“We were hoping Jacko could divine what was missing, but evidently his special talent only works if he’s in the presence of the hidden items.”
Vic nodded. Even this was beyond Jacko’s strange talent. “I’ve never heard of anyone who can sense an item that is not there and then divine where it has gone.”
Meyers sighed. “That’s exactly what I’m hoping you can do. I’ve seen you pull the truth out of thin air a hundred times. And from my perspective, that’s all we got—thin air.”
When they arrived at Parliament, Stone asked Vic to stay with Meyers.
Vic climbed down. “Not if you are expecting me to pull facts out of thin air, I won’t. I actually require some details, however seemingly innocuous, to derive the truth.”
Xavier patted her back. “Don’t growl at Stone. This isn’t his doing.” He then focused on the Inspector. “Nor can you be held responsible for whom I bring with me to a meeting. Vic is right. If the pup has any chance of delivering a miracle, he needs access to the only one who actually knows what has been taken. In fact, why don’t you remain in the carriage? That way you can’t be held responsible for the pup’s presence.”
Stone paused. After giving the matter thought, he nodded. “My job is in your hands,” he stated first to Xavier and then stared at Vic before climbing inside the carriage.
Placing his hand on the back of Vic’s neck, Xavier said, “Stone is being overly dramatic.”
“Stone? If anything, he understates problems. It’s ridiculous to call in Scotland Yard and then refuse to tell them what is missing not to mention when and from where it went missing. So either the First Minister does not wish to implicate himself in a crime of law or passion, or he is contriving a reason to fire Stone.”
Xavier stopped and smiled at her. “I had simply assumed our new First Minister was the stupidest man on Earth, but those are much more logical explanations. I’ll try to remove the latter possibility right off.”
“Roseberry is gone?”
“Yes. Thurman’s arrest caused a great deal of changes in Parliament.”
“So who is it now?”
“Ogleton. I don’t recall ever meeting the fellow before. However, he was the only member of Parliament that neither of the major parties objected to, so they made him First Minister.”
When they arrived at the First Minister’s outer office, Xavier pointed to the bench. “Stay here until I resolve the third possibility.”
“I’ll be listening at the door, not sitting on the bench,” Vic warned.
Xavier chucked her beneath her chin. “I never thought otherwise, but sit there while I enter.”
***
Xavier entered the First Minister’s office without knocking. “My name is Xavier Thorn. I understand you have need of my services?”
An old man looked up from his desk. His left hand tucked into his vest like Napoleon. “You took your sweet time. I requested your presence months ago.”
Gads, the fellow could prove to be worse than Archibald. “I was out of country until an hour ago, but have no fear; my staff and I will get matters righted in no time. Now what is this nonsense about spies breaking into your home?”
The old man stood, his right hand clenched. “It is far from nonsense!”
“It is when you will not even reveal what was taken and when.” Xavier sat down on the couch and stretched out as if he were about to take a nap. “Which leads me to suspect this is a ruse to oust Stone as the head of Scotland Yard.”
When the man didn’t deny it once, he sat up and stared at the fool. “So let me be clear. If that is your plan, I will go directly to the Queen and lodge a complaint.”
Olgeton stumbled forward, literally shaking with rage. “A complaint about what? It is not your say as to whom runs Scotland Yard.”
“The hell it isn’t!” Xavier stood and barreled toward him, causing the man to retreat behind his desk. “I have spent years fine-tuning my relationship with Stone. Now that I’ve finally got him well-trained, I am not about to start over. For one thing, I won’t have the time. I’m a father now, and Cannon Archibald Thorn will no doubt require a great deal of training himself.”
“A son? You’re not even married. How the hell did you get a son?”
So the man knew him…probably had External Affairs provide a dossier. “How do you think? One of my missions had unexpected consequences.”
“And how did that become your problem? It should be the woman’s responsibility to get rid of.”
“She contacted me with such purpose in mind, however, I did not wish ‘it’ to be gotten rid of. This lady is extremely bright and clever. Thus, I have high expectations for my son. I have to think of England’s future, you see. There will come a day I am either too old or too dead to be of service.”
“What did you say his name was?” Olgeton asked.
“Cannon Archibald Thorn.”
“You gave him my name…”
He had? Certainly not on purpose, since he didn’t know anything but the man’s surname. Damn it. He should have interviewed Stone better.
“I did. However, had I known you were plotting to undo years of work on my part and make my job a thousand times harder, I would have chosen otherwise.”
When the First Minister did not retract his intentions, Xavier continued his badgering.
“Unfortunately, I had not realized you’d lost your bloody mind. I thought you were the admirable fellow who sets high goals and achieves them. A man who would be a good role model for my son.”
Olgeton smiled, but only enough to lift the right side of his upper lip.
Xavier leaned in. “However, I haven’t turned in his papers yet, so I can still change the name if you’ve truly lost your mind. But then perhaps your refusal to speak is because this involves a crime of passion or law, which you do not wish even Stone to know about.”
The old man sat down and sighed heavily. “You will not judge me if I tell you the whole truth?”
“I have possibly named my son after you. I clearly think you’re overall an admirable man, despite certain matters you’ve done along the way that were not your best moments. I am not limited by a strict adherence to laws or morals. I can promise you that neither I nor my partner, Vic, will judge you.”
“Vic?”
“Victor Hamilton…he is waiting to be invited in. I should add, he’s not the most patient fellow.”
“No, I need you to handle this solely on your own.”
“I am no longer taking cases that cannot include my staff.”
“This is personal,” he whispered.
“Then only Vic and I will know the details you wish kept secret, but I promise you when I send someone somewhere to retrieve something, they will know what they hell they are looking for and its probable location.”
The man’s face flushed red. “No.”
Xavier rose. “Well, it has been a pleasure talking to you. And remember my warning. If you try to oust Stone, I will take the matter to the Queen.” He turned and opened the door.
“Wait! You have to help me.” Olgeton’s voice quavered as he spoke. The left side of his face sagged with fatigue and fear.
“Very well.” Xavier opened the door to Vic standing on the other side. “Come in.” Once inside, they sat down in the two chairs before the fool’s desk.
To Xavier’s shock, Vic placed a notepad upon his lap and had a pencil in his hand. Where the bloody hell had he acquired those?
“Shall we place you under an assumed name?” Vic asked.
“Excellent suggestion, Vic. Call our client Charles Gott.” When Xavier was at Cambridge, he and a friend had blamed all their troubles on this make-believe student.
Olgeton frowned. “I’d rather nothing be written down.”
“And I’d rather solve the case quickly and move on to other matters. However, Victor will take the notes in a cipher code. Your name or position will never be noted.”
The old man breathed in and nodded but sa
id nothing.
“Perhaps you can tell us what is missing,” Vic suggested, clearly losing patience.
After a long hesitation, he spoke. “A book.”
“And the name of the book?”
He rubbed his right temple. “Justine.”
“By the Marque de Sade?” Vic asked.
Xavier wondered where the pup had become familiar with that work.
“Yes.”
“And what was special about this copy?” Vic asked.
At first, Xavier thought the pup’s question presumptuous, but upon further rumination he realized Vic was spot on. If there had been nothing special about the man’s book, he would not be so desperate to locate it. He’d simply buy another one.
The First Minister’s hand shook as attempted to pat his brow with a handkerchief. “The lithographs, they were personalized.”
“How so?”
“They looked like me.”
Vic nodded. “And the girl, Justine. Did they favor someone you knew?”
Covering his face, the man replied, “Yes, but I swear to God I have never touched her.”
“And who does she resemble?”
“You cannot write her name, not even in code.”
“I haven’t written any of this down,” Vic showed him her empty pad. “But we need details to remove this threat to everything you hold dear.”
Olgeton breathed out in relief. “You understand…thank you.”
Vic nodded. “The girl whose likeness was used?”
“Julia, my wife’s niece.”
“And how old is she?”
“She’s currently…seventeen or eighteen, I’m not certain.”
Relentless in pursuit of the facts, Vic continued the line of questioning. “And are these lithographs more or less explicit than the original printed version?”
“More…a great deal more.”
“How long have you had this book?”
He sighed. “Maybe four years. I don’t remember exactly.”
“And how did you arrange for the lithographs to be drawn and the book to be printed?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes, but we can come back to this once you understand why it matters.”
“I’d prefer to move on.”
Xavier was astounded at how well Vic was handling the fellow. Had he done this interview, he’d have been lucky to even know it was a book by this point.
“Did you share this book with close friends?”
“No!”
“Not once? Not even when you’d been drinking and you were with someone you trusted?”
“No!”
“Did you keep it under lock and key?”
“Yes.”
“Was this someplace special rather than your normal safe where you keep your will and cash?”
He stared at Vic, his eyes confused. “How did you know that?”
“I imagine you would not have wanted your wife to find it if you died, so you would not keep it in the safe she knew about.”
“That was exactly my fear. She would not have understood the book meant nothing. I had a second safe installed in my library, underneath my desk.”
“And do you always lock the door to your library before you retrieve this book?”
“Yes.”
“So no servant has ever entered and seen you reading it?”
“No.”
“And have you ever forgotten to lock it up before you go to bed?”
“Never. I am all too aware of the harm it could do.”
“Is there any chance someone could have seen you reading the book from a window?”
“None. For security reasons, my library is without windows.”
Vic met his gaze. “Then we need to return to my original avenue of inquiry. Unless you have forgotten a friend you shared the book with, or a night when you left the book out, then the only people who could know of this book’s existence are those involved in creating it.”
He stared at Vic in silence for a long time. “No, they are not the problem. The publishing building caught fire the same day my book was delivered. Everyone involved in making the book died.”
Xavier doubted that to be a coincidence.
The old man turned to him. “I can see what you’re thinking, Xavier, but I had nothing to do with the fire. The firm had been printing books like this for years. Probably half the gentlemen in town possess one.”
“Do you know of other gentlemen who you believe have similar books?” Vic asked.
“Yes, but I’m not saying who.”
“Would not these men reasonably assume you have a book as well?” she challenged.
His face paled. “Yes, they might.” Without further protest, he gave her a list of eighteen men, mostly ministers of Parliament.
“And no one has tried to blackmail you?” Xavier asked.
“No,” he stated, but a bit too fast and snappish to Xavier’s liking.
Vic leaned forward. “If you do receive such a demand for funds in the future, would you pay it?”
“What choice do I have?” he asked.
Xavier refrained from smiling at how easily Vic caused him to reveal the truth. He’d answered ‘what choice do I have’ instead of ‘would I have’ as would be the case if the situation were mere conjecture.
“Let us hope they do contact you for ransom since that will probably be the only way we’ll find and retrieve your book.”
“How will that help me? They don’t write their name down on the letters.”
“Exactly how do they receive your money?” Vic asked, no longer pretending the blackmail was mere speculation.
“I send it to a post box, but before you suggest the obvious, I’ve had a person watch to see who opens the box.”
“Only no one does,” Vic said.
His eyes widened in shock. “Do you read my mind?”
“Not at all. Your package is intercepted before reaching its final destination. When will you make your next payment?”
“Tomorrow, a letter will arrive telling me what post box to mail it from and what address to send it to.”
Xavier spoke before Vic could. “Your house will no doubt be watched before the drop. We will come here tomorrow to discuss solutions to the crime lord turf war presently tearing the docks apart.”
“No, I want you focused on my book,” he snapped.
“We will discuss the matter because someone close to you is probably involved. But have the money you intend to ship with you so we can mark it.”
“Mark it how? If they think I’m marking the bills they’ll release my book to the papers.”
“They will have no idea it’s marked. Not even if they are truly spies, which I don’t think they are.”
“Then who?”
Xavier sighed. “I suspect someone in Parliament. Someone who wishes to drain you of your money before he destroys your career and marriage.”
Olgeton turned to Vic. “Do you think that as well?”
“It is a strong possibility if you have not forgotten something in your answers.”
Xavier almost choked at her caveat. The man had failed to even mention he was being blackmailed.
Once they returned to the carriage, Xavier ruffled Vic’s hair. “Well done, pup. That was your best interrogation yet.” He then opened the carriage door and smiled at the Inspector. “I couldn’t believe how the truth came out, despite his best efforts to conceal.”
“What did he tell you?” Stone asked.
Xavier pointed Vic to the driver’s seat by Meyers and climbed into the carriage. Once seated across from Stone, he spoke. “Vic promised him confidentiality, but I will say you had no chance of discovering this item. He would have never told you the truth.”
Stone’s eyebrows rose knowingly. “I see. Well, thank God the two of you returned when you did.”
“On that matter, I warned the new First Minister if he ousted you over this or any other matter, I was going straight to the Queen. If
he continues to threaten your job let me know.”
Loud thumping appeared overhead, then Vic’s head suddenly appeared leaning down from the top of the window.
“Bloody hell,” Xavier cursed and opened the window, planning to scold the pup for his unruly behavior.
However, Vic got the jump on his scold. “One other thing. Cannon needs a new second name.”
“Without question. Now stop thundering on the roof like a wildebeest and allow me to speak to Stone in private.”
“What is the damn fool’s full name?”
Xavier looked to Stone for the answer.
Stone grimaced, as if the mere mention of the man pained him. “Douglas William Archibald Theodore Olgeton, the eighth Earl of Loxenborne.”
“Good. I wouldn’t have chosen any of those.” Vic said and returned to the driver’s seat.
Chapter 10
When Meyers pulled up to Thorn’s Private Inquiries, Vic patted his back. “If I can help you any further, just stop by,” she said and climbed down.
“I will, have no doubt about it.” Meyers waited for Xavier to climb from the carriage and then lifted the reins.
“I believe Stone intends to depart as well,” Xavier warned.
Meyers tied off the horses and climbed down, and held open the carriage door.
“Thank you, Meyers,” Stone stated as he climbed out.
“You’re welcome, sir.” He replied and stared at Xavier in wonderment.
Vic snorted. No doubt the kindest words Stone had said to the poor man in the past six months. She’d tried her hardest to persuade Meyers to jump ship and work for them, but he believed England would become sane again and Stone would resume being a great boss now that they were back.
For some reason, Xavier remained by her, instead of leading Stone inside. “Please tell me Stone is going to apologize to Jacko? They’ve got a serious burglary spree going on and he had the nerve to suggest Jacko might be doing them.”
“He regrets his accusation deeply and is here to make amends.”
She sighed with relief and headed inside. “I think the jewels are being re-cut and sold. I’ve offered up my sister as bait to prove my theory.”
Xavier pulled her to a halt before they reached the door. “Exactly what is your plan?”
Pack of Trouble (The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Book 5) Page 9
