PINNACLE BOOKS NEW YORK (7 page)

It
was Claymore Frisbee who sat in the client's
chair
when Billy ushered us into our chambers. The
president
of Inter-Ocean Trust had had dealings with the great sleuth before
and good reason to
consult with him when
troubled.

After
cordial greetings and a minimum of small talk, Frisbee accepted my
offer of liquid refresh
ment and got
to the matter at hand.
"It is this
gold bullion robbery, Holmes."

My
friend's good-natured expression was
promptly
erased. Before he could comment, Fris
bee
beat him to the punch, no mean feat.

"I
know of your meeting with Chasseur, but hear
me
out. You have to, you know," added the banker
with
a smile.

Curiosity
struggled with the hauteur in Holmes'
manner.
"How so?"

"Have
I not heard you say that to prejudge is the
mark
of a fool?"

Suddenly
the sleuth chortled, something he did
more
often than people thought. "You have me there. Hoist on mine own
petard. Let's hear your
tale."

Holmes
stirred up the fire in the grate with the
poker
and then seated himself in the cane-backed chair, his long, sensitive
fingers steepled together
and his manner
that of cordial attention.

"A
special train of the Birmingham and Northern
was
routed to Great Yarmouth with a load of gold bullion to be shipped to
France," stated the banker,
accepting
a glass from me. Knowing Holmes'
habit
of devouring the daily journals, he added,
"I'm
sure you're aware of the basic facts."

"Let
us benefit by complete coverage," suggested
Holmes,
"including your involvement."

"I'll
get to that," replied the banker. "There was half a million
pounds on the B & N flyer and the
line
took elaborate precautions, but the robbery
caught
them by surprise."

Frisbee
must have sensed a thought in Holmes' mind, for he paused in his
narration and the sleuth
did fill the
void.
"I can't see why. Of all the
articles of value used
as a means of
exchange, gold is the most anony
mous.
It lacks the serial numbers of currency and is
devoid
of geographical characteristics." My eyebrows must have
elevated and the sleuth elaborated. "Gold mined in Australia or
Russia is not a smidgen different from that found in Canada, the
United States, or Africa. Nor does it matter how it
is
secured. Mined gold, panned gold, hydraulic
gold,
flotation gold; it is all the same. What sur
prises
me is that more attempts are not made to
steal
it."

"Well,
it is a mite heavy," said Frisbee, "and
not
available in large quantities outside of bank
vaults."

"It
was in this case," I said, taking my drink to
the
settee.

"An
unusual situation," conceded the banker.
"The
precious metal was to be shipped to the Credit Lyonnais in France.
They have an issue of gold-
bearing bonds
coming due, and ever since their
unfortunate
investment in that Netherlands-
Sumatra
swindle, there has been talk about their
solidarity.
The financial firm anticipated a con
siderable
run on the bonds at due date with
demands
for payment in gold, so they strengthened
their
reserves by arranging a loan from a syndicate
of
our west coast banks that were well supplied. The metal was shipped
to London from the banks
involved and
then placed upon the B & N special
train.
The B & N now employs one Richard Ledger
for
matters of this sort."

"I
don't know his record," interjected Holmes.

"Former
army. Service in India. He sold his
commission
and was taken on by the Kimberly
interests
as a security man. Comes well recom
mended.
Ledger planned the shipment rather like a
military
campaign. He arranged for the flyer to
make
the run from London to Great Yarmouth non
stop.
He had a solo locomotive out ahead of the
train
to prevent tampering with the tracks."

"With
a means of communication should the
advance
engine come upon something, I assume,"
said
Holmes, his attention definitely caught at this
point
in the story.

"A
signal rocket," said Frisbee. "The treasure
train
consisted of an engine and two boxcars, with
the
gold in the second one, though that was a
carefully
guarded secret. On the roof of the first
boxcar,
Ledger had constructed a miniature block
house
with steel plating on the outside and slotted windows. Not a large
affair, since he had to figure bridge clearances, but serviceable. In
it he had four marksmen whom he trained himself. Ledger has a
considerable reputation as a dead shot."

"So
we were told," I commented, and then
wondered
why I had spoken at all.

The
banker continued: "The marksmen had an
uninterrupted
view of the sides and rear of the
train,
and Ledger stated that it was impossible for
anyone
to board the flyer once she was under way."

"A
miscalculation, it would seem," said Holmes in a thoughtful
manner. "These riflemen could not
see
the rear of the train from their fortified posi
tion,
I would judge."

"No,"
replied Frisbee, "but the flyer never traveled at less than
thirty miles per hour once clear of
the
B & N yards. To get to the rear of the second boxcar, hijackers
would have had to approach from
one side
of the track or the other and been plainly
visible."

"The
entire trip being made during daylight?" I queried.

"It
was planned that way."

Holmes
rose suddenly and took a turn around the
room,
going over the matter with his quicksilver mind. Then he returned to
the mantle and gazed
moodily into the
hearth fire.
"You might well take a
shot at the newspaper
game should
banking ever bore you. You've de
scribed
the matter far better than the journals."

"With
more information," replied Frisbee mod
estly.

"What
happened?" I asked, on tenterhooks.

"The
bullion train was two hours outside of
London
and on an upgrade when suddenly smoke
bombs
were thrust through the slits in the rifle
men's
cubicle. They were blinded by the fumes and
so
choked that they could not even shout for help."

"And
there being but one exit from their position,
they
were trapped within." The banker nodded in
agreement
with Holmes' remark, and the sleuth
threw
me a
glance.

"Static
warfare. Ineffective in modern times,
Watson.
The old feudal castles served their purpose
but
are antiquated now as is the entire enclave
theory."

"But
we're not discussing a military campaign,"
I
remonstrated.

"The
defense of the train was planned like one,
and
I would say the robbery had overtones of army tactics as well. In any
case, we have the guard
hors
de
combat
momentarily . . ."
Holmes turned sud
denly toward
Frisbee. "Was there any attempt to
eliminate
the riflemen?"

"None,"
replied the banker. "Whoever used the
smoke
bombs, and it had to be more than one
person,
effectively jammed the half-door leading into the armored cubicle and
went about their
business."

"Which
was?" queried Holmes.

"They
disengaged the rear boxcar from the
train."

"You
mentioned that this happened on an upgrade. The train continued
up the slope and the
boxcar rolled back
down the track in the opposite
direction."

"Fiendishly
clever, wasn't it?" said Frisbee. "At the foot of the grade
there was a stretch of level ground and an unused spur line. The
boxcar rolled
along until it came to the
spur, which the thieves
had switched. It
then followed the feeder track
until it
came to a stop of its own volition some
distance
from the main line. There were marks of a
wagon
and horses there, and obviously they trans
ferred
the gold from the boxcar and made their
escape."

"Aided,
I judge," mused Holmes, "by the fact that
it
took some time to discover how they made use of
the
abandoned spur line."

"That
did slow up the pursuit," said Frisbee. "As
soon
as the robbery was made known to the engine
driver
and fireman, the locomotive went into reverse and there were
signals all up and down the line. By the time they reached the
station between
the scene of the robbery
and London, it was
obvious that the
missing boxcar had not come that
way.
Then someone recalled the old spur line, and
the
local constables, augmented by railway police, hurried back to it. By
that time the wagon and the
hijackers
were long gone. Neighboring villages
were
alerted but nothing came of it."

Holmes
had taken his cherrywood from the
mantle
and stuffed it with shag. Now he ignited it and puffed furiously.
"Anyone," he said finally, "who could plan a theft so
meticulously would not
leave the
disposition of the loot to chance."

He
resumed his seat in the cane-back, gazing into
the
embers of the hearth fire. "See how they chose the place to
strike. An upgrade, which would slow
down
the engine, but more important, bring the
law
of gravity into play. The rate of acceleration of
the
stolen boxcar had to be judged carefully. Too
fast
and it would derail itself. Too slow and it might
not
gain the momentum to carry it to the spur line and beyond. You did
indicate that the railway car was found some distance from the main
line, did
you not?" he asked of
Frisbee.

The
banker nodded.

Holmes
laid aside his pipe, and I sensed that he
would
embark on one of the recapitulations that he
found
so helpful. I was right.
"Two men
at least reached the roof of the first
boxcar.
You mentioned smoke bombs, so I assume
they
were thrust through the rifle slots of the
mobile
blockhouse simultaneously and from both
sides."

Again
Frisbee agreed.

"With
the riflemen temporarily out of action,
they
made their way to the rear of the boxcar and lowered themselves to
disengage their prize from
the rest of
the train. Having uncoupled the connec
tion,
no difficult feat, they were now rolling down
grade
with the freed bullion carrier. What would
have
been their next move?"