“A good notion, Jeffries,” said McMillian, who was still preening over the idea of having a special guard sent to accompany him, though he also complained that it should have been offered to him in the first place. “A brandy would be just the thing. But the waiter isn’t available at this hour, is he?”
“I will attend to it, sir,” I said, thinking I would avail myself of some of Mycroft Holmes’ supply in the private car. It would be the least he could do.
I found Holmes preparing a dispatch to go with Kreutzer, saying as he sealed it, “I will anticipate your return telegram at the next regular stop. Tell me to whom you have reported and who is the person we are to have as escort. Use the code words I have given you so that we can have no spies foisted upon us.”
“Of course,” said Kreutzer with a sharp salute as he took the dispatch and tucked it into the inner pocket of his tunic. His young face burned with zeal and efficiency. “I will also forward a full report to your Admiralty, as you have requested.”
“Thank you,” said Holmes, accepting the salute and motioning the cadet to leave us. “Now then, Guthrie,” Holmes continued when Kreutzer was gone, “what do you want to tell me this time? And I trust it is not that Kreutzer is a spy from the Golden Lodge, for that has been apparent since he first presented himself to me.”
“He is?” I asked, feeling either very foolish or quite astonished. “But you said—”
“Yes, yes, because he was listening,” said my employer impatiently. “And as such he will serve my purpose well enough. I wanted to alert the Golden Lodge to the possibility of the Brotherhood attempting to seize the treaty from this train. But now I am just as glad to have him away from me. There are too many things he could overhear.”
“Do you mean I have spoken out of turn?” I felt stung, for I could not imagine it was my duty to have guarded my tongue when Mycroft Holmes made it apparent he expected me to speak candidly.
“No, of course not,” he responded. “I mean only that I did not want him to realize I am aware of his purpose.”
“What told you he was one from the Golden Lodge?” I asked. “So I will know what to look for in the future.”
“It was his careful attention to all I said in relation to the Brotherhood. He made several attempts to engage me in conversation concerning their activities, with the pretense that he wished to understand the whole of his duties to me.” His chuckle was not at all friendly.
“Might that not have been the simple truth?” I suggested.
“It might have been, had I not observed him purloin one of my pages of notes detailing what is known of the Brotherhood’s activities in Bavaria.” He regarded me severely. “He knew precisely what he was looking for, and made away with it very neatly. I reckon he will pass the information on to his superiors in the organization as soon as possible.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. It does not seem sufficient to me.”
“In time, Guthrie, you will develop a sense about these things, and will know what to look for.” He looked at my face critically. “That bruise is getting ugly, and you should clean that wound on your forehead before you retire tonight. I will supply you with iodine and peroxide for the purpose.”
Until he reminded me, I forgot how much damaged my face was. I put my hand to the welt along my forehead. “Thank you. It would not do to have this become infected,” I said with an edge to my voice.
Which, apparently, Mycroft Holmes did not hear. “No, it would not.” He went to his cases and took out a small leather satchel. “You will find what you need in here. Oh, and you may want to reaffix the—uh—scar over your eye, in case there is any attempt to—”
“To what?” I interjected. “Throw me off the train?” As I said this I became aware that the train was slowing down.
“We take on water here,” said Mycroft Holmes. “And Cadet Kreutzer leaves us. After all, you don’t want him rummaging about in McMillian’s things again, do you?”
“You mean it was Kreutzer who broke into the compartment and tried to take the treaty?” I could not take this in.
“He would not have succeeded in his task, I assure you, even if he had found the map case.” He patted the side of his coat, and I realized my employer was armed.
It startled me that he knew about the map case. But then I decided I must have mentioned something to him about it, or he had learned of it from McMillian himself, while at Madame Isolde’s. “He was the one who attempted the search, then?”
“And quite inexpertly” was the answer. “He barely unlocked the door when he was discovered.”
“That would mean it was he who put McMillian on the alert, and caused him to search his own luggage.” I was hoping to make some sense of all this, but I was not succeeding. I recalled it was McMillian’s activities that had roused me, so it was possible Kreutzer had been in the compartment first. This thought turned round and round in my mind, but I could glean nothing from it.
“Is there anything else, dear boy?” asked Holmes at his blandest.
“A double tot of brandy, so that McMillian will sleep the night away. He is so keyed up now that I suspect another shock would pop him out of his skin.” I knew that some of that emotion affected me as well.
“Take what you want, Guthrie,” offered Holmes. “And if you will look on the lowest shelf, you will see four small bottles without labels. The liqueur inside is a deep green. It is made in Bavaria and it should help you sleep without discomfort tonight. The monks at an old Benedictine monastery make it to give to exhausted travelers. One bottle should do you. The taste is not unpleasant.”
The train was almost stopped now, and I could feel the sway of the car. I did as he told me and retrieved the bottle, then poured out a hefty portion of brandy into a simple glass, taking care not to spill anything. “Thank you, sir. I will see you in the morning.”
“Very good, Guthrie; sleep well. You’ve earned it,” he said, and waved me out of his presence.
As I made my way back to McMillian’s compartment, I saw Kreutzer leave the train and rush toward the siding where an old-fashioned phaeton was drawn up, two restive horses harnessed in line. The driver saluted as Kreutzer sprang into the passenger seat. Then a great cloud of steam obscured the window and by the time it cleared, Kreutzer and the carriage were gone.
McMillian was fidgeting as I came through the door, and he greeted my return with a look of extreme annoyance. “You took long enough.”
“I thought it would be best to gain the cooperation of the old man by telling him the urgency of your mission, sir,” I said, annoyed that this self-important fellow required so much flattery. “He allowed me to take a double measure for you, realizing that your work is of such moment.”
This mollified McMillian. “Very good, Jeffries. Yes, very good.” He took the glass I proffered, sniffing it critically. “And a good brandy, at that. Not that I would expect a military hero to have less than the best.” He took a long sip. “How long are we going to be here?”
“Until the train has sufficient water, I suppose,” I said.
“There is no chance of the train being boarded here, is there?” His apprehension would have been comical in less desperate situations. “You will have to keep watch for me, until we have the new guard assigned to us in Karlsruhe.”
“I will attend to it, sir,” I said, and as I did wondered what provision Mycroft Holmes had made for our protection during the night. There would be something, I was convinced of it.
“Good man, Jeffries.” He scrutinized me briefly. “You are not a very prepossessing chap, but I am beginning to think that I had the better bargain when Angus left me and you came to my service.”
I could not keep from remembering Angus, dying terribly in that cellar. My God, I thought, was that only a night ago? I bowed once and hoped that all I had seen in the last days wou
ld not crowd in on me all night.
“Off you go, then. I will expect you to arrange a breakfast for me before eight.”
With a mixture of gratitude and annoyance, I left him to return to my comfortless compartment to clean my injured forehead and then let the grassy-tasting liqueur ease me into sleep.
FROM THE PERSONAL JOURNAL OF PHILIP TYERS:
It has been an eventful afternoon and the evening is proving to be more of the same. Confirmation arrived in regard to the travels of M.H. in Bavaria, with the assurances that he would be accorded every courtesy from Munich to Ghent. He will have the use of a private car for most of the journey, and has arranged to keep his accommodation in close proximity to the one in which McMillian and G. are riding, the better to inform himself of their progress.
He has also told me that his activities are being monitored by a group known as the Golden Lodge, who are rivals to the Brotherhood. He has one such monitor with him in the person of a cadet named Kreutzer. It is M.H.’s intention to be rid of this young man as soon as possible, and if he can, to have this serve a double purpose.
I have prepared a packet of information from Inspector Cornell which I shall have waiting for him in Liege. It is being carried to Europe tonight, to be given into the care of two of MH.’s most trusted agents on the Continent. It would seem that the police have reached the end of their resources in this case and without the help of M.H. the dastards who murdered the young woman may well go unidentified and unpunished, which is intolerable, given what she endured to get her information to us. My report urges M.H. to make his private material available to Inspector Cornell, with the understanding that those factors impinging on the security of the Empire cannot be divulged in a court of Law.
Edmund Sutton was accosted by ruffians as he came back across Pall Mall from the Diogenes Club. He was able to hold them off with his walking stick, which he claims is easier to wield than a sword in Henry IV. Since such activities are rare in Pall Mall, the ruffians fled at this resistance rather than face capture by the police. Sutton says he will not divert from M.H.’s strict schedule, but he thinks that a policeman or two, in anticipation of other mischief, would be a prudent addition to the street when he is about. I have passed on this request to the proper authorities, and I am informed that it will be done.
I had only an hour to spend with Mother this evening, and I am not certain she was aware I was with her. I spoke to her, making the assumption that if she could hear me at all, she would welcome my voice in these last days. I did what I could to assuage any fears she may have, and promised her that she would be in the care of God and His angels, for all the good, selfless things she has done in her life, and the many kindnesses she has offered to so many. The arrangements for her burial are now all but complete, for which I am truly grateful.
I AWOKE SHORTLY after dawn as if emerging from a vast field of feathers. Whatever was in that little bottle had surely worked its magic on me, for I felt as close to refreshed as I had at any time since I began this devilish mission.
I dressed quickly and went to the washroom to shave. My face had reached the purple-and-mulberry stage, like a canvas by Cezanne; my single visible eye shone out of a livid cave of swollen flesh. The cut had swollen as well, and the stitches looked like puckers, or post-holes for minute fences. I used my razor with care, handling my skin gingerly, for it was unusually tender.
By the time I went into the private car on my way to arrange for breakfast, I was feeling well enough to be embarrassed by my general appearance. I tapped on the door of Mycroft Holmes’ car, identifying myself before operating the latch.
“Good morning, Guthrie,” he called out in good humor. “We reach Karlsruhe in two and a half hours.”
“Where we change trains,” I said, not relishing the transfer of all McMillian’s belongings to the next compartments.
“And continue on to Mainz,” said Holmes, adding with stern amusement, “with new guards. Guards who have been properly vetted.”
I sighed. “What do you require of me in the meantime?”
“Why, hardly anything at all, dear boy, but that you tend to McMillian and make yourself ready for changing trains.”
It was difficult to believe him, and as I went to order breakfast, I could feel my muscles grow tense in anticipation of trouble.
But the time to Karlsruhe passed easily enough, and when we reached the station, we were met by an escort of uniformed officers who saw to our transfer speedily and with a deference that pleased McMillian greatly. They also carried sealed orders that rerouted us through Strasbourg and Metz, with a stern warning that word had come from Mainz that assassins were waiting for us there, and as a result we were to stay away from the place and leave German-controlled territory as soon as possible.
This news gave me a qualm, for I could not envision how Mycroft Holmes would adapt himself to this abrupt change. But I had the greatest respect for his resourcefulness, and I doubted that any machination now could throw him off the scent. Who knows? I thought, this change may well have been at his instigation. And there were the guards, a total of four given the duty to protect McMillian. Two remained with us, one at either end of the car, arms at their sides. The other two were put in the compartments flanking McMillian’s. I was not able to see how Mycroft Holmes achieved his transfer to this train, but I was certain he had, and that he was riding, probably in another disguise, somewhere aboard.
We were under way in good time, and passed through the whole day and the splendid German countryside of the Rhine Valley, with its well-ordered farms and rolling pastureland now dark from the end-of-harvest plowing, in an uneventful fashion except for the lowering clouds which promised rain during the night. Rain was an inconvenience, and given what I had endured in the last week, I felt that if this was the worst that could be offered, I would be glad of it. I had begun to lose my sense of imminent danger, and gain in its place a vague, ill-defined apprehension which was more difficult to banish for being diffuse in nature. But the afternoon went on, mile after mile, with little to suggest that my anxiety was well founded. I began to hope that we had at last won free of our enemies and that all I would have to contend with would be bad dreams. We would shortly be out of Germany and into the rolling hills of France. So tranquil was our day that by evening, McMillian was growing restive again, needing excitement and distinction, and was casting about for ways to bring attention to himself.
“I want to dine in the lounge car,” McMillian announced when I asked him what I should order for his supper.
“Do you think that is wise, sir?” I inquired, knowing full well it was folly.
“I think I am about to die of boredom here, and that if I do not move about I will run mad. In fact, I would enjoy running mad.” He stretched, and nodded toward the magnificent river valley through which we were traveling, his expression far from admiring. “I can only endure so much of this, and then I want to burn fields, for variety.”
It was tempting to upbraid him for this notion, to point out that his guards were useless here if he went to the lounge car. I began to think it was the drink in the lounge car he sought more than the food or the company of his fellow men. “You have to think about the trouble in Munich. It would be prudent to remain where you are, I think. I could bring you schnapps or brandy, sir, if you would like it.”
“I want to see other men,” he declared, and added with a lascivious wink, “since I cannot have women here.”
“But—” I protested.
“Arrange it, Jeffries. That is what I pay you for.” He would not tolerate more opposition.
“I will speak with your guards, sir,” I said, stifling an urge to castigate this prideful fellow for his vainglorious hunger for the envy of others.
“Very good,” McMillian approved, rubbing his hands together as if he were embarked on a high treat. “I will want two of them to accompany
me to the lounge car. The other two will have to keep watch here. Over my things. They will all have to take their meals later, after I retire for the night.” This last provided him the greatest satisfaction, as if in depriving them, he gained something for himself that was more pleasing than an end to his hunger.
“I will so inform them,” I told him, not looking forward to the response the men would offer.
Nor was I disappointed. “I and Corporal Hirsh will take the duty,” said Corporal Pfosten. “We will see that this courier is protected, in spite of himself.” His bearing was so correct that it was a wonder his spine did not crack.
“I will inform him,” I told Corporal Pfosten. “And if you will allow, sir, I will now go to the lounge car and make appropriate arrangements for you.”
“Very good,” McMillian declared once more. “Get about it, Jeffries. I am about to succumb to ennui.”
“Certainly.” I set off with the hope that a high-ranking member of the railroad staff would forbid this reckless arrangement, making it possible to avoid the whole absurd coil. I had reckoned without the German wish to accommodate superiors. I tried to alert the Germans to the trouble that might result—expressed as my own worry for McMillian—only to be promised that the English Herr’s requirements would be met. In forty minutes it had been agreed that there would be a place for McMillian in the lounge car in half an hour. I returned to report this, making every effort to conceal my frustration and dismay. McMillian was determined to put himself in the way of trouble and I was in no position to prevent this. Worse still, I was none the wiser as to where my true employer had secreted himself this time.
“I will want my dinner jacket, of course. Do get it out, Jeffries. It is in the closet.” McMillian was mightily pleased with himself, and intended to make the most of this opportunity. “For we will sleep in Strasbourg tonight, and then we will truly speed to our destination tomorrow. It is almost over, Jeffries. And then you may be about your business, assuming we do not strike a bargain between us. You will have to take care to watch my baggage tonight while I...” He finished with a flourish of his hand. By which, I was certain, he wanted to take advantage of this chance to be noticed. “Be certain all my things are ready to be carried from the train upon our arrival. And do not suppose you will be allowed to be lax at your post, Jeffries.”
Against the Brotherhood Page 23
