The Casebook of Inspector Armstrong - Volume 2 by Martin Daley

Author:Martin Daley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: sherlock holmes, mystery, crime, british crime, sherlock holmes fiction, sherlock holmes novel
ISBN: 9781787052192
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited 2017
Published: 2017-11-30T00:00:00+00:00

The End Game

The wind howled across the surface of the Irish Sea; the ferry surged forward, bursting through the waves and creating great showers of spray that were blown over her bow. Cornelius Armstrong stood on deck, largely oblivious to the wild weather; his overcoat was covered with an oilskin to protect him from the icy squalls. What a difference from yesterday.

He had read in the morning edition of The Irish Times about the launch of Titanic and the pride of Ireland’s connection with the vessel. He had also discovered the reason for his late arrival that led to him missing his adventure of a lifetime; the newspaper reported that the morning boat train had been halted by a group of the nationalists affiliated with the Irish Republican Brotherhood who suspected the leader of the Ulster Volunteers, Edward Carson, was on the train. The paper speculated as to what their intention was, if they had found Carson, but as he was not on board, the report concluded that the train was allowed to complete its journey albeit an hour behind schedule.

Don’t I know it, thought Cornelius. Rather than powering across the Atlantic in style to New York, where he would complete the most complex and prestigious case of his career, he found himself chugging back across the Irish Sea to England, where he was vulnerable to derision and further humiliation if the case could not be tied up in his absence, five thousand miles west.

It was eight o’clock on the evening of 12 th April when he arrived back at his lodgings in Carlisle. Having contacted Henry Baker before leaving Dublin the previous day, the message had been relayed to Mrs. Wheeler who had a hot meal waiting for him upon his arrival.

The following morning and he was back at his desk well aware that the most important case of his career was hanging by a thread - it had taken ten months to get to this point and it was in danger of unraveling at the last.

“It could only happen to you, Cornelius!” Chief Constable Henry Baker couldn’t help teasing his Inspector, whilst knowing his man was well capable of recovering the situation. “You need to contact the chap in New York and make sure he is ready to apprehend the crooks when they arrive.”

“I know what’s required, sir,” said Armstrong turning to leave.

He sent a lengthy telegram to Wilson Hargreave explaining his own misfortune but updating him on the three men he needed to arrest upon the ship’s docking; he also advised the American detective that the evidence would be obtained from Baxter and Sloon in the form of the Gladstone bags full of the various currencies.

Not content with contacting Hargreave, Armstrong remembered James Bell telling him about the Titanic’s sophisticated communications systems; through some enquiries with the White Star office in Liverpool, he had sent a cable to the ship itself to ensure that the senior crew were

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