Toxic Diamonds (The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Book 8)

by Liza O'Connor

Jacko led Cannon from the library and found the cellar without needing to ask a servant, which was good, since they all seemed to have disappeared.

  “I didn’t believe she put him in a lake either,” Cannon said.

  “Why not?” Jacko asked.

  “She can’t breathe. No way she could dump her husband in a lake. She couldn’t even walk to the nearest lake.”

  Jacko grinned. “She could have taken a carriage.”

  “She’d have to get someone else to put him in the carriage, and Ben was supposed to do that, only he’s disappeared. The best she could do was lure him in the basement and kill him in a manner that doesn’t require strength.”

  “I like your theory.” Jacko admitted. “So how do you think she managed to kill him?”

  “I’m guessing electrical wires on a wet floor.”

  Jacko stopped. “How did you come up with that idea?”

  “I don’t have much strength either so I kept my list to things I could do. Also, Ben threatened to do that to Pete. So I’m thinking she planned to have Ben electrocute her husband, only he never returned.”

  Jacko laughed. “I see you’ve got Vic’s intuitive skills!”

  A grand smile appeared on Cannon’s face. “You think so?”

  “I know so,” Jacko said and stopped at the basement door. “Now, Cannon, I want you to stay up here. Will you do that?”

  His smile disappeared. “Why can’t I come down?”

  “Because the Wasp may have booby-trapped the cellar to prevent others from living to tell what she’s done.”

  “Can I sit on the top step and get you help if something happens to you?

  “Absolutely, but first let me make sure she doesn’t have any dangers that will harm us when we open the door.”

  “Like what?”

  “Once, I had a gun go off when I opened the door of a library.”

  “Did you get hurt?”

  “No, I stood far away from the opening.”

  Cannon grinned. “That’s because you’re smart.”

  Jacko ruffled his hair, then tipped over a metal table. “Stay behind this until I call all clear.”

  Chapter 28

  Vic smiled when Xavier arrived with Barns, then lost her smile when Minister Carlson followed.

  “So, what do we have?” Carlson demanded.

  “First, this is not her husband. She may have been planning to make Scotland Yard look like fools.”

  Barns studied the dead man. “I agree with Vic. This isn’t her husband. It’s a beggar who normally sits outside our main doors. I have perfect recall, so I know exactly what her husband looks like.”

  Vic gave Barns a nod of appreciation for backing up her claim. She then pointed to the tipped over chair with its bounty spewed upon the floor. “She was sitting on the chair through our initial study of the library, trying very hard to flirt with the men, but I’m proud to say none of them took the bait. Cannon did walk up to her, he even took her hand in both of his. And then like a proper investigator, he yanked her off the chair.”

  “Isn’t Cannon still a small child?” Carlson challenged.

  “Yes, but having a tiny waist means she’s weaker than a three-year-old. She tried to convince Jacko that Ben had dumped her real husband into a lake. But that’s not possible.”

  “Why don’t you think so?”

  “Darby, why don’t you answer Minister Carlson? I need to check on Cannon.”

  Xavier followed her to the door of the basement where she found her son pouting behind a steel table turned on its side.

  Vic knelt beside Cannon. “Why are you sitting here?”

  “Jacko made me promise not to go down in the basement until he made it safe, only he’s taking a very long time.”

  Vic picked up Cannon. “Well, since he’s being so slow, I’ll take you upstairs and I’ll send down some of the officers to help him.”

  Cannon hugged her neck as she carried him upstairs. Remembering Carlson was inside the library, she put her son down and took his hand. Taking a deep breath, she entered and told Cannon he could search the cabinets and beneath the furniture if he wanted. She then focused on Barns and Meyers. “Jacko needs assistance in the basement. Xavier is already down there.”

  Meyers motioned for Darby and Cotter to go as well.

  That left her with the other four men and an annoyed minister of external affairs.

  “Do you have any questions?” she asked Carlson.

  “So many, I wouldn’t know where to begin.”

  She suddenly realized she hadn’t seen Tubs for hours. “Have any of you seen Tubs?”

  The four officers shook their head. She leaned underneath the bed. “Cannon, have you seen Tubs?”

  “Not since I left the carriage.”

  “Damn it all, Tubs is in trouble. We need to secure this woman somewhere.”

  “She should be secure enough if we lock the door,” Carlson stated.

  “No, she has servants and while they presently appear to be hiding, I guarantee you, if we lock her in this room, they will come out of hiding and release her.”

  “She’s in handcuffs,” Carlson snapped.

  “I can pick Scotland Yard handcuffs in less than six seconds. This is a clever woman and I’m not taking any chances. You came armed, did you not?”

  He nodded.

  “Excellent. Stay here with Cannon.”

  Cannon wiggled out from under the desk. “There’s a bunch of loose boards. It looks like a narrow space that leads somewhere. Should I see where it goes?”

  Vic said ‘no’, while Carlson said ‘yes’.

  Vic glared at Carlson. “Cannon, I hope you know which one of us you are supposed to obey.”

  Carlson huffed. “Let’s take the woman to the cellar and two of these men. Maybe Tubs is down there.”

  She turned to the last two officers in the room. “There are servants we have not found. They might be mesmerized and dangerous. Stay alert!”

  When they reached the stairwell to the basement, Vic felt something was very wrong. “Xavier?” she called out.

  The dead silence from the basement sent a chill down her back.

  She turned to Cannon. “I need you to hide in the carriage. Something bad has happened and I won’t be able to concentrate unless I know you are safe. Will you do this for me?”

  Her son pouted, but nodded he would.

  She then looked at Darby. “Will you take him to the carriage? Then find a telephone and get some more backup, and stop by Samson’s and ask for his light.”

  Darby’s eyes widened. “I’ve heard he shoots intruders.”

  “Good point. Locate a telephone and ask him to bring the light here.”

  Darby lifted Cannon into his arms and ran off.

  ***

  Vic glared at the Wasp, then spoke from the top of the stairs to the dark cellar. “I know you are down there, as are my men. You have five minutes to release them or I’m putting a bullet in your mistress’s kneecap so she never walks again. The clock starts now.”

  “They obey only me,” the Wasp assured her.

  When the five minutes were up, Vic shot her in the kneecap and the Wasp screamed in blood curdling pain.

  “You leave our mistress alone, or we’ll shoot your people,” a young man warned from the basement.

  “Tubs, are you down there?” Vic called.

  No one answered.

  The young man spoke again. “I told you! No one speaks or I’ll kill you all.”

  Vic snorted. “Well, that worked when there was more of you than us. But it sounds to me like the tables have turned.”

  “I mean it, I will shoot them all,” the fellow responded.

  She turned to two of the officers. “It’s pitch black. If we go in quietly, we can surprise the kid.”

  Carlson shook his head and pointed the two officers that followed them down. “You two go, Vic will remain here.”

  The two men looked at her for their orders. She appreciated tha
t, but one glance at Carlson’s angry eyes assured her he expected his orders to be obeyed and unlike her, Carlson could get these men fired.

  “Go on,” she ordered.

  The officers entered, then she heard a soft yelp and there was silence.

  “James?” she called out into dark silence. “Damn it!” she yelled and shot the Wasp in the other knee. The woman released a blood curdling scream.

  Carlson stepped back from the woman, then cursed beneath his breath as he pulled out a pair of cuffs and secured her arms just as the other cuff links fell to the ground.

  Vic had a great desire to say, “I told you so,” but refrained.

  Soon footsteps and voices could be heard through the house. When Samson burst into the hallway, Carlson drew his gun.

  Vic stepped between him and Samson. “He’s on our side.” She took the flashlight from him. “Go, you probably aren’t safe here.”

  “That’s an understatement,” he muttered.

  “I’ll make sure he gets out.” Cotter then gripped his arm as if Samson was being arrested. “Come on.”

  Additional officers Vic had never seen before soon filed into the hallway before the basement.

  Vic refocused on her problem and shined the light down the steps. She couldn’t see any wires or dangers. However, she could see a young man staring up at her light. “Let my mistress go. She’s done nothing wrong. Ben killed her husband. I saw him do it with my own eyes.”

  The kid had no apparent gun, so she focused on the steps. “I need two officers to go down the stairs. I’ll keep the light on you.”

  When none volunteered, Carlson pointed to two of them. The men slowly proceeded down and then suddenly disappeared.

  Vic growled with frustration. “We need some long rope. Check the carriage house first.”

  “What are you thinking?” Carlson asked.

  “That there is a trap door built into the steps, dropping them deep enough down that we cannot hear their cries for rescue.”

  “There is no train tunnel nearby,” Carlson assured her.

  “No, but Tubs says there is an ancient tunnel system used by the poor. I asked him to show it to me, but he said it was too easy to get lost in, and people often died from the lack of clean water to drink.”

  Soon the officers rolled in a huge wheel of new rope. She was about to ask them where they found such a giant wheel of rope, then saw Tubs bent over holding on to the door frame.

  She ran to him at once. “Tubs, are you hurt?”

  “Just tired and thirsty.”

  She ordered one of the officers to bring her a bucket of clean water, only the guy just stared at her.

  “I’ll get it,” Cotter offered and ran off.

  “Are Xavier and Jacko alive?” she asked Tubs.

  “Should be. Glad I talked them out of coming with me. At one point, I got so turned around, I had no clue which way to go.”

  Cotter returned with a full bucket of water.

  Tubs picked it up and drank almost half of it. He set the bucket down and offered his hand to Cotter. “Thank you!”

  Cotter smiled. “It was my pleasure!”

  Tubs resumed drinking water, between his warnings and explanations.

  “The steps turned into a slide that sent us down a hundred feet into ancient tunnels.”

  “Are these abandoned train tunnels?” Carlson asked.

  “No. They look to be dug out by hand,” Tubs stated and stood. “We need to rescue our people now. Could you set knots in the rope every three feet? That will speed matters along.”

  Vic grinned. “You’re going to pull them all up at once, aren’t you?”

  He nodded. “Let me know when you have the knots done. I’m going to see if they have any food in the kitchen.”

  She asked for a volunteer among the officers to trigger the slide. Cotter raised his hand. After a rough beginning, he was becoming one of her favorite officers.

  “Once we get the knots set every three feet, you can tie the end around your waist. Tubs says it’s a steep but safe slide down. Only, it’s very important that the rope makes it down as well.”

  Cotter grinned. “Got it!”

  Tubs returned with a large plate of food while they were still knotting the rope. “You should create a window washer’s seat instead of tying the rope around your waist. That will provide you with more support when climbing out.”

  Vic recalled a man washing windows on a tall building, while dangling from a single rope. His ropes supported both his lets and his waist, giving him a stable seat, so he could use his hands to wash windows. “That’s a great idea.”

  “I don’t know how to do that,” Cotter admitted.

  Tubs offered to create one and Cotter did not hesitate in accepting his help.

  “It’ll be a bit uncomfortable when you are walking down the steps, but trust me, that will only be seven steps.”

  Sure enough, when his foot hit the eighth step, Cotter disappeared only this time the rope uncoiled behind him, preventing the trap door from shutting, thus allowing communication with the people above.

  “Can we have more rope?” Cotter yelled up to them.

  Tubs turned the wheel as if it weighed nothing.

  When Cotter yelled they were ready, Tubs slowly but steadily pulled them up. When they reached the top of the steps and entered the wide hall, Vic knew exactly why Cotter had needed more rope. He had secured each person in a window washer’s seat. What greatly impressed her was that he had managed to replicate the window washer’s seat after seeing Tubs do it one time.

  When Xavier stepped through the basement door frame, Vic had a great desire to hug him, but with all the officers and Carlson there, she couldn’t. So she gripped his hand. “Glad to have you back.” His eyes sparkled with love as he nodded.

  The last person to come up was the real dead husband, and he was tied both at the legs and the arms, taking the trip on his back.

  Vic turned her attention to the living. She shook hands with all the officers who had helped, ignored those who hadn’t, and patted the backs of those rescued. When she tried to pat Barns’ back, he snapped, “Don’t.”

  “Don’t what?”

  “Don’t pity me for foolishly falling for that trick.”

  “Barns. You were down there with the best of company. Tubs, Jacko, and Xavier! I keep telling everyone this woman is very clever. Why would you not think a beautiful woman cannot outthink you? Yes, you’ve perfect recall, but perhaps she does as well. And she has no limits! Whereas you would never crack your ribs just to have the tiniest waist in the world.”

  He faintly smiled. “That’s true.”

  “I’m telling all of you. Never underestimate a woman! It will get you killed.”

  She then turned the Carlson. “Speaking of which, where did you take her? You better not be planning to use her as a spy, because she will likely kill you within a day.”

  Carlson chuckled. “Vic, I wouldn’t trust that woman with the pigeon that nests outside my window.”

  Vic relaxed. “I just wanted to make certain. So where did you take her?”

  “To Dr. Connors. She evidently fell and broke her kneecaps. However, I need to lessen her pain before I ask her a few questions. Then I will turn her over to Barns so she can be tried and hung for murdering her husband.”

  Vic smiled and held out her hand. “It has been a pleasure working with you, sir.”

  “Thank you, Victor. I hope we can work together in the future.”

  “With Xavier…that might be fun.”

  “You thought today was fun?”

  “Well, I like the way it ended,” she admitted. “No good lives lost.” She then frowned. “When you sent her to Dr. Connors, you did send armed men as well.”

  “Of course, I did.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to insinuate you were incompetent. I just needed to be certain you weren’t.”

  Xavier spoke in her ear. “And you were behaving so nicely there for a whi
le.” He then shook his head and smiled at Carlson. “I believe I should take the pup home.”

  “Yes, please do,” Carlson snapped. He took in a deep breath. “I’m glad you and your men survived without harm. I was quite worried you might have another Prince Rupert’s drop on your head.”

  The two officers she had left guarding the library arrived carrying a deep desk drawer full of items and spoke to Barns. “Three servants entered through the loose floorboards and attempted to steal the stolen items. We cuffed them and sent them to jail.”

  Vic spoke up. “These items need to be categorized before you can return them to their rightful owners.”

  Barns nodded in agreement. “I’ll take on the task, but I’d like the two of you to join me, so you can learn to do it as well.”

  Both men grew several inches taller. “Thank you, sir!”

  “Let’s go,” Xavier ordered. Vic, Jacko, Casey, and Tubs followed him out of the house. “Hold on! Where’s Cannon?”

  “He had better be with Fagan,” Vic replied and smiled when she spied her tiny boy handling the reins of the horse as it slowly walked around in the large circular gravel pathway.

  “We have a most impressive son,” Xavier observed.

  Vic bumped his arm. “Don’t forget that we have two now.” The smile that formed on Xavier’s face warmed her heart.

  They reached the road and patiently waited for Cannon to drive the carriage to them. When he pulled the horse to a stop, his family applauded him. With great happiness, he leapt from the carriage into Vic’s arms, causing her to stumble back. Fortunately, Tubs was behind her and kept her steady.

  Xavier, Jacko, Tubs, Victor, and Cannon climbed in, while Casey joined Fagan on the driver’s seat.

  She leaned her head against Xavier’s shoulder. “I will miss all this room when we convert to automobiles. They are much smaller.”

  “Why?” Cannon asked.

  “Because they must carry an engine to run the car, complex steering mechanisms, and either extra fuel or batteries depending if they are electric or fuel powered.”

  “I want to ride in one!” Cannon pleaded as he hopped about in excitement.

  “Well, a friend of David’s, whose name is Walter Bersey, has created a small fleet of electric taxis. They only hold a driver and two passengers, but if you want, I’m sure David can get us a ride. In fact, maybe you would like to go with him because he can tell you all about the car.”