The Wilhelm Conspiracy (A Sherlock Holmes and Lucy James Mystery)

by Charles Veley

  With each new configuration, the switch would be thrown to bring in the electricity that flowed from the petrol-powered generator outside the conservatory. The three induction coils in the sphere would emit a throbbing hum when Tesla depressed the switch. Then, when Tesla believed that the charge had grown strong enough, he threw another switch. We stood back each time, watching a metal plate outside the open conservatory doors that had been set up as a target for the beam. Each time we waited. Each time we saw nothing change on the metal plate.

  “Touch the plate,” Tesla finally said, after switching the machine off. “The energy of the electricity may have transformed itself into heat when it radiated into the metal. But be careful.”

  Holmes touched the plate with a fingertip. He shook his head. Nothing.

  “Perhaps the metal in the tube was damaged when Kerren performed his trial experiments,” I said.

  “The tungsten metal strip appears intact. I should have to build another tube to determine whether that is really the cause of the difficulty.”

  “Let us try at a greater distance,” said Holmes. We moved the chair and the metal plate to the edge of the cliff.

  The results of this attempt were the same as before.

  “Perhaps we ought to try it with something living,” said Lucy. “Kerren said he had killed a sheep.”

  Fitzwilliam called to his fellow officers. A sheep was brought to stand just outside the open conservatory doors and tethered there. The animal stood peacefully and contentedly before the machine as it hummed. Nearly five minutes went by while Tesla tinkered with the machine, to no avail.

  “I am finished,” said Tesla at last. “I can do no more. I will not stand here before the Prince and embarrass myself. I shall make my own travel arrangements at Radnar House. Tomorrow morning I shall be on a steamship bound for New York. You can tell the Prince what you wish.”

  44. A RISKY MESSAGE

  Tesla left the room, saying he preferred to walk to Radnar House alone.

  “I do not understand,” I said after Tesla had departed.

  “Clearly he is not prepared to continue with this enterprise,” said Holmes.

  “Do you think he may have learned something of Kerren’s design and sabotaged the test in some way?”

  “There are a number of alternatives that would reflect better on Mr. Tesla,” said Holmes. “Perhaps he is simply thinking of the realities of business and is anxious to return to America. That nation is, after all, a larger and more lucrative market for his other inventions. Or perhaps the jewel box apparatus itself is defective. Whoever stole Kerren’s apparatus may have tampered with it, either before the Germans copied it or after, when Mr. Gruen placed it into storage in Baden-Baden. Perhaps Mr. Gruen’s associates allowed him to take the impaired product, even though he himself thought that he had the highly valuable original. Or perhaps Mr. Gruen’s associates have paid or threatened Mr. Tesla to influence his decision to leave. The lack of definitive explanations requires us to take an action that will seem entirely unreasonable.”

  We looked at Holmes in some consternation as he continued.

  “If we simply report that the test is a failure, we will never see the outcome of this affair that the Kaiser’s men have envisioned from the beginning.”

  “What do you mean, from the beginning?” Lucy asked.

  “I remind you that Mr. Lestrade was accosted on my doorstep. Those who accosted him knew he had been sent to bring me into this venture. They had that knowledge from a traitor within the organization of either the War Office or Scotland Yard, or possibly both. But we shall never unmask the traitor if we merely throw up our hands and blame Tesla for not being able to get the machine to work. We cannot forget that whoever is behind this has caused the murder of four people, including a British police officer and a British peer.”

  “And an innocent woman,” said Lucy.

  Holmes nodded.

  “We might report that the test has been a success,” said Lieutenant Fitzwilliam.

  Holmes shook his head. “I will not bring the Prince here on false pretences.”

  After some further discussion, Holmes dictated this telegraph message, to be sent to both the Prince in Bad Homburg and Lansdowne in London:

  JEWEL BOX EQUIPMENT APPEARS TO BE GENUINE, BUT TESLA COULD NOT GET MACHINE TO WORK. SUGGEST YOU COME ALL THE SAME. SUGGEST ARKWRIGHT ALSO ATTEND, IF HIS INJURY PERMITS. WILL EXPLAIN UPON YOUR ARRIVAL.

  S. HOLMES.

  Lieutenant Fitzwilliam left the room with the message. There was a brief flurry of voices as he opened the door. Moments later he reentered, accompanied by Lady Radnar, dressed, for her brother’s sake, I was sure, in black satin mourning garb.

  “She was listening at the door, Mr. Holmes.”

  Lady Radnar appeared not in the least discomfited to be caught eavesdropping. She stood just inside the room, her stark, proud figure framed by the tapestry of Queen Elizabeth that hung on the inner conservatory wall. Possibly because of this visual association, I had the fleeting impression that her manner resembled that of a queen, comfortable in her realm, even though she was in her brother’s house and not her own. “Mr. Holmes, have you solved the mystery of the dead man on our beach? Will the Prince come?”

  “My lady, I am very close to the solution regarding the case of the dead man on the beach. To that end, I would ask as a favour that I might be permitted to have access to the room of the late Miss Harriet Radnar.”

  “Of course.”

  “You will notify the servants?”

  “Of course. Anything I can do to help. Although I fail to see a connection.”

  Holmes went on, “As to inducing the Prince to come here, I have, as you may have inadvertently overheard, just now done everything I can. But even if the Prince does make his visit, I fear the results will not be the ones you are hoping for.”

  “You are referring to my late brother, of course. He will never see the success of his invention, and that is quite painful to me. I appreciate your sympathy. His loss is a great one, but we must find someone else to continue his work. It is important work. Possibly Mr. Tesla can somehow be induced to come back and help us. I am sure my husband will know what to do when he returns.”

  “I regret,” replied Holmes, “that I cannot say any more than I have said.”

  45. A TRAP IS REQUIRED

  Holmes insisted on working alone the following morning, leaving Lucy and me to our own devices. She suggested that we take a bit of exercise by walking along the cliff-side path. We headed down to the gravel beach upon which the still-unidentified charred body had been found, and where Holmes and I had spent such terrifying moments under fire from the unknown assailant above us.

  About midway down the path, we could see the gypsy caravan on the beach, well in from the tide line, just as it had been positioned when we last visited. We could see wisps of smoke coming from the metal chimney. The two boatmen were dragging their fishing skiff into the waves. One man clambered in and immediately bent to the oars. The other, waist-deep behind the keel, gave a final shove and heaved himself up and into the boat to join his companion.

  “Look.” Lucy pointed to the caravan, where a tall figure dressed in black was stepping down from the little front doorway.

  “Is that Holmes?” I asked.

  She nodded agreement. “But we ought not to go to him. Remember he said he wanted to work alone.”

  We walked back to the hotel, and said nothing of the incident to Holmes when he returned that afternoon to await Lansdowne’s arrival.

  We were in the drawing room at Kerren House when the Secretary of War arrived at around five o’clock. As he descended from his carriage, his face bore a worried frown. It occurred to me, observing once again his urbane bearing, how difficult to distinguish him from Holmes it would be if one were to view only the silhouette of either man. I thought how different our nation’s destiny, to say nothing of my own, might have been had Holmes been born into a family of prestige and wealth
such as Lansdowne’s, and been directed to turn his energies to political and governmental matters rather than taking the path to which he individually inclined.

  “I thank you for all you have accomplished thus far, Mr. Holmes,” said Lansdowne once we had settled in the drawing room. “However, I must tell you that I am concerned about the Prince’s limited time available for this experiment. I shall have to deal with the complaints he makes via the Prime Minister. Lord Salisbury will not be pleased if the Prince has been induced to journey here for nothing. The courtiers that follow him will gossip. I cannot control what they say. Why have you asked him to come here to witness a test, if Tesla could not get the weapon to work?”

  “I am concerned for the Prince’s safety.”

  “As am I, of course. But what of it?”

  “You will recall my assertions that there is a traitor within the organization of the War Office.”

  “I assure you that I have done all I can to identify whoever it was that intercepted my message to the Commissioner last week. But my efforts have not been met with success.”

  “Let us consider the matter from a different view. You sent for me Sunday morning. You did that because the Prince ordered an independent review of the machine, and because he named me as the independent reviewer. You travelled to Kerren House, where you met Mr. Tesla. There, you learned that a critical part of the machine was missing. Did anything else occur that prompted you to send for me?”

  “Lady Radnar. She telephoned from Dover on Saturday night. She was quite insistent that the mystery of the body on the beach be cleared up as soon as possible.”

  “When did the Prince give the order for me to be brought in?”

  “Why, Saturday night. The Prince wired me from Bad Homburg.”

  “And Sunday morning three men were on my doorstop, even before I myself knew of my involvement. Sending those men was equivalent to an announcement. They are trumpeting the fact that they have penetrated your—our—organizations.”

  “And I for one cannot understand why they would do that.”

  “Their actions are an obvious taunt to both of us. They are challenging us to discover the traitor who gave them the information. They know we cannot countenance a traitor. They know we cannot walk away and forget what has transpired. They know we have no choice but to continue on the path that we have set and that they have enabled us to pursue.”

  “I do not follow.”

  “Lord Lansdowne. Please. Think of the challenge that Wilhelm has issued. Think of the fact that Wilhelm’s government allowed us to leave Germany with the jewel box in our possession.”

  “Ah, now I understand. We are being manipulated.”

  “The Germans are moving their pieces on the chessboard. We are doing the same.”

  “But as yet we cannot see the move that the Germans hope will produce victory for them.”

  “We do not even know what victory the Germans have in mind. But we do know that for us, victory will be the discovery of the traitor. The Germans have made that perfectly apparent.”

  “You are telling me the Germans are setting a trap and we must walk into it.”

  “Our foreknowledge gives us an advantage.”

  “And the Prince is to walk into the same trap, so to speak.”

  “Of course we shall have to warn him. He must make up his own mind on that point. But if I am not mistaken, that is the sound of his carriage on the gravel outside. The absence of any challenge from your men tells us as much.”

  The Prince entered shortly after, escorted by Arkwright. The violinist limped visibly. Also his facial expression and demeanour appeared far more sombre than on the past occasions. I wondered whether he felt remorse for having led Harriet on, and for having written the note that would have caused her pain in what had proven to be the last few days of her young life. I wondered why he had chosen to break off the romance by a note, rather than manfully facing up to her. Possibly Lansdowne was thinking along the same lines, I thought, as I saw him look disapprovingly at Arkwright.

  “I shall speak with you later,” Lansdowne said. I wondered whether Arkwright had already signed some official explanation for his superior.

  The Prince had by now moved to Lansdowne’s side, taking his arm and propelling him towards the conservatory where the machine awaited. I noticed that the grey silk fabric of his waistcoat no longer strained to contain the girth beneath its buttons, and that he moved with a jauntier, more vigorous step. I wondered whether some final treatment at the spa had successfully purged at least some of the toxins from his system. I also wondered whether the dramatic loss of weight had any real benefit. I reminded myself that this was an annual occurrence that evidently did no significant harm.

  “So that’s the miracle weapon, is it?” said the Prince. He and Lansdowne walked around the machine, each man peering closely at the inner mechanisms. The Prince listened somewhat distractedly while Lansdowne quickly explained the situation and the course of action that Holmes was recommending.

  Then the Prince stopped, turned away from the machine, and looked directly at Holmes. “But has it occurred to you that if someone is indeed leading us on as you say they are, then the same someone may also want to kill the Kaiser? Or kill both of us? There are plenty of enemies to choose from—the French, the Boers, the Irish, and possibly even the Russians. Not the Czar, of course, but there is a whole nest of traitorous snakes in that palace of his. But also someone in Willie’s government may want to get rid of him. Have you thought of that? Many think Willie is mad, you know. I cannot have it said that an attempt was made on British soil—successful or not successful—to assassinate a fellow sovereign.”

  “We will be on guard at all times to anticipate any action here that may place either of Your Majesties in danger,” said Lansdowne. Holmes nodded his agreement.

  The Prince gave Holmes and Lansdowne each a long, sceptical, appraising stare. Then he appeared to make up his mind. “So, Lansdowne, it comes down to this,” he said. “You want me to put my life at risk in order to root out a . . . viper in the bosom of our government? Someone you haven’t been able to catch on your own? Not even with the help of Mr. Sherlock Holmes?”

  Holmes spoke firmly. “I believe it is the only way, Your Majesty.”

  To my surprise, the Prince nodded. He began to speak, the resolve in his voice growing stronger and stronger with every word. “Nearly every day that I appear in public, I put on the uniform of a military man. All those buttons and medals and ribbons—they take time to arrange, one by one, each in its own turn, and every day I think over and over again about why the devil I am going to such pains to manage what most citizens may view as mere fads and trifles. I am well aware why I do it. It is my job to inspire people to be brave. So I may as well show a spot of real bravery myself.” He gave a wink to Lansdowne. “But don’t tell the Queen, for God’s sake. Now, when can we do this test?”

  46. A PLAN

  “If you will permit me, Your Majesty,” said Holmes, “we need not perform the test today.”

  We all stared at Holmes. “On this occasion,” he continued blandly, “we need only send word to Wilhelm that we are ready for him to bring his version of the weapon, and that we are prepared to proceed with the challenge.”

  “I agree,” said the Prince. Then he gave a wink towards Lucy. “If we say we’ve done the thing, then for this purpose, it’s as good as done.”

  “Practically, it is done,” said Lucy with a smile in return. “As Mr. Gilbert says. Or rather, as his character Ko-Ko says.”

  Arkwright cleared his throat. “Well, if we want to show up Wilhelm and really make the weapon work, I do see something that we might change.”

  “You are an electrical expert?” Lansdowne seemed sceptical of his agent.

  “Far from it,” Arkwright said, his tone modest. “But I was here several weeks ago with Kerren, and he showed me the apparatus, going over the basic components with great pride. It is different today. There is som
ething missing.”

  “What is missing?” Lansdowne asked.

  “I will show you. Kerren put it away here.”

  He went to the tapestry of Queen Elizabeth and lifted it up like a curtain. Behind the tapestry hung a large, flat black object.

  Arkwright took down the object, set it on the clay tiles, and spread it out to reveal that it was composed of not one but four India rubber pads, each about two feet square. I helped him place these four India rubber pads beneath the wheels.

  Arkwright looked up when we had finished. “Kerren said he always removed these pads whenever he was away, for safety reasons. The machine will not function properly without them.”

  “Why not?” asked the Prince.

  Arkwright shrugged. “I do not really know, Your Majesty. Kerren said something about the ground draining the electricity away from the weapon.”

  Lansdowne said, “So did you see the machine work?”

  “I didn’t, actually. I was visiting Lady Radnar at Radnar House, and Kerren dashed in all excited. He said he had triumphed and that their financial future was assured. Knowing the potential of the weapon, I asked to see it, so the two of us came here.”

  “You and Kerren,” said Lansdowne.

  “But something had gone wrong with the electrical generator, so there was no electric current for a demonstration. Also, Kerren was anxious to get away. I helped him remove the pads from under the wheels of the apparatus. Then he hung them up behind the tapestry.”

  “Odd that Tesla did not notice that the pads were missing,” Holmes said. “It had to have been perfectly plain to him that the metal wheels were making direct contact with the ground. He must have understood what effect that would have on the machine’s performance. It seems such a simple thing. So easy to understand. And yet we were here for nearly four hours and he did not once mention it.”