The Day of the Toymaker

by Clay Moore

  “All this talk about the wedding. We have no idea where Evangeline is. There’s going to be a general meeting of the special agents with the Director later on today.”

  Rowena closed the Audubon book and put it back on the lockable bookcase behind her desk. She turned back around. She had a concerned look on her face.

  “That means that you, Gladys and William are probably going to go out and look for her.”

  “Don’t borrow anxiety. We may not be sent out to search for her. When we find her, then you can get a little anxious.”

  Thomas sounded so much like a brother right there. He loved both of his little sisters. The sisters rarely ganged up against him. They thought the world of him just as he felt the world of them. That’s what drove him to make sure that their choices in a mate were appropriate. That was why he was so glad when Rowena fell for William. Now he had to go to this meeting with the Director.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Where is the New toymaker?

  *****

  THE BRIEFING ROOM was packed with every available Secret Service agent. William, Thomas, and Gladys stood together. In every organization, there was a group of super-performers. Those three were the exemplar of a secret service agent. Gladys was lumped in there because she started to hang around William and Thomas. She managed to pick up quite a bit of talent. Thomas took her shooting in the shooting gallery. William worked on her physical strength. He also taught her more than just the rudiment of judo. It got to the point where William was actually really thrown by her.

  The Director of the Secret Service walked into the briefing room and seemed staggered by seeing all of the agents. He walked up to the podium and put his notes on the lectern.

  “As you all know, our defense of the White House was successful. The president sends his thanks for a job well done. As you know, our job is not done. The criminal who calls herself Evangeline is still on the loose. We must find her and her secret workshop. Until we do, she will continue to be sending waves of clockworks after us. We must destroy her and her studio before this can happen again.

  “All of the agents that have contacts in the cities you are to go out and work those contacts. But now each and every one of you has a voicebox that you can use to call us as soon as you find out.

  “When you find out where she is, you cannot approach her or go looking for her. You must report in. Even Thomas, William, and Gladys must call in before they try anything. I don’t want us to go off half-cocked. I want us to trap this bitch and capture her if we can. No one assaults the White House and gets away with it.

  “William, I think you spent a couple hours with her. Perhaps you can say a few words. Let us know what we are dealing with.”

  William walked to the podium. He stepped up and looked out amongst all the special agents.

  “This is a new kind of clockwork. We are used to the toys. Everyone has seen the monkey that clangs its cymbals together until you hit it on the head. This is something different this appears to be a woman about 18 years of age. Her face has facial expressions. While I was hanging from their workshop ceiling, I talked with her about a lot of subjects. She was able to hold an intelligent conversation with me. Only twice did she pause as if she was consulting some sort of internal book, if you will.”

  “Is she super-smart?”

  “Thomas?”

  Thomas stood and grab the ends of his coat with both hands. Looking like he was an orator, he said, “Let’s not call it intelligence. Instead, let’s call it Book learning. I believe that she has quite a few books memorized in what passes for her memory. She can consult these books at any moment; She can read through them extremely quickly. William has said that these pauses were like four or five seconds. Can you read through the entire book in four or five-seconds? That is her advantage. She can think faster than us. Our strength is that we can improvise. Do something that seems to be illogical.

  “One last thing I want to emphasize. Evangeline has the total knowledge of her father. We’re seeing that in the fact that she is not using the skin anymore. What we are seeing is just the Armature. If we allow her enough time it could be possible for her to put some kind of armor on her automaton. That would make the pistols useless.”

  “Thank you, Thomas, for that scary Report. I saw evidence of this automata’s capability. If we do not nip this in the bud, she may go to the ground and build up her forces again. This time she will have seen our electro guns in operation. She might make that kind of weaponry available to her automata.

  “I want to emphasize what the director said concerning not attacking her. If you go down and you find her and you attacked her in her new workshop, she would just move it again and will lose the trace. I want us together and that means to surround her and not allow her to leave.”

  Another secret service agent raised his hand and was recognized by William.

  “Where do you expect to find her?”

  “I don’t expect to find her in any kind of building on top of the ground. Making her workshop in a dilapidated warehouse will get her noticed, especially if they start working on things in the evening. Her safest position is to have her studio underground. This house would be an excellent place for her if she knew about it. She has two large Spaces to build her workshop.

  “No, I’m a little different thinker when it comes to strategy. I would actually set up my workshops in the basement underneath the White House. I don’t think Evangeline is that kind of a strategist. She’s going to want to put as much distance between her former workshop and the current one as she could possibly do.

  “She’s going to need money. I would start looking for unusual thefts. They will be out right stealing of money. They may also do Second story work. I don’t know how good they are at opening safes but we could find that jewelry will be another item. Goodness knows is enough fences in Washington DC. Most of those fences have arrangements with other underworld gangs in other cities. We need to keep an eye out for these kinds of things. She may decide to actually go ahead and get the raw material through theft. Does anybody else have any kind of thoughts?”

  The director took the podium from William; William walked back to Gladys and Thomas. Thomas whispered to William.

  “I think she will start by stealing the raw material. It’s easier. It’s the most direct way. When she has a chance to make more sophisticated toys in town, and she can do things like steal jewelry. Jewelry is a two-step process. You steal the jewels and then you sell them to a fence. You use the money to buy your raw Materials.”

  “I see you thinking, and I agree with it. Evangeline is going to be underground. And we’re going to see theft of raw materials.

  “There is something that I want to try. I want to run it by you and then help you build it. In order for her to be able to talk to every single one of her automaton she had to have wireless. Now that is energy. Could we look for that energy?”

  Thomas took off his hat and scratched his head and put his hat back on. “sometimes William you surprise me. Yes, we can search for that energy. The problem is making the device small enough to be carried.”

  “What about your electrical Instruments? They are all very small and they can measure some very small current, or voltage.”

  “You are indeed a very resourceful and observant police officer. Yes, my electrical instruments could be the basis of some of these wireless instruments. I can do without three of the devices I’ve made so we can re-purposed those. The problem is is the frequency. In order to check to see if they exist we have to be able to pick up their frequency.”

  “Could she pick up some of the supplies from the hardware store.”

  “You’re talking about a gadgeteer’s hardware store. There are only two of those in Washington DC.”

  “Then you and I are going shopping.”

  After telling the Director what they wanted to do, they each went to their respective fiancé. William already knew that Rowena had a little problem when he went and did things
that people would call heroic.

  William went to the library and stood before her desk. She looked up at her tall fiancé.

  “Oh, William, you have to do something again?”

  “Evangeline still is out there. We have to find her and stop her.”

  “Why do you have to be so damn courageous?”

  “Would you want me to be a coward?”

  “No. You would not be William if you were a coward. Will you let me be a coward for you?”

  William traced the line of her jaw with his right forefinger. She delighted in his touch.

  “All we’re going to do is ask questions. Hey, we’re going to a store.”

  “Has to be one of Thomas’ gadgeteer stores.”

  “There are only two of these kinds of stores in Washington DC. I think that might change in a year. It seems that a lot of articles are coming out of Washington DC written by Doctor Thomas Derek. This might be the place to be if you are gadgeteer.”

  “Be especially careful. I don’t want you to be recovering from a wound when you go pick my mother up. Do you have the use of the airship?”

  “I asked the Director, and he told me that the Captain of the airship thought it would be an excellent shakedown of the ship. The ship will be made available on the correct date. Can you stand to have your sister and your mother together for more than a couple of weeks.”

  Rowena smiled. “Yes, I can stand to have my sister and my mother for that long.”

  William stayed to do a little more touching of Rowena. No one else was in the library, which was the perfect chance for him to do some above-board touching.

  Thomas was easier to deal with because Gladys was going to come with them. Thomas was glad to have William because William was an expert on the clockwork motorbike. He built everything that he could into the bike. Thomas was surprised to find himself being the assistant. He was flabbergasted to find out that William actually changed the design somewhat of both motorbikes. The new arrangement of items on these motorbikes made working on them more comfortable.

  “We’re going to go to two of the gadgeteer shops in town to ask some questions. I think it might be an awful bore for you.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  Thomas knew that he was in for it now. She hated to be talked down to, and she spent as much time as William has as Thomas’s assistant.

  “I’m sorry I said that. I know I am assuming something. If you want to come, you can. I think William made you a steel steed. Riding a clockwork motorbike can be damaging to your skirts.”

  “I’ll wear my jodhpurs and shirt. Let’s go see what these stores can tell us.”

  William, Thomas, and Gladys met in the first basement. Here was the garage for the clockwork motorbikes. William had tried to get Rowena to enjoy the possibility of riding one of these. She still thought that she would instead enjoy riding in a carriage. That started William thinking. Too much of Thomas had rubbed off on William.

  “The clientele of these places are not criminals for the most part. That means we have got to go in there as if we are customers. I think Thomas is a customer in both of these places. I have a project that I want to build so I’ll be looking for some actual things that I might only be able to get from these stores.”

  “what are you going to build?”

  “it’s an idea I have to help someone in her work. I was thinking that this would be a perfect father and son project. He will be building a gadgeteer device for his mother to use in the library. If anyone can appreciate gadgeteer device it would be Rowena.”

  “Involving Johnny is a master stroke. You still haven’t told me what it is?”

  “You and Rowena are almost sisters. Something that I want to do for her will not long be a secret.”

  “How dare you, William Hazard, tell the truth about me. At least I get to be just as surprised as Rowena will be when you present it to her. When will you do this. I’m on other things it is one of my wedding gifts to her. It is completely designed by me. Both of the men in her Life are going to put it together.”

  “OK, boss. I understand what you want me to do in the stores. You want me to kind of walk around and be female. Most of the men in that store will be following me with their eyes.”

  “They may follow you with their eyes, but that will end once they see that you are carrying a pistol.”

  Thomas came up to where they were standing in the parlor. For this trip, they were not going to be taking the clockwork motorbikes. They were going to be taking one of the broughams. Apparently, Thomas has an extensive shopping list.

  Thomas got up and grab the reins of the horse. He hooked up the horse and was trotting on his way.

  They decided to stop at the closest gadgeteer store. They open the door and heard it ring like at all stores to warn the proprietor that somebody was coming into the showroom. William went up to the counter. The proprietor was standing in his shop apron. He had on a pair of glasses that had lenses attached to a swivel. The lenses could be brought down and thereby provide Close in binocular vision.

  William took out his paper that he had written a shopping list on. He handed that paper to the Shopkeeper.

  “I see you have the motor. I see you want an assortment of levers and connections between those levers in the drive lever. Are you electrifying a typewriter?”

  “I thought I had this idea myself.”

  “There has been a lot of people with the idea but you’re going about this in the way I think will work. If you do get it to work you should patent it right away.”

  “do you have everything in my list?”

  “yes I have everything that you want I can put them all together in a bag. But I want to make sure you have everything else you’re going to need a source of power, electrical power.”

  “The Man next to me is Dr. Thomas Derek. You could say here’s one of you. I helped him develop a more efficient clockwork winding mechanism. We’re going to attach that to a generator that we’ve developed and it will provide the electrical power.”

  “How long does this System work?”

  “Eight hours with a heavy load.”

  “What is your heavy load.”

  “That would be me going 140 miles an hour.”

  “Then I would think that all she would have to do is wind it up once in the morning and she could type all day. Let me go get your parts.”

  “How do you know that it is a she that will be using the typewriter?”

  The shop proprietor turned around. “Women have been taking over clerical work.

  Then it hit William. Almost all of the clerical staff are no longer men, but women. Then war took the men away. Women had to step up to keep the wheels of enterprise continuing. The proprietor came back with a paper sack; He sat in front of William. William poured out the contents on the counter. Everything William asked for was there. The Storeowner even thought to provide a winding key for the clockwork.

  “Will you put all of his parts back into the Brown paper bag.” He leaned in towards the shop proprietor and whispered, “I might wonder if you could tell me about one of your customers?”

  “I thought that you both including that woman there were a little too pat. All three of you carrying a weapon openly that is something that only a few civilians do, and most of all are policemen.”

  William ignored his implication. “I thought you might have somebody that wanted wireless frequency coils, a lot of them.”

  “Now that you mention it. There was a guy who came in a robe with a hood. The hood was drawn over his head. I couldn’t see his face clearly. He wanted two thousand wireless frequency coils. That would’ve taken all of my wireless frequency coils. It would be probably another month before I could get another shipment in.”

  “Did he take the coils with him?”

  “no, he wanted them delivered to a certain spot. The address of something like the third manhole cover from XYZ corner.”

  “Did you write down the address on a bill of
sale?”

  “Of course I did. I’m not a brand new shopkeeper. I had to have something for the delivery person. Let me get my copy.”

  The Shopkeeper came back with a copy of the Bill of sale. Very clearly was written the unusual address; They had moved only 200 yards from their original position. William wrote in his notebook the address. Then he put out the money for the parts for his special surprise for Rowena.

  Thomas talked to the proprietor, and pretty soon, a box full of his parts he was going to need for his next primary device appeared on the counter.

  Gladys came out of that situation feeling like the third wheel. They really did not need her help. She wondered what she could’ve done to make it easier, but she couldn’t think of anything. She understood that they would ask her if they needed her. All she did was horn in on Brother-time.

  She just did not want to be left out because she was a woman. Many times in her life, she wished she were a man. Then when Thomas made love to her, she wouldn’t push for anything other than to be a woman. She heard of this called the tomboy dilemma. She could either be one of the boys or be a girl.

  Most of her current girlfriends are Secret service special agents. The girls came together to reinforce their femininity. Some of them are making this big mistake of trying to be or outdo the boys. She liked working with William and Thomas. They took her at face value. She said she was a secret service agent, and they accepted that.

  The things she feared the most was being the cause of these two men’s death. That was why she took up Williams offer to shoot at his range more often. That was why she also took up his offer to teach her martial art. She was fast becoming more than a third gun. They actually asked her opinion on things. The one thing that she could not do was join the brother-in-arms dynamic that existed between William and Thomas. She just couldn’t do it. She didn’t have the proper equipment between her legs.

  They took the brougham back to the mansion. William, Gladys, and ThomasThey deposited the parts that they needed into Thomas’s laboratory. Then they went up to the library.