by M L Dunn
Tom reached in his pocket to give the man a coin for the phone, but couldn’t find one. “I guess I don’t have any coins on me.”
“I’ll get one from the cash register,” the man said.
They went out the shop and up to the corner. The clock maker made the call while Tom waited. Tom thought Red should know Mr. Darcy was in possession of two alarm clocks.
Chapter 36
It took Mr. Slang nearly an hour to walk back to The Depths, having to lug a sack of dynamite through the woods. Once there he called for a cab. While he was waiting for the cab, standing outside smoking his pipe, a police car sped past, headed down Horseshoe Road toward the mine. The guard must have come to finally and called the police.
Just before his cab arrived, Mr. Slang looked up into the dark sky and saw the zeppelin, Tempest come floating over the top of the cliffs surrounding Transylvania City. It was a magnificent sight, the zeppelin slowly coming into view like an oblong moon orbiting a planet. A searchlight came on and shone on it, offering it a tunnel of light to descend down from out of the dark sky. He watched as the craft slowly turned, pivoting like a gate, as it headed toward the landing site, which had been hurriedly constructed just north of the city that day.
Soon King Havel would arrive on the Dauntless, hurrying to Transylvania City to see that his daughter was safely returned to him no matter the ransom asked or demands made by the kidnappers.
Tom drove across The Executioner Bridge into Draculia headed for the Tunnel Like Hell mine. He don’t know what to expect to find, because he figured Jones, Dunne and McElroy must be tailing this Mr. Darcy, whoever he was and they must have told Red that Mr. Darcy had visited the clock shop.
Tom didn’t know how Red had known to follow this Mr. Darcy, but Tom figured Mr. Darcy was tied into the U.R.R.K. delegation somehow. The Russian name on his watch made him think that. There were people of Russian descent here in Transylvania of course, and throughout Britannia for that matter, but if he was from here, it reasoned, especially since he claimed to be in the mining business, that Mr. Darcy would have heard of the Tunnel Like Hell mine.
When he got to the end of Appian Way, and was about to turn onto Horseshoe Road, Tom heard a siren. It was a Draculia police car heading the direction of the mine, so he waited until it passed and he followed it. Sure enough it turned down the forest road that lead up to the Tunnel Like Hell mine.
As they approached the mine, Tom could see another police car had already arrived there and he followed the second one right up to the guard shack. As he got out of his car, the Draculia detective he had just followed there gave him a look, curious to why he was following him.
The detective was a vampire. A vampire with a badge. A vampire with a badge, gun and wearing a scarf, a white shirt open at the collar and a long, black, expensive-looking, soft raincoat. He looked like Hollywood’s idea of a vampire detective. He had a dark complexion, dark hair that reached his shoulders, a build like a middle-weight boxer, and probably was just a quick as one.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“Inspector Flynn of the TCPD,” Tom said showing him his identification.
“I’ve heard of you, but you know you haven’t any jurisdiction out here, right?”
“I know,” Tom said. “I just wanted to see what was going on. It might be relevant to something I’m working on.”
“What would that be?”
“Princess Alexi’s kidnapping.”
“Oh,” he said. “I don’t even know what’s going on here yet, but if you want to hang around that’s fine. I’ll ask the questions though.”
“Thanks,” Tom said.
The first thing the detective did was approach the guard and introduce himself as Detective Rohev. Vampires rarely use more than just the one name. The guard told him how a man had snuck on him and hit him from behind. He had a knot the size of a tangerine on his head to prove it.
“You get a look at this man?” Rohev asked.
“No, he snuck up on me. Anyway he must have used my keys to open the gate there,” the guard said pointing at the gate which was swung open presently.
“Did you walk up to the offices there to call us?”
“No. I got a phone in the shack here so I called it in as soon I seen the gate open.”
“Could he be in there now?”
“I don’t think so,” the guard said. “He clipped my keys back on my belt.”
Rohev and Tom walked up to the offices and found that the door had been kicked in. Rohev drew his gun as he motioned for Tom to stay behind him. They went inside. They looked around the main office, but nothing seemed to have been disturbed there. They went down a hallway. The heavy door where explosives and other supplies were stored was ajar. Rohev approached it cautiously with his gun drawn and poked his head inside.
“He’s gone,” he said pushing the door all the way open and holstering his weapon. “Looks like he took some items out of here,” he said pointing at a crate of dynamite the top had been forced off. “I’ll have someone from the mining company come out here and see if they can determine what all’s been taken.”
Tom nodded at him. “Could you do me a favor?”
“I guess.”
“Call the TCPD headquarters, ask for Inspector Meriwether. Tell him he might like to know that some dynamite was stolen here tonight. That you thought this could be tied to the princess’ kidnapping.”
“I should run that by my superiors first,” Rohev said, “but I won’t. There’s a phone in the office.”
“Just one more thing. Don’t mention my name.”
Rohev looked at him. “I guess you have your reason. When this is all over you’ll have to tell me it,” he said.
“I will.”
Tom drove back to the TCPD building and went up to the inspectors’ offices. Of course the first thing Red did when he saw him, was ask what he was doing back there.
“I just wanted to see what was going on with those items Pandora asked for.”
“Those two constables should be returning soon,” Red said looking at the clock on the wall. “Why don’t you walk down with me and wait for them.”
They walked to the train station and informed the constables on duty there, that the bloodhounds would soon be going nuts. On the way there Red had failed to mention either of the calls he had received. They sat on a bench at the end of the train platform, waiting for the Vulture to arrive.
“Fixx never called in from the Wolf’s Fang?” Tom asked.
“Uh, yeah, he did,” Red said. “Told me Stone hadn’t showed, so I told him to wait another hour and if he still didn’t show, then he should head on home.”
“Oh,” Tom said.
Just then the second zeppelin, Dauntless, floated into the valley. Tom pointed at it and remarked that it reminded him of a giant, white whale, the red star near the front of the craft appearing like its eye.
“Something you don’t see every day,” Red said admiring the airship, which was nearly twice as long as football field.
In a large field, a mile north of Executioner’s Bridge, two platforms had been constructed for the crafts to dock. Constables stood guard around the entire perimeter of the field and others stood guard near the platforms.
They watched the Dauntless heading there and then the Vulture blew its horn as it announced it was approaching the station. The bloodhounds began barking and howling the moment the train pulled up to the platform. The bear also caught scent of the items the constables had brought back with them and began to growl. Red took the bag from the two constables as soon as they stepped off the train and looked inside. He thanked them for their good work and sent them on their way. Then he and Tom started back toward the police station, but then Red said he needed to use the men’s room. Tom waited outside while Red took the items in with him.
He came out shortly and then walked back to the station where Red promptly handed the bag over to Chief Rogers who had arrived there in the meantime.
/> “I read this note,” Chief Rogers said as he handed the bag off to a sergeant. “It asks for these items, but there are no instructions on where she wants it delivered or how to get in touch with her.”
“I guess she’ll contact us again soon,” Red told him as he stepped away. He told Tom then that he was headed home. “Why don’t you go home too, pack a bag, have dinner with your wife.”
“I’ll do that,” Tom said.
Tom told him he felt like walking and left then, but instead he hurried to his car and waited for Red to leave so he could follow him.
Red drove home and parked in his driveway as Tom watched from down the street, and then the blinds inside the house were shut tightly. It was not difficult to figure out what was going on. Tom figured he must have Miss Kensington concocting some kind of spell with the items he had taken out of the bag in the bathroom and hidden inside his coat pockets.
Twenty minutes later Red came back out, jumped in his car and drove to the Sokoloff Funeral Home. He was not inside long before he stepped outside with Mr. Sokoloff, who locked the doors behind them. Red got back in his car then and drove away.
Tom followed him to The Fountain hotel and watched him go inside. He knew why Red had gone there. He’d told him already that Mr. Jordan was staying there and expecting he might be there awhile, Tom drove home.
Chapter 37
The Transylvanian Gambit
When Red came out of The Fountain Hotel, based on what he had learned there, he began to hatch a plot. If he had run it past any of the great chess masters they would have cringed at it; too risky, too many moves required, and too many pieces to be at just the right place at the right time before the trap was sprung. All while hoping his opponent didn’t realize what he was up to.
The first of those moves needed to be undertaken right then. He drove so Red drove to the library. Just inside the door he looked around, hoping Tom was not there. He did not spot him, so he approached the main counter and asked for Rebecca. He was told she was attending a lecture in the main hall. He went in, sat just behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned to look behind her, Red asked her to step outside.
“I’m sorry to make you miss your lecture,” he told her once they were out of the room. “Is there somewhere we could talk privately?”
“Has anything happened to Tom?”
“No,” Red said assuredly. “I just need your help with something.”
She led him to a small room for private reading and shut the door behind them. “How can I help?”
“Turns out there is something very sinister going on here in Transylvania City.”
“What?”
“We believe the princess’ life is in grave danger. We have identified the man who hired Krakov to kill her and we are certain he will try again.”
“How?”
“A bomb, I believe.”
“A bomb?”
“Yes and that’s where I could use your help.”
“My help?”
“Yes.”
“How can I help?”
“This man, he calls himself Mr. Darcy, is very clever. We have him under surveillance presently, but I think he knows we are watching him. What he doesn’t know is that I suspect he has plans to deliver not just one bomb, but two, and I want him followed when he goes to deliver the second one.”
“And you want me to follow him?”
“Something like that.”
“Why me?”
“Like I said, he’s very clever. I want him to believe he’s delivered the second bomb without being watched. I believe he has spotted the men following him already, but I don’t think he would suspect a young woman to be following him.”
“I see.”
“This could be dangerous.”
“Is Tom involved in this?”
“Yes, but not as much as you might think.”
“What do you mean?”
“There are certain things I’ve purposely kept from him.”
“Why?”
“I can’t explain that right now,” Red said. “I have a good reason for choosing you for this assignment.”
“What?”
“If Mr. Darcy does happen to spot you following him, I do not, in fact I’m almost certain he would not hurt you. I’m afraid he would kill anyone else following him. He has to be certain that he delivered his second bomb without anyone from the TCPD knowing. I believe he would kill anyone caught following him – except you of course.”
“Why me?”
“Because you are Inspector Flynn’s wife and I think they need him aboard the Dauntless. If you were to be found murdered – that would foul up their plans.”
“Oh,” Rebecca said. “Mine as well.”
“Of course you will not be in any danger,” Red told her. “I’ve arranged for that.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ll see. Can you come to the station with me now?”
“I suppose.”
“And of course you can’t say anything to Tom right now,” Red told her. “He must not know anything about this.”
“Is he in any danger?”
Red looked at her. “Yes, I’m afraid so, but I’m doing everything I can to help with that.”
Chapter 38
A bomb is a simple enough device to construct. A ticking time bomb is an entirely different matter. Somehow, at precisely the required moment, if you want to be seen as a competent bomb maker anyway, you need the bomb to explode without help of human hands. The trick is to fashion a mechanism that will strike the percussion cap, igniting it, which will then set off the real explosive. With a good alarm clock a bomber is halfway there. He need only adapt the part of the clock meant to set off a couple of bells ringing, to instead strike the cap, causing it to ignite and then for that fire to detonate whatever explosive material you are working with.
This is what Mr. Slang built that night. The trick, if you were to ask him, is selecting the proper gage of nail. Neither one too sharp that it slips inside the cap without causing a spark, nor one too blunt that it does not penetrate the cap. Of course he would tell you the careful application of nitroglycerin can help with this matter. Once the cap is ignited, it is the job of the fuse to carry that flame into the explosive. The trick here is to strip the fuse to a width neither too slim that it will not carry the fire into the dynamite, or too thick that the cap igniting, fails to light the fuse.
Mr. Slang though had constructed many such bombs in his four lifetimes, and he was glad that as he passed from one lifetime to another, his knowledge of how to make them remained with him, while the loss of several fingers did not.
Chapter 39
Red escorted Rebecca up to the fifth floor holding cells. Miss Kensington was there already. No one else was present. Red looked at his watch. It was nearly 11:00 pm. He told his wife the time and she nodded encouragingly.
“Tom will be arriving downstairs shortly,” he told Rebecca. “I had Constable Andrews go over and pick him up at your home. I told him we had identified the man who had hired Krakov and that we have him under surveillance.” Red looked at his watch again. “Oh, I almost forgot,” he said pulling a photograph out of his pocket.
He showed it to Miss Kensington and Rebecca. Rebecca looked at it and saw it was of Tom, coming down the aisle of the courtroom.
“I had Lou Mitchell take this photograph for me,” Red explained. “This man here is Mr. Darcy,” he said pointing at a man in the background, standing against the side wall of the courtroom. “That’s the man I want you to follow.”
“Why don’t you go ahead and go now,” Miss Kensington told him then. “Rebecca needs to change out of her dress.”
“All right dear,” he said. “Constable Andrews will come up and get Rebecca when the time comes, hopefully it will be a little while yet,” he said looking at his watch again, He approached Miss Kensington then and gave her a kiss. “I love you dear.”
“I love you too,” she said.
“I’ll see you before too long.”
Red went downstairs then to the inspectors’ offices and found Tom and Constable Andrews standing by his office door.
“Dunne, Jones and McElroy may have identified the man who was working with Krakov,” Red told Tom. “Presently he’s in his room at the Strigoi hotel, but I have reason to believe he’s planning on delivering a bomb somewhere in the city later. I suspect the Hotel Triumph since that’s where Prince Marko is staying.”
“A bomb really?” Tom said trying to act surprised. “How did they find this man?”
“A search of Krakov’s room turned up a slip of paper with the name Mr. Darcy on it. I had Dunne, Jones and McElroy check with every hotel then and we found a Mr. Darcy staying at the Strigoi. We’ve been following his every move since this afternoon. He bought an alarm clock at a shop today and then I got a call from a detective Rohev with the Vampire Force. He called to let me know some dynamite had been stolen from the Tunnel Like Hell mine offices out there. That was just about the time Dunne lost Mr. Darcy when he slipped away from the tour group he had been with. He showed up back at the Strigoi three hours later though and I suspect he’s putting a bomb together right now.”
“What are we going to do?”
“We’ll let him plant his bomb,” Red said. “We’ll just sit here until McElroy gives me a call letting me know Mr. Darcy has left the Strigoi. They’ll follow Mr. Darcy from there and then McElroy will give us a call when Mr. Darcy arrives at his destination. You might as well wait with us,” he told Constable Andrews.
He looked at the clock on the wall then.
Chapter 40
When Mr. Slang was done with his creations, which was near midnight, he looked over them and was pleased. He packed his bags then, taking only the most important items with him, which of course included his bombs, and slipped out the back of the hotel, certain he was being watched. He went to the end of the alley, crossed the street, went down another alley and hailed a cab from that spot. He told the driver to take him to the Hotel Triumph.