Lord Parmesan told the Elf, ‘You do realise that even though I am the top politician in Briton even I don’t have the authority to grant you permission on my own. There is a king above me and I would have to get the approval of parliament.’
‘Parliament?’
‘Sort of like a council of elders you might say,’ the PM explained. Or a building full of drunks, liars and crooks, depending on your point of view, he thought to himself. ‘And of course it will be necessary to send advisors to your world to report if the situation is as you say it is.’
‘Very well then,’ agreed Felder. ‘It is about time I went back to King Erlathan and told him of my progress. What say we open the portal again in two weeks? I will return to continue our discussions and your men will be escorted to my world. I give you my word they will be safe, I will stand hostage for them, and they will be able to ask any questions and go wherever they wish.’
‘That seems satisfactory. I will arrange for my men to escort you back to the portal then I’ll return to Londum and make the arrangements you suggest.’ He stood up and came around the front of the desk, holding out his hand. Lord Felder stood up and shook it.
‘We have an accord,’ said Felder.
‘Indeed,’ said the PM.
The prime minister opened the door and explained the agreement to the men outside. His security detail selected some men to accompany the Elves back to the hotel to collect their belongings and their horses.
After having their weapons returned to them, Lord Felder, Krillan and Urtsar rode out of Ambleside followed by their armed guards. They returned to the site where they had entered this world some time before. Lord Felder reached into his cloak and removed a small device which he activated. After a few moments the electricity started to crackle and the sequence was repeated where the lightning spread out like a fan. When it was stable Lord Felder turned to the men guarding him and said, ‘Have your people wait here at this spot in two weeks from today, when the sun is at its highest. Then we shall open the portal and greet them.’ With that he and his two companions rode through the portal. Once they had disappeared, so did the portal, leaving an eerie silence.
The security detail looked at each other with raised eyebrows and then rode back into town.
***
Upon his return to Londum, after checking in at 10 Downing Street, the PM’s first port of call was the Palace, to report to the king.
King Victor listened patiently as Lord Parmesan repeated everything that Lord Felder had told him. ‘All of this confirms what was in the reports from my people, that I gave you before I went to Ambleside.’
The king, deep in thought, wandered over to the window and looked out at the traffic in the Mall. ‘And do we believe him?’ he asked Parmesan.
‘I don’t know, he’s certainly convincing enough … but then he would be if he was trying to trick us. I want to see what our envoys have to say once they’ve seen their world, before I make my judgement.’
‘Make sure you include some army men, to judge their military capabilities, if they have any that is,’ advised Victor.
‘Certainly, Your Majesty.’ Parmesan approached the window and stood next to the king, looking out.
‘I wonder what the people down there would say if they knew about the Elves?’ mused the king.
‘Your Majesty, we live in a strange enough world as it is, Magick, Faeries, Dragons, Werewolves and so on. If the world got any weirder they would probably just shrug and get on with it.’
‘Well, why don’t we ask them?’
‘Sir?’
‘If our envoys report back favourably and it looks as if we have nothing to fear from the Elves then we should release the information about their existence to the press, and then after a few weeks there can be a debate in parliament about letting them settle here. This will give the people time to discuss the matter and let their MP’s know their feelings. Then when the debate is held it will indicate to some degree the wishes of the people. This is a new chapter in history and it’s too big a subject to be decided by just you and me.’
‘My feelings exactly, Your Majesty, I’m glad we’re in agreement. If you have no further questions for me, with your permission I’ll return to Downing Street and begin drawing up the list of delegates to send to the Elf world.’
The king nodded his approval and the PM withdrew.
***
Adele was doing some embroidery in the drawing room and Cobb was reading the morning paper when Won Lungh brought in a letter, addressed to Cobb.
Cobb opened the envelope with a paperknife and extracted the contents, a letter written on a single sheet of stationary. Opening the letter he read the following:
Dear Mr. Cobb
You have been recommended to me by my bank manager, Mr. Wetherby, as a trust-worthy, reliable, and above all discreet, private detective.
I wish to engage your services on a matter that is literally one of life and death. If you are available, please meet me at Mr. Wetherby’s bank tomorrow at 10 o’clock. Ask for him at the counter and you will be shown into his office. Please come armed, if possible.
I implore you to discuss this matter with no one, especially the police. Someone’s life depends on this secrecy.
Yours
Rupert Willets
Hmm, intriguing, thought Cobb. He recognised the name Wetherby, the bank manager, he’d done a job for him in the past, something about his son getting involved in a scandal, he seemed to remember. Seemed a fairly upright sort of character, so one would assume that anyone he sent Cobb’s way would be from the same social group. Please come armed, if possible? Made it sound serious, best dig the gun out of the safe, give it a clean and make sure it was loaded.
He re-read the letter a few times and let his mind freewheel, seeing what impression the letter gave him. Matter of life and death ... meeting at the bank ... that suggested large sums of money ... so it was probably either blackmail or a kidnapping, he reasoned. Discuss this matter with no-one, the letter had requested. Well, he wasn’t that stupid, if he was going into danger he wanted to make damn sure that someone knew where he was going, just in case something happened to him and he never came back. He handed the letter over to Adele to read and told her his conclusions.
‘Will you take the case?’ she asked.
‘Probably, the poor man sounds desperate.’
‘So what’s your next move?’
‘Clean my gun and wait for tomorrow, I shouldn’t make any further assumptions until I have all the facts and only Mr. Willets can tell me what they are.’
***
Cobb arrived at the bank next morning and asked to be shown into Mr. Wetherby. The staff had been expecting him and took him straight into the manager’s office.
‘Mr. Cobb, thank you for coming,’ Wetherby greeted him. ‘Allow me to introduce my friend, Rupert Willets. He’s the one who needs your help.’
Cobb shook Willets’ hand and took a seat. ‘How can I help you, Mr. Willets?’
‘My nine-year old daughter, Agatha, has been kidnapped. She was in the park the day before yesterday with her governess, when some men took her at gunpoint. They warned the governess not to tell the police and that I was to wait for further instructions.
‘They pushed a letter through my door yesterday. I was to tell no one, especially not the police, and to gather the ransom together. When I spoke to Wetherby here to arrange the ransom he persuaded me to speak to you.’
‘How much did they ask for?’
‘Five thousand pounds in small bills. It’s in the bag there on the desk.’
‘Do you have the ransom demand on you?’
Willets handed over the letter and Cobb studied it. It was crudely written in pencil on cheap paper. These obviously weren’t top class criminals. Judging by Willets’ clothing he could probably afford ten or even twenty thousand, Cobb figured. They probably kept their demands small and struck often.
‘Will you take the case?’ asked Wil
lets, anxiously.
‘Of course I will. Give me your address and the details of your household, family and staff.’ Willets told him and Cobb noted it all down in his copper’s notebook.
‘What happens now?’ asked Wetherby.
‘Well, as they’re most insistent on Mr. Willets not going to the police, I imagine they’re following him to make sure he doesn’t. They’re probably outside right now. They’ll want to make sure you pick up the ransom.’
Cobb thought for a moment. ‘Do you smoke, Mr. Willets?’
‘What? No, no I don’t. Why?’
‘No matter, maybe you only smoke in times of stress. When you leave here I imagine that you would normally go to the taxi rank at the end of the road. This time I want you to go the other way, down the street to the tobacconist. Go in there and purchase some cigarettes, then make your way back up the street to the taxi rank. Take a cab home. I’ll contact you later.’
‘What’s all that in aid of?’
‘I want to spot who’s following you. By rights there should only be one person, besides yourself, who goes down the street and then turns around and comes back. That will be your kidnapper, I’ll follow him. Once you’re at home if you receive any further instructions from the kidnappers then go ahead and follow them. It’s the best thing to do to save your daughter.’
Mr. Willets thanked Cobb profusely and after shaking hands with him and Wetherby, left the bank carrying the bag full of cash.
Cobb gave Willets a few moments to clear the bank and then followed him out into the street. He hung back as Willets made his way to the tobacconist. A few men stopped for various reasons as Willets entered the shop but only one turned around and followed him back up the street, past the bank.
He was a scruffy individual, slightly taller than most of the crowd and he wore a discoloured bowler hat, which made him easy to follow through the crowds as he tailed Willets to the taxi rank at the end of the street.
Willets mounted a cab and then headed off, closely followed by “Bowler Hat” in another cab. Cobb grabbed a third and then joined the procession.
***
The line of cabs eventually arrived at the street that Willets had given to Cobb as his place of residence. Cobb had his cabbie halt at the end of the street and he watched as Willets left the cab and entered his house. Bowler Hat stayed in his cab for a while after Willets went indoors and then his cab pulled away. Cobb instructed his cabbie to follow it.
The two cabs made their way into the East End of Londum. Near Whitechapel Bowler Hat paid off his cab and set off on foot. Cobb followed in his own cab until the crowds began to get too busy for the cab to keep up. He paid off the cabbie and took to his feet to follow his prey.
Eventually they arrived at a terraced row of three-storey, slum tenements. A man was sitting on the stairs leading into the house and Bowler Hat spent some time talking to him. After a while, Bowler Hat went into the tenement while the other man remained on lookout. Soon, another man came out and headed off into the crowd. Possibly to keep an eye on Willets, Cobb thought. Bowler Hat had confirmed that he had gone to the bank to get the money but it was possible that they still needed to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn’t contact the police.
Cobb hung around at the end of the street, watching the house. Fortunately there were some stalls where street vendors were plying their trade, so Cobb pretended to examine their wares so he didn’t stand out as he loitered.
His plan was to keep an eye on the place for a while so he could to get some idea of how many there were in the tenement building. The next step then would probably be to call in the police. He bought a paper and an apple and found a comfortable place to stand out of the wind.
A short time later Bowler Hat came out and spoke to the lookout. He took over as the lookout went around the back of the building. A few minutes later he came back with a horse and cart, parked it outside and then Bowler Hat went back into the building. Uh, oh, thought Cobb, it looks as if they might be moving out, or taking the girl to another location.
He watched as another man came out of the building and put some bags into the cart. That messed things up. There was a police station in Whitechapel, if he went to fetch the police then he might lose the kidnappers if they moved while he was away. He looked around him and saw a boy playing in the street.
‘Hey kid, do you want to earn a shilling?’
‘Doing what?’ the boy asked suspiciously.
‘It’s okay, nothing strange. I want you to take a message to the local police station, it’s urgent.’
‘What, me talk to the scuffers? Not likely, according to me Dad, they’ll fit you up soon as talk to you. No way, mate.’
‘Come on, I’ll give you a shilling.’
‘Nah, not me, guv’nor.’
Cobb thought desperately, what to do? He looked around and then realised he wasn’t far away from The Golden Gryphon. ‘All right then, do you know Jim Darby? You can find him at The Golden Gryphon.’
‘Sure, everyone around here knows Mr. Darby.’
‘Will you take him a note? It’s urgent, a matter of life and death.’
‘All right.’
Cobb hastily scribbled in his notepad.
Jim
I urgently need your help! I’m at the corner of Edgemont St. and Buller Road. Please come as soon as you get this message.
Please come armed.
Cobb
‘Take this to The Golden Gryphon and give it to Jim Darby. If he’s not there then give it to the bar staff and ask them to get it to him as soon as possible. Got that? There’ll be another two shillings in it for you if you bring him back with you.’
The boy took the note and then held his hand out for the money.
Cobb paid up and the boy took off.
***
‘Got a problem?’ asked Jim as he silently came up behind Cobb.
‘Oh, thank the Gods,’ breathed Cobb. ‘You’re here.’
‘Yes, and you owe that kid two bob. He was most insistent that I reminded you of that fact.’
Cobb paid the kid off and sent him on his way.
‘So, what’s up? I was just about to have lunch when that note arrived.’
‘Did you come armed?’
‘Yes,’ said Jim, patting his pocket. ‘Lenny keeps a pistol behind the bar, I borrowed that.’
‘Good. Right then, there’s a little girl being held captive in the building being guarded by that thug.’ He pointed out the lookout. ‘They’ve started packing things into that cart so I think they’re moving out soon. That’s why it’s urgent.’
‘Why not call in the police, then?’
‘Because that little money-grabber wouldn’t go to the police and I daren’t leave here in case they skip while I’m away.’
‘No surprises there. No one likes the police around here. Do we know how many there are inside?’
‘I’ve seen the one on the steps, two more inside and one other who left some time ago. Hopefully he’s well away for some time. I don’t know if there are any others inside, though.’
‘So just three that we know of, as long as the other one doesn’t come back. Okay, what’s the plan?’
‘I thought we’d rush them and knock a few heads together. We’ll have to be quick before they have chance to kill the girl.’
‘Good plan,’ said Jim sarcastically. ‘Still, it’s all we’ve got I suppose. Tell you what, I’ll go to the other end of the street and work my way back down towards the guy on the steps. When I’m in position, you distract him and I’ll jump him from behind. Agreed?’
‘Agreed.’
‘Well, let’s get on with it then, can’t wait all day, I’m hungry. “Carpe Diem” as they say,’ and he set off.
Which left Cobb, whose classical education was somewhat lacking, thinking, Carpe diem ... seize the fish?
Jim made his way down the street, remaining behind the stalls so he wouldn’t be seen by the lookout. Once he was well past the house h
e crossed the road and made his way back towards him. Cobb meanwhile, was more open and strode directly towards the house. When he got there he nodded to the man and made to walk up the steps.
‘Wait!’ called the lookout. ‘You can’t go in there.’
‘Why not? I’m just going to see Bob.’
‘There’s no one here called Bob.’
‘Give over, this is Bob’s house. I’ve been here loads of times.’
The man got up and pushed Cobb back down the steps. ‘I said there’s no one here called Bob.’
‘Pack it in,’ said Cobb, ‘Who do you think you’re pushing?’ He pushed him and then stepped back a few paces.
The man came towards him to push him again but before he could lay hands on Cobb, Jim slugged him from behind and the man crumpled to the ground. The two of them heaved him into the cart, out of sight and headed up the stairs.
They opened the door and rushed in. There was one man on the ground floor who succumbed to the combined assault of both of them. Unfortunately he didn’t go down quietly so they left him and rushed up the stairs to the first floor.
Alerted by the scuffle, two men came out onto the landing. One of the men Cobb had seen before but the other one was a stranger. Neither was Bowler Hat. Damn! That meant there were more in the gang than he was aware of.
‘Who are you?’ demanded one of the men.
‘I’m Jim Darby and I haven’t had my lunch so I’m in a bad mood. So I’d get out of the way, if I were you.’
The Londum Omnibus Volume Two (The Londum Series Book 12) Page 33