The Tick of Death (16 page)

Cribb stoically accepted the rebuke. He watched Jowett make another attempt to light his pipe, before saying, ‘I was rather wondering if you had any idea what would happen to Miss McGee and her father, sir.’

Jowett shook his head. ‘Not much at all, Sergeant. From what you have told me, the major criminals perished in the explosion. Between you and me, there are reasons why it might be necessary to keep this case out of the courts altogether. The—er—party on the Hildegarde were blissfully unaware that the submarine boat was full of dynamite, and it is probably best all round if they remain unenlightened on that point. There is not much to be gained from bringing a helpless cripple like McGee before a judge, and his daughter seems to have played quite an insignificant part in the proceedings, from what you say. We’ll keep an eye on her through the Special Branch, of course. Got to give those fellows something to occupy them, eh?’

‘I suppose so, sir,’ conceded Cribb, a little wistfully.

‘I’ve got some capital news for you, though,’ Jowett went on. ‘Your work in this affair has not gone unrecognised, Cribb.’

‘Really, sir?’

‘Depend upon it, if a man in my charge does something as creditable as you have done, it gets reported to higher quarters.’

‘Thank you, sir.’

‘Yes, the Commissioner himself has heard about your exploits, and I believe he is more than a little impressed. He has gone so far as to make a personal recommendation, Cribb.’

Cribb came smartly to attention.

‘He has recommended—and, of course, it has been agreed by myself—that you be relieved from normal duties for the next three weeks to complete the explosives course at Woolwich Arsenal, which you had to leave prematurely. Congratulations! You will know more about explosives than anyone at Scotland Yard, Sergeant. You start tomorrow morning, at the point where you left off. Craters, I believe, and the effects of—’

‘Blast,’ said Cribb, with feeling.

HISTORICAL NOTE

WITH SERGEANT CRIBB’S ASSIGNMENT completed, the reader might be interested to know some later developments in the actual events from which the story was projected.

The dynamite attacks on public buildings in London, which happened as described, continued into 1885. Three Clan-na-Gael agents were blown to pieces trying to destroy London Bridge from a boat; Gower Street Underground Station was attacked; and in three simultaneous explosions on January 24th, the White Tower of the Tower of London, Westminster Hall and the Chamber of the House of Commons were seriously damaged by dynamite. On April 23rd, a room in the Admiralty was bombed. The Special Branch made many arrests, and before the end of the year 25 dynamiters were imprisoned, 16 for life. By 1887, Scotland Yard had so far infiltrated the Clan, through such agents as Thomas Beach (alias Henri Le Caron) and ‘Red’ Jim McDermott, that a plot aimed to coincide with Queen Victoria’s Jubilee was easily foiled, and the agents arrested.

John Holland’s submarines, which began with sponsorship from the Skirmishing Fund, eventually became so respectable that the
Holland VIII
was recognised as the first reliable submarine in history and went into production for the U.S. Navy in April, 1900. Britain’s first naval submarines, too, were Hollands, built by Vickers; and the German U-Boats, which brought Britain to the brink of defeat in the First World War, were built on the same principle.