Henry Wood: Time and Again: (28 page)

“How is that?”

“When Henry gives the all clear, we drive away, as planned. We pull around the corner, pop the professor, then park and head back into the building. They will be worrying about loading the ‘Eye’ up and at least two men will be required to move it. If we use silencers, we may be able to take out a few of them, before they even know what has hit them.”

“You think we should kill the professor? If we do, Henry will know it was us. It’s Henry’s car, so we let the professor drive, then after we are out of sight, ask him to let us out.”

Hans smiled, “That is why we make a good team; you see the simple elegant solution, when I do not.”

“Thank you.”

Hans continues, “So we make our way back to the Greeks, take the ‘Eye’, and set up the sale with Dr. Schaeffer.”

“If we move quickly, we can blow town tomorrow, as wealthy men.”

“We may not get to settle our scores with Schaeffer and Garneau, but I'm tired, and ready to put this all behind us.”

Arthur nodded his head. “Yes my friend, I'm tired too. A simple life, some wine, maybe a woman, and my greatest worry, is when to roll out of bed in the morning. There is one problem though.”

“Yes, the Falcon. She won’t be happy, us pulling the double cross, cutting her out, selling it to Dr. Schaeffer.”

“She has contacts all over the world, some pretty dangerous people, too. I couldn’t even guess how much money she has squirreled away in Swiss accounts. She will come after us. It will hardly be a life of leisure, if we have to look over our shoulders constantly.”

Hans finishes his steak, while considering Arthur’s last point. “We had planned on killing her originally, so I guess we take care of her, before we leave town. After we get the ‘Eye’, we head back to Henry’s office. They should all be there.”

“Yes, but we can’t kill them all. There will already be plenty of Greek bodies lying around; add an office full to the equation and it would be too much. Also won’t it look suspicious, us being left off by the professor, then showing up again?”

“Great points, our plan seems to be flawed. Or more precisely, my plan is flawed. Your ideas have been right on the mark.”

“How about we grab the ‘Eye’, and then tomorrow, we present it to the Falcon.”

Hans is intrigued. “Go on…”

“She will be ecstatic and pay us well. Unlike the paintings and sculptures, she won’t be able to move it alone. The Falcon will need at least one of us to help her. We finally get taken to her stash.”

“Oh you are brilliant.”

“Thank you. I’m sure you have figured out the rest…”

“We wait to kill her and get our bonuses, the ‘Eye’, and her sizable collection.”

“Yes, but the best part, we leave her body in her secret stash, which will keep anyone from finding it for a long time. Then we sell the ‘Eye’ to Dr. Schaeffer, and leave town as planned.”

“Okay, we need to round up our helpers.”

With that they paid their bill and left.

Chapter Sixty-Five

Henry drove, professor Brookert sat in the passenger seat and Arthur and Hans were in the back. A black sedan and truck followed behind. Henry took W 14th street across town. The meat packing district was mostly quiet, save for a few drunks. When they pulled up to the building, Henry stopped the car next to a phone booth. He handed the keys to the professor and got out.

Two men got out of the sedan; the driver remained, as did one man in the back. Henry stopped and talked briefly with the large older man then pointed to the building across the street. He got in the back and the car drove away. The truck pulled around to the side of the building, while the two men went and stood by the phone booth. Professor Brookert slid over and got in the driver’s seat. Nobody had much to say, so they just waited.

The sedan drove away and ten minutes later stopped. Henry was told which building and got out. Two men followed Henry into the building.

A few minutes later they were standing outside a heavy metal door. It looked like a room where kidnappers might hang out. A bunch of chairs, a table covered in debris from a day of prisoner watching, a deck of cards, and a radio, and some mostly empty shelving, made up the décor. One of the men opened the heavy door, and handed Henry the phone with the long cord.

He walked around the chairs and into the circle of light. Katarina looked a bit rough, but as soon as she saw Henry, leapt to her feet and threw her arms around him. Henry holding the phone in one hand, gave her a light hug, and then stepped back.

He whispered, “After I make this call, we won’t have much time.” Henry took out his notebook, flipped to the last page, and dialed the number. When the man in the phone booth answered, “I'm here.”

Katarina sat on the edge of the table, her hands clasped together between her knees. She looked tired and scared. “What now?”

“You listen.” Henry paused, and then continued when she didn’t say anything, “In five minutes I have to call him back. I have given him the building, but he doesn’t know where the ‘Eye’ is hidden. We made a deal. I get 5 minutes with you, and then call him back, with my decision.”

“What decision?”

“He is willing to trade the ‘Eye for you or $250,000, and it is up to me. If you aren’t straight with me, I'm taking the money.”

Katarina sat up straight, “Henry?! What do you mean?” Her voice sounding hurt.

“Listen Kat, you played me for the fool. I let you, because…well…I just couldn’t help myself. It seemed real, or maybe I just wanted it to be.”

“Henry, how can you say that? It was real…it is real.” She reached for his hand.

“I need truth from you now, in these few minutes, or I'm walking out of here. When they find out I was bluffing, they will take it out on you.”

“You were bluffing? You don’t know where the ‘Eye’ is?”

“No, never did, but you knew I could bluff well enough to get here. Wasn’t that your plan?”

“Yes it was, but the way you said…well, you even convinced me.”

“The clock is ticking kitten. Are you the Falcon?”

“Yes.”

“Were you the Falcon when we met?”

“No, I was just me.”

“Did you ever care for me?”

“Yes, of course I did, I mean, I do. Can’t you tell?”

Her answers came quickly, no need to think, she was telling the truth. The next question caught her square in the jaw.

“Why did Mickey have to die?”

“He…I mean…”

“He was my best friend and you knew that. Was it you in the car?”

“No” A horrified look on her face, tears starting to fall.

“But it was you, you ordered it. You had to keep your secret. Who killed Mickey?”

“I…Henry…please let me explain.”

Henry let her have it, both barrels, looking into her moist eyes. “We don’t have time for your explanation. I need an answer. If we don’t wipe the slate clean, if you don’t tell me what you have done, I can’t begin to forgive you.” Giving her some hope, “I might as well take the money. Let the truth die with you. It will hurt, but not as much as your betrayal. I need to know who killed Mickey, the why can come later.”

“Henry it is complicated…”

Slightly louder, a little colder, with an edge, “Who killed Mickey?”

The door opened. “It has been 5 minutes. You must call now.”

Henry stood, looked at her, and then dialed. When he got the voice on the other end, “The ‘Eye’ is behind a wall, on the second floor. Go through the door you can see from the phone booth, there are stairs at the end of the hall. Once you get to the second floor, go down the hall, and take the first left. This hall goes for a ways; there are office doors on both sides. This hall connects to another hallway. Turn right and open the first door on the left. It is a large room, the back wall is brick. There is a hidden space behind the false wall. There is a release, but it is hard to explain how it works. Just use the sledge hammer near the corner. If you open it up near the corner, it will be safe; the boxes with the ‘Eye’ are at the other end of the space.” Henry sat down, with the phone on his knee. “We talked.” Then he listened for a moment.

Tears streamed down her face.

“I'll take the…”

“No wait…it was Arthur.”

Henry holding the phone, “But he works for you?!”

“Yes.”

“You knew.”

“Yes.”

“You knew and didn’t tell me.”

Katarina was completely broken, sobbing into her hands, “You don’t understand, I needed the ‘Eye’…”

Henry stood up slowly, and then said, “You get that captain?” He hung up the phone and set it on the table.

The two men guarding the door came in and identified themselves as police officers. They carried cuffs and asked her to stand.

Henry walked towards the door.

Katarina ran up to him, grabbing his arm, confused. “What? What’s going on?”

Henry waved off the two officers and grabbed her by the elbows. “You lost. You played everyone for the fool, even me. I let you. I couldn’t help it. But I can’t let you get away with Mickey’s murder. I won’t.”

Screaming and crying, “But I need the ‘Eye’, I need to ask it something. I need to talk to God.”

Henry gave the officers a nod and they pulled her arms behind her back. “You don’t need a 2000 year old machine. You just talk. You find a quiet place and talk.”

Henry walked out and down to the street. The professor pulled up and he climbed in. “Mike is over helping take Arthur and Hans down to the station. He said he would catch up with us later. The chief said you would need to make a statement, but it could wait until morning. Where to?”

“I need a drink.”

“
The Dublin Rogue
it is.”

Epilogue

Henry didn’t have to pay for a drink all night. Everyone at
The Dublin Rogue
considered him a hero for finding Mickey’s killer. He didn’t feel heroic. He didn’t feel like rehashing the whole story, so he mostly said, “Thanks and I’m just glad we got them.” The professor and Mike filled in and recounted the main parts of the story, to those who were interested.

Around 1:00 am, Henry sat at his favorite table, in the back. He drank his beer and thought about Mickey. Luna came up and smiled, “May I join you?”

Henry poured her a beer, he was glad to see her. “Did Mike call you?”

“Yes, he said you got em.”

“This is pretty late for you, don’t you have to be at the bakery in a few hours.”

“I have tomorrow off.”

“Oh” He took a sip and looked at her, as she slid in next to him. She was familiar, comfortable, and kind. He needed that.

“You want to tell me about it? If you don’t that is okay.”

He didn’t want to talk about it, to tell the story, but he wanted her to know. “How much do you know?”

“Mike told me you worked it out to get a confession, so even the chief got to be in on it. How did you do it?”

The bar noise seemed to fade away; he took her hand, and recounted the final act.

“I can tell you, because you know about the closet. I got a clue, a newspaper from the future.”

“Really?” Luna whispered, “What did you find out?”

Henry skipped over the part about the Dodgers. He wasn’t ready to deal with that open wound. “It was about a discovery of a strange empty hiding space, as a building was being remodeled. The details of the article were such, that I knew exactly where the ‘Eye’ had been. At the time, I didn’t know what the clue meant, but I knew that eventually I would. A few hours later, I got a call…”

Henry went over the part about Hans and Arthur hiring him, told her how Katarina had called him and put him on the phone with the Greek man. Henry paused as the waitress stopped over and asked if he wanted another pitcher. He looked at Luna, who nodded, and ordered one.

“I'm a good judge of people. I knew the Greek man was serious about getting the ‘Eye’ back, but I also sensed he didn’t really want to harm Katarina or Patrick. It was strange how the plan just seemed to form before my eyes. I knew she was the ‘Falcon’, and had also, just before the call, cracked the rest of Mickey’s code. He had figured out who she was and that Arthur and Hans worked for her, spying on her two chief rivals. It was easy to crack, once I realized she was the ‘Falcon’.” Henry sighed.

Luna leaned into him and whispered, “You are very clever.”

“I should have figured it out before, but she…”

“It’s okay. Go on with your story.”

“Oh yes, where was I?”

“You were talking to the Greek man and the plan just came to you.”

“Yes, I knew that Katarina had killed Mickey, or had one of her minions do it. Everyone else had been cleared, she was the only one left with motive. I just couldn’t prove it. So the plan started to form. I explained to the Greek man, what I was doing, why I didn’t care about his artifact, and that if he would help me, I would give it back to him. His immediate answer was yes, but it was his tone, which told me I could trust him. I needed a confession and I knew she was clever, very clever, much more than me, or I would have figured it out earlier. So we set up a schedule. First he was to get angry, then make it appear I wanted money. He agreed to make a show of killing the fence, Patrick.”