Sherlock Holmes and the Treasure Train

agreement whereby Trelawney had made the gold temporarily available to Hananish.'

Holmes rose to his feet, now restless with anticipation. 'But these agreements never passed through the normal channels of either bank.'

'Nor were the stockholders informed, nor was there interest charged,' responded Wallingford.

I could not suppress a question at this point. 'Where was the gold, then?'

Wallingford shrugged. 'That I could not learn. This embraces a matter of some years, you understand. All that time what was supposed to be a reserve fund was actually in movement: being invested, acting as collateral, who knows what.'

Holmes, standing by the bow window with his back to the group, suddenly whirled around. 'I expressed a desire to look into previous mischief of Hananish and Trelawney—Michael as well. You recall, Watson? This information should provide a fruitful lead as well as something to throw at Hananish when we close in on him.'

Orloff was snubbing out one of the small, black cigars he fancied. 'Are you prepared to make your move?'

Holmes crossed to the mantelpiece, assuming a familiar position beside it. Ah hah, I thought. He's ready for the denouement.

The sleuth gave Orloff a short nod, then his eyes centered on Wallingford. 'Your mention, when last we met, of the Deutsche Bank reaping rich dividends. The German banking house has call on four hundred thousand pounds' worth of gold in the vaults of the Bank of England. But the gold belongs to Hananish. From the treasure train, of course, and he's selling it twice, though this time with no consortium of banks and not with his partner Trelawney either. The Credit Lyonnais will get it from the Deutsche Bank. The Deutsche Bank gets it from the Bank of England, but the payment goes to Hananish. A major coup, but we've got him.'

Wallingford grew pale and had trouble finding words. When they did come, it was not with the assured, businesslike manner that was his normal delivery.

'Mr. Holmes . . . I did not know about the three-way arrangement you outline; but it just won't work, you see.'

His somewhat smug manner jarred, Holmes registered surprise. 'What won't work?'

'I see what you're driving at, sir. But Hananish can stop us cold. The four hundred thousand pounds in gold was deposited in his name in the Bank of England before the robbery.'

There was dead silence in the room, and I confess this startling statement actually caused me to hold my breath for a long moment. Holmes almost staggered back against the mantel, surprise a harsh and blatant thing on his expressive features. Good heavens, I thought. His whole case has been shattered by one unanticipated fact. The poor chap must be stunned.

Holmes' reaction was not what I anticipated. Instead, the palm of his right hand swept up to smite his forehead with a crack like a revolver shot.

'Dumkopf!' he shouted. When sore pressed, my friend resorted to exclamations in foreign languages.

A tinge of pink suffused the features of Wallingford, and the sleuth hastened to prevent a misunderstanding. 'Not you,' he said, spearing the former confidence man with an outstretched finger. His digit swung in a half circle to tap his chest forcibly. 'Me!' Then his glowing eyes shifted in my direction and the shadow of a bitter smile creased his lips.

'If in future times, Watson, you choose to record this case history, you can write me down an ass.'

If I had not known previously, this statement would have alerted me to how upset my friend was at himself. For he had used similar words when castigating himself for missing the mark on Colonel Walter in the matter of the Bruce-Partington plans.

Wallingford's face, a picture of consternation, was shifting from one to another of us, with a dazed expression, as though he had lost touch with reality. Orloff had a grim look of disbelief about him.

'You cannot mean that Hananish will elude our grasp,' he said.

'Indeed no,' replied Holmes quickly, and those two words did much to rally my morale, momentarily very low.

Holmes' long stride took him to the desk, and he gazed at it as though beset with a number of necessary actions and choosing which one to seize on first. 'Now, finally, I have the right perspective regarding this case, and the errant threads that have nagged at me are unraveled.'

There was a longish pause as Holmes communed with himself. Then his hawk-like face rose and his eyes enveloped us.

'Orloff, you'd best be off to the Diogenes Club and relate our findings to my brother.'

Holmes passed the letter he had received the night before to the security agent. 'Mycroft has developed an interest in the Deutsche Bank and could well find Wally's information of value. You might tell him that Watson and I have the matter of the stolen gold in hand.'

'What can I do, sir?' asked Wallingford.

'Accompany Orloff. The Deutsche Bank has proved revealing to us. Possibly you can unearth some connection between the Germans and the financial manipulations of Trelawney and Hananish during the period the former was alive. My brother has certain connections, which you will find helpful.'

A quick glance passed between Wallingford and Orloff, and the American responded dryly, 'So I've learned.'

The urgency in Holmes' manner was communicative, and both men rapidly vacated the premises.

Holmes was fiddling in his desk and suddenly turned to me. 'Now it is you and I, old friend, as it has been so many times before. Another journey is called for.'

'Shall I throw some things in a valise?'

'Your Smith-Webley in a handy pocket will be enough.'

There was the sound of rapid footfalls on the stairs, and Slim Gilligan appeared in the half-open door to our chambers. Now I understood Holmes' actions at the desk. He had some sort of alarm signal rigged up with the house next door.

'Slim,' said my friend, 'I've need of Burlington Bertie and Tiny.'

'They were on the night shift, guv,' responded the cracksman, taking the unlit cigarette from behind his ear. It occurred to me that I had never seen him light it.

'Contact them, good fellow, and have them take the first train available to Brent in Essex. I'll have them met at the station.'

Gilligan had been with Holmes too long not to sense a crisis. 'Anythin' fer me, guv?'

'Let's make sure this building isn't blown up, Slim. That Lightfoot rascal is still at large.'

'Right, Mr. 'Olmes.' Gilligan was gone.

So, I thought, it's back to the scene of the crime.

Holmes was spinning the dial on the safe and took a short-barreled revolver from its interior, placing it in the pocket of his tweed coat. His action prompted me to hasten upstairs to my sleeping quarters to remove my army- issue handgun from the drawer in my bed stand. It was not often that Holmes went armed, but there was much about this strange case that departed from the norm.

Chapter 15

The Lightning Colt

DURING OUR train trip to Essex, Holmes had been uncommunicative. I could not decide whether he was lost in thought regarding the robbery and subsequent events or whether, in keeping with his frequent practice, he had thrown his brain out of gear and switched his thoughts from the case on the theory that further cogitation would not be advantageous. When I had rejoined him in our sitting room prior to our departure, he was in the process of instructing Billy about a cablegram, and I deduced that it was to Dandy Jack, our only acquaintance in Brent. Such proved the case, since the aged four-wheeler and bay horse were at the station when we alighted, along with the familiar driver.

'Where to, gents?' he queried when we were seated in the conveyance.

'The end of the spur line.'

'I figgers you mean by the tin mine,' said the driver, gigging the bay into motion.