‘Cobb.’
‘Not Rufus?’
‘If you call me that … I’ll kill you,’ said Cobb with a smile. ‘Nobody calls me Rufus anymore.’
‘Fair enough,’ said Darby with a laugh. ‘Now let’s eat. That exercise has given me an appetite.’
Darby waved over to the waitress and indicated she should bring their food. It must have been ready and waiting as she immediately brought it over, filled their glasses with champagne and then left them alone.
Cobb had to admit the food was delicious. Thick juicy steaks topped with fried eggs, served with pan fried potatoes and a thick gravy. Their conversation died away as they did justice to the cook’s finest efforts.
When they had finished and the table had been cleared, Darby refilled their glasses.
Cobb noticed him looking across the room and followed his gaze. There was a young couple at one of the tables gazing in to each other’s eyes, oblivious to all the noise and bustle around them. They looked like a decent, hardworking couple, shop workers or the like.
‘Ah, young love,’ said Darby. ‘Romance, naivety and the promise of sexual adventures, you can’t beat it. It makes me feel nostalgic. Do you remember your first time, Cobb?’
‘I can’t even remember my last time! It’s been so long since I had sex, I don’t remember who gets tied up anymore.’
Darby laughed and asked Cobb, ‘So, what’s this business you want to put my way?’
Cobb, who had taken a liking to Jim Darby, said, ‘Do you mind if I ask you a question first?’
‘Go ahead.’
‘What’s all this about? You … here … with these people. You don’t belong here. You’re obviously a wealthy man, you should be uptown. I know these people don’t work for you, you don’t run a gang but all the street people seem to hold you in high regard. I also know you help fund some of the charity missions in this part of town. And that incident with the girl tonight. Most people would have turned a blind eye, considering it none of their business, just some bangtail getting slapped around. But not you, you genuinely care about these people.’
Darby took out an expensive, silver cigarette case and after offering it to Cobb who refused, selected a cigarette and lit it. Blowing a long stream of smoke into the air he said to Cobb, ‘I like you Cobb and after what I’ve seen tonight I think I can trust you, you didn’t have to follow me out there and join in the fun but you did. So I’m going to tell you something that not many people know. You’re wrong when you say I don’t belong here. I may have money, nice clothes and speak properly but it wasn’t always that way.
‘I was actually born a few streets away from where we are now. When I was seven my father deserted us. My mother and I ended up in the workhouse, where she died a few years later. After she died, I ran away from the workhouse and I determined that I would never be poor or cold or hungry again, and I made sure that I wasn’t. So these are my people and that’s why I feel at home amongst them. If there’s any way that I can help them then I do. And may the Gods help anyone who tries to hurt them.’
Cobb was a little startled by the confidence but he heard the conviction in Darby’s voice.
‘Anyway, enough of history,’ said Darby, ‘why have you come to see me?’
‘I’m looking for a missing person. Her name is Adele Curran, thirty-two years of age, lives in Swanwick. She went missing about a week ago.’
‘Ran away or taken away?’
‘I don’t know, that’s what I am trying to find out. There’s been no ransom note, apparently there’s no reason to suspect that she has run away with a man. I’ve been employed to find her.’
‘And you want me to ask round my contacts to see if anyone has seen any trace of her?’ said Darby.
‘That’s the idea. You have a far wider network of people than I could raise.’
‘What if you do find her, but it transpires she has run away and she doesn’t want to come back?’
‘That’s up to her. All I’ll tell my client is that I have found her and she is safe, not where she is.’
‘Do you have a picture?’ asked Darby.
Cobb passed Darby an envelope filled with the copies of Adele’s picture that he had had made.
‘Pretty lady,’ said Darby after he opened the envelope and took out one of the pictures. ‘Yes, we should find out if she is safe or not. Okay, I’ll do it.’
‘How much will this cost?’ asked Cobb.
‘How much are you willing to pay?’
‘The client said money is no object.’
‘Okay then, one hundred pounds.’
Cobb said, ‘I didn’t figure you for the avaricious type,’ disappointed in his new acquaintance.
‘Will you pay it?’
‘Sure, it’s the client’s money, not mine.’
‘Fine. There’s a shelter for the homeless on Terl Street. Give them the money.’
‘Are you serious?’
‘Very.’
‘You’ve got a deal,’ said Cobb, with newfound respect for Darby.
‘Excellent, I knew we could come to an agreement. I’ll have someone contact you when I have some news. Anyway, enough shop talk, I’m heading uptown to take in a show, care to accompany me? I understand you’re a drinking man and I don’t like drinking on my own.’
‘Well, it would be churlish of me to refuse after all your fine hospitality tonight. Lead on!’ said Cobb.
Harlequin
Cobb took a cab to Ronald Wilkes’ factory in Hammersmith. He opened the Judas gate in the large door at the entrance to the building and stepped through into a busy workplace. The factory floor was covered in men working away at lathes or small iron grinders. Very industrious. He recognised some of the articles they were making as plumbing devices he had seen around his house but he had no idea what they were. He read the label on some that were stacked by the entrance, ‘Wilkes Flange Couplers’ it read. Ah, Flange Couplers, he thought, I’ve absolutely no idea what they are. And I think I should be grateful for that.
‘Can I help you?’ asked the foreman, who had come out of his office when he had spotted Cobb.
‘Is Mr. Wilkes in today?’
‘Yes. Is he expecting you?’
‘No, but if he knows I’m here, he’ll see me. The name’s Cobb.’
‘Well, if you’ll just wait here Mr. Cobb, I see if he’s available.’
The foreman made his way across the factory and up a flight of stairs to where an office overlooked the shop floor. A moment later he returned and asked Cobb to follow him up to the office.
‘Mr. Cobb for you, sir.’
‘Thank you Fred,’ said Wilkes. ‘That will be all for now thank you. Don’t forget we must finish that Ball-cock order by next Friday.’
‘Righto sir, I’ll get onto the lads,’ said foreman and left the office.
‘It’s all right,’ said Cobb after the foreman had gone. ‘I didn’t tell him what I was or why I wanted to see you.’
‘Well …’ Mr. Wilkes steeled himself. ‘What news have you about my wife?’
‘Nothing but good news I’m glad to say.’
Wilkes almost collapsed into his chair and heaved a sigh of relief. ‘Thank the Gods. I don’t know if I could have stood it if she was betraying me. So … what exactly did you find out?’
‘Well, I’ve been following Mrs. Wilkes for a few days now,’ it was a lie but Wilkes didn’t need to know he’d only followed her twice. It would make his story more convincing if he let him believe that he’d been on her tail all week. ‘It was as you said; she lunches with her friends and gets involved in charitable works with them. No sign of a lover.’
‘And the young man I saw her with?’
‘One of her luncheon acquaintances did have her son with her one day, so I expect it was him that you saw. He was probably just escorting your wife to her cab.’
‘So she’s not being unfaithful to me, then?’
‘Mr. Wilkes, I can categorically state that your wife
is not having an affair with another man,’ asserted Cobb.
Wilkes came around from behind his desk and shook Cobb’s hand. ‘You’ve no idea what a weight off my mind hearing this has been. I don’t know how to thank you. You’ve saved my life.’
‘One of the good bits about my job,’ said Cobb, ‘is that sometimes I get to deliver good news instead of bad. Well if that’s all, I’ll be on my way.’
‘How much do I owe you?’ asked Wilkes.
‘Nothing at all. That ten pounds you paid me covered all the expenses. So, our business is concluded. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be going.’
‘Goodbye Mr. Cobb and good luck to you,’ said Wilkes as he sat down at his desk to contemplate his good fortune.
Cobb made his way out of the factory and congratulated himself on a job well done. Okay, he’d broken the rules because he’d lied to the client … but it was a good lie, a ‘white’ lie. His conscience could deal with that.
***
A few days after the meeting with Jim Darby, Cobb got a message pushed through his letterbox to meet Darby at The Golden Gryphon, that evening. Cobb hoped that Darby had some good news; he had spent a few fruitless days investigating Adele’s disappearance.
Cobb had been down to the school where Adele taught and spoken to the Headmaster and members of the staff. Cobb had managed to find a picture of Quist amongst his notes from his days on the force, and when he’d shown it to the teachers at the school, they had confirmed that it was indeed a picture of the man they knew as Adele’s father. He had even been to Adele’s home and spoken to the housekeeper, she agreed that it was a picture of “Mr. Curran”. Cobb was amazed to find that at least part of Quist’s story was true. Quist really did have a stepdaughter.
But as for gaining any useful information about Adele’s disappearance, nothing. No one could give any clue to why she left or where she went.
Then he had received the request for a meeting from Darby. Cobb hoped that he had found some information regarding Adele.
***
Jim Darby stood up and shook hands with Cobb. ‘Good to see you again Cobb. Sit down and have a drink.’ He poured a generous slug of brandy into a spare glass and pushed it across the table to Cobb.
‘So, what news have you got for me? Good, I hope,’ asked Cobb.
‘Yes, I think so. “Our Lady of the Disappearing Nature”, went north. Alone. I figured that if anyone wanted to get far away quickly, the best way to do that was by train. I don’t know if you know this Cobb but while there are many train lines that go across the country, there is only one line that goes the length of the country from top to bottom. So I had a man get on a train and head north, getting off at every stop and leaving the picture and some money with either the rail staff or one of our men, if we had one there. Eventually we got some news.
‘I can tell you this, our girl is clever and it seems like she’s trying to avoid being found. But like I said, there is only one line going north and south. It appears that she would travel so far north, get off and catch a train heading across country. Then she would reappear later at a station further up the line, catch a train, go further north and then do the same thing again. Definitely trying to avoid being followed.’
‘Interesting,’ said Cobb. ‘So at least we know she hasn’t been taken, and wherever she is going it is apparently willingly. At least no one is forcing her.’
‘She could be being coerced and acting under instructions,’ said Darby.
‘The only way we will know that is to ask her. So … where is she now?’ asked Cobb.
‘She went as far as the line went, all the way to Inverdupp, the last stop on the line in Caledonia. After that we have no trace of her. But that’s where you can start your search.’
‘That’s great Jim, thanks. I owe you one.’
‘My pleasure but you don’t owe me anything, you’ve already paid. I checked with the shelter and they’ve received the money. So we’re quits, have another drink.’
Cobb accepted the drink and many more during the course of the evening. They drank, swapped funny stories and talked about life. Cobb finally left The Golden Gryphon and set off home through the foggy night.
He took a horse drawn Omnibus back to his own part of town. He got off at a stop in his own neighbourhood and staggered off into the dense, Londum, Brown Windsor souper. It was the early hours of the morning and no one was about. At least he thought no one was about but suddenly Cobb was confronted by two small men dressed in grey robes.
They stood there staring at him silently. Small oriental types dressed in identical grey featureless robes. ‘What do you want?’ he asked but they didn’t reply, just kept staring at him with their inscrutable, oriental faces. Cobb backed off uneasily but heard a noise behind him. He whirled around and there were another two of them, dressed identically to the first two. Why do they always come in fours? wondered Cobb.
Suddenly they attacked in unison. Cobb tried to defend himself but he’d had a lot to drink that night. The numbers were against him, there were four of them, and he was “three sheets to the wind” and “one over the eight”.
Cobb could see that they used oriental fighting techniques, unusual in Albion but he had seen demonstrations of it at the Yard, they were obviously trained martial artists. The eerie thing was they didn’t speak to him or threaten him or ask him to hand over his money, they just attacked him. The four of them pummelled Cobb wordlessly, who kicked and punched back but largely to no effect. Cobb was way out of his class; however, he managed to get a few good licks in before he went down. Cobb rolled into a ball and protected his head as the four proceeded to give him a good kicking.
Suddenly they broke off the attack and melted back into the fog, like grey ghosts. Cobb relaxed from his foetal position and groaned. He hurt all over, even his hair ached. He lay there in a sea of pain, as he swung backwards and forwards over the edge of consciousness, when he heard someone calling his name.
‘Cobb … Oh Cobb … wakey, wakey!’
Cobb gathered his wits and raised himself onto one elbow. Wiping the blood from his nose he looked round to see who was calling him.
The Harlequin in the red and white diamond suit walked out of the fog and knelt down next to him. It was the clown from the pub and again at that mediaeval fayre. ‘That was a warning Cobb, make sure you heed it. You are to stay away from Adele Curran. Do not try and find her … or it could be your last case.’ He stood up, turned and walked away into the fog.
In a show of bravado Cobb managed to shout after him, ‘Yeah? Well your mother dresses you funny!’ before lapsing into unconsciousness.
***
‘What colour did you say his costume was?’ asked Thornton. He sat at the table leafing through a large book. Cobb was stretched out on Thornton’s sofa. When Cobb had come around after the beating, he had managed to drag himself round to Thornton’s flat as the nearest refuge. Thornton had cleaned and dressed his wounds then Cobb had tried to explain what had happened, although his knowledge of what had occurred was sketchy. None of it made any sense but Thornton had listened to Cobb’s tale patiently and then gone out of the room, returning a few moments later with a heavy, leather bound volume, entitled “Mythes And Legendes Of The Anciente Worlde”.
‘Red and white diamond,’ replied Cobb.
A moment later Thornton swung the book round and held it up so that Cobb could see it from the sofa. ‘Is that him?’
‘That’s the bastard!’ exclaimed Cobb. ‘Who is he and what’s he doing in your book?’
Thornton read the notes in the book, ‘Well, according to this he is Harlequin, the Joker, the Jester, the player of tricks. Also known as Loki, the Master of Mischief, the Lord of Misrule. One of the minor agents of the Gods, his delight is to interfere in the plans of men, bringing disruption and mayhem. Or so it says here. By the Gods, dear boy, what have you got yourself into?’
‘I don’t know. I thought it was a simple missing person case but I should have
known something involving Quist would be anything but simple.’
‘Quist? Marcus Quist? What’s he got to do with this?’
‘Pour me another brandy and I’ll tell you all about it.’
So Cobb told Thornton Wells all about being taken to Quist’s house, Adele’s disappearance, Jim Darby’s help and of course, about Harlequin. ‘So now I’m going to go up to Caledonia and try and pick up her trail from Inverdupp. I’ll need you to feed Lucifer while I’m gone. Can you do that for me?’
‘Certainly. Are you sure you want to continue with this case? You’re getting into some very deep water here.’
‘There is a young lady out there that is in the middle of all this. She may be in trouble and need my help or she may be the one behind it all, I just don’t know. But I do know that she may be the only one who knows what this is all about. So I have to find her.’
Thornton left the room and came back a few minutes later carrying a small, jewelled box. He picked up the chair he had been sitting on at the table and brought it over to the sofa. He sat down in front of Cobb and opened the box. Inside was a golden amulet, the centre of which contained a fiery red stone, the shape and size of a pigeon’s egg. As Cobb watched, the fire seemed to flare and move inside the stone, as if it were alive. For some reason, the saying from his dream, “You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs”, popped into his head.
‘When I was in the Far East many years ago, I saved the life of a holy man. A very powerful one, apparently. In gratitude he gave me this amulet. He told me that if I was ever in a really bad situation, I should use it. But he made it clear that I should not use it lightly. It must only be used as a last resort as there may be … consequences.’
‘What sort of consequences?’ asked Cobb.
‘Not even he knew. Look Cobb, this isn’t a Magick amulet that makes you immune to bullets or anything like that. This is the repository of an extremely powerful source of Magick and there’s no telling what may happen if it’s released.’
‘So who in their right mind is going to use something that is even worse than the danger you’re in?’
‘It depends on the circumstances,’ said Thornton. ‘If you are faced with a situation that will affect millions of lives unless you stop it, then it can be very tempting to use it. I’ve nearly used it a couple of times myself but mercifully I’ve always managed to find a better way.’