PINNACLE BOOKS NEW YORK (29 page)

"Bank
of England! What have they to do with
this?"

Holmes
admonished me with a waving fore
finger.
"Hear me out, Watson. The Deutsche Bank
has
arranged an option whereby they can
purchase
within the next ten days four
hundred thousand
pounds' worth of gold
bullion now in the vaults of the Bank of England. The gold is
registered in the
name of Burton
Hananish."

"I
have it now," I exclaimed. "The Bank of
England
is acting as a clearing house for Hanan
ish."

"Correct."

"And
the Credit Lyonnais is, in effect, taking out
insurance.
In case Scotland Yard or Sherlock
Holmes
doesn't locate the stolen gold, they've made a deal with the Deutsche
Bank to fulfill their needs."

"Your
grasp of the situation is admirable, Wat
son.
Of course the French made inquiries in bank
ing
circles as to the availability of the amount of
gold
they needed the moment the treasure train
was
robbed. What more natural that they should
contact
the Deutsche Bank? The two nations make a
habit
of snarling at each other but continue to do
business
much like the Greeks and the Turks. But
doesn't
it strike you that Hananish could have
contacted
the Credit Lyonnais directly?"

I
decided to fly the white flag rather than try to
piece
together the point Holmes was making.
"I'm
becoming hopelessly mired. You have in
troduced
major banks of three nations, along with
two
west coast bankers, and there is more backing
and
filling relative to this whole thing than I can
cope
with."

"Exactly
the idea, Watson. Hananish is playing the obstructionist, muddying
his back trail. You mentioned the possibility of Scotland Yard or
Sherlock Holmes locating the stolen
gold. Sherlock
Holmes has located it, or
a major portion of it. It rests in the vaults of the Bank of England,
regis
tered to Hananish."

This
was something I could understand and I
indicated
as much.

Holmes
continued: "When we cut through the
extraneous,
the evidence is sufficient for a pre
sumption
of fact. Hananish, with no previous rec
ord
of dealing in gold, is part of a consortium of
west
coast banks in the Credit Lyonnais deal. The gold is stolen and he
deposits an almost equal sum in the Bank of England under his name.
No men
tion of other banks now."

"Why,
it's open and shut."

"So
our friend at the Red Grouse in Fenley said."

"Then
you intend to move against Hananish?"

"Not
right now. There is a little pressure of time,
but
there are still a few stray threads to be
unraveled.
How did the robbers get the gold from
Brent,
in Essex, to the Bank of England? As knowl
edgeable
a fellow as Dandy Jack the smuggler
couldn't
tell us."

"There
is that," I admitted.

"Also
the thought that the trio of conspirators,
Hananish,
Trelawney, and Michael, may have been
up
to some previous mischief. I'd like to cast light
on
that possibility."

"Reasonable,"
I agreed, as though my opinion
really
mattered.

"Then
there is the presence of Lightfoot, which
does
not rest easy with me."

"It
does with me." Holmes registered some sur
prise
at my strong stand. "Hananish used this
notorious
assassin to wipe out his co-conspirators.
To
further muddy his trail, for they cannot peach on him now. I would
think that he's set the man
after you."

Holmes
startled me by seeming to accept this in
part.
"Hananish did say that he had read those
roman
ticized case histories you
make available, on occa
sion, to the
reading public. He must know of my
. . .
er
. . .
our
excellent
connections in Berlin."

I
interrupted, excitedly. "Surely he is in fear of
exactly
what has happened—your ferreting out the
Credit
Lyonnais-Deutsche Bank-Bank of England
arrangement,
which leads right back to him."

As
Holmes mused on this, I added with convic
tion,
"I'm jolly glad that Burlington Bertie and
Tiny
are on the job. Where have you got them
tucked
away?"

"In
Professor von Krugg's house next door," replied Holmes, his
mind elsewhere. I smiled at this, for Holmes was Professor von Krugg,
the seldom-
seen language expert.

"Slippery
Styles is staked out in the empty house
across
the street," added my friend.

"Good
show, Holmes. For once you are taking
precautions
regarding your safety."

"And
yours, old fellow," he said, rising to his feet.

I
felt a stab of emotion, for he consistently tried
to
do that.
Holmes was standing by the
desk, looking down
at the letter from
his brother.

"Mycroft
added a postscript to this which is
intriguing:
'Am, of a sudden, interested in your
investigation
relative to the Deutsche Bank. Please
keep
me informed.'"

His
eyes swiveled up to meet mine. "Now what has gotten the wind up
with Mycroft relative to the
German
banking institution?"

"I
certainly don't know, but we've gone around
and
around on this matter and there are a couple of
points
you can clear up."

Holmes
crossed to the mantle in search of a pipe.
"I'm
at your service."

"About
Ledger. He's an imposter. What are you
going
to do about it?"

"I
really don't know. If he's sincere in lending aid,
he's
much better situated to investigate the hired marksmen than we are.
As regards his assuming
the identity of
Richard Ledger, I'm not at all sure
that
has any connection with the train robbery."

I
allowed the matter to rest there and pursued
another
thought that had been tantalizing me.
"It
is past history, Holmes, but how did you show
up
so opportunely on that river tug?"

My
friend smiled. "As though by divine provi
dence?
But think a moment, Watson, and all is
clear.
You are spirited away on the river road
leaving
an obvious trail, which Orloff promptly
picked
up. On my return to the Red Grouse Inn I learned what Orloff had and,
in addition, that he was in hot pursuit. With the thought that he
could
handle anything that came his way,
I chose to
survey the area by water.
Your captors might have
tried to spirit
you away via the river, you know?"

Finally
satisfied on this point, I found myself
suddenly
at a loss for words. Holmes sensed my
mood.
"Come aloft,
^*
Watson," he cried. "A good dinner,
a
bottle of wine, and conversation removed from
this
business at hand. 'Twill lead to clear minds for
the
busy times ahead."

^*
An
unusual expression for Holmes. Of naval origin and meaning "Let's
enjoy ourselves." The great detective does use it in conjunction
with a
bottle of wine, and the
expression is thought to have been associated with
"high
with wine," though it is doubtful that Holmes was suggesting
that
he and his confrere get stoned.

Chapter
14

The
Unanticipated Fact

WHEN
I descended from my bedchamber the
following
morning, I found Holmes at breakfast
and
in good spirits. He waved a cablegram at me as
I
poured my coffee.

"I
was about to call you, good fellow, for we will
have
visitors shortly."

"Not
that Lightfoot, I trust," I mumbled, pouring
thick
Devonshire cream into my cup.

"There
is no report on Moriarty's former hench
man,
but Orloff will be with us, along with our ally
in
Fenley."

I
had not as yet sampled my morning eye-opener,
which
was unfortunate. "Wallingford?" I ex
claimed,
and could have bit my lips in vexation, for
I
had let the cat out for fair.

Holmes
was way ahead of me. "Do not be
concerned,
Watson. During our last meeting at the
Red
Grouse, you treated the man's words with
unusual
deference and I deduced that you knew his
true
identity."

"Holmes,
I did not mean to pry . .
." I
began,
shamefaced.

"Tut,
tut. You must have found out from Orloff,
for
he is the only one involved that knows. Anyone
who
can extract information from our security
agent
friend does not deserve censure from me, but
rather
warrants admiration."

Considerably
buoyed by these words, I attacked
my
morning meal with gusto. Holmes did provide a
codicil
to his sporting statement.
"For his
peace of mind, let us not refer to Mr.
Wallingford
by his name."

"I
understand," I replied, munching on one of
Mrs.
Hudson's really superior scones.

It
was shortly after the vestiges of our breakfast were cleared away
that the security agent and the
former
confidence man arrived.

To
my surprise I learned that they had come from
Shaw.
I had assumed that they both arrived on our
doorstep
from Gloucester, but the reasons became
obvious
as the meeting of minds progressed.

The
American was as buoyant as the last time I had seen him, and he
obviously felt that his labors
had born
fruit.

"I
think I've got it, Mr. Holmes. How it all
started,
I mean. Your suggestion that I run a
parallel
investigation on Ezariah Trelawney was
what
gave me the key. Also that constable, Bennett
by
name, took your cable to heart and opened a lot
of
doors for me."

"Good
man," commented Holmes.

"Trelawney,
after his army service, returned to
Shaw
and went to work at the bank. He was good at
his
job. Shaw is a small place, and his advance
ment
was rapid. Now the bank made a practice of
keeping
a supply of gold on hand. It dated back to
the
Napoleonic wars. They had to get a courier to Stockholm, Sweden, and
it was at that time that a
false rumor
spread over England that the French
fleet
had triumphed at Trafalgar and Nelson had
been
defeated. There was widespread panic. In
times
like that, paper doesn't talk. The Shaw Bank
did
not have sufficient gold available to tempt a
merchant
skipper to carry their man to Sweden,
and
whatever the deal was, it fell through. So a
policy
was established to have a certain amount of gold, sovereigns or
whatever, on hand at all times. Modern business methods antiquated
this idea, but
it had produced a
favorable climate with de
positors.
Shaw is an agrarian area, and people
close
to the land tend to think in basics. Floods, frosts, pestilence, and
the like. The fact that the
Shaw Bank
kept gold in its vaults led to its gaining
a
considerable reputation as being sound and
conservative."