"What
move do you plan now?"
"We
meet with that Ledger chap at the B & N freight
yard in half an hour, Watson. The gold train is there, and possibly
we will find clues, to buttress your
theory of robbers 'riding the rods'."
It
was an overcast day and a chill wind faced us as we hailed a hansom
and made for the freight yards. The
vicinity we sought had the bleak, forlorn look
exhibited by portions of London in the early morn. Holmes seemed to
know exactly where we were to go. When
we alighted from our conveyance, he set
off at a brisk pace that I struggled to match. Richard
Ledger was awaiting our arrival beside the office
of the freight dispatcher. His thin face had the bronze
cast of one oft exposed to the sun and there were
deep circles under his bright eyes, which were a
peculiar shade of light blue. His manner toward Holmes
was most deferential, but then he had worked
for the Kimberly people and the diamond syndicate
was not known to hire dullards.
"The
train is over here, Mr. Holmes," he said after
suitable greetings. Assuming that Holmes' prime
interest was in the carrier, he turned and walked
through the maze of intersecting roadbeds, and
we found ourselves beside an engine and two boxcars
on a short section of rail that Ledger referred
to as a hold track.
Claymore
Frisbee's description of the bullion carrier had been accurate, and I
noted nothing that I had not expected to
see. While Holmes and Ledger conversed
beside one boxcar, I walked around the train,
intent on an investigation of my own. Atop the boxcar nearest the
engine was the specially constructed fortified position looking
rather like a pillbox. It seemed small
for four riflemen, but I was interested
in the line of sight afforded by the slots in
the armor plating of its sides. It did not take long to
establish that the marksmen could cover everything save for a
thirty-five-degree arc centered at the
rear of the second boxcar. The rifle roost, for want
of a better term, would have suggested the turret
of the U.S. Navy's monitor-type vessel had it been
round rather than square. I bent down to survey
the undercarriage of the boxcars and found myself
regarding Ledger and Holmes on the other side
of the track.
"It
could have been done, Watson," said Holmes. Then he threw a
quick remark at Ledger. "A theory of my associate." The
sleuth's intense eyes returned to me.
"They might have secured themselves by the rear
wheels, though it would have been a perilous and most uncomfortable
journey. But what about their equipment? The smoke bombs, hammer and cold chisel and small arms as well, in
case the plan went awry?"
I
nodded in agreement with his words and hastened
around the rear of the train to rejoin the sleuth
and the security man. When I arrived on their
side, Holmes had evidently explained my thought to Ledger.
"Impossible,
Mr. Holmes," Ledger was saying. "Before
the gold shipment took off, I went over the undercarriages
and the boxcar interiors myself. The
train left here with no one aboard save the engineer
and firemen and my guards." As Holmes nodded
and I drew up by the two, Ledger con tinued:
"The riflemen were all bonded and of good reputation.
Two are formerly of the Lincolnshire Regiment."
"I
know," said Holmes, and I later wondered at this
remark. "We'd best have a look at the roofs, for that's
where the mischief started."
Ledger
led us to the rear coupling between the two boxcars and we carefully
mounted an iron ladder. On the top of
the second boxcar, which had held the
gold, Holmes went to his knees to survey the
roof with his ever-present pocket glass. I noted that
he paid special attention to the right aft section
above the sliding door in the car's side. I began
to pose a question, but he shrugged and then his
long legs took him forward on the roof to the edge
and he leaped from there to the first boxcar with
Ledger agilely following. I contented myself with
climbing down the ladder we had mounted and
up the matching one to the top of the
move do you plan now?"
"We
meet with that Ledger chap at the B & N freight
yard in half an hour, Watson. The gold train is there, and possibly
we will find clues, to buttress your
theory of robbers 'riding the rods'."
It
was an overcast day and a chill wind faced us as we hailed a hansom
and made for the freight yards. The
vicinity we sought had the bleak, forlorn look
exhibited by portions of London in the early morn. Holmes seemed to
know exactly where we were to go. When
we alighted from our conveyance, he set
off at a brisk pace that I struggled to match. Richard
Ledger was awaiting our arrival beside the office
of the freight dispatcher. His thin face had the bronze
cast of one oft exposed to the sun and there were
deep circles under his bright eyes, which were a
peculiar shade of light blue. His manner toward Holmes
was most deferential, but then he had worked
for the Kimberly people and the diamond syndicate
was not known to hire dullards.
"The
train is over here, Mr. Holmes," he said after
suitable greetings. Assuming that Holmes' prime
interest was in the carrier, he turned and walked
through the maze of intersecting roadbeds, and
we found ourselves beside an engine and two boxcars
on a short section of rail that Ledger referred
to as a hold track.
Claymore
Frisbee's description of the bullion carrier had been accurate, and I
noted nothing that I had not expected to
see. While Holmes and Ledger conversed
beside one boxcar, I walked around the train,
intent on an investigation of my own. Atop the boxcar nearest the
engine was the specially constructed fortified position looking
rather like a pillbox. It seemed small
for four riflemen, but I was interested
in the line of sight afforded by the slots in
the armor plating of its sides. It did not take long to
establish that the marksmen could cover everything save for a
thirty-five-degree arc centered at the
rear of the second boxcar. The rifle roost, for want
of a better term, would have suggested the turret
of the U.S. Navy's monitor-type vessel had it been
round rather than square. I bent down to survey
the undercarriage of the boxcars and found myself
regarding Ledger and Holmes on the other side
of the track.
"It
could have been done, Watson," said Holmes. Then he threw a
quick remark at Ledger. "A theory of my associate." The
sleuth's intense eyes returned to me.
"They might have secured themselves by the rear
wheels, though it would have been a perilous and most uncomfortable
journey. But what about their equipment? The smoke bombs, hammer and cold chisel and small arms as well, in
case the plan went awry?"
I
nodded in agreement with his words and hastened
around the rear of the train to rejoin the sleuth
and the security man. When I arrived on their
side, Holmes had evidently explained my thought to Ledger.
"Impossible,
Mr. Holmes," Ledger was saying. "Before
the gold shipment took off, I went over the undercarriages
and the boxcar interiors myself. The
train left here with no one aboard save the engineer
and firemen and my guards." As Holmes nodded
and I drew up by the two, Ledger con tinued:
"The riflemen were all bonded and of good reputation.
Two are formerly of the Lincolnshire Regiment."
"I
know," said Holmes, and I later wondered at this
remark. "We'd best have a look at the roofs, for that's
where the mischief started."
Ledger
led us to the rear coupling between the two boxcars and we carefully
mounted an iron ladder. On the top of
the second boxcar, which had held the
gold, Holmes went to his knees to survey the
roof with his ever-present pocket glass. I noted that
he paid special attention to the right aft section
above the sliding door in the car's side. I began
to pose a question, but he shrugged and then his
long legs took him forward on the roof to the edge
and he leaped from there to the first boxcar with
Ledger agilely following. I contented myself with
climbing down the ladder we had mounted and
up the matching one to the top of the
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