Spring Showers Box-set

by Avell Kro

  It had been a good day. Rose and the bell boy had given him solid leads to follow. He had identified

  two murder suspects, a negro woman with supernatural abilities and a society gentleman. A

  gentleman that just may stay in this hotel.

  Tuesday the 14th of June

  1:00 PM White’s Gentleman Club

  This was not Detective Williamson's first time at White’s, He had been here in the past to report to

  the Home Secretary on the status of a case. Sir Walpole was a member of London’s most exclusive

  club. Located at 37–38 St James's Street in the city of Westminster. The building with its famous

  bow window where the table directly in front was reserved for, the throne of the most socially

  influential men in the club. They called them the arbiter elegantiarum, first Beau Brummell, then

  Lord Alvanley held the honor. It was that very window that Alvanley bet a friend £3,000 as to

  which of two raindrops would first reach the bottom of a pane of glass. It had been remodeled since

  then to include the latest technology from the UK and abroad mainly, for members to brag about

  since few were comfortable with all the newfangled mechanisms coming of age.

  Rather than

  cause a stir he took a soft approach and asked the permission of his superiors to provide access to

  the club. Less chance of ruffling the feathers of the Secretary or a powerful club members then

  setting his investigation back days or weeks. The club had a members list that included the royal

  house, ministers of parliament, lords, dukes, and barons.

  The manager allowed the detective to interview the staff that worked the front desk and in service

  at the club. It had to be discreetly done, so Dolly spoke with the staff behind the closed door of the

  manager’s office. He determined from the interviews that as the guest of Lester Chilton Señor

  Moya dined with Sir Rory Birch, and Mr. Strathmore, Chilton’s American partner. Following

  supper, the gentleman retired to the game room to play billiards. The party broke up at 11:30 P.M.

  with Lester Chilton leaving in his Steam coach and Moya catching a cab.

  Dol y asked if any of the party were present at the club and would take the time to speak with him

  about Señor Moya. The manager returned and advised that Mr. Strathmore was currently at the

  club and would meet with him in the smoking lounge.

  The Detective was escorted by the manager to the smoking lounge. Floor to ceiling windows

  illuminated the entire room. It was a voluminous space for an older building. The walls were

  paneled in exotic wood with ornate cornice work. Eight separate seating areas encouraged

  members to gather and socialize with enough space between to deliver privacy. Each cluster

  comprised overstuffed leather sofas, wing-backed lounge chairs with end tables, pedestal ashtrays,

  and floor standing phosphor lamps. Dolly contemplated the wealth that built this esteemed

  building is he took out his notebook and reviewed his questions.

  The ceiling had a network of belts and pulleys to operate a fan system to keep the air moving in

  the room.

  Randall Wells Strathmore stood near the teletype clacker reading the strip to get the latest stock

  quotes and news. The clacker was in a prominent position in the lounge behind the sofa that faced

  the massive fireplace. Most members considered themselves too elite to look at a stock tape but

  wanted to show off the status of instantaneous worldwide communication. Strathmore was

  different he needed to stay on top of world finances, many of the club member's inheritances were

  invested with Chilton House and Strathmore was a steward of that wealth.

  A striking man, Strathmore towered over his companions; seeming even taller with his long neck.

  He wore standard bankers dress of gray pants with spats, white round-collared shirt, black tie, his

  pinstriped waist coat and a black overcoat with tails. He had a black mourning armband. Dolly

  wondered if he might mourn his own victims. Strathmore, by Dol y’s guess, had to be in his forties

  given what he knew of his financial exploits but looked much younger, almost boyish.

  The Manager handled introductions. There was a level of formality that all endured at these

  prestigious clubs. “Mr. Strathmore, may I introduce Detective Sergeant Fredrick Adolphus

  Williamson of the Metropolitan Police. Detective Williamson may I introduce Mr. Randall Wel s

  Strathmore of New York,”

  “Thank you, Milton,” said Strathmore acknowledging the introduction and dismissing the manager.

  “I wasn’t aware that White’s had any American members,” said the detective.

  “I am a guest of the late Sir Chilton and his son. While I hail from New England and now live in

  New York, I spend an inordinate amount of time in London and need a place to unwind” said

  Strathmore in a yankee accent. He let go of the ticker tape, it drop in the waste bin set to collect old

  tape and put out his hand. Dolly returned the outstretched hand with a firm grip and a shake.

  Upon release of the clasp, Randall’s hand went to a walking stick that rested against the pedestal

  holding the ticker. It was made of ivory and a lacquered wood. “Let us have a drink and talk.” He

  used the cane to steady his gait as he walked around the sofa, his left leg suffering a handicap.

  “The irony is as managing partner of the New York office, I spend more time in London than I do in

  New York”

  Dol y asked another question “Did you recently hurt your leg?”

  “Aren’t you Brits supposed to put social decorum above all? Not mention the elephant in the room

  even if your waist high in elephant dung,” Randall tapped his leg with his cane and gave Dol y a

  smile. “No, this was a hunting accident some years ago”

  “I’m a Scotsman and a cop. People expect me to ask uncomfortable questions and lack social

  propriety,” retorted Dolly.

  The two men sat down.

  Strathmore was the American managing partner of the investment banking partners of Chilton,

  Chilton, Owens, and Strathmore. Randall only named partner ever to not be a citizen of the United

  Kingdom. The firm had international interests that included naval shipping, plantations, railroads,

  and industrial investments, and was aligned with the Mechanists; financing the guild’s projects.

  This banking house was so powerful that wars could not be waged without their funding. The

  rumor was during the Napoleonic wars that Chilton was financing both sides.

  Randall amassed a fortune with his financial wizardry and insight into the new world markets. He was an early backer of Cornelius Vanderbilt; enabling the commodore to finance the Vanderbilt Air

  Transit Company. Vanderbilt proposed that air rather than sea or rail would win the race for

  transcontinental travel and that he could build an airship line crossing the wilderness between the

  east and west coast of America. The prize is a lucrative postal contract with the government

  between New York and San Francisco. At the time LQ airships were only operating out of Prussia

  and were experimental. It was worldwide news when Vanderbilt struck the first deal to export LQ

  gas from the Europe to America. He built a special steam tanker to bring the gas by sea from the

  Baltic then across the Atlantic Ocean. When the first mail was delivered to San Francisco by air in

  only eleven days the stock for the company shot up and Strathmore and his investors made a

  packet.<
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  “Now Detective before you ask about my whereabouts and movements with Mr. Moya and where I

  was at when he died I would appreciate if you would share with me what exactly happened to

  Moya.”

  Was this his way of putting me off kilter thought Dolly before he answered “Señor Moya was

  murdered in his rooms at the Carlton. I cannot share the specifics, but it was not a pleasant sight

  and we are still finding out the exact cause of death.”

  Randall looked over to one of the staff standing near the wall. Signaling with his gaze and a small

  hand waving for service.

  A server approached the gentlemen “Can I get you something, sir?”

  “Why yes, what is your name, son?” The waiter was at least twenty years older than Randall.

  “Arthur, sir”

  “Yes, Arthur you can fetch me a glass of whiskey and a Partagas; Mr. Williamson will have?”

  Randall’s tone dropping off as he shifted Arthur’s attention to the Detective.

  “I will have the same,”

  “Excellent! Thank you, Arthur,” said Randall unbuttoning his coat and lower buttons on his vest to

  get comfortable.

  “What can you tell me about Señor Moya?” asked Dolly.

  “Wel , Detective what would you like to know?”

  “I would like to know who murdered Señor Moya and Sir Francis, that would make my day. In light

  of that, I need as much as you can share about Moya beginning with his visit to this club,” stated

  Dol y looking at Randall to assess body language and tone.

  Randall smiled sitting both hands on the top of his walking stick, arms outstretched in front of

  him. He then leaned in closely and quietly said. “I can’t answer that question, but I will let you

  know all about what Señor Moya and I were up to on Saturday night. Randall leaned into Dolly. “I

  would like your professional opinion on something,” Randall said in a quiet and serious tone.

  Men like Strathmore, smart privileged men would play this game. The game where they presumed

  Dolly was a dumb Scot, that he was too stupid to find out what they were hiding. Dolly relished

  that game because he had so much practice. So, let’s play thought Dolly before declaring “What

  might that be Mr. Strathmore?”

  “How many murders have you investigated?”

  Dolly thought for a moment “I have closed seventy-eight cases as a detective. Some of those cases

  had multiple victims.”

  “Impressive. What would you say was the most common cause, Lust - Greed - Envy?” Randall said

  bouncing his eyebrow as he pronounced each sin.

  Dolly thought for a moment. “There are four other deadly sins but given the ones you listed I

  would say, greed”

  “Greed. I was unsure, and I do appreciate a professional’s opinion, Now with Señor Moya there is

  the potential for either greed or envy.”

  “Please elaborate,” injected Dolly.

  “The Moya’s, while related to the throne of Portugal are self-made. Emilio’s grandfather captained

  slave ships. Señor Ernesto Moya, Emilio’s father produced an exceptional amount of coin for

  Chilton’s bond syndicates in the slave trade than onto the harvest and sale of West Indies cotton

  and tobacco on the return passage. Don’t look so shocked Detective, the City of London was built

  on the flesh trade. If not in financing the ships or insuring the cargo, they did so on the return of

  cheap goods made in the colonies. Frankly, it’s the beloved mechanists and their engines that got

  the Empire out of financing the slavers.”

  Dol y fancied the blunt talk of the Yank and he settled in for Randall’s lecture. “First Chilton

  financed his ships then he helped diversify investments across the trade. When the

  Commonwealth outlawed the slave trade Moya needed to change businesses. Those that made

  money insuring his cargo and financing his fleet followed Moya’s transition into other colonial

  ventures. Emilio’s father, always one step ahead, moved into the sugar business in the West

  Indies.

  Now, Ernesto had two sons Hernando and Emilio. Both were sent to the best schools in England,

  his father thought with an English education his heirs would become captains of finance with a

  foot in the new world and one in the old … Ah, here we go,” Arthur had returned to them pushing a

  serving cart. He poured and handed them each a crystal tumbler of scotch whiskey then displayed

  a box of Cuban Partagas cigars to Dolly. Dolly selected a cigar.

  “Thank you, Arthur,” Williamson said.

  Arthur nodded while Randall kept talking. “Hernando was cut from the same cloth as his father, a

  man of action but he is the younger son and his inheritance is far smaller than Emilio. Hernando

  went to Brazil to make his fortune in the sugar business. He has plantations in Brazilia and Haiti.

  We have co-invested in his enterprises and done well.

  The older Emilio learned something else in England. How to be a man of leisure. He stayed in London after he finished school to carouse with the group of English dandies rather than join the

  family business. With each success, Hernando makes Emilio richer and finds it disagreeable that

  his brother has a say in company affairs and receives a large allowance. I know Hernando will be

  the master of his fortune but he lets his family situation and the privilege of his brother fuel

  resentment. With Emilio dead, the Moya fortune of nearly seven million pounds goes to Hernando.

  “Is Hernando in London?”

  “Not that I know of,” said Randall

  Arthur then turned to offer Randall a cigar. Randall took one “I would like a flat cut, not a V cut

  please” handing the cigar to Arthur who cut the cigar then handed it back to Randall.

  “May I cut your cigar, Detective,” said Arthur.

  “Please,”

  Arthur made the cut then handed the cigar back to Dol y. As Dolly wetted the end of the cigar he

  then removed loose tobacco from his mouth. When he looked up Arthur was igniting a lighter.

  “Arthur get us matchsticks to light the cigar. You’ll ruin the flavor with that filthy lighting fluid.”

  “Yes Sir”

  “You see some things should not change like lighting a fine cigar with a flame of a match after the

  sulfur is burned off”

  He leaned back in his chair to draw on the cigar as Arthur held out the match. Dolly noticed now

  the top of the man’s walking stick was a carved wolf head with gold filigree in the collar around

  the wolf’s head had a pattern of circles a smaller circle or dot in the center of each larger circle.

  “This is a fine cigar Mr. Strathmore,”

  “I am personal friends with Don Jaimie Partagas. He has an amazing plantation. You know they

  say these cigars are rolled on the thighs of virgin girls. Can you believe that?” asked Strathmore.

  “Smoking a cigar that is this smooth I believed it,” replied Dol y as he held out the cigar sideways

  and gazed at it and gave Randall a smile of satisfaction.

  “We became friends after I looked at his property to assess the collateral for a loan he has with

  Chilton. He takes me on a tour to see the assets, first, he showed me the tobacco fields not worth

  much, next, he showed me his inventory of tobacco that is curing, now there is a value that can be

  priced to market right in Havana. He can tell I am struggling to see how I can approve the size of

  this loan he seeks with what he has shown me, so he says he is pr
epared to secure the loan with

  his prize chattel a group of slaves, forty in number he has roll his cigars.

  After lunch, Don Jaimie and I ride in his surrey to the building and to my surprise when I enter it’s

  not forty vestal virgins rolling cigars, but forty old men. Toothless scrawny, not a one looks like he

  would live another day or could work an hour in the field without keeling over.” Randall took a sip.

  Dolly laughed, “So much for the loan I’d say.”

  “Well funny you say because that is what I was thinking. Forty young slave girls that can roll

  cigars. That is stock, and if the cigar market falls they’re still breeding stock or trainable for the

  house or field but how do I give him 20,000 pounds’ sterling for some tobacco and forty men with

  one foot in the grave.” Randall stretched out his bum leg and rubbed it while he spoke.

  “Well one thing I have learned is that I can always learn just one more thing and I needed to learn

  about the cigar business, but I also can’t look a fool in front of Don Jaime.

  I wired Don Moya, Emilio’s Father who was still alive at the time in Haiti. I requested if he had

  knowledge of the tobacco business and the matter of the value of a cigar roller. He introduces me

  to Don Jose Hoya de Monterey who agrees to meet with me the next day. So the next day I have a

  meeting with Don Jose at his plantation and ask him what he would pay for five of Don Jaimie’s top

  cigar rollers. He tells me that if they could roll a Pyramid like these he would pay one thousand

  pounds each. I asked him if I could go to see his rolling rooms and you know what he said: 'Amigo

  you will not find any virgins there either.'"

  The two men laughed. Dolly needed to get Randall off his stories and onto the subject of Saturday

  night.

  “What was Mr. Lester Chilton’s disposition on Saturday?”

  Reasonable, for an English man who just lost his father to a heinous murder and his bank robbed.

  If I know Lester he will try to lose himself in the work and pick up as much of his father’s clientele

  that he can,” said Randall.

  “Was there a reason you all convened Saturday night?” asked Dolly.

  “Emilio wanted Chilton to loan money against his inheritance to invest in Babbage’s manufacture

  of Difference Machines. He touted that the next advances in mechanical automation will require