“Save your complaints for the court,” Fullerton said.
“And you’ll be the one presiding over the proceedings?” David asked.
Fullerton nodded. “That’s what I do here.” He turned toward the officer. “Take them away.”
Richard didn’t resist, even though for a moment he considered breaking into a sprint and seeing if anyone could catch him. The constable guided David and Richard toward a small structure across the street with a sign hanging over the doorway that read: “Maredumilli Police Station.”
Richard glanced over his shoulder toward the magistrate standing on the steps of his building and smiling with his arms crossed. Behind him, a man peeked around the corner and appeared to be looking right at the two arrestees.
But it wasn’t just any man. Richard knew that face from somewhere, but he couldn’t quite place it. After a few more seconds of pondering who it was, he remembered.
“We were set up,” Richard whispered. “And I know who did it.”
“Please tell me who, Sherlock,” David said.
“The Reichswehr did it—and they’re still here.”
Chapter 8
ALEX FULLERTON CLOSED the door to his office and sat down behind his desk. He lit another candle and prepared to start writing when he glanced up to see someone standing in the corner of the room. Surprised by the presence of another person, Fullerton knocked over his inkwell.
“What are you doing in here?” Fullerton asked. “You’re supposed to stay out of sight.”
“We have a serious problem,” Felix Ludwig said. “And I need to take care of it promptly.”
“This isn’t Germany. You can’t just kill your enemies here and get away with it. There’s still some modicum of civility remaining in the British empire.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you. Nothing will happen on your watch.”
Fullerton closed his eyes and rubbed his face. “This was a mistake.”
“No, it wasn’t,” Ludwig said. “The mistake would’ve been resisting my request. I told you that I’d make sure they were able to be arrested for a crime. And now comes the easy part: Release them, and let me take care of the rest.”
“Release them? Right now? We haven’t even had a hearing, and one isn’t scheduled until late tomorrow morning.”
“This needs to be taken care of as soon as possible. That man in your prison—Richard Halliburton—he’s responsible for the deaths of several fellow soldiers, and there has been no accountability for him.”
Fullerton scowled as he scrubbed his desk clean. “He doesn’t look like a hardened criminal to me. Are you sure?”
“Wilhelm wouldn’t have insisted on keeping you alive if it weren’t for the possibility that you could help us further by protecting us. This is the kind of protection he’s referring to.”
“I thought Wilhelm wanted me to ensure your safe passage across the country so you could travel without fear of being apprehended,” Fullerton said. “This seems like something entirely different.”
“Mr. Halliburton was supposed to be dead, but he must’ve escaped somehow. And you have the power to let me correct a mistake and serve justice to him.”
Fullerton sighed but said nothing.
“I’ll also contribute another hundred pounds to your fee,” Ludwig said.
Fullerton finished wiping up the last inkblot on his desk and dropped the rag into the waste bin. “That’s quite a large amount.”
“It’s a small price to pay considering how desperately we are to rid the earth of this vile murderer.”
“All right, I’ll do it on the condition that you don’t kill him anywhere near this village. I don’t want any more authorities swarming around and asking probing questions. Agreed?”
Ludwig nodded. “I can abide by that.”
“Good,” Fullerton said. “I’ll release them both on a technicality, and they should be out of the village after lunchtime. Then you can track them down and handle your quarrel with Mr. Halliburton and his companion however you see fit.”
Fullerton heard a loud creak out in the main section of the office. He dashed across the room and opened the door. There was nobody in sight, and the front door was bolted shut.
“What is it?” Ludwig asked.
“I thought I heard someone,” Fullerton said.
“Is your assistant here?”
“No, she went home a long time ago.”
“You’re just being paranoid then. But don’t worry. I’ll make sure nobody can connect the disappearance of Mr. Halliburton and his colleague to you or this area. Now, go home and get some rest.”
Fullerton opened the window and gestured toward it. “You go first. I’m not leaving you alone in here.”
He watched Ludwig climb through the opening and disappear into the darkness. Fullerton then poured himself a glass of brandy before counting the money in the envelope Wilhelm had given him. While serving in India had been an interesting experience, Fullerton longed to return to London. And another hundred pounds combined with all the other money he’d saved up, he figured it would be enough to start a new life back home like he’d always dreamed of.
Just one more thing to do.
Chapter 9
RICHARD SETTLED ONTO one of the two cots in the room and buried his head in his hands. He glanced at his partner, who wasn’t handling their imprisonment well. With clenched fists, he banged on the frame of the bed and cursed under his breath.
“We’ll get out of this,” Richard said.
David sighed. “And how exactly are we going to do that? It’ll take days before we can get word to Harvey about what this crooked judge is trying to do to us. And even then, there’s no guarantee we’ll be set free.”
“I’ve been in worse situations,” Richard said. “There’s nothing wrong with a healthy dose of optimism.”
“I wish I could share in that with you.”
Richard glanced on the far wall and looked at the clock. “You can. It’s only five-thirty. There’s still time for the magistrate to correct his mistaken judgment of us.”
“Maybe I’d feel better if I wasn’t so hungry,” David said.
A few minutes later, the constable shuffled inside the room, carrying a pair of food trays, and unlocked the prison gate. Then he retrieved the meals and placed them on the ground before relocking the cell. After hanging up the keys on a rack on the far side of the room, he exited without another word.
“He was afraid to look us in the eye,” Richard said.
“The coward knows we’re innocent,” David said. “He was just doing the magistrate’s bidding.”
The two men devoured the food and then slid the trays through the bars. Richard wanted room to do pushups and challenged David to a competition.
“You really want to do this?” David asked.
“Anything to keep your mind off our situation,” Richard said with a grin.
Just as the pair dropped to the floor, Richard scrambled to his knees at the high-pitched sound that squawked loudly.
“Do you hear that?” Richard asked.
“Sounds like a monkey,” David said.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
Richard strained to look around the corner of the wall, doing his best to peer into the small opening to the left of their cell where the noise seemed to emanate from. He looked up at the barred windows near the ceiling above the entrance but still didn’t see anything.
“I know it’s in here,” Richard said.
David jumped to his feet and rushed over to the bars. He grabbed them and furrowed his brow as he looked into a portion of the office.
“There he is,” David said, pointing beneath the desk. “Do that thing you do where you call the monkey and tell them what to do.”
“This isn’t the same type of situation,”
“I don’t care,” David said. “Just try it. What do we have to lose?”
Richard shrugged and took a deep breath before emitting a high-pitched frequency
and then making a clicking sound. The monkey peeked around the edge of the desk and stared at Richard.
“Come over here, little buddy,” he said. “I’m not gonna hurt you. I want you to help us. And maybe we can help you.”
The monkey flashed his teeth before turning his back on Richard.
“Oh, for goodness sake, we have a temperamental monkey,” David said. “Of all the monkeys in the world, we get the one that—”
“Almost all monkeys are like this,” Richard said, cutting short David’s rant. “You have to be patient.”
Richard grabbed a few pieces of the biscuit leftover on his tray and held them out for the monkey. The furry creature bounded over and snatched the morsels out of his hand. Without hesitating or a thorough inspection, the animal crammed the food into his mouth. He screeched with delight.
“What are you doing?” David said. “You just gave him all the motivation we had—and for what? Now we can’t coax him to do anything for us.”
Richard looked up and wagged his index finger at David. “That’s where you’re wrong. Once you make a monkey your friend, he stays your friend. Just watch.”
Returning his focus to the animal, Richard gestured with his hands for the creature to retrieve the keys on the wall. The monkey scampered onto the chair beneath the desk and stretched to reach the keys. Once he wrapped his hand around them, he yanked them back and teetered before quickly regaining his balance.
“That’s it,” Richard said, waving the animal toward him. “Just bring the keys to papa.”
The animal was about halfway across the room before the door swung open and several constables entered. He glanced at Richard, who was still crouched down with both hands extended through the bars. Then the officer made eye contact with the monkey, who squealed and dropped the keys. He scurried outside despite the constable’s demands.
“Riki, you get back here at once,” he said. “You know better than to do that.”
He knelt down and collected the keys before storming toward the prisoners. In a fit of fury, he unlocked the door and chained David to the wall. Once the constable was finished, he flicked his whip.
“What are you doing?” Richard asked as he scrambled to get away.
“Something I should’ve done before I threw you troublemakers in here.”
Before the beating continued, the magistrate appeared in the doorway. “Reginald, what are you doing? You know that’s no way to treat our guests.”
The constable stopped and looked sheepishly over his shoulder at Fullerton.
“Here to admit you were wrong about us?” Richard asked.
Reginald unchained David before leaving the cell and locking it back.
“If you think I’m about to release you, you’re quite mistaken,” Fullerton said. “I simply stopped by to let you know that your barrister will be by to visit with you in the morning.”
“You should recuse yourself from this case,” David said with a sneer. “It’s the only right thing to do.”
“If I could, I would gladly do so. However, there’s not another magistrate who could get here within three days, and I think it’s more just to expedite your hearing than it is to get someone else to hear your case. Don’t worry. I’ll be fair.”
“You didn’t have to arrest us,” David said. “You know good and well that the artifact was planted in Richard’s belongings. Yet you’ve got us caged up in here like we’re animals.”
Fullerton tipped his cap. “Have a nice evening, gentlemen. See you tomorrow in court.”
Reginald narrowed his eyes as he stared back at his two prisoners. “If the monkey comes, there won’t be any keys for him to get for you.” He snatched the keys off the hook and pocketed them before gesturing for Fullerton to exit first. Moments later, the two gentlemen disappeared outside as the door slammed shut behind them. The sound of the deadbolt clicking into place echoed in the cell.
“I’d like to give that magistrate a piece of my mind,” David said.
“I think you already did,” Richard said. “And I’m certain he wasn’t interested in it.”
“How can you be so glib about all this? We have no chance of getting out of here any time soon.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Richard said with a shrug. “You never know what can happen.”
“Well, that monkey won’t be helping us out, that’s for sure. Got any other tricks, Dr. Dolittle?”
“Dr. Dolittle? Who on Earth is that?”
David waved dismissively. “He’s just an odd character who talks to animals in a children’s book I read to my nephew last time I was home. Now unless you have some other special powers you’d like to let me know about, I think we’re going to have to rely on our American ingenuity to figure a way out of this jail cell before morning.”
Richard and David began to systematically explore every inch of their cage. They shook bars and dug at the loose mortar surrounding the bricks. When that seemed like a dead end, they scanned the two desks covered with scattered papers in search of something that could help them pry open the lock. After that they studied the cots to see if there was anything they could convert into a tool to open the gate. Every idea started out with promise but ultimately failed to deliver.
“Please tell me you have another idea,” David said.
Richard sat in silence, unsure of what he could say that would assuage David’s fears, fears that were suddenly mutual. There wasn’t any conceivable way out, and Richard hesitated to admit it.
“Well, Mr. Optimist, do you have anything?” David asked.
Richard sighed and shook his head. “I think we’re just going to have to—”
The jangling of keys outside the prison doors interrupted him.
“Have to what?” David insisted.
The door flung open, and a familiar-looking woman strode inside.
“I know you,” Richard said. “You’re Mr. Fullerton’s assistant.”
She smiled and nodded. “I have a name. It’s Maggie.”
“Well, Maggie,” Richard began, “what brings you down here?”
“I’m freeing the two of you,” she said with a wink and smile while jangling the keys in her hand.
“I don’t understand,” David said.
“You don’t have to understand,” she said. “You just need to run like Charles Paddock.”
Richard chuckled. “I’m afraid that I can only move like that if there’s a wild animal chasing me.”
“We’re in India,” Maggie said as she turned the key. “I can arrange that for you if necessary.”
“I’m absolutely speechless,” David said. “Why would you do such a thing?”
“I saw what happened,” she said.
“What do you mean?” Richard asked.
“A German man placed the idol in your bag while you were out with Mr. Fullerton. I saw everything.”
“So the Germans were here?” David asked.
She nodded. “There were about a dozen men who came through here a week ago. I don’t know what happened to them, but Fullerton disappeared for a few days only to return with one of them.”
“And here you are, risking everything for two strangers you’ve only met once,” David said.
She sighed and shook her head. “If you had stayed in jail, the magistrate planned to release you tomorrow on a technicality and the German would’ve murdered you in the jungle. That was their plan. The whole ordeal would’ve probably been reported as a mauling by a wild animal, and that would be that. You’d be dead, and no one else would ever know what really happened.”
“Thank you,” Richard said as he stepped into the office and gave Maggie a hug.
“Yes,” David added, “thank you so much. How can we ever repay you for this act of kindness?”
“I already told you,” Maggie said. “I want you to run so that this isn’t all in vain.”
She nodded toward a door in the back that Richard couldn’t see while in the cell.
“Should we exit t
hat way?” he asked.
“If you go out through the front, there’s a chance someone might see you,” she said. “But if you go out the back, you’ll go down a narrow alley, and no one will see you.”
“Works for me,” David said. He hustled over to the woman and shook her hand. “You’re an angel.”
“If I were an angel, I would’ve spoken up sooner,” she said.
“Better late than never,” Richard said.
They grabbed their bags and proper documentation before slipping outside into the cool evening air. Richard stopped and inhaled.
“Come on, Richard,” David said. “We don’t have time for this. We need to move.”
Richard took one last deep breath and broke into a sprint.
Chapter 10
July 2, 1922
Kargil, India
WILHELM STEPPED ONTO the train platform and scanned the surrounding area for the Buddhist follower who was supposed to meet four members Reichswehr unit. After several minutes, Wilhelm finally noticed a man standing off to the side, wearing a saffron robe. He paced back and forth, muttering to himself.
“I think that’s our contact,” Wilhelm said to Reinhard, pointing toward the man.
“Are you sure?” Reinhard asked. “He looks a little strange to me.”
“Go ask him if he knows Erden,” Wilhelm said. “He was supposed to send us one of his men to lead us to the compound.”
“Does that man look trustworthy to you?”
Wilhelm covered his face with his right hand and took a deep breath. “Go talk to him now.”
Reinhard chatted with the man for a couple minutes before returning to Wilhelm.
“So, what did he say?” Wilhelm asked.
“He said he’ll take us to Erden.”
Wilhelm motioned for the rest of the soldiers to join them as they strode toward the man. Once all the other soldiers arrived, the Buddhist monk spread his arms wide and grinned, introducing himself as Bankei.
“Welcome to Kargil,” he said. “I will take you to Erden, but I need to know that you come on a mission of peace.”
“Of course,” Wilhelm said. “That is why we’re here. Our nation’s past history has been one of intense war, and I feel the need to address this within my own soul before I can be an ambassador of peace among my countrymen.”
The Raja's Lost Treasure Page 6
