The Monster Within (12 page)

‘Scarlet,' he whispered. ‘Help.'

She leant close. ‘In a minute,' she said. ‘I really want to hear what Mrs Dudley
has to say about The Cat and Mouse Act.'

Jack hit her leg. ‘I need help,' he said. ‘Now!'

She glanced down—and yelled. Within seconds, Mr Doyle had begun clearing the room.
As he did, he told Jack to remain still as he examined the package.

A group of police constables charged through the door.

‘What's going on here?' one asked, his name badge identifying him as Constable Cosby.
‘We've come here to arrest—'

‘Forget your arrests!' Mr Doyle snapped. ‘There's a bomb under this seat.'

Cosby blanched. ‘A bomb,' he said. ‘You mean those—'

‘The Valkyrie Circle would appear to be the logical culprits,' Mr Doyle confirmed.
‘Evacuate the area. I will try to defuse the device.'

The constable raced away, yelling orders.

‘Can't we just go?' Jack asked. Mr Doyle had kept a firm hold on him the whole time.
‘Surely if it's on a timer—'

‘That's the problem,' Mr Doyle said. ‘This bomb has both a timer and a depression
trigger. You activated
it by sitting down. Releasing your weight will activate the
timer, but we have no way of knowing if we have seconds or hours before it explodes.'

Jack swallowed.
It can't end like this,
he thought.
Blown into a million pieces.

‘Scarlet,' he said, trying to stay motionless. ‘You should go.'

‘Jack's right,' Mr Doyle said. ‘There's no need for you to remain.'

‘I never abandon my friends,' Scarlet said, firmly.

Mr Doyle peered at the device. ‘I need something to wedge against one end of the
scales,' he said. ‘Something long and thin. It doesn't need to be heavy.'

Scarlet searched her handbag. ‘How about a pencil?' she asked.

‘Perfect.'

Reaching into the box, he jammed it into place. ‘That's it,' he said. ‘I think it's
safe to stand.'

Jack felt faint as they led him from the hall. Moments later they were outside on
the street.

Mrs Dudley came charging over. ‘Who would do such a thing?' she asked. ‘Are the Valkyrie
Circle now targeting other suffragette organisations?'

‘I don't know,' Mr Doyle admitted, wiping sweat from his brow. ‘I must confess to
being completely baffled.'

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Back at Bee Street, Jack asked Mr Doyle again about the bomb.

‘We know the Valkyrie Circle wants to create mayhem,' Mr Doyle said. ‘My guess would
be that they knew the bombing of another suffragette organisation would cause even
more protests.'

‘As I've always maintained,' Scarlet said, ‘the Valkyrie Circle has nothing in common
with legitimate suffrage societies.'

Gloria entered with a note for Mr Doyle. Looking at it, he frowned. ‘That's odd,'
he said. ‘This is from Greystoke at Scotland Yard. He's enquiring as to whether we've
discovered anything new.'

‘Why is that strange?'

Mr Doyle became thoughtful. ‘The message we received in Spain was from Greystoke,'
he said. ‘It's almost as if he's unaware of—'

The sound of feet came from the hallway outside. The door was thrown open and a dozen
uniformed men stormed in. A bald man led them, dressed in civilian clothing.

‘What's going on?' Mr Doyle asked.

‘Are you Ignatius Doyle?' the man asked.

‘I am.'

‘No doubt you've heard of me. I am Detective Inspector James Wolf. I have a warrant
to search your premises.'

‘What?' Mr Doyle said, astounded. ‘For what reason?'

‘That's none of your concern.'

The officers with him wore the uniform of the Wolf Pack: blue suits with silver shoulder
pads, holstered guns at their sides. Wolf directed them to check each of the bedrooms,
especially under the beds.

Gloria was furious, but Mr Doyle shushed her.

‘Has anyone been here during our absence?' he whispered.

‘No-one,' she replied, then frowned. ‘There
was
a problem with the gas. A man came
and fixed it.'

‘I'm sure he did,' Mr Doyle said grimly. ‘It seems we have numerous enemies railed
against us.'

One of the officers returned. ‘It's just as we were
told, sir,' he said. ‘There are
bomb-making parts under all the beds.'

‘What?' Gloria shouted. ‘That's ridiculous!'

Wolf sneered. ‘Sure it is,' he said. ‘You may have Greystoke fooled, but the evidence
speaks for itself. You're all members of this Valkyrie Circle—and you'll hang for
your crimes!' He pointed at them. ‘Arrest the lot of them!'

The officers pulled out cuffs, jamming them on Mr Doyle and Gloria's wrists. ‘The
children, too,' Wolf said. ‘Guilt is guilt, no matter the age.'

Jack had thrust his hands into his pockets. Now he felt something cold and limp in
one. With a certain grim satisfaction, he realised what it was.

‘Certainly, officer,' he said. ‘Let's all go down to the—
aaaarrgghh
!' His scream
was accompanied by the removal of the dead snake from his pocket. He waved it wildly
in the air. ‘Snake! Snake!'

He threw it into the officer's outstretched hands. The man screamed and tossed it
into the air.

‘Run!' Jack yelled.

He and Scarlet bolted through the door as officers pulled their guns and fired at
the dead snake. Mr Doyle and Gloria were wrestled to the ground.

As Scarlet reached the elevator, Jack grabbed her arm, pointing her to the stairs.

‘This way,' he said.

‘Jack,' Scarlet started. ‘Are you sure—'

Pushing her towards the stairs, Jack remembered the first time he had raced down
them. It was the day
he met Mr Doyle. In that time he had come to admire the detective
as much as his own parents. There was no chance he was involved with the Valkyrie
Circle. Which could only mean one thing.

‘Those bomb parts were planted,' Jack puffed. ‘It's the only explanation.'

‘But where did that snake come from?'

‘Where do you think? It was the one that bit you in Spain.'

‘You've had it in your pocket
all that time
?'

Reaching ground level, Jack and Scarlet leapt over the old drunk who always lay on
the bottom step. His name was Charlie, but that was all they knew about him. He waved
a half-empty bottle of beer at them as they passed.

‘What about Gloria and Mr Doyle?' Scarlet asked.

‘We can't do anything about them yet.'

Two police officers entered the front foyer. Jack and Scarlet sped past them just
as the elevator doors open.

‘Get them!' Wolf yelled. ‘I want them caught!'

The shrill cry of police whistles followed Jack and Scarlet down the street.

They darted down a side lane. A police officer, walking on the other side, heard
the whistles, and stared at them suspiciously.

‘You two!' he yelled. ‘Stay where you are!'

‘No chance,' Jack muttered.

The officer gave chase. Jack and Scarlet darted around an old man carrying a pile
of books as he made
a grab for them. He missed and books went everywhere.

‘Where are we going?' Scarlet puffed. ‘The police will have the area shut down in
minutes.'

‘We're only a block away from Baker Street Station,' Jack said. ‘We'll take a train.'
He glanced back to the Wolf Pack and other policemen in pursuit. ‘We'd better put
on some speed.'

‘Easy for you to say!' Scarlet grumbled. ‘Try running in a dress!'

They reached the domed station and headed down the stairs to an underground platform.
There was no time to read the boards—or buy tickets. Jack vaulted a ticket barrier,
dragging Scarlet over with him.

‘Stop!' an officer yelled. ‘Stop or we'll shoot!'

They barrelled down the rest of the stairs just as a train pulled in. People were
everywhere. Officers converged from both ends of the platform.

‘Should we get on?' Scarlet asked.

‘Wait,' Jack ordered. Their pursuers were delaying to see what they would do. The
train doors started to close. ‘Now!'

He pulled Scarlet onto the train just before the doors shut.

Blast!
It looked like some of the Wolf Pack had boarded at the last moment too.

‘Maybe we should give up,' Scarlet said. ‘What's the worst that can happen?'

‘You mean apart from spending the rest of our lives in jail?' he said. It could take
weeks, months or years
to prove their innocence. ‘We need to track down the Valkyrie
Circle ourselves and clear our names.'

‘Without Mr Doyle?' Scarlet looked at him as if he'd gone mad. ‘How on earth will
we do that?'

‘I don't know, but first we need to get off this train.' The officers might be converging
from both ends, catching them like rats in a drainpipe. ‘You go that way. I'll check
the other direction.'

Trotting down the length of the carriage, Jack saw no-one. Crossing the open walkway,
he moved into the next carriage. Police were entering at the far end! One of them
pointed towards him.

Jack hurried back across the walkway, pulling some string from his pocket to tie
the door handle shut.

The string won't last long, but it might give us a minute or two.

He raced back in the other direction—and collided with Scarlet.

‘They're coming!' she shrieked. ‘They're only a carriage behind me.'

They were standing at one of the steam-powered exit doors. Jack peered through the
window. Soon they would be crossing the Thames. Reaching into his pockets, he pulled
out a variety of items: lock pick, disguise kit, pencils, paper.

Yes!

A metal ruler.

‘What is that for?' Scarlet asked.

‘You'll see.'

Jack pulled the train exit door open. It resisted—the steam pump was designed to
keep it shut for safety reasons—but it was old. With some effort, he had it open,
allowing a whirlwind of air into the carriage. An old lady turned in her seat with
astonishment.

‘Just getting some air!' he called.

She waved an umbrella at him and shouted something rude.

‘You're not thinking what I think you're thinking,' Scarlet said. ‘Are you?'

‘Probably.'

The train slowed as they approached a bridge. There was a flash of brown water.

‘Oh dear,' Scarlet said, looking ill. ‘I don't know about this, Jack.'

‘We'll need a run up,' he said. ‘But we can do it.'

The door at the end of the carriage burst open and two policemen appeared. One of
them raised his gun. ‘Give up!' he commanded. ‘There's nowhere to go!'

‘Follow me,' Jack told Scarlet. Taking a deep breath, he took a short run up and
leapt from the train. His fall through the air seemed to take forever. Then he hit
the water with a splash, submerged and flailed back up to the surface. Scarlet appeared
next to him a moment later.

‘I think we're safe,' she said.

The train had just disappeared over the far end of the bridge. Inspector Wolf's head
was stuck out the carriage door, his face filled with fury.

‘We are,' Jack agreed. ‘For now.'

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

‘What will we do?' Scarlet asked. ‘We don't seem to have any leads and we don't have
anywhere to go.'

They were sitting in a small café in Soho with the late edition of
The Times
before
them. The front page carried a photo of Mr Doyle being led away in handcuffs, the
headline reading:

Famous Detective Arrested in Valkyrie Raid

Jack read the article for the third time. ‘This is ridiculous,' he said. ‘Mr Doyle
has solved more crimes than all of Scotland Yard put together—and now he's being
treated like a criminal.'

‘It's that Inspector Wolf,' Scarlet said. ‘He's completely ignored all of Mr Doyle's
achievements. Anyone else would know that those bomb parts were planted to make us
look guilty.' She frowned. ‘But this doesn't help our current situation.'

‘We should return to Bee Street.'

‘That's exactly what Wolf and his men would be expecting,' Scarlet said. ‘They're
probably watching the apartment.'

‘Then what should we do?' Jack asked. Without Mr Doyle and Gloria, they were homeless
and without resources. He was an orphan. He could hardly return to Sunnyside and
beg for assistance, and Scarlet's father was in China. Even if they could contact
him, his help would take weeks to arrive.

Scarlet's brow creased in concentration. ‘I do have an idea,' she said. ‘But you
may think I'm crazy.'

‘I already think you're crazy. What's the idea?'

She told him.

Jack nodded. ‘You're crazy.'

An hour later they were walking down a street in Hampstead, a suburb a few miles
north of London. It was a quiet area with neat modern homes: only a few people were
out on the streets. Jack pointed to the letters
VC
scrawled onto a building.

‘There must be supporters in this area,' he said.

‘Many suffragettes supported the Valkyrie Circle when they first began,' Scarlet
said. ‘Even me.'

‘What?' Jack said, astonished.

She groaned. ‘They were harmless in the beginning, sending messages to the newspapers
and painting graffiti everywhere,' she said. ‘It was Lady Death who changed all that.'

‘It's hard to believe someone would be so evil as to plant a bomb that kills innocent
people.'

‘Not everyone thinks like you and me.'