Depth of Deception (A Titanic Murder Mystery) (24 page)

"
Not that Lord Advocate,
"
interjected Janna.
"
Alexander Ur.
"

"
Who?
"

"
The Lord Advocate in 1909,
"
she replied matter of factly.

"
What if I get James?
"

"
There is also a royal seal,
"
sighed Janna.

"
What?
"

"
It cannot be opened until 2000.
"

He was about to say something but de Kirkhaugh knew that Janna was at the very bottom of the ladder. She had no authority to go against orders. Even if the orders were absurd and given fifty years before she was born.
"
Thank you Janna. I’ll make some inquiries.
"

"
I’m sorry. Bye, sir,
"
she whispered. Then he heard her hang up the phone.

De Kirkhaugh sighed as he replaced the receiver on his phone. The light on ‘line 3’ stayed illuminated for a moment longer, then went off. De Kirkhaugh stared at it for a moment. He picked up the phone receiver again and watched the light illuminate, then hung it up again. The light went out instantly… as it should. Which meant someone else in the department had been listening to the whole conversation.

Chapter
XXIX

"
Looks like we’re getting a nasty blizzard
. M
ind if I stay the night here?
"
Roger asked.

"
Not at all,
"
replied Edward as he poured himself another drink.
"
We have plenty of spare guest rooms.
"

Numbly, Edward looked about. So many memories in this old lake house. It had been in the family for generations, but now Edward knew that the family line was going to die out soon.

Roger’s nasal voice penetrated Edward’s melancholy.
"
I wasn’t going to tell you this, but that woman was arrested yesterday.
"

"
Myra?
"
said Edward. He didn’t know what else to call her.

"
Yes, she was causing quite a scene in Straus Park.
"

Edward stopped in mid-pour,
"
Straus Park? You mean at 106th and Broadway?
"

"
Yes, according to my contact down at the 27th precinct,
"
Roger took a gulp from his drink.
"
She was screaming and carrying on about some church, and that she was Myra Hoffman and her house used to be there. She’s a dangerous woman, Edward. She needs serious help.
"

Edward had set his carafe onto the side table and sank down in the nearby overstuffed chair, his head spinning. He murmured softly,
"
Our house was there.
"

"
What?
"

"
We used to live there,
"
Edward said, his voice seemed distant as if pulled away with the memory.
"
When it was still Bloomingdale Square, we lived next door to the Strauses. Our houses were bought and torn down by that developer… what’s his name?
"

Edward snapped his fingers as he tried to recall the name. It seemed to snap him back to the present.
"
He did all that Upper East Side development in the 1920’s.
"

Roger’s face seemed to strain trying to recall,
"
Um… Ship… no
,
it was Schiff?
"

"
That’s right
!
"
Edward exclaimed.
"
Harry Schiff. He built the Cleburne Building where our houses had been. Both Isador and Ida went down with the
Titanic
, and that triangular park was renamed Straus Park in their memory. There was a church there, I was baptized there, but it closed down in 1913.
"

"
You knew the Strauses?
"
asked Roger as he poured yet another drink.
"
You should write a book! Who else did you know?
"

"
Oh well… our family was well connected with the high society. Well, before
Titanic
at least.
"
Edward sighed, staring at the model of the ship.
"
After the sinking, Mother became reclusive and we moved to California, then to England, but over the years I’ve met many people who had fond memories of my mother before
Titanic
. People like George M. Cohen, The Carnegie family, we even knew Guglielmo Marconi.
"

"
Who?
"
asked Roger as he sat down in the opposite chair.

"
He developed the wireless radio system,
"
Edward said understatedly.
"
He told me that my mother had been a chief investor in the Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company, and I was told that I learned Morse Code before ….I could speak…
"

Tapping!
Suddenly Edward’s mind began to reel. It was there all along. Nagging at his subconscious mind. The tapping of her finger on the table… and the soothing rhythmic tapping on his shoulder. Just like when he was a baby.

_ _ _

Natalie hung up the phone with the clinic in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. They had never heard of Mary or Ian Kybartis. All the paperwork that Ian Kybartis had presented to her had been forged documents!
How could I
have been so stupid?
In retrospect there were signs that something hadn’t been right. Natalie’s own gut instinct told her something was wrong at the time and she’d ignored it. Natalie felt awash in feelings of guilt
. Did she ignore the signs because she was hoping to pass the problem off to someone else?

Natalie forced herself to refocus. Dwelling on her missed observations was not going to help the situation. The first priority was to get Myra back safe and sound.

Red-faced, she was about to call the police when she noticed the message light flashing on her answering machine. She was going to check it after she called the police but her gut instinct told her to check it now. She wasn’t going to ignore her instinct again.

She pressed ‘play’ after the tape rewound. The machine clicked and from the tiny speaker she heard,
"
… Looks like it’s starting to snow…
"

Natalie recognized Ian’s brash voice and pursed her lips in distaste.

Then she could hear a loud tapping. She knew that sound. It was that nervous habit of Myra’s.
Why was she doing that now?
It would drown out their words.

Natalie jumped at the sound of her own phone ringing. She pressed ‘stop’ and answered the phone as the answering machine was no longer pre-set.

"
Dr. Lindsay speaking.
"

"
Dr. Lindsay, I’m glad you’re still there,
"
the familiar voice said from the receiver.
"
It’s Edward. Edward Hoffman….
"

"
Yes, Edward, hello. I recognized your voice,
"
she was surprised as he was the last person she expected to hear from today.

"
Can I speak to Myra?
"
he implored. His voice sounded urgent.

"
I’m afraid she’s gone,
"
said Natalie and with trepidation added
,
"
Someone has taken her.
"

"
Who?
"

Natalie suddenly found herself rambling about Ian, the locket, the Laudanum poisoning and the scar. She must have sounded like a complete idiot to Edward.

"
Dr. Lindsay,
"
Edward interrupted.
"
We’ll find her. I have friends in the Bureau. They won’t get too far. Certainly not across any border.
"

"
I hope not,
"
Natalie said,
"
But I have my doubts that they’re actually heading to the Canadian border.
"

"
I have to ask something…
"
Edward’s voice sounded hesitant.
"
It may sound crazy, but… did you ever notice Myra tapping her finger
in a sort of rhythmic pattern?"

"
Funny you should ask,
"
replied Natalie as she glanced back to her machine.
"
She’s just left me a phone message with nothing but that tapping.
"

"
Let me hear it!
"
exclaimed Edward.

"
Hold on, let me rewind,
"
she said, then held the phone receiver to the answering machine speaker.

. . .

Edward quickly grabbed the notepad next to the phone, clicked the pen and started to write… or tried to write. The damn pen didn’t work. He snapped his fingers at Roger.
"
I need a pen!
"

Roger reached into his coat pocket and tossed Edward his pen. It worked!

Through the phone receiver Edward now heard the tape rewind, then a man’s voice saying something about snow, then the tapping started. Very loud and very clear.

As he listened, Edward started to translate what he heard. He didn’t seem to notice that he was speaking along with the taps.
"
Di-di di-dah dah-dah di-dit dah-dit dah-di-dit di-dah dah-dit dah-dah-di dit di-dah-dit.
"

Roger stared at Edward as if he had lost his mind. Then he glanced down at the paper his friend was writing on and read:
I am in danger.

Chapter
XXX

Myra awoke to find that her head hurt. Had she hit her head on the dashboard?

She heard a low guttural moan. She looked over and saw Ian slumped over the steering wheel, starting to regain consciousness. This was her chance! She opened the car door and started running into the cold wilderness.

She shielded her face from the blowing snow as she tried to get her bearings. She knew this area. She hadn’t realized where they were until about a mile ago, when they went into a tunnel built through the familiar reddish-blackish dolerite of West Rock. If she was right, her family owned a lake house nearby. Nothing else looked familiar. Each snow-covered tree looked like the next. Her grandfather used to take her and her cousins on sleigh rides through the woods, and during the summer she would climb
The Three Judges
cave, sit up top and see for miles. If only she could spot that cave to get her bearings, but at the moment she could not see anything. The blizzard was getting worse.

BLAM

A gunshot echoed through the trees. She glanced back to see Ian charging towards her. She continued to run towards the trees.

BLAM

Bloody hell!
She should have taken the gun while he was still unconscious!

As she ran, she glanced back to see Ian struggling in the snow. It just occurred to her that, without a coat, she should be freezing, but oddly enough, it didn’t seem that cold to her. This in itself could be a bad sign.

BLAM

The bark on the tree next to her head exploded.
Too close!

Myra continued to scurry through the snow. Something looked familiar.
This rock formation… wasn’t there a pond here?

CRACK!

She felt the ice crack beneath her feet. Yes indeed, she had found the pond.

Another shot!

For a brief moment Myra considered which way she would rather die: by giving up and getting shot, or by making the effort to get away and risk falling through the ice. Icy waters were nothing new to her. She took a deep breath and started across the river.

CRACK!

Instinctively she slowed down to walk across the ice even though she knew Ian was getting closer.

C-R-R-A-A-A-C-K-K!

This one was different. She looked back to see Ian had reached the
pond
and had started across. Myra shuffled her feet as she tried to quicken her pace.

"
Stop!
"