumbling red brick tenement so old that it had no fire escapes. Faded white letters on a gray field read Commodore Tommy's Saloon.
The building looked more like a fort than a saloon. Dim light shone through the barred windows. He heard voices inside. But when he tried the front door, i
t was locked. Bell jerked the .45 out of his coat, fired four shots in a circle around the knob, and kicked the door open.
He went through it fast, slewed sideways into a dimly lit barroom, and slammed his back hard against the wall. A dozen Gophers scattered, upending tables and crouching behind them.
I'll shoot the first man with a gun, said Isaac Bell.
They gaped, staring at him. Eyes flickered at the door, back at him, again at the door. Exchanging surprised glances, the Gopher gangsters registered that Bell was alone and rose menacingly to their feet.
Bell switched the .45 to his left hand and pulled his Browning with his right.
Everyone's hands where I can see them. Now!
At the sight of the enraged detective standing against the wall with two guns sweeping the barroom, most dropped weapons and displayed empty hands. Bell aimed at two who didn't. Now! he repeated. Or I'll clean out the place.
Up came an ancient horse pistol, barrel yawning. Bell shot it out of the gangster's hand. The man cried out in pain and astonishment. The other was swinging a heavy coach gun at him, a wide-gauge, double-barreled sawed-off that could cut him in half. Bell threw himself sideways as he triggered the Browning again. Buckshot screeched through the air he had vacated. An errant slug burned a furrow across his left arm with a mule-kick impact that nearly knocked the .45 out of his fist. He rolled across the floor and sprang up, guns ready, but the gangster who had fired the coach gun was sprawled on his back, clutching his shoulder.
Which one of you skunks is Tommy Thompson?
He ain't here, mister.
Bell had a vague idea that the same rage twisting his face into the expression that cowed them might also be keeping him from thinking straight. He didn't care.
Where is he? he shouted.
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