Rafferty waited for Sir Laurence in front of a block of offices just off Fleet Street

where the papers had started long ago. The knight walked along with cane tapping on

the sidewalk as he came.

“Come along,” said Fletcher. “We can talk while we walk.”

“Both Brown and Hawley know who I am,” said Rafferty. “I asked Hawley to keep

quiet, but Brown identified me in front of his goons.”

“That’s something to worry about if Brown is captured,” said Fletcher. “We might

have to pull your identity and ask for someone else to take your spot until we think

of something.”

“So I can stay on,” said Rafferty.

“But not as an enforcer,” said Sir Laurence. “We might have to move you into a

secondary role until we know where Hawley stands.”

“I’m fine with that,” said Rafferty. “The costume has some holes in it. It should be

fairly easy to sew back together.”

“Really?,” said Sir Laurence.

Rafferty hadn’t noticed in the middle of his rescue that bullets had cut through his

coat without hitting him. The uniform underneath had suffered some rips as well.

At least he could hand it over without worrying about who was going to wear it next.

As a reserve, he probably wouldn’t see any action unless someone got mouthy about

their lunch dish.

Changing clothes and cleaning up was the least he could do before he talked to Sir

Laurence about the situation.

“I’ll put the word out through the network to keep an eye out for Brown,” said

Fletcher. “What do you think he’ll do next?”

“I don’t know,” said Rafferty. “Grabbing Hawley was an extreme step for most

gangsters. Stirring up the peelers is bad for business.”

“I think he will try to kill you again,” said Fletcher. “Kidnaping the Inspector shows

that he thought you were behind everything before you confirmed it by going after

him. I don’t think he can leave either one of you alive in case something happens.”

“Well, Hawley is surrounded by bobbies from the Yard, and ambulance people by this

time,” said Rafferty. “I only have to worry about myself.”

“He’ll probably wait until you show up at your pub before he tries to do anything,”

said Fletcher.

“That’s the only place where I can be reliably found,” said Rafferty. “Some of his

minions are probably watching it right now.”

“Come with me,” said Fletcher. “Let’s hand the books over and see what can be made

of them.”

Fletcher led the way to a small building tucked away among others that looked the

same. He opened the door and peeked before crossing the threshold. A rail kept

visitors on side while the workers sat at desks in a open space beyond. A man with

a visor and rolled up shirt sleeves ambled to the rail to talk to Fletcher where he

waited.

“Hello, Larry,” said the man in the visor. “What can I do for you?”

“I need a decoder and accountant for a rush job, Dennison,” said Sir Laurence. “Do

you have anyone available?”

“Murtaugh is back from his vacation,” said Dennison. “He’s the best man I have

working.”

“All right,” said Sir Laurence. “I’ll pay double your usual if you can crack the code

and fill out all the entries before the end of the week.”

“Do you have the material with you?,” asked the manager.

Fletcher gestured for Rafferty to hand over the accounting books. The ex-detective

did with a questioning look on his face.

“Don’t worry,” said Dennison. He tucked the books under his arm. “We’ll suss

everything out and have it ready for reading in plain language on time.”

“Thank you, Dennison,” said Sir Laurence. “I will be waiting your report with

anticipation.”

“Don’t worry, Larry,” said the manager. He made a waving gesture with one hand.

“There’s no code built that we can’t crack.”

“Come along, Rafferty,” said Sir Laurence. “Dennison’s operators are all first rate.”

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The two men stepped out on the street. Sir Laurence led the way, tapping the sidewalk

with his cane.

“Dennison’s operation is the core of message interception and translation,” said Sir

Laurence. “We’re going to war against the Germans. His people and others are going

to be here figuring out what the enemy is saying and helping us plan accordingly.”

“Decoding the book is something they could do as a matter of course,” said Rafferty.

“Dennison knows I am authorized to do whatever I have to do,” said Sir Laurence.

“So he would have decoded the book regardless. Paying him and his man something

extra on top of that will keep them from spilling anything secret they might find.”

“Now that is out of the way, I’m going home and staring at the walls,” said Rafferty.

“I think we should see if Brown is still waiting for you in case you still have his

books,” said Sir Laurence.

“There’s no way he could still think that,” said Rafferty. “I already told him that I

passed them along.”

“He won’t believe that because his people in the police department won’t be able to

find the books,” said the knight. “He will still think you kept them for whatever

reason.”

“So you think he will come after me again,” said Rafferty. “How do we use this to our

advantage?”

“The first part of the plan is to let him see you,” said Sir Laurence. “So you will have

to drop into your pub and have a drink. It should just be long enough for anyone

looking for you to call in. If we have a bite, you stay until a group of them show up

to take you away to wherever Brown is. Then we arrest him.”

“That sounds so dangerous, I might have to think of something more dangerous just

to say there are two things I won’t do,” said Rafferty.

“Do it,” said Sir Laurence. “I will be waiting for any such group who want to take you

away. You will be as safe from danger as I can make it.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any safer,” said Rafferty.

“Don’t worry,” said Sir Laurence. “I have been doing things like this most of my

life.”

“How do you want to do this?,” asked Rafferty.

“I’ll need time to get things ready,” said Fletcher. “Go home and take a break. I’ll

need you at the Unicorn in say about two hours.”

“All right,” said Rafferty. “I just escaped from a bunch of people trying to kill me. I

could do with a lot less of that.”

“Nobody is promised tomorrow,” said Sir Laurence. “Two hours.”

“I’ll be there,” said Rafferty. “I won’t like it, but I’ll be there.”

Sir Laurence veered off. He put his hand out and a cab rolled to a stop. He gave

Rafferty a wave of his hand before getting into the cab. The dark car whisked him

away.

Rafferty turned and started walking back the way they had come. He had to get his

own car and drive home. He wondered if Brown would make another try of things.

The man had lost most of his gang in the shootout earlier.

Brown couldn’t afford to have his books floating around where anyone might look

at them. He would want to get them back more than he wanted revenge on Rafferty.

So he would make another play to get the books back, and then he would go

somewhere overseas to run his business from afar.

It made sense to Rafferty. You couldn’t be the king of the underworld if you didn’t

know how much everyone owed you.

Rafferty drove home while keeping an eye out for anyone who might be interested in

his dark sedan. He probably should get something in another color to keep things

separate.

He smiled at the thought.

He would be lucky to keep the sedan if he wasn’t Sir Laurence’s attack dog anymore.

He would probably get a notice, and someone showing up to pick it up while he was

deep in the medicine of dismalness.

He parked the car out of sight and went up to his hiding place. He let himself in, glad

to be safe and alone. He settled in his chair and looked around. He got up and placed

another chair in front of the door. He sat back down.

He closed his eyes and let the memory of everything that had happened wash over

him. He envisioned his coat and uniform and realized he had been lucky to get out of

the showdown with Brown. Did he want to mix it up like that again?

Did he have a choice? His name was ruined. Any job other than publican would be

met by aren’t you the crooked policeman. He needed to get something of his

reputation back. If he helped take down Brown, he might be able to recover some of

that.

He wouldn’t be trusted as a policeman, but people would know he was a good guy.

Rafferty felt himself drift away. He had been in more dangerous situations in the last

few days than his whole time as a policeman up to that point. He hadn’t been shot at

so much since the war.

Maybe he should get out of the masked man business and tell Fletcher that he would

be glad to do support from now on. That would keep the danger off of him.

There were plenty of ways to check on things without getting shot.

Rafferty opened his eyes. He checked his watch. His time was up. He had to meet the

knight at the pub. He wondered what would happen if he stayed on.

Should he stay on after this?

His secret had been revealed before he had really started in the crimebusting business.

The barrister representing Billy Bones would be able to spin his involvement as a

criminal imposing his will on a weaker criminal. There was no way to fix that as far

as he was concerned.

Maybe Fletcher had some trick up his sleeve to silence the defense.

Rafferty stood and moved the second chair out of the way. He took one last look

around his new place. He smiled. He hadn’t had it long enough for it to be a new

place. He left the apartment and headed down to pick up his car.

Once he walked in the pub, he would know if he had a problem.

Brown might have put a man in to find him before he picked up Hawley. That meant

the mobster had planned to get rid of his unmasked side a long time before the

shootout in the empty buildings.

That meant long term planning to get rid of Rafferty. Taking the accounts books must

have triggered that response. If he had known it was that easy, he would have broken

in and taken the books when he was a policeman.

He drove to a spot close to the pub. He left the car in an alley. It should be safe

enough until he was done at the pub.

He would have to give the car back after this. He shrugged. He couldn’t expect to

keep it if he wasn’t going to be the masked man Fletcher needed.

He straightened his coat and pulled his hat down. He still had time before things went

in the crapper. He might as well use it.