The Londum Omnibus Volume Two (The Londum Series Book 12) Page 8

  ‘And what happened to them?’

  ‘Nobody knows. They were never heard of again. Sir Hugo isn’t the type to catch you and then hand you over to the police.’

  ‘So, how can anyone break into that?’

  ‘Well, as you are going to tell Lassiter, I’m a fixer, I make things happen. Supposing that the chief of security at Blackstock Manor had a son, a son who lives in Londum, who likes to drink and gamble and spend time with prostitutes. Supposing said son was very careless one night and … we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt … accidentally killed one of those prostitutes. Hey, I’m not judgemental, these things happen but the poor boy was so distraught that he failed to clear up his mess after him. He neglected to hide the body, remove any trace of him being there, well to be frank he might just as well have left a note saying, “I did it and my name and address is …”

  ‘So, supposing said chief of security at Blackstock Manor was so devoted to his child that he would do anything to save him from the gallows. Suppose he were willing to give someone a written plan of how to go down those stairs, through those rooms and along that corridor. A plan showing them where to step, which candle mounting on the wall to turn, which book to pull out of the bookcase, etc. etc.

  ‘Then, in exchange for all the evidence against his son and a promise never to mention his son’s crime to the authorities, he would even give them the keys to unlock that locked box, in that locked safe, in that locked strong room. Of course, he would also make sure that all the armed guards were otherwise occupied.’

  He sat back looking satisfied and waited to hear her response.

  Racine sat back in her chair and sipped at her champagne while she thought about it.

  ‘I don’t understand … it seems such a great plan for a robbery and the Blue Rajah of Ranipoor to boot. How great would it be to steal that? Why don’t we steal it? Even if you got caught later you’d go down in history for it. So why would you give that all away to Victor? Where does his downfall come into it? I don’t get it.’

  ‘You believed all that I told you about the Blue Rajah and how it is guarded didn’t you?’

  Yes, she nodded.

  ‘As will Lassiter … and so he should, because it’s all true. What isn’t true however is that bit about the chief of security and his son.’

  ‘So he hasn’t killed a prostitute?’

  ‘To be honest, I’ve no idea. He may well have done for all I know but I’ve no reason to suspect that he is not the fine, upstanding law student that he appears to be. Consequently, I have no hold over his father. That’s the part that’s the con.’

  ‘So you’ll give Victor a dummy plan about how to break into Blackstock Manor and when he tries to break into it …?’

  ‘Go on,’ he urged her.

  ‘He and Bolan will either fall into one of these traps and be killed, or run up against the guards and maybe get shot … or just get caught and go to jail for a long time. That’s brilliant!’

  ‘I thought you might like it. And of course the beauty is that he can’t blame me or you, he forced me to give him the information against my will. It wasn’t my fault that it didn’t go to plan.’

  ‘Jim, I love it. It’s exactly the sort of plan that will appeal to that money grubbing weasel. Okay, what’s our next move?’

  ‘You’ll have to introduce me to him. Tell him I’m an old lover of yours who you’ve been romancing to see what’s available. The story is that I’m an ex-robber who now deals in planning for other people. You’re going to introduce me to Lassiter in case I can put some business his way. Once I get to know him, I’ll get friendly, introduce him around a bit, take him to places where he’ll burn up a lot of cash. If he is the social climber you tell me he is, he won’t be able to resist the lure of the places I’ll take him to, but it will cost him dearly. It will eat through his money. If he wants to keep up, he’ll soon be looking for some way to raise more. Then we’ll introduce a whisper about the Blue Rajah. Once he has the smell of that in his nostrils, if he’s the sort of man you say he is, he’ll keep coming back to it but I won’t tell him anything. I’ll tell him I’ve made the deal with someone else.

  ‘Then when he’s getting desperate, we’ll set up a card game and let him take me to the cleaners. I of course won’t be able to pay straight away so he’ll make me cough up the Blue Rajah information or face ruin as someone who welches on their bets. I will begrudgingly give up the information, the plans and the keys. Anything that happens after that is not my responsibility.’

  ‘Jim Darby … you are as brilliant as you are wicked.’ She lifted up her champagne glass and toasted, ‘To The Blue Rajah!’

  He lifted his glass and echoed, ‘To The Blue Rajah!’

  They both emptied their glasses in one gulp and threw them into the fireplace, where they shattered.

  ‘Jim, tonight I’ve seen you be brilliant … now take me upstairs and be wicked!’

  ***

  Jim stood on the doorstep of Dr. Barnato’s Home for Orphaned Children and rang the doorbell. A moment later, Nurse Phipps opened the door.

  ‘Oh it’s Mr. Darby, do come in. I suppose you’ve come to see Sarah.’

  ‘Yes, I thought I’d just pop round and see how she’s doing. I hope I’m not disturbing lessons or anything.’

  ‘No that’s all right, the children are on their lunch break at the moment. Just wait here a minute, I’ll go and get her.’ And off she went to find Sarah.

  Jim put down the bag he was carrying and took off his hat and overcoat. He put them on a chair that was in the foyer. A moment later Sarah came running down the corridor.

  ‘Mr. Darby, Mr. Darby,’ she squealed, delighted to see him. Jim knelt down to see her and she surprised both of them by hugging him.

  When she let him go he pulled the bag in front of Sarah and opened it. ‘Look what I’ve brought for you.’ He reached in the bag and took out a doll which he handed to her. Then he also pulled out a big, bag of sweets. ‘Here you go Sarah, enjoy yourself.’

  Sarah’s eyes opened wide as she had never seen so many sweets before. She looked at Nurse Phipps who said to Jim, ‘We don’t really like it when the children get presents, it doesn’t seem fair on the other children, Sarah having sweets when they don’t.’

  Jim stood up, ‘I thought that might be the case … so I brought extra for the other kids.’ He opened the bag wide and Nurse Phipps saw it was full of sweets. He handed it to her, ‘You can hand these around, that’s fair isn’t it?’

  ‘Well, yes,’ she agreed. ‘More than fair. Sarah why don’t you take Mr. Darby along to the dormitory and show him your bed space?’

  Sarah took Jim’s hand and eagerly led him up the stairs and along the corridor to the girl’s dormitory. Hers was the third bed down on the left. Still clutching the doll she put the sweets on the bed and pointed to the pillows.

  ‘Look, it’s got clean sheets. I’d never seen clean sheets before. And the food …’

  ‘What about the food?’ asked Jim.

  ‘There is some … every day!’

  ‘Ah yes, of course.’

  Sarah asked him, ‘Will I be here forever?’

  ‘Oh, I shouldn’t think so,’ he reassured her. ‘They’ll find some nice family to take you in and give you a home.’

  ‘What, you mean ... like a maid?’

  Jim laughed, ‘No silly, like a daughter. You may even have brothers and sisters to play with.’

  ‘And this family will take care of me?’

  Jim nodded.

  Sarah thought about that for a moment then asked, ‘And will they beat me when I do something wrong? I don’t mean to make mistakes but sometimes Granny used to get so angry with me and …’ her voice tailed off.

  ‘No Sarah, no one will ever beat you again. I’ll see to that!’

  Sarah stared up at him, gripping the doll he had brought, tightly, unable to speak.

  He squatted down on his heels, to look her in the eyes.

 
‘Now then Sarah, I’m going to be away on business for a while, maybe a few weeks, so I won’t be able to come and visit you for a time, but I’ll be back.’

  ‘Promise?’ she asked him, urgently.

  ‘I promise,’ he said nodding his head in an exaggerated fashion at her.

  She nodded her head up and down as well, mimicking him until they both broke off, laughing.

  Jim stood up, ruffled her hair and turned to leave but she grabbed his sleeve.

  ‘Are you my … are you my Dad?’ she asked, hesitantly.

  ‘No, Sarah, I’m not.’

  ‘Then why are you being so nice to me?’

  Jim looked down at her and decided to tell her the truth. ‘When I was about your age, my Mum had died too and I was in a very bad place. There was nobody around to help me ... so when I heard you were in trouble I came to help you.’

  ‘I’ll pay you back.’

  ‘You don’t have to do that. But if you really want to pay me back, grow up to be a good girl and live a good life. That will be payment enough. Or better yet, if you ever come across someone in need … like I was, like you were, help them out. Then you can consider the debt repaid.

  ‘Come on,’ he said to her. ‘I’ve got to be going, you can see me out.’ He left the dormitory and Sarah took his hand to accompany him down to the front door, where curiously, as if by coincidence, Nurse Phipps was on hand to help him on with his coat. Jim reached into his pocket and handed her a business card. ‘My card. I won’t be able to visit for a while, I’ll be occupied on business matters but in the future, if Sarah ever needs anything, anything at all, I want you to contact me.’

  ‘Thank you,’ said Nurse Phipps taking the card, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll watch out for her.’

  ***

  Next day, when Lassiter, Racine and Bolan arrived for their one o’clock luncheon, they found Jim Darby waiting for them at Table 12. He stood up as they approached the table.

  ‘Ah,’ said Racine, ‘good you’re here. This is the friend I told you about Vincent … Jim Darby.’

  ‘Hello Racine,’ replied Jim. He took her hand and kissed it. ‘And hello to you Mr. Lassiter.’ He held out his hand.

  Lassiter took Jim’s hand and shook it. ‘Good day to you Mr. Darby, please won’t you join us for lunch? Or rather, may we join you, as you already have the table?’

  ‘Surely,’ said Jim. Holding his hand out to Bolan he said, ‘And you are?’

  ‘Bolan.’ He ignored Jim’s outstretched hand but Jim continued to hold it out.

  ‘No first name?’

  ‘Mr.’ Bolan replied and then grudgingly took the offered hand when Lassiter indicated he should with a nod of his head. If anyone were watching it would appear churlish for him to refuse and Jim presumed that Lassiter didn’t want anyone to notice them and comment on it.

  Jim was over six feet tall and Bolan was a good head taller than him. As he took Jim’s hand it dwarfed it. Jim looked down at Bolan’s hand and turned it to the side to get a better look at the tattoo he had spotted the other day. His blood ran cold as he recognised it.

  On the back of Bolan’s hand was tattooed the head of a snake, with the body of the snake stretching away up the forearm. The first and third knuckle, were the eyes of the snake and the second finger had a tongue tattooed on it. Jim had come across this tattoo before when he was travelling in Gaul.

  Across Gaul there were numerous underground fight clubs. They each identified themselves by adopting an animal or creature as their symbol. The fight club from Marseilles was “Les Serpents”, The Snakes. Anyone was free to take part in these illegal fights (even Jim had, on occasions) but only those that actually made their living from it were classed as members of the club and entitled to wear the tattoo. For many a man, the last thing he saw prior to hitting the floor were those “Snake Eyes” coming towards him before he blacked out.

  If Bolan had been one of those street fighters, and the tattoo suggested that he was, then he was one tough opponent and not a person to turn your back on.

  Jim toyed with the idea of commenting on the tattoo and letting Bolan know that he knew what he was, but decided against it. Never reveal to the enemy what you know about them was always the safest option, he had learnt in the Army.

  When they were all seated and had given their orders to the waiter, Lassiter began the conversation. ‘Racine tells me that you are a colleague of hers, in the same business so to speak.’

  ‘Used to be but nowadays I tend to leave that to younger people, I make my living by planning, arranging, fixing you might say … various enterprises for others to carry out.’

  ‘And is that lucrative, if you don’t mind me asking?’ said Lassiter.

  ‘Don’t mind at all dear chap,’ replied Jim. ‘Yes it’s very lucrative. I get a percentage for doing all the planning and then I dispose of the merchandise afterwards. It’s part of the deal that I get to handle the goods afterwards, so I make a profit on that also. No risk but a lot of profit.’

  ‘Perhaps we should discuss it sometime soon,’ said Lassiter. ‘I may have some items that I would like to dispose of.’

  ‘Anytime. Always willing to do business,’ said Jim cheerfully.

  ‘In the meantime though, maybe you can help us? We’re getting bored with living in a hotel and would like to rent a house somewhere,’ said Lassiter.

  ‘Two houses,’ chipped in Racine.

  ‘Yes, Racine insists on her privacy, two houses in a quiet suburb. Any idea who we can talk to about that?’

  ‘Yes,’ replied Jim, ‘I’ll give you the address of the agency that I rent through.’

  Just then the waiter arrived with their lunch so the conversation just descended to small talk as they ate. Bolan did not join in the talking and just sat there, following the conversation as he ate and watching Jim closely.

  After their meal, Jim said, ‘Awfully nice to meet you Mr. Lassiter, Mr. Bolan. I hope you’ll excuse me but I have an appointment later and must be going. Lunch is on me,’ he said throwing some notes on the table. ‘If you like I’ll pop round tomorrow with the estate agency fella and take you looking at places to live. Being as you’re not familiar with Londum and I’m a local, I’d be happy to give my opinion on the right neighbourhoods to look at and that sort of thing.’

  Lassiter stood up and shook Jim’s hand. ‘Yes, that would be very kind of you. We shall see you tomorrow.’

  Jim said his goodbyes and left the dining room.

  ***

  As good as his word, Jim arrived next morning with the estate agent in tow and the two of them showed Lassiter, Racine and Bolan around various houses in the better parts of Londum.

  Lassiter had wanted them all to be in the same house but Racine had insisted on her independence and wanted a separate home. They finally settled on two houses in the Holborn district, near Holborn Circus. Lassiter found his place first and then insisted that Racine’s house was somewhere close by. This limited her choice somewhat but the agent found a place, no more than a few streets away.

  They were both two bedroom, detached houses standing in their own grounds and set back from the road. Both very discreet and it enabled Jim to call upon Racine unobserved when she wasn’t with Lassiter.

  After helping Racine settle into her new place, Jim started getting involved in Mr. Vincent Lassiter’s life. He took them to all the smart restaurants, soirees and plays that made up the social life of the upper classes in Londum. He took Lassiter to various clubs, introduced him to influential people around town and altogether gave Lassiter the impression that he was a worthy companion and business partner. Lassiter lapped it up, attending all the high society gatherings that it would have taken him years to get invited to otherwise. The greedy little social climber that Jim could see inside him, was like a kid in a sweet shop. He delighted in being seen at these gatherings, the beautiful Racine on his arm, making him the envy of the room, with the sullen Bolan ever present in the background.

  Lassiter m
ust have known there was something going on between him and Racine, Jim reasoned, but he didn’t seem too bothered about it. As long as she was free when he wanted her and available for him to show off at social functions, he seemed prepared to trade off the social inroads that Jim opened up for him, in exchange for being cuckolded.

  Jim studiously avoided talking any business with Lassiter, opting to make Lassiter come to him and raise the subject and then avoiding discussing anything with him. But he kept taking him out to new places, new excitement and then he made sure that Lassiter spent plenty, so sooner or later he would feel the need for a fresh influx of cash and be more inclined to enter into a business venture with Jim.

  He did help Lassiter out though by buying a few bits of jewellery off him from time to time. This was a good sign according to Racine, a sign that Lassiter’s cash was getting low as she knew these pieces were his emergency funds, so Jim gladly took them off his hands and gave him a good price for them.

  (Jim got his money back later by taking them to a man he knew in Hatton Garden who asked no questions and selling them on to him.

  His name was Pickett.

  He was a fence.)

  Finally, after a few weeks of partying, the moment Jim had been waiting for came up. They were sitting in a London club that Jim had signed Lassiter and Bolan into. They had had a night on the card tables where Lassiter had lost heavily and they were now sitting at a corner table where they couldn’t be overheard as they sipped brandy and puffed on cigars. As usual Bolan didn’t have a drink or take a cigar, just sat there, watching Jim closely.

  ‘Mr. Darby,’ began Lassiter, ‘I really think it is about time that you put some of this business you keep talking about, my way. Enjoyable as the high life of Londum is, it is also a drain on one’s resources and I will soon need to replenish my coffers.’

  ‘Well, I’d love to help but I don’t have anything in the pipeline right now, things have been a bit quiet lately,’ replied Jim.

  ‘Oh really? I find that hard to believe from a man with your contacts.’