by M L Dunn
He spotted the man with bowler and gray raincoat that had followed him out of the court building standing across the street from the cathedral now. He could even see his gun when his coat blew open a little and right then he was sneaking a sip from a flask he tried to conceal.
The tall, muscular black detective was spotted next. He was trying to mix in with the tourist crowd looking up at the cathedral bells, but the detective never bothered to look up at the bells or toward anything other than the front of the cathedral where Mr. Slang had gone. That made for two detectives following him.
Mr. Slang went back down to the floor of the cathedral then and began looking through the people sitting in the pews. One man, a young man, was one of the few of them either not praying or looking through a pamphlet of some kind. Mr. Slang spotted the slight bulge the detective’s gun made under his coat. That was three.
He rejoined the tour group and spent the next twenty minutes enjoying the paintings and other works of art inside the cathedral, never spotting any others tailing him and then he abruptly left the group and headed toward the entrance. The young detective, pretending to be a tourist all alone, followed him outside. The black detective finally looked up at the cathedral bells as he passed by him, and the third detective still stood on the other side of the street. That seemed to be all of them. They’d hadn’t any notion that Mr. Slang might have been on to them, and that made them easy to spot.
Chapter 29
As Red came down the hallway toward the inspectors’ offices, Miss Kensington waved him over to her desk.
“Chief Rogers left a message for you,” she told him. “It seems Krakov’s brother asked for permission to send Krakov’s body home to the U.R.R.K. He already approached the U.R.R.K. delegation and Colonel Popov okayed it. Sometime after the zeppelins arrive here Chief Rogers’s is going to have Krakov’s body delivered out there.”
“Call Chief Rogers back and tell him I’ll take care of those arrangements,” Red told her. “Insist upon it if you have to. Oh and another thing. When Inspector Flynn returns, tell him the desk sergeant called up here to report some civilian had called in claiming to have seen Stone out by Harper’s Junction.”
“Stone was spotted out by Harper’s Junction?”
“No,” Red said, “but I need to keep Inspector Flynn busy for a while. I’ll explain everything later,” he said. “Right now I need to call Horace Sokoloff.”
Chapter 30
After Count Vasili’s hearing adjourned, Tom had a quick bite of lunch with Rebecca and then walked to the TCPD building. He wanted to talk with Red, but as he came into the inspectors’ offices, Miss Kensington told him Red wasn’t there.
She did tell him that a call had just come in saying Stone might have been seen out by Harper’s Junction and she asked Tom if he would drive out there and check it out. Tom told her he would.
He went down to the garage, checked out a car and drove out to the east side of the valley to Harper’s Junction where there was a grocery store, gas station, diner and a couple of taverns. He’d never been in either of the taverns before, but as soon as he went in the first, he knew Stone would never be seen in there. It was well lit and almost all the clientele were human. Still Tom spent a few minutes there asking around and then he headed for the second tavern – a place called The Rock Slide.
Unfortunately The Rock Slide was not the kind of place he check out quickly. It was busy, noisy and dimly lit. In addition there were several rooms where the clientele could sit and drink and argue and place wagers on arm-wrestling contests, since a big part of the clientele was golems and trolls. It was so dark in there, he had to get within just a couple of feet of someone to get a good look at them. He started moving through the place looking for Stone.
Chapter 31
Mr. Slang returned to the Strigoi Hotel after visiting St. Paul’s Cathedral. As he entered the hotel, the front desk clerk waved him over.
“A message for you Mr. Bailey,” the clerk said handing him a folded piece of paper.
Mr. Slang opened the note, saw only a phone number written on it, and immediately went to the bank of phones in the lobby.
When he hung up, he knew he needed to slip out of the hotel without being seen. The men following him needed to think he was in his room still. That was easy enough and Mr. Slang went up to his room to arrange it.
There was no telephone in his room, but there was a rope he could pull that rang a bell near the front desk that would tell them to send a bellhop up. He pulled the rope and when the goblin bellhop arrived, Mr. Slang complained he was not feeling well and was going to lie down, but would like tea and a small sandwich delivered at precisely 4pm.
“Oh, and do you have an empty box I could have for some items I’ve bought?” Mr. Slang asked.
“Certainly,” the bellhop said. “How large?”
“About this big,” Mr. Slang said holding his hands out.
“Should I get it now?”
“Yes, please,” he said tipping the bellhop generously.
If anyone was to inquire about him now they would be told he was asleep in his room.
Next Mr. Slang went to his suitcase. He’d learned to plan ahead for such emergencies and he looked through the clothing he brought with him. He pulled out a uniform. It looked much like an ordinary pair of blue pants and blue shirt that a deliveryman might wear. He placed them on the bed and waited for the bellhop to return.
After the goblin delivered his box, Mr. Slang changed into the deliveryman clothes, put his other coat and hat in the box and slipped out his room unseen, carrying the box. He went out a side door carrying the box up by his face and then slipped down an alleyway.
At the end of the alley, he waited a moment to make sure he was not being followed. He was not.
Mr. Slang stole a car and drove out to the Draculia region of the Transylvania Valley. He pulled into the parking lot of The Wolf’s Fang and parked. He put his regular hat and coat on before going inside and then he came through the front door and headed for the last booth on the left. He was glad the place was dimly lit, but not empty. There were a few humans there, but mostly the place seemed to cater to trolls, golems and goblins, most of whom seemed to work as miners. Mr. Slang sat down across from the golem sitting alone in the booth.
“I received your message,” Mr. Slang said.
“I figured that when you sat down here,” Stone said. “You must be with the King’s Guard?”
“No, in fact they know nothing about this, but believe me I’m the man you want to be dealing with. How can we help you?”
“I don’t really care to live in the U.R.R.K. but if I have to, I would rather do it in style, maybe be given some kind of job there, something of some importance.”
“Compared to what?” Mr. Slang asked.
“Huh?”
“You’d rather work for us in the U.R.R.K. than what? Have to hide out here in Draculia the rest of life?”
“No,” Stone said. “Rather than live there working for Pandora.”
“Pandora is planning on returning to the U.R.R.K.?”
“That’s right.”
“Just how does she plan on doing that?”
“By hi-jacking one of the zeppelins,” Stone said.
“Damn clever of her,” he said, impressed.
“But if you want I could lead a team of your men, right now, to where she’s holding the princess hostage.”
“Really?”
“You know who I am right? I’m Stone.”
“I probably know more about you than you know about yourself.”
“Like what?” Stone asked.
“Like, you haven’t got any future here. The TCPD would throw you right back in jail even if you were to help rescue the princess. They’d say you did it just to save your own skin. So instead I’ll smuggle you out of here. I’d be happy to have you come to work for me.”
“All right,” Stone said excitedly. “You guys know how to have fun there right?”
<
br /> “Certainly,” Mr. Slang said. “More fun than here.”
“You don’t say?”
“Lots of golems and trolls live there. And you’d be free to roam about the country. We have lots of celebrations there and lots of different kinds of beer. The food is much better there. Wait till you head to St. Dimitrisburg for the shearing festival; the roasted mutton is worth the trip alone.”
“Really?” Stone asked becoming excited.
“Absolutely.”
“Okay then,” Stone said. “Did you bring some men with you? I can lead you to the princess right now.”
“You say she plans on hi-jacking one of the zeppelins?”
“That’s right. She’s got it all figured out.”
“How’s she planning on doing it?”
“Well, she figures the zeppelins are probably on their way here already. That part is done. That’s why she kidnapped the princess so those zeppelins would be brought here.”
“Is that the only reason she kidnapped the princess?”
“As far as I know,” Stone said.
“How does she plan on taking control of the zeppelin?”
“It’s pretty simple. She creates a mist of darkness. Titan and I follow her through it. Jump on the craft. Throw out anybody we don’t need and take off headed for the U.R.R.K.”
“She has everything she needs to create a mist of darkness? I thought those kinds of things were kept out of witches hands here?”
“You read in the paper what she did at the Hotel Triumph? She’s been holding on to some stuff from when she arrived here twenty years ago. Been planning for this day since then. She ain’t got nothing too special though, but she’s got what she needs to create a mist of darkness and a few other spells if she needs to. She hid the stuff in a cave here twenty two years ago just so she’d have it now.”
“Damn clever of her.”
“Except I had to wrestle a werewolf in order to put it onto the scent of the garlic she’d placed next to her chest, so she could find it again after all these years.”
“Did you?”
“Yeah,” Stone said. “I’d bet I’m the only one who could have done it. That’s why they broke me out of jail. That and they needed help kidnapping the princess and now she expects me to hi-jack a zeppelin. I figure I’ve more that paid her back already. So you want to go rescue the princess now? The only thing I’m worried about is Pandora putting up some kind of fight.”
“I’ve got a better idea.”
“You do?”
“You go ahead and help her steal one of the zeppelins. The Tempest in fact.”
“Why?”
“Well first off something might go wrong if we went to rescue the princess right now. We don’t want to take a chance she’ll get hurt. Instead we’ll have a little surprise waiting for Pandora aboard the Tempest.”
“What?”
“Leave that to me.”
“All right,” Stone said. “There is something I should tell you though.”
“What?”
“Chief Inspector Meriwether already been here and offered me a deal.”
“You don’t say. What’d you tell him?”
“I told him what he wanted to hear,” Stone said. “But I knew I could get a better deal with you guys.”
“And that’s exactly what you’ll get. I’ll see to it you are a golem of some importance in the U.R.R.K. with plenty of money and connections.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“The king can do whatever he pleases there and he likes to reward those who are loyal to him. Do you really think Inspector Meriwether can deliver whatever he promised you? He would need the district attorney to sign off on it first and then probably someone with the Administration and you’d better hope public opinion is on your side or the newspapers will call for your head until the politicians get scared and decide something underhanded must have been going on. You have a bit of a history with the TCPD don’t you?”
“A little bit”
“Wait till the papers start bringing up all that again,” Mr. Slang said. “Some of it wasn’t even that long ago.”
“That’s what I figured. I never have been really appreciated here even if I am the greatest fighter this realm has ever seen.”
“The people would love you in the U.R.R.K. I’ll see to it that the papers there write some nice stories about you,” Mr. Slang said. “You’ll be famous there, especially after you save the princess. What do you say?”
“I say okay,” Stone said without needing to think about it.
“Good. Now what was it that Inspector Meriwether wanted you to do?”
“Lead Pandora into a trap at two o’clock tomorrow afternoon. Just north of the field where the zeppelins are docked.”
“Fine,” Mr. Slang said. “Instead what you’ll do is invade the from the east side of the field at one o’clock. I’ll need to arrange some things. I’d like to meet you here again tomorrow after I get some details worked out. How about I bring you some of your clothes and such? That way it will look like you are all prepared to head to the U.R.R.K with Pandora.”
“Good idea. Titan’s clothes don’t fit me to good. I have a room at the Shadows Hotel still. My things are there. Room 404, but I don’t have a key I can give you.”
“It’s no problem.”
Mr. Slang went out the tavern then, but he did not leave. He simply walked around back of the building and back inside through the kitchen door. He watched Stone from there. Stone was still sitting at the booth, but then he got up and headed for the counter. Mr. Slang thought he might be heading for the phone, but Stone simply went to the counter and ordered another beer.
Mr. Slang watched for a few moments more, watching to see that no one got up and left the establishment, until he was certain that no one was following him. Stone’s story must all be on the up and up. He returned to his car then and headed back to town, but ditched the stolen vehicler near the Vamp’s distillery and hitched a ride back to town from there.
He snuck back into the Strigoi hotel then and changed clothes to what he’d been wearing earlier in the day. At 4pm his tea and sandwich was delivered and he enjoyed it and then he went downstairs and out the front of the hotel. He had some errands to run, and he wanted the detectives following him to come along.
He hailed a cab and asked the driver to take him somewhere where he could by a watch or clock maybe, as a memento for his visit to Transylvania City.
The cab driver suggested he take Mr. Slang to a store just off Queen Anne’s Way, where a man sold clocks and watches he built with his own hands. Mr. Slang was agreeable. They drove there and the driver pulled over in front of the store. Mr. Slang tipped the cabbie generously as he asked him to wait as he went inside.
When the shopkeeper greeted him, Mr. Slang said his name was Darcy, and he wanted to buy a clock for his mantle. Mr. Darcy was shown merchandise much better than was available where he came from. One clock particularly impressed him, it was expensive, but the clockmaker told him it was a highly accurate time piece.
“Every clock in here is very dependable and will last a life time,” the shopkeeper told Mr. Darcy.
Mr. Slang was sold. He purchased the clock, figuring configuring it would be fairly easy.
“Do you have the exact time now?” Mr. Slang or rather Mr. Darcy asked.
“Of course,” the shopkeeper said. “Let me set your clock for you.” Mr. Slang handed him it and the shopkeeper walked to his counter and observed the clock on the wall there while Mr. Darcy looked over some other merchandise in the store. “I could set your watch too if you like,” the man offered.
“Would you?” Mr. Slang said.
Five minutes later, the cab driver took Mr. Slang to a hardware store. Mr. Slang had asked him where he might find some tacks to repair the soles on his shoes, but really Mr. Slang needed the small file, a small screw driver, some sharp nails, as well as some other items for something entirely different. Again the driver wa
ited for him. As Mr. Slang walked into the store, he noticed the men parked further down the block watching him. That was fortunate.
That task accomplished, Mr. Slang had the driver take him back to his hotel. Just inside the lobby he approached the concierge’s desk, where a most beautiful vampiress was standing. He asked her for a tourist’s map of Transylvania and Draculia. The concierge pulled one off a shelf, handed him it and Mr. Slang immediately opened it and began looking at the most popular places to visit in Transylvania City and the surrounding valley.
The concierge began telling him there were several tours he could take if he liked, that would visit one of more of these places.
“I think I would like to visit the Draculia part of the valley,” Mr. Slang told the concierge.
“There is a guided bus tour that makes several stops out that way.”
“Could you show me on this map what spots it would visit?”
The concierge pointed out on the map the several places.
“What about dinner? Does it stop someplace for dinner?”
“Yes of course,” she said. “It stops for dinner at The Depths, a lively if somewhat run down pub that also serves dinner.”
“And where might that be?” Mr. Slang asked holding his map out for her to point out the location.
“Here,” she said placing her long, elegant finger down where Appian Way met Horseshoe Road.
“That will do nicely,” Mr. Slang said. “Where do I catch this bus?”
The concierge pulled out a schedule provided by The Transylvania Metropolitan Bus Tour Company and looked at it.
“You can catch a bus leaving for the Draculia region just outside Train Station #1 at the top of the hour.”
“Thank you,” Mr. Slang said looking at his watch. “One last thing,” he said as he tipped the vampiress generously. “I need to get up quite early tomorrow. Could the hotel lend me an alarm clock?”