„Forgotten times. Hidden secrets. Minds that kill in silence, but… so precise”
„He’s is hurrying up! But… where?” Shelby wondered, watching through the big window from the living room and seeing Bardain’s carriage moving away in a big rush in his attempt of leaving the property as soon as possible. „And… the weirdest thing is that he came here just to say something to Brian. But even so, he left as quickly as he came. It means he hides something. But… what he exactly has to hide?” the old man was asking questions himself, in silence.
Suddenly, his hand grabbed the bell that was next to him on the coffee table and he rang it insistently. Seeing that nobody answers or comes, he shouted: „Colby! Colby! Are you there?”
The one named Colby so suddenly showed up. But this man was the same person Stan named the „bulldog.” „I’m here, count! Did you call me?”
„Yes! Come closer!” Storm ordered his man. „Tell me, while being in the yard, didn’t you hear what exactly Brian talked with his teamster?”
„No, count, for till I got to the place where they were, the two had already finished talking. But… I saw the old man talking later to the young one, who is accompanying mister Beneath now.”
„Yes, they talked. What about that talk?”
„I’m not sure, for… if I had stood there to listen to what they had to tell each other, it would have been suspicious and they could have told Mister Beneath about this later.”
„This is right, too. By the way, where is Mister Beneath? Is he in his room?”
„No, Sir. He has been until not long ago. But he’s now to the stables. It seems that he is going to have a ride.”
„It means that his teamster told him something that set him wondering. Interesting: what could have that man told him to throw him a curve ball? And it has to be something very important if Brian has decided to go for a ride just to clear his mind.”
„Should I follow him?”
„No. I need you to follow the old teamster, for I have the feeling he’s hiding something, even from Brian. That’s why we must find out what is he hiding before Brian does this.”
„I understood, count Storm. I’ll go right away,” Colby headed toward the door.
„And… send that boy to me. I have a talk with him.”
„Mister Beneath’s young teamster?”
„Yes. But… just try not to put him on guard. Send him here to bring me something. I’ll take care of the rest.”
„Sure, count!” and Colby finally left the room in a big hurry, for if he had to follow Bardain, he had to rush because the old teamster had left the yard for a few minutes already and he could lose him because there were a lot of crossroads around, and if Bardain’s carriage had gotten to one of them, he would have lost him for sure, for not being able to understand which way the old man took eventually.
„Ah, Baron, Baron!” Shelby murmured angrily. „You have been always so calculated while still being alive and after death, you are the same. Not for nothing you bought such a faithful dog as the old Bardain is, for… I’m sure he’s hiding what you had to give to me then. But… it seems to me that I lost that thing long ago and I’m still unable to find it because of you, who is watching me from the shadows of the Underworld.”
And Shelby hardly gnashed his teeth, after sipping some whisky from the glass he was squeezing in his hand. But his eyes looked so wild, just as Shelby Storm never had them before, or at least he had never shown that glance to Brian, for he needed to wear a mask to fulfill his plan, but he also felt sometimes that he wasn’t sure that he’ll succeed eventually.
***
„Huh! Huh!” Colby spurred his grey horse with black stains on the skin, a wonderful Holsteiner, with long, black mane, beautifully arranged on a side and which has been his dear friend for already ten years. But no matter how hard he didn’t try to catch up with Bardain, he couldn’t, and what he has been afraid of the most, happened: he lost Bardain’s traces at a crossroads.
„Damn it!” Colby mumbled, getting at that crossroad that had 6 different paths to follow from that cross point and which were leading in different ways each. „Where did he eventually head to? London? Image?”
Yet, he had understood that being on the horse while looking for the traces, won’t help him that much. So, he stopped the horse that was still moving around, hitting viciously with the rear and front hooves on the wet soil, abundantly watered by the autumn rains, and splashing with dirty water and mud around. After he had finally managed to stop the horse, he jumped off his back and, holding him by the bridle, he squatted and carefully looked around. However, there were a lot of traces to confuse one and all of them seemed to be fresh, and this was really demoralizing, for he wasn’t in the mood to follow them all, and he also hadn’t that much time for this.
„Think, Colby! Carefully think!” he tried to encourage himself and focused his glance on each trace. But all of them looked the same and he even felt how the image started to move in front of his eyes as if trying to make him enter a dangerous game. Yet, Colby was enough skilled and he was also dry behind the ears. So, such kind of „pranks” plaid by his mind wasn’t something new, and namely because he had experienced this before, he knew how to manage that game with them. And, after a few minutes of standing with his eyes closed, a time he took to force himself to think of nothing, in particular, he managed to calm down, as it was happening each time, he was doing this, and he could remember thus that he had seen that one of the wheels of Bardain’s carriage wasn’t fixed and was balancing a little bit. That’s why he had to look not for a straight line, but for a zig-zag one. Or at least for a curved one.
Thus, using his courser’s instinct, he focused on the traces and, eventually, he managed to spot a weird one-like shape, with some barely seen bundles on the edges, because of the bad fixed wheel. And that trace was heading toward the middle road, the one that was heading to London.
„Great!” Colby murmured satisfied and jumped again on the horse’s back, spurring him to gallop straight. And he didn’t fail, for, after only a few hundred meters of galloping onto that wood road, he got to see Bardain’s carriage another few hundred meters in front. So, not to be seen, Colby calmed down the horse, forcing him to walk at a slow step, and he followed the carriage from the distance, on one hand: he had to remain in the shadow and see what was going Bardain to do, and secondly: he didn’t want to make the old teamster alert and to hide from his sight.
Especially, Colby wasn’t willing to reveal Shelby’s plans, for he was sure that seeing him at the castle, Bardain had recognized him as being the young man who came to the Beneaths to look for the yellow envelope, twenty years ago.
„I’m sure he recognized me!” Colby thought to himself, feeling so well the slight trot of the horse under him. „Yet, he pretended not to know me. And this means one thing for sure: he knows who I am, but he tries not to reveal his intentions. But… what is he going to do? And… what the hell could have he told Brian Beneath? I don’t think he told him about the yellow envelope, for… if it was so, Brian Beneath would have left count Storm’s castle right away. But… he not only not left the castle, but it also seemed that they had a short quarrel, for when I saw mister Beneath going to the stables, he seemed very upset. So?!”
However, he hadn’t time to finish his thoughts, for Bardain spurred the horses, despite they were pulling behind them that imposing carriage which was also heavy. Yet, they listened to their master, and started to gallop, leaving deep traces behind them, on that road full of mud and difficult to walk onto. This also forced Shelby to spur his horse and rush after Bardain, just not to lose him.
They both galloped along until they reached London. Onto the London streets, however, they had been forced to slow down because it was a market day and the streets were crowded. Especially the outskirts.
Then, Bardain stopped the carriage at one of the smiths at the outskirts, which seemed strange for Colby, for he knew Bardain as being a skilled hurdler and such a small thing as an unbalanced wheel wasn’t something difficult for him to handle. Yet, the old man preferred not to handle that alone and to give that carriage to the blacksmiths to fix it, and this was even more suspicious.
But… he hadn’t how to find out what Bardain was planning, for if he had gotten closer to the smith, the teamster could recognize him and this would have put him in the guard for sure. That’s why Colby preferred to stop the horse at a crossroads, under a huge maple, just to allow his horse to rest. Yet, he kept an eye on the smith’s entrance. But… yet, nothing weird happened for a few hours, and this started to alert him.
Eventually, he had decided to go to see what was going on inside and the best excuse he found was to „check the horse’s shoes.” But while heading toward the smith, he saw someone else getting on the driving box onto Brian Beneath’s carriage, and that meant only one thing: Bardain yes saw him following him and he sunk out of his sight through the back door.
„Damn it!” Colby snarled and, from a jump, he climbed on his horse’s back and followed the carriage, for he was sure that the new teamster will let the carriage with Bardain eventually, thinking that Colby lost his trace, in the end. Thus, he still had a chance to find out where did the old teamster go after leaving the smith.
But… surprise: the one hired to return the carriage to Bardain went to Mrs. Huntington’s residence and let the carriage to one of the footmen that was working for her and who was taking care of the stables. And this had been a huge blow for Colby, for he had thought himself as being skilled, that he had seen a lot of tricks in his life, and that he could manage everything. But… a simple teamster managed to deceive him and this meant only one thing: Bardain wasn’t just a simple teamster and he had for sure a lot of things to hide.
***
Bardain had seen Colby following him while they were advancing through the forest when he finally felt the carriage rocking on its wheels and he stopped the horses to see what was going on.
And that stop has been right at the edge of the forest, and after he had descended from his place and he had approached the wheel, checking it, he saw a rider slowly getting closer to him, in the distance while covering his face with his hat.
However, Bardain preferred not to show that he was aware that he was followed or that he knew who the tracer was. He only mumbled something about the useless wheel that wasn’t serving anything and which was necessary to be changed as soon as possible. After that, he turned back to his place and spurred the horses.
On the way to London, he had decided that it’ll be dangerous to go on his way with Colby following his steps. Especially knowing what was inside that yellow envelope and that many were after it. But… what could he do to avoid revealing his secret, he hadn’t any idea.
Yet, he had decided that it was the perfect time to get rid of that envelope and as soon as possible. But… who he should give it to? Who should he entrust it to? Mrs. Huntington? No, to let it with Alice would have been dangerous, for even if he knew that she was loyal and that she would have helped him unconditionally, despite their common past, he didn’t want to endanger her. But he hadn’t anyone else to trust, for even if he had a lot of friends in the past, many of those he knew weren’t alive anymore, and those who were still breathing weren’t able to take care of themselves, not talking about important documents.
He remembered that twenty years ago, a few days after Baron Beneath’s death, a young detective came to visit him, and that detective was none other than Vincent Keen, the one he told Stan to trust, in case he needs that.
„Tell me, Bardain, really didn’t happen anything weird to Baron Beneath? No strange visit? No document left at random and which could put him on guard or could make him take that fatal decision?” Keen asked Bardain then, and the detective really seemed confused and being in a fog, for he couldn’t understand how could Baron Beneath had committed suicide so suddenly, especially after the plans they had made regarding finding Helen Walker and Alfred Stonebridge.
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„No, detective Keen, nothing weird happened then and Mister Beneath didn’t also leave anything behind,” Bardain lied to Keen then. „Why do you ask? Should something has happened then?” and the teamster’s eyes focused on Keen’s blurred eyes because of the alcohol because after finding out of Baron’s death, he started to drink a lot, and, before visiting Bardain, he spent the last few days drinking and completely out of reality.
Yet, the reason why Keen was drinking that much wasn’t only for the fact that he found Baron’s death strange, but for the fact that he felt that he failed as a detective, that he didn’t do enough to impede that tragedy, which he felt responsible for.
That’s why he asked if nothing weird happened or if Baron didn’t receive any strange document: he was looking at least for a hint, a small one, but which could have helped him to start over, to bring him up to the scratch and thus to pick himself up and finally solve that weird case around which was always floating a big mystery.
But Bardain shattered all the detective's hopes and because of this, the teamster felt sorry at that moment, for not being wise, for not investigating who Vincent Keen really was because if he had trusted more in people, maybe Brian wouldn’t have been so close to danger and death at that moment, as Bardain thought that he was while being around Shelby Storm.
„I must see Keen,” Bardain told himself, being closer to the city. „I must see him immediately and talk to him,” and, at the last possible moment, he remembered about an old friend, a blacksmith, who could have given him a helping hand.
And that one had been more than happy to help him, for since he saw Bardain stopping the carriage in front of the smith, he exited to receive him with great joy. But he had also spotted that strange rider stopped under the maple and he asked Bardain if that one is someone he knows.
„Let’s say that he’s just someone I must get rid of immediately,” the old teamster hurried to tell his friend.
„Something happens?” the blacksmith asked, staring at Bardain in amazement because he knew that the old teamster was in a good judgment and all the time away from the problems. Bardain’s silence instead made him understand that maybe he should ask fewer questions and act more. That’s why he hurried to order one of his workers to take care of the carriage, and he invited Bardain to enter and have some tea. And he took care to invite Bardain inside bawling and squalling, and those who had ears to listen then… they were more than welcome to do that.
Got inside instead, the blacksmith helped Bardain sink out of sight through the back door, but he took care to tell Bardain not to worry about the carriage and that he’ll take care of it and he’ll send the carriage where Bardain says.
„Let it with Mrs. Alice Huntington. She has a small boarding house right in the center of London, on Limes Street, at number 72.”
But the blacksmith knew very well who Alice Huntington was and the story Bardain had had with her in his youth age. But he said nothing about that. He only nodded yes and he hurried to push Bardain from behind, hurrying him to vanish, for, you see, if the one with the horse understands that something weird happens inside, he could have entered the smith and Bardain’s plan to vanish unseen will be ruined thus.
And Bardain listened to his friend right away and he dashed out of the smith. Then, he passed unremarked next to the wall and, after he made sure that Colby doesn’t look in his direction, but only at the entrance, he raised the collar of the coat up to the ears, pulled his hat over his face, and, walking fast, he moved away from there.
He arrived at Keen’s office around 4 o’clock in the evening, when the day was sighing into the night because of the late fall, and a few scattered drops of cold rain started to be dripped from the sky.
But he had been told that detective Keen is out of the town, but that he’ll turn back about 6 or 7 o’clock and he’ll pass by the office with some late business. And… if he wants to wait…
„I’ll wait! Of course, I’ll wait for him! I must see him immediately and it must be today!” Bardain told Lenny, who was alone in the office at that moment.
„May I offer you tea or something to drink?”
„Tea will be good!” Bardain told him feverishly, for the walk under the sky that was coldly dripping made him shiver. Then, after Lenny brought him some snacks and a cup of tea, Bardain took the tea with both hands and felt the sweet awe of the warmth that was coming from the cup for a long, enjoying how it was deeply entering his bones.
He even fell asleep at a moment while listening to the clicking noise of the typewriter keys which Lenny was insistently hitting, writing a report. He winced, however, hearing Keen’s tenor voice who entered the office, two hours later, accompanied by John: „Lenny, I urgently need the Saint Albans’report. I must…,” but he kept silent, getting a glimpse of Bardain who stood up right away, seeing him: „Mister Bardain! I hadn’t expected to see you here! Did Mister Beneath send you her with…?”
„No. I came here with… a personal request and I would like to talk to you in private, if possible,” and the old man’s deep voice made Keen understand that it was a secret job and not for everybody’s ears which Bardain wanted to talk to him about.
„Let’s go to my office then! Lenny, John, you can go to have some dinner. I don’t need you at the moment. You’ll do the rest when you’ll be back.”
„Sure, detective Keen,” his two helpers rushed to say and, so soon, both of them made a brush for: on one hand - to have the opportunity of having the dinner just in time was something unique because Keen was that kind of scrupulous man that wasn’t even breathing before finishing what he had to do, not talking about having dinner, and secondly - if he sent them out of the office so openly, that meant he had a serious talk with the visitor and it was also secret.
Yet, getting in the street, Lenny stopped and told John: „I still think someone should stay here and watch the entrance. It seemed to me that the guy from the office was afraid of something.”
„Has someone followed him?”
„Probably. But… I don’t know how to explain that, but I feel that someone must stay here. Just in case.”
„Then I’ll stay because you know that I’m good at watching the doors,” John said in a cheerful voice and it was so: he really liked to stand guard.
Lenny, however, has been against the idea and sent him to eat, and John could only listen to his colleague who he knew calculated and wise. But before leaving, he told Lenny that he’ll bring him something tasty for dinner.
Being alone, Lenny stood for a long time next to the door, huddled up because of the cold rain that got heavy. But no matter how hard didn’t he try to see if there was someone suspect around or if someone was watching the office, he saw nobody. Yet, he had decided not to take a risk and to mount guard, for… those times, one could expect anything from anyone, including the guy who was with Keen and who could attempt on the detective’s life. And if that had happened, he would have been at least there.
***
„What’s this?” Keen asked in amazement, seeing Bardain taking a pile of documents from under his clothes and putting them in front of him, on the desk.
„Let’s just call them insurance for someone’s life,” Bardain murmured and he eventually sat down on the chair, staring at Keen, who was pouring a glass of whisky.
Keen said nothing for a few seconds, and, after filling only one glass, for Bardain refused to drink something, he also sat down and stared for a while at the pile of documents brought there by Bardain.
„An insurance, you say?! Whose, if it might be known?” Keen asked while sipping from his drink. But yet, he didn’t look elsewhere than at the documents from in front of him and among which he saw the edge of a yellow envelope which had been once of bright color, but which had also become pale, because of the time.
„Brian Beneath! Actually, it had to also be insurance for Baron Beneath. But he chose to go onto a different path, eventually.”
Keen winced, hearing Baron’s name, and, leaving the glass on the desk, he stretched his hand toward the envelope.
But Bardain grabbed his hand before touching the envelope, and this amazed the detective, who rose his glance and focused it on Bardain’s, who seemed to be very anxious, even frightened, he could swear.
„Not now!” Bardain murmured. „Better do this when I am not here, for I’m afraid I am followed, and if someone tries to find out about them, having me in his hands, it’s better for me to have no idea about these documents’content.”
„Do you want to say that you never looked through these documents?”
„Only in that yellow envelope,” Bardain murmured, and, only then, did Keen notice that the envelope had been opened and later closed with a second seal, poured over the first one.
„And… what exactly do you suspect?” Keen inquired, knowing very well that the old teamster knows more than he says.
„To be honest… I don’t know what exactly happened 20 years ago. I know only that there were four friends that started a business. Three of them are dead now, and the fourth one got a high position in the government and a huge fortune, I might risk to say.”
„And… that person is?” Keen insisted, not taking his glance off Bardain, who was looking everywhere but not at the detective.
Eventually, Bardain took heart and, deciding to trust Keen, stared into his eyes, saying in a sure voice: „John Evans!”
Keen crept, for he had never known about such a relationship between Evans and Baron Beneath. „Are you sure?”
„Absolutely, for… not only once the four have spent some time in Mister Beneath’s house: John Evans, Edward Anderson Bell, and… Shelby Storm.”
„Shelby Storm? Who is this one?”
„Count Shark! And I think you know him. Or at least you heard his name while working for the police. Actually, Shelby Storm has been once a policeman.”
„Yes, I’ve heard about him. But, as I know, this man died more than twenty years ago.”
„It’s what others think. But I assure you that he’s alive and that he’s in touch with Brian.”
Keen frowned: „and you are afraid of this relationship. Why?”
„Because of the… envelope. Because of that yellow envelope and of the documents inside it: it’s what Shelby Storm is after and more than twenty years already. But… he didn’t find anything, as it has been in my hands. However, he still didn’t drop the idea of finding it. And, his man, the one called the „bulldog,” and who has an ugly scar on his face… I saw him twice, in the past.”
„While he was accompanying Shelby Storm to Mister Beneath’s house?”
„No, I’ve never seen him before that. I mean while Shelby Storm was still considered alive. But… he appeared when Baron Beneath died and a few months after that, he came to our house, looking for this envelope, with the excuse that it is something Baron Beneath had to give to his master.”
„But you don’t trust neither Shelby Storm nor that „bulldog.” May I know why?”
„Because of this note…” and Bardain put the small piece of paper, hand-written by Baron long ago, in front of Keen: „Brian, son, forget everything you’ll find out! Forget everything and live! You’ll be safe only doing so: you, our name, and our family!”
Reading those lines, Keen frowned once again and squeezed the fists: he had been right then. He had been right when he had suspected that Baron’s death wasn’t at random and that something stinky was behind that weird event. But nobody ever believed him.
„You said then that it was nothing strange. You said Mr. Beneath left nothing behind,” Keen hissed through his teeth.
„And you don’t even know how sorry I am, for if I had trusted you then, maybe Brian wouldn’t have been in danger now, for not only Shelby Storm is after this child.”
„Who else? John Evans?”
„No! Lyre Walker!”
„Helen Walker’s father?” Keen asked thunderstruck. „Why?”
„Because Lyre Walker has been the last person who Baron Beneath saw before his death. Actually, only a few minutes after that visit, my master shot himself.”
The news stunned Keen to the core. Bardain, on the other hand, continued his thought calmly: „what they talked about or what they had to partition, nobody knows. Not even I. The matter is that they argued then. What about… I don’t know. But I heard them arguing while I was in the garden and I heard them because they argued in a loud voice. And… I regret that much that I’ve never been so courageous to get closer to that window that day and to listen to what they were talking about. Maybe I would have impeded a tragedy thus. But… I couldn’t. I couldn’t break my promise. Or better should I call it a vow.”
„What vow?”
„Of being deaf and mute, of being blind and silent, and… of standing away from Baron Beneath’s secret businesses.”
Listening to those words, Keen left himself fall on the back of the chair while staring in amazement at the teamster that stood up eventually and headed toward the door.
Yet, Bardain said something more before leaving the office: „I’ll be grateful if our talk remains secret, for… Brian is now blinded by everything that man tells him, for he trusts Shelby Storm, and… without clear evidence, he won’t trust a word we say to him. And if something happens to me, keep your word and never let Brian know that I’ve been involved in this. Not even if I die in weird circumstances, don’t allow Brian to investigate my death.”
„And don't you think it's unfair to keep quiet like that? I think Brian has the right to know about his father’s death and who might be involved in this.”
„And to kill him with my own hands?” said Bardain sadly. „I love this child too much to do an ill turn to him. But… having clear evidence, you can involve others in this investigation, or at least you’ll give Brian the chance to know what exactly he has to do to clean his father’s honor. That’s why I want him away from Lyre Walker and Shelby Storm. And I’m aware that alone I can’t make him stay away from this. That’s why I came here and I ask you for help.”
„Then, tell me one more thing: have been Baron Beneath involved with the „Red Ants?” Yes, or no?”
„I don’t know!” Bardain replied sincerely. „And I don’t know this not because I’ve been kept away of everything related to Baron Beneath, but for I’ve really been blind, deaf, and mute then, and all my care has been for Brian only. At his father’s command, who was afraid of his son’s safety.”
„And… who if not you did accompany him those days?”
„Nobody. If he met someone secretly, Baron Beneath did it by himself, for he disliked the idea of sharing secrets with someone.”
Only after that, did Bardain leave the office, and, being outside, he passed by Lenny, greeting him only by touching the borders of his hat. But the old teamster said no word to the other man, and, so soon, he got lost in the night. And… after that night, nobody knew where did he go or what became of him.