Unobtainium 1: Kate on a Hot Tin Roof Page 9

  The flare of light was so bright all of them shaded their eyes from it even though they were looking through darkened glass. It had a bright, scarlet colouration overlaying a brilliant white, and it burned for several seconds, the heat reaching them even from several feet away. When it finally died away, it left the slab of rock still glowing a dull red.

  ‘That is the scent,’ Kate said, sniffing at the air.

  ‘Even I can detect some hint of garlic,’ Antonia confirmed. ‘What is that material, Charles?’

  ‘That is Vulcanium.’

  ‘Something to do with Vulcanite? The explosive you created for the Navy?’

  ‘A cousin, if you will. Vulcanite produces a far more violent and immediate reaction when triggered. Vulcanium was an attempt to produce a cheaper explosive. I reduced the proportion of Unobtainium considerably, and added magnesium and phosphorus as initiators. The last of those is what gives it that scent. Unfortunately, as you can see, the result was less than explosive, though it is very destructive. I shelved the project and the Navy has to pay more to blow up a city with but a single shell.’

  ‘I believe such an act should cost them a considerable amount. But you are suggesting that this material was used to free Cooper?’

  ‘You saw the evidence. With Vulcanium’s explosive properties of no use I researched other uses for it. One of these was cutting and drilling hard rock, but it is too expensive to manufacture to make that viable. I shelved it completely, and literally.’ He pointed up at the brown bottle. ‘There are six ounces in there and, as far as I was aware, no more in the world. Someone, and it cannot have been Cooper, used several pounds of it to free him.’

  ‘You’ll forgive me, Charles, but I believe I am detecting a pattern. Is not Kate saturated with an isotope of your Wonder Metal that is not supposed to exist beyond the few ounces held in vaults as well?’

  ‘That fact has not escaped me, Mrs Wooster. Vulcanium and Vulcanite are made from two-five-seven, but the release of that is strictly controlled, and I thought myself the only person with the knowledge to make this incendiary mixture. It appears that someone has access to both that knowledge and to large quantities of Unobtainium.’

  ‘And now they have my father,’ Kate said. ‘I cannot think that this will lead to anything good.’

  Enfield, 29th July.

  Antonia sank herself into the zone of quiet she assumed whenever she was about to make a shot. The rest of the world went away as she focussed on her rifle and the target some three hundred yards away down the range. Here, in the booth she was firing from, the air was still, but she could see the grass moving down the range from her and she allowed for that. She had already adjusted her sights. Now it was simply a matter of steadying herself and waiting for the moment when she knew she had the shot just right… She squeezed the trigger and her M1903 Springfield launched a .30-06 round towards her point of aim.

  ‘Centre,’ Kate said peering through a telescope at the target. ‘Perhaps an inch high. You are quite amazing.’

  ‘Your turn,’ Antonia said, pushing herself up from her prone position and rearranging her skirts as she stood. ‘I do wish the club would not be so formal. A dress is not the attire to be wearing while doing this.’

  Kate gave a soft giggle and assumed Antonia’s position. ‘I cannot hit that target,’ she stated flatly. She slotted a round into the rifle anyway and slid the bolt home.

  ‘I think you can. Just focus. Let yourself feel the shot, just as I taught you.’

  Closing her eyes, Kate stilled her breathing and then opened them, looking down through the rifle’s sights. She was confident of Antonia’s ranging, so she simply needed to determine her best point of aim and then try to feel out the shot as Antonia had. After almost thirty seconds, she breathed slowly out and squeezed the trigger.

  ‘Hit,’ Antonia said. ‘Around six inches above the centre, but a good hit. You, my dear, have natural talent on your side, while I have training. I want you to try it again.’

  Kate reached for another round, but she heard Antonia moving beside her and stopped, looking around.

  ‘I want you to try it with this,’ Antonia told her, holding up a huge, double-barrelled rifle, richly decorated in carved metal, with a walnut stock.

  ‘I-isn’t that Mister Wooster’s rifle?’

  ‘It is, and it has rested in its case, unused, for far too long. He would not have wanted that when there is someone skilled enough to use it and whom I trust to do so. I want you to try the first shot standing up.’

  Kate looked at her as though she were mad, but she got to her feet and took the huge rifle rather gingerly from her. Breaking it open, she slid a single, very large .600 Nitro Express round into the right-hand barrel and snapped it closed before setting the stock against her shoulder and aiming down through the sights at her target.

  ‘It will have quite the kick,’ Antonia said, her voice soft, ‘so be ready for it. Just the same as before. Settle yourself and shoot.’

  The gun was heavy, and unbraced, and she was not so sure of the sights, but she steadied her breathing and focussed, letting herself feel the movement of the weapon in her hands and seeing the target so far away. It felt almost as though the extra tension of using Antonia’s husband’s rifle lent her the patience to wait for just the right moment when everything was just right. She squeezed the trigger.

  The roar of the big rifle was huge and she felt it slam into her shoulder as it fired like a sharp kick from a strong man. The muzzle rose quite alarmingly and she was most surprised when Antonia said, ‘Hit. Five inches high. David had trouble aiming that thing unless it was properly braced, I might add.’

  ‘I can understand that. It kicks like a mule.’ She flexed her shoulder. ‘I’m sure that will leave a bruise.’

  Antonia picked another round from the cartridge box and held it out. ‘You heal fast. And again.’

  Richmond.

  Antonia finished cleaning the two rifles, kneeling on the rug in the drawing room to do so, and began packing the disassembled Holland & Holland away in its case.

  ‘It was good to see this in use again,’ she said, her voice soft. ‘I want you to use it. It will be yours now. You’re the only person I know strong enough to use it properly. It would break my arm if I tried.’

  Kate peered down at her from the seat she was using to give her the best view of the task at hand. She was meant to be able to take proper care of her weapon in the future and watching an expert was the second best way to learn. ‘I will, on the condition that I return it to him when he comes back.’

  Antonia gave her a smile, but there were tears visible in her eyes. ‘It’s sweet of you to say so, dear, but he is not coming back. I know he is not, even if my heart has not quite accepted it yet.’

  Kate slid to her knees beside her friend, not sure quite what to do, but placing an arm around Antonia’s shoulders seemed a good start.

  ‘The worst part,’ Antonia said, ‘is not really knowing what happened to him. Did he suffer? Was it all over in an instant? But… But I know, in truth, that he must be d-dead. There has been no sign of anyone aboard his ship, no wreckage. He would not want me to stop my life and I should move on.’

  ‘If there is no news, then there is always hope. He could be… He may be lost in delirium somewhere, unable to seek you out.’ Kate turned her face towards Antonia, forcing herself to smile as she did so. ‘Yes, that–’

  And then there lips met. It was a soft touch, a gentle caress of soft, sensitive skin against its like before Antonia pulled away again. Kate sat there, her heart hammering in her chest, and a slow burn of unwanted arousal beginning between her legs.

  ‘You are the sweetest, most caring, beautiful woman I have ever met,’ Antonia said softly. She turned her head away, lowering her eyes. ‘I count myself honoured to have you as a friend and you have no idea how grateful I am that you are here to give me comfort. A-and I should not have done that.’

  Reaching up, Kate turned Antonia’s
face back towards her, but did not move closer. ‘You said to me that I should never be ashamed of what I was, what was inside me. I thought, at the time, that you were speaking generally, but I see that it was more from personal understanding. For you, and for Charles, I will do anything in my power to make you happy or ease your suffering. Remember that, Antonia. I am here for you should you need me.’

  Antonia gave a nod, not trusting her voice, and then turned to packing away her own weapon.

  Knightsbridge, 30th July.

  ‘Thank you for coming here, Inspector,’ Charles said as he motioned the man into a seat.

  Franklin looked uncomfortable about sitting, especially when Charles remained on his feet, but it seemed rude to decline. ‘We keep importuning you, sir, it seems right that I should come to you when I must not drag you out to some crime scene.’

  ‘Still a thoughtful gesture. Now, we have been over all the evidence, or lack thereof, and I can draw some conclusions. They are not what I would describe as satisfactory conclusions, and they leave me more than a little disturbed.’

  ‘Anything you have may be of help, sir.’

  ‘Quite. On with it then.’ He nodded to where Kate was sitting primly in a seat beside Antonia. ‘As you will recall, Miss Felix detected an aroma of garlic mixed with a metallic overtone in the cell. This combined with the destruction wrought on the wall has led me to the inescapable conclusion that one of my own inventions was employed in Cooper’s extraction.’

  ‘Sir?’

  ‘A material which burns at extremely high temperature for a significant period of time, Inspector. A material related to Vulcanite. As far as I know, I am the only person alive who knows the process required to manufacture it.’

  ‘I see, sir. You said “the only person alive?”’

  ‘There was one other who might have been able to replicate it. Falk, Andrew Falk. He was my grandfather’s laboratory assistant in his later years and continued on with me for a short time. However, he died in an automobile accident some years ago.’

  ‘Begging your pardon, Doctor, but if I were to go to my superiors and say that only you could have freed Cooper, they would rightly take my badge and have me committed to the nearest asylum. I see no reason for it. I can only conclude that another has repeated your earlier endeavour.’

  ‘Thank you for your confidence, Inspector,’ Charles replied with a smile. ‘I believe that you are correct, for the remainder of this exploit requires an array of expertise even I cannot claim to possess.’

  ‘Indeed, Doctor Barstow-Hall,’ Antonia said, all formality observed in front of the policeman, ‘it occurred to me that your Vulcanium burns with a very bright and distinctive light. It is quiet, but not silent. Someone should have seen the breaking of the wall.’

  Charles nodded. ‘And there is the matter of the lack of a method of escape over the outer wall.’

  ‘True. I found no evidence of any such attempt and Miss Felix was unable to sense anything near the outer wall. Beyond that, Cooper was not a spry man, as I understand it. It was some twelve feet to the ground outside his cell, and the outer wall is high.’

  ‘Which is why I returned to Pentonville yesterday with a ladder and examined the outside of his cell wall. There I discovered several recent abrasions around the hole. It is my conclusion then that the light and sound were masked by some form of metal shield which, pressed against the wall around the hoped-for aperture, obscured both. It was then used to spirit Cooper away over the wall.’

  ‘How, sir?’ Franklin asked. ‘You make it sound as though he flew away.’

  ‘My guess would be a blimp or dirigible. Painted black and using slow propellers to drive it, it would be almost impossible to detect. Most people in London look up only when startled. The… capsule was lowered from a gondola, pressed firmly to the wall, and the Vulcanium deployed. Once Cooper was removed from his cell, the capsule was winched back up and a getaway could be achieved merely by rising swiftly.’

  ‘That’s… beyond credibility, Doctor. I doubt my superiors will believe that either.’

  ‘Quite so, Inspector. I did say that the solution was unsatisfactory. However, any more rational explanation of the evidence eludes me. I assume you have discounted the possibility of an “inside job?”’

  ‘None of the warders are suspected. We questioned them to be sure, but all on duty that night were honourable men with no money troubles.’

  ‘Not an absolute certainty then, but it would have required almost all of them to be involved, which is not likely. So, we have a most complex and irrational solution. When one has exhausted all rational explanations for a problem and none fit the evidence, whatever remains must be the solution, even where that solution is beyond credibility. I believe Conan Doyle put that rather more succinctly in one of his works of detective fiction.’

  ‘The Sign of Four, sir. I admit to reading all of his works.’

  ‘Oh? I’d have thought the detective in it might have cast something of a poor light upon those at Scotland Yard.’

  ‘Indeed, sir, but it gives me comfort to know that even when something eludes me more than I feel it should, I can pick up a book and know that I shall never be quite as confounded as Lestrade.’

  ‘Well, I am no Holmes, but I believe between us all we have uncovered the only workable solution to this mystery, which leaves the greater mystery left to uncover.’

  ‘Indeed, sir. Who has the kind of wherewithal to enact such a plan?’

  ‘That, Inspector, is very much the question.’

  Richmond, 2nd August.

  The front room of Antonia’s house was rarely used. She accepted few visitors she did not know well enough to take them through to the drawing room, which was more intimate and more comfortable. That did not mean that the front room was excused from cleaning and Little, being not a large woman, required some assistance with the furniture to do a proper job. Since Kate had arrived at the house, it had become her duty to help Little in this manner because, as Antonia had put it as delicately as she could, she could out-lift Mister Bridger without even breathing hard.

  Kate had a unique method of handling the lifting. For example, the sofa was picked up at one end and lifted until Little had no trouble getting beneath it to ensure that the carpet was in good, and clean, condition. This generally amused Little as she marvelled at Kate’s physical prowess, but today the young maid seemed to have something on her mind.

  ‘Thank you, Miss Kate, that’s done.’ Little backed away and turned to put the contents of her dustpan into the bin she brought with her for the purpose.

  ‘All right,’ Kate said. ‘I’ve lifted and pushed and pulled, and by now you would usually be trying not to giggle, and there is something wrong and I will not have it, Margery. What has got you in the dumps?’

  ‘Oh, it’s nothing for you to worry over, Miss Kate. Really.’

  Kate pointed at her chin. ‘This, Miss Margery, is my “determined to uncover the problem” face. Do you see it?’ Little looked at her and nodded, though in truth she was unsure how it differed from any other serious expression Kate had. ‘Then on seeing this face you will explain to me what the problem is, lest I put on my “angry with Margery for keeping her problem to herself” face.’

  Little’s face broke into a weak smile. ‘Thank you, Miss Kate. I needed a little cheering. A friend of mine, from my life before, she has gone missing and I am worried for her safety.’

  ‘Have the police been informed?’

  ‘Oh, the blue will not be bothered with a missing whore. Pardon my choice of words, but that is what Chastity is and likely what I’d be had not Mister and Mrs Wooster taken me in.’

  ‘Very well. Then we go to Mrs Wooster with this and see what can be done. Come!’

  ‘But I’ve the cleaning to finish and–’

  ‘I have no doubt that the cleaning can wait, for this room has barely an ounce of dust anywhere in it as you know full well. Don’t dawdle.’

  Antonia, of cours
e, considered the cleaning of the front room to be of importance just above that of listening to inane dinner conversation. ‘Explain the details, Little,’ she said as soon as Kate had recounted the basics.

  ‘She’s called Chastity, ma’am, Chastity Ruth. She says it’s ironical that a girl called Chastity should end up a who– Should end up a street girl.’

  ‘A whore, Little. You can say the word. I am not some delicate wife of a lord.’

  ‘As you say, ma’am. You know I visit the old places once in a while. I have friends there and I like to see them well, and I don’t go all dressed in finery like those as make their money on their backs in posh houses. It’s all discreet like and if I leave a little something from my wages now and then, well, they ain’t as well looked after as me.’

  Kate watched her, smiling slightly as the girl’s accent slipped, likely from emotion and a hint of embarrassment.

  ‘I went to see Chas, uh, Chastity, yesterday, it being my day off, and there was no sign of her. Her landlord is not the most caring man and his only concern was that she was gone and had not paid her rent, but I learned that no one had seen her since Thursday.’

  ‘And none will have informed the police,’ Antonia stated, ‘and it would do little good if they did. I assume this landlord is her procurer, her pimp?’

  ‘Ma’am! That you know such a word!’

  ‘I could give you a few other choice ones if you wish. He is?’ There was a nodded reply and Antonia sighed. ‘Well, we will have to go and have a word with Mister…?’

  ‘Dretch, ma’am.’

  ‘Dretch? Very well. Come, Kate, we will put on our outdoor dresses and go a-calling upon Mister Dretch.’

  Soho.

  The house was a terraced building, three storeys and a cellar, and every room in it had two or more occupants as far as Kate could tell. Most were in at this time of the day as their trade was plied after dark, or at least late in the evening. Many of the doors were open as the girls, and they were all girls in that establishment, shouted conversation between rooms. Kate saw several dresses which looked quite fine to her hanging up away from the windows to avoid fading.