Mariah Mundi and the Ghost Diamonds

by G. P. Taylor

  ‘Bardolph is not my problem … He will be taken care of.’ Zogel stopped as he got to the door and turned. His voice changed and he lost his smile. ‘You have the free run of the ship. If a door is locked, it is so for a reason – leave it that way. Apart from that you can do and go as you please. I suggest you are not seen on deck. The ship is being watched.’

  With that, Zogel was gone.

  Mariah edged his way from the bed and gazed around the room. He still felt as if he was asleep. It looked more like the inside of a luxurious castle than the cabin of a ship. The bed was made of rich, dark oak and carved with frogs. The door stood open and he could see the long passageway that stretched

  out into the distance. To each side of him, pressed against the walls, were two large sofas, and on the walls were paintings of ships. There were no windows, just a light in the corner pinned to the wall on a swinging hinge. He could hear the engine far below. It reminded him of the Prince Regent. There was the gentle vibration that shook everything so that the whole ship trembled slightly.

  He tried to walk. His feet were heavy. The deck moved with the waves, causing him to stumble. Everything spun in his head as the chloroform left him. Then there was a gentle tapping on the door.

  ‘I couldn’t tell you,’ Sacha blurted as she stepped inside the cabin. ‘I’d promised Dedalus.’

  ‘First names, eh, Sacha?’ Mariah snapped.

  ‘It’s not like that. You know Walpole was going to kill my father. Dedalus Zogel promised to help us – he said I should tell no one, not even you.’

  ‘Fine thing that is. Get you from the castle, save your life and you run straight to him.’

  ‘My father needed me,’ she protested.

  ‘If he were honest this would never have happened.’

  ‘We can’t change what is done,’ she replied.

  ‘You can’t choose your family – but you can choose your friends,’ he snarled. ‘You lied, Sacha. You lied again and again and now I am here because you told him how to find me.’

  ‘He said he wouldn’t hurt you. Told me that you wouldn’t listen to him. He had to bring you here. If he gets the diamonds then he’ll be gone.’

  ‘Can you trust him to tell the truth? All the man wants is money and he doesn’t care how he gets it. For all we know he could be lying to us and working with Walpole to kill Captain Jack. Did you think of that before you snitched on me? You took him at his word. He’s a liar – he’s American.’

  Sacha folded her arms and shrugged her shoulders. For so long he had wanted to see her, and now he wished she were gone from his life for good.

  ‘It’s all about money, Sacha. You father was prepared to cheat and look where it has got you. They’ll still kill you – you can never come back here. When this boat leaves, you leave with it – for ever. The only way you can stay is if we find out who murdered the guests at the Prince Regent and clear Captain Jack – think about it.’

  Sacha stared at the floor. She had no words for him. She knew he was right. Her father would have turned an eye and taken the money. A shiver ran through her until her foot shook angrily against the floor.

  ‘So what will you do?’ she said calmly.

  ‘Get off the ship and find Jack,’ Mariah said churlishly as his eyes dismissed her.

  ‘But you’ll be off tonight. I heard what Zogel said. If he swaps you for the diamonds you’ll be gone,’ she replied, ignoring his unspoken demand.

  ‘The Bureau wants the diamonds and I work for the Bureau,’ he said coldly, unable to look at her. ‘Whatever I say you’ll just go and tell him – so why don’t you?’

  ‘There’s no way you can escape – it’s impossible to get on the deck.’

  ‘Zogel said I could go where I liked,’ Mariah replied.

  ‘But not through any locked doors. And every door on this deck is locked. We were brought down here and told the same thing. You’re a prisoner.’

  Heavy footsteps pressed against the floor in the corridor and a door slammed in the distance. Lucius stumbled in, ahead of a guard. He walked briskly, falling over his feet as the ship rocked from side to side.

  ‘A slight change of plan,’ he said to Mariah as he smiled deliciously

  at Sacha. ‘Mister Zogel will keep you here until the morning and then you’ll be free.’

  Mariah wasn’t listening. He stared at the guard. There was something familiar about his face. Although it was ordinary and in no way remarkable, the face of a man that could be seen across the world in every country and on every street corner, yet Mariah knew he had seen the man before.

  He closed his eyes and held his hands to his face. In the darkness he could see him. It was the night of the explosions. Mariah was back at the midnight ball. There was Hoetzendorf and his wife. There was the waiter.

  ‘I know,’ Mariah said out loud, unable to keep his words to himself. ‘I know –’

  ‘What?’ asked the dwarf.

  ‘Can’t think,’ Mariah said quickly. ‘Must be when I was poisoned.’

  ‘Zogel wants to see you both in the dining room, by way of an apology. He has a surprise.’

  Lucius gestured for them to follow. Mariah looked at the guard. There was no doubt. This was the man he had seen in the Prince Regent. It was him – he was the murderer. The guard was the man who had blown up the Ambassador and the others with hexogenamite.

  Suddenly, what Zogel had said began to make sense. The bad debts had been settled. Hoetzendorf and the others had paid with their lives. Zogel had them murdered – but why? Charity would know why Zogel killed them and what linked them all together. He had to see Charity, tell him what he had found. These thoughts made Mariah want to escape even more. He could feel the panic rising in his chest as his heart beat faster.

  Mariah tried to clear his mind as he followed Lucius along the oak-panelled corridor while the ship yawed from side to side. It smelt of caustic soap and beeswax. Through the small brass

  portholes that ran the length of the ship Mariah could see the outline of the town moving up and down. It seemed far away. The sea and sky were black against the lights of the town hall and the houses that gripped to the hillside beneath the castle.

  ‘All is well … all will be well,’ Mariah whispered to himself. Sacha turned and tried to smile at him. He caught her eyes for just a moment and then looked away, stiff-faced.

  The guard walked behind them. He didn’t speak, but just looked at Mariah as if he knew what he was thinking. Mariah bowed his head and followed silently through several doors and up two flights of steps.

  Lucius unlocked every door and the guard locked them again as the procession went on. A door would never be left open. Mariah noticed the guard try every door after he had locked it, to make sure.

  They walked in single file up yet another flight of narrow stairs. At the top they came to a small landing. It was dark. A small green lamp shone about their feet. Lucius mumbled to himself as he turned the key and pushed against the brass plate. The door opened and flooded the landing with bright electric light.

  ‘Come in,’ exclaimed Zogel loudly as the guard pushed Mariah into the room. ‘I thought while we waited I could show you something of interest.’

  Mariah looked about the room. It was like the inside of a palace. Fine Ottoman carpets littered the floors in between long sofas, and on every wall there was an electric light covered in a large glass shell. The colour of each light changed with the movement of the ship. In the middle of the room was a balcony rail that surrounded two wooden flaps edged in brass. Again, Mariah noticed there were no windows, just row upon row of tiny blacked-out portholes on every side. He found himself smiling with surprise.

  ‘Knew you would like this place,’ Zogel said quickly, as if he wanted to tell them a great secret. ‘Even though I hate the sea, I love the ship. I was even thinking of having it built into my garden – but then again, Palmetto City has enough ships of its own.’

  ‘Has Captain Charity agreed to give you the diamon
ds?’ Mariah asked.

  Zogel looked towards Lucius in the hope he would answer for him. There was a long, uncomfortable silence.

  ‘I thought I would show you something that would interest you,’ Zogel said. ‘It’s my latest invention. That’s what I specialise in – inventions, things that make the world a better place.’

  ‘Charity said all you invented was things to kill people and kill them quickly,’ Mariah replied, his voice rasping with anger.

  ‘A matter of opinion. If the guiltless Captain were here I would explain myself to him. Those are strange words from a man who has used my inventions for his own glory. I wonder if he has had a change of heart? What I invent brings wars to an end and stops the suffering of the unfortunates who get stuck in the cataract of greed. I provide a service.’ Zogel smiled as he stepped forward and nodded to the guard. ‘What I want to show you is not a weapon of war, but something I thought would distract you from the idleness of your temporary confinement.’

  Zogel pressed a small button on the balcony railing and the two oak doors began to slowly slide apart. Mariah stared down, aware that Sacha had stepped closer to him. He could feel her breath on the back of his neck. He shrugged uncomfortably, not wanting her near.

  As the floor opened the room was filled with a bright, deep purple light. There was a sudden hiss of steam as a platform in the cavernous room below came nearer. As Mariah shaded his

  eyes from the brightness he could make out the shape of what looked like a wooden boat.

  As it got nearer he realised that it had a roof with two glass domes at the front. The vessel looked like the face of a giant frog edged in brass. At the rear was a large propeller.

  Zogel impatiently tapped the balcony rail as the machine came closer. He pressed the button again and the platform stopped.

  ‘See – what an invention! An electric submersible, faster than a shark.’ He laughed.

  ‘For under the sea?’ Sacha asked.

  ‘Precisely, my girl. An invention of exploration and not war. What would Captain Jack say to that?’ he asked.

  ‘I’m sure you would find a way of using it to destroy your enemies,’ Mariah replied.

  ‘Sceptical as ever, young Mariah. I show it to you because that is how you will be taken to the harbour and that is how the Ghost Diamonds will be brought back to the ship. No one will ever know what has happened because no one will see.’

  Zogel pressed the button again and the submersible slipped back into the hold and the doors closed.

  ‘There is, however, one thing I forgot to tell your dear Captain … .’ Zogel laughed as he spoke.

  [ 25 ]

  Ebenezer Wolf

  FROM his hiding place in the small copse of yew trees by the side of the town hall, Jack Charity could see the Irenzee in the bay. The growing storm broke waves as high as houses over its bows. The long anchor chains trailed from the ship and into the dark sea. They strained as the waves grew and the swell became more intense. In the dark shadows of the trees Charity waited. He took a fob watch from his pocket and counted the seconds go by. The church clock reminded him of the time as it chimed the seventh hour after midday. All around the wind blew stronger, rattling the branches like sabres above his head and shrieking through the chimney pots of the houses on King Street. In the room two floors above him, a light came on and the figure of a man came to the leaded window.

  Charity looked up. He wanted to be sure before he moved from the cover of the trees. Moving from under the branches, closer to the wall, he watched the man pull on his cloak and place a thick gold chain on his shoulders. The man looked younger than Charity, thinner and yet weary. His hand shook slightly as he fumbled for the clasp on the mayoral chain.

  Ebenezer Wolf, Charity thought as he pulled the scarf over

  his face, walked to the wall and began to climb the cast-iron pipe that went up through the canopy of yew trees to the roof. Soon he had climbed to the top of the town hall. A long stone balustrade circled the roof. Here and there thick glass skylights were wedged into the dripping grey slates. Charity pulled the first tile and opened up a small hole into the roof. He stacked the slates neatly before sliding inside. He had done this as a boy and remembered the way.

  It wasn’t long before he was standing outside a door in the darkened passageway on the third floor. A silver-white light outlined the door. Inside he could hear a man speaking to himself. The voice repeated the same words over and over, each time changing the speed and tone, as if practising to get the speech perfect.

  Charity knew the man was alone. He reached for the door handle and turned it quietly, then stepped inside. He locked the door behind him.

  The room was warm and dazzlingly lit with several candelabra filled with candles. A coal fire burnt brightly in a large marble fireplace. It looked to Charity like a grand office. There was a day bed and a wardrobe in the corner and two chairs by the fire. A large cluttered desk stood next to the window, and by the desk was a man. He was wearing a long red cloak with an ermine collar. Around his neck was a mayoral chain of links and charms.

  ‘Say nothing,’ Charity said to the man as he pointed the pistol at his head.

  ‘I’ve got nothing to steal – only this chain. Is it worth the gallows for that?’ the man asked.

  ‘I’m not here to steal – just for you to keep your word. When I remove my mask you will not speak.’

  ‘Agreed,’ the man said nervously as Charity pulled the scarf from his face. There was silence as the man thought he looked

  at a ghost. ‘Jack … You’re dead!’ he said, unable to believe who held him at gunpoint.

  ‘Twice dead in one day, Ebenezer Wolf. But I am very much alive, dear friend. I need your help.’ Charity put the gun back inside his coat.

  For several minutes Charity told Ebenezer Wolf everything of the conspiracy. He spoke of the Society of Truth, Zogel and Bardolph. The Mayor sat in his chair and listened as he chewed his lip, one eye kept on the large oval clock above the door.

  ‘If this is true, Jack, then no one is safe,’ said Ebenezer as he tapped the leather on the top of the large desk that separated the two men. ‘There is nothing I can do tonight – it is the banquet.’

  ‘You will be asked to sign over the Prince Regent to a man called Bardolph. Walpole will say that I am dead. As you can see I am very much alive.’

  ‘And a wanted man. They say you murdered your guests,’ Wolf replied as he stood up and walked to the fireplace. ‘I couldn’t believe it – not Jack Charity.’

  ‘An elaborate plot, Ebenezer. Three of the most influential people in the world murdered in one night in my hotel.’ Charity then took a small, bread-like slice of hexagenamite from his pocket and placed it on the desk. ‘They planted this in the Golden Kipper,’ he said as he prodded the explosive with his finger. ‘Smutch was wise enough to hide it away. A mouthful of this and death quickly follows. It is how they murdered Hoetzendorf and the others.’

  ‘Was that Bardolph?’ Wolf asked nervously.

  ‘Baron Hoetzendorf and the American Ambassador were members of the Society of Truth. But I sense someone other than Bardolph had them killed,’ he replied. ‘I have to find Mariah and clear my name – but whatever happens, refuse to sign over the Prince Regent.’

  ‘It may be harder than you think, Jack,’ Ebenezer Wolf said nervously. ‘Walpole has insisted I see him tonight. I don’t think I can refuse. They have already asked me to sign the certificate of your death and hand over the hotel.’

  ‘But you have to refuse. I am not dead,’ Charity protested.

  ‘It is only a matter of time,’ Wolf said as he tapped nervously on the mantelpiece. ‘Walpole will find you – he is bound to. He knows too much about me … If it came out … I was indiscreet – a foible of foibles, an idiosyncrasy that I thought would do no harm …’

  ‘Just stall them until the morning. Please – for an old friend.’

  ‘Until the morning and then it will have to be,’ Wolf replied as h
e dropped his head and stared at the carpet. He couldn’t look Jack Charity in the face. ‘We all do stupid things in our life. The only thing is you never expect them to be held against you. I was trying to help a friend – and now Walpole has enough to blackmail me. It was injudicious, I –’

  ‘Don’t tell me what happened. Some things are best left unsaid,’ Charity interrupted. ‘I pray that by the morning I will have enough to put Walpole in prison. Then whatever you have done will matter not.’

  ‘If that could be so, Jack,’ he replied downcast. ‘I would gladly swap your place on the gallows for my life.’

  Ebenezer Wolf was about to go on when there was a sharp knocking at the door. He gestured for Charity to be silent and then pointed to the wardrobe by the day bed. Charity crossed the room quietly, opened the door and hid inside. It smelt of pine needles, snow and fur coats. He listened as Wolf went to the door.

  ‘Ebenezer! Ebenezer!’ came the voice from outside the room. Charity recognised Walpole’s desperate screams. ‘We have to speak to you before the banquet. It is of great importance.’

  Charity could hear Ebenezer crossing the oak floor, the metal weights on the hem of his oversized cloak dragging clumsily on the wood.

  ‘Just a minute,’ he said as he slowly turned the key.

  ‘You were talking – who to?’ Walpole asked as he pushed his way into the room, followed by Grimm and Grendel.

  ‘It was my speech for tonight. You know me, Inspector. Always nervous of these things. Ever since a lad at school.’

  ‘I know you very well, Ebenezer. Far better than you would like the world to know,’ Walpole grunted manically as he pulled his sagging cuffs. ‘I hope the business we mentioned will be able to take place tonight?’

  ‘Tonight?’ Ebenezer Wolf asked anxiously. ‘Tonight? Are you sure it would be best?’

  ‘The sooner the better, Ebenezer, and then perhaps I will forget all I know,’ Walpole replied as Grimm and Grendel kept watch on the door. ‘I would be obliged if the little scrap of paper could be given your mark by midnight.’