A Good Man (22 page)

“Indeed you did, indeed you did,” said McMicken. “Yet how very strange those substitute brokers should put their cozy, safe nest in jeopardy.”

“Well, they’re a tribe of money-hungry rascals. Maybe the itch in their fingers overruled their good sense. The arrangement I had with McCorkle – I was doing all right by it. Why would I wreck it? And if I’d gone squealing to Hind about McCorkle like some fat hog stuck under a gate, would I still be in Hind’s employ?”

McMicken eased back in his chair, stroked the tabletop with his fingertips. “McCorkle says you’re an extremely cautious, an extremely wary man. He reads that as timidity, a lack of fortitude. I thought it might point to something else. A quality I’m looking for.” He smiled grimly. “I’ve come to see. Put a few questions to you.”

“What questions?”

“Have you formed an opinion about who McCorkle is? Who he represents?”

“I took him for a peeler. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have got mixed up with him.”

“Yes,” said McMicken, “I’m sure an upstanding citizen such as yourself would wish to render every assistance to the police. But I ask myself if you ever wondered why the police were willing to pay so exorbitantly for your civic-mindedness?”

“No.”

“I think you did, Mr. Dunne. I think you concluded you were not dealing with ordinary, run-of-the-mill peelers.”

“Well, maybe not ordinary peelers,” said Dunne guardedly. “Detectives. I figured McCorkle for a detective.”

“Yes, a detective. Of a kind,” McMicken ; said Mc. He stared hard at Dunne for a moment. “Have you liked your work? Did it suit you?”

“Good enough.”

“The thing is,” said McMicken, “at present I have a pressing need for men. You may be the kind of man I require, or you may not. I would need to examine you on your suitability. But there is no point in beginning that examination until I know whether or not you are interested in being employed as a detective.”

“Same sort of wages – I’m interested,” said Dunne.

McMicken gave him a wintry smile. “There is another thing you must be aware of before we proceed. What we are going to speak of is confidential. If I were to hear that you blabbed about anything I have to say I would be obliged to do you a great deal of damage. Let me assure you that I have that power, and I would not scruple to use it.” He paused. “So what do you say? Are you ready to continue?”

McMicken reminded Dunne of nails, hard and sharp. He sensed the little bugger would not hesitate to do him harm. “I don’t blab,” he replied. “Ask McCorkle.”

“I assure you I did ask McCorkle. You would not be here if he did not testify to your discretion.” Dunne saw he was growing impatient. “But I want to hear from your own lips that if you decide you wish to hear me out, you will keep your mouth shut about any matter I touch upon.”

“I will,” said Dunne. “Go on.”

McMicken resumed talking in his frosty, level way. “Some months ago I was put in charge of the Western Frontier Constabulary created by Attorney General John A. Macdonald. We are a force of detectives who do not concern ourselves with ordinary villains, burglars, robbers, pickpockets – common criminal riffraff. We have one task and one task only – minimizing awkward, unpleasant situations that arise in our midst from the conflict going on to the south of us. One might say our work is
political
. Do you understand the implications of that?”

“No.”

“What I mean is that it is political in the sense that the constabulary is more closely monitored and directed by the government than is customary. Attorney General Macdonald has a hand in the day-to-day running of our affairs. He and I have had a long personal relationship. I have done him many favours in the past and he has returned them,” McMicken said significantly. “He has my sworn loyalty. The efficient working of the Frontier Constabulary depends on loyalty, loyalty that binds the highest link in the chain of command to the lowest. Which is to say I look after my people. I take care of them.” He paused. “We have made a beginning in our work, but I am discovering that not everyone we have employed has the proper outlook. We need men who don’t let their private opinions interfere with their work. Could you be such a man?”

“I don’t have no private opinions,” said Dunne.

“Everyone,” said McMicken emphatically, “has private opinions. The question is, can a man shelve themas required? At the behest of his superior?”

Dunne looked at him blankly.

“Very well,” said McMicken, “let me illustrate from my own experience. A short time ago, I obtained a commission from President Davis’s government to assist Confederate escapees from Union camps to make their way back to the South. There was no pecuniary award attached to this work. I accepted it because I sympathize with the Confederacy’s struggle against the tyranny of the North. It was also my firm belief that an independent South would be in the interests of British North America because it would diminish the power of the United States on this continent. If they were weakened we could breathe easier.” McMicken pondered for a moment. “Nevertheless, I resigned this appointment. Do you know why?”

“No,” said Dunne. “I ain’t got no idea.”

“Because Attorney General Macdonald requested me to. It is his view that it is now clear that the South has no chance of winning this war. The writing is on the wall. And in the light of the script he reads there, we must modify ourselves to a new reality. This means placating the North. Whatever feelings of distaste this causes me, I have set them aside. Whatever wind Attorney General Macdonald fills my sails with is the wind I steer by. This is the sort of loyalty I speak of.”

“Which means you ain’t interested in arresting crimpers any longer. Because the winds has changed.”

“In a nutshell.” McMicken made a wry face, as if his own observation had injected a bitter taste in his mouth. “President Lincoln’s government has made a vigorous demand that we take action against Confederate conspirators resident here. In Mr. Macdonald’s opinion, it is only wise that we give full attention to this request. At present, we have a Southern plotter in our custody, a man called Bennett Burley, implicated in the Confederates’ attempt to launch an attack on Detroit from our soil. Unfortunately, we were not successful in capturing the ringleader, John Beall. President Lincoln’s administration is not happy Beall avoided our nets. It is necessary they be mollified.”

“And how you going to do that?”

“In the past, our courts have frequently proven unwilling to extradite Southerners to face justice in a Northern court. Mr. Burley’s extradition hearing is pending. There is no doubt that in this instance he will be given over for trial in the North.
That
is already decided. However, the secessionist men here in Toronto will do everything they can to prevent him being surrendered to their enemies. They may attempt to spring him from the Toronto jail, or, more likely, try to free him when he is escorted to the border.” McMicken tapped the table with his index finger, a soft insistent noise. “It is my responsibility to see the Southerners do not succeed. If Burley makes an escape, the Lincoln administration will accuse us of colluding in it. That would be most unfortunate.” McMicken’s eyes suddenly seemed to be regarding some far distant place. “But as you can imagine, this reversal of policy in regard to the North has produced difficulties. Men have had to be shifted to new purposes. Chop and change produces gaps. They need to be filled. At present I am short a pair of eyes and ears.”

“Meaning you want to buy mine.”

McMicken laid his hands one beside the other on the table and studied his nails. Dunne understood that this was a calculated effect, the depiction of a thoughtful man easing into an important decision. “That remains to be seen. Ordinarily I would wish you had a little more seasoning, but we are stretched very thin. The best of my people are taken up with the riskiest work. The role I am considering you for is not dangerous – it simply requires that you observe the comings and goings of certain individuals.”

“And what is the wages for that? Watching comings and goings.”

“In the past you have received a sovereign for each piece of information divulged – that is the piecework rate. Now you would go on the regular payroll. It would certainly be considerably more than you earn from Mr. Hind. And if you did stellar work, there would be bonuses.”

“All right,” said Dunne, “I’ll take it.”

“You have misunderstood,” said McMicken. “I need to satisfy myself that you are right for the job. McCorkle disparaged what he called your ‘morbid suspicions,’ said you were ‘dull as ditchwater.’ But ditchwater has its uses. It’s very difficult to see to the bottom of ditchwater, isn’t it, Mr. Dunne? It’s difficult to ascertain what lies beneath it. On the other hand, sometimes murk is simply murk. Nothing but stupidity. I need to know which it is with you.”

“I ain’t stupid,” said Dunne. “I’m a damn sight smarter than McCorkle.”

McMicken ignored that. “I am looking for a man with a grasp of detail, a mind for particulars, a sticky memory, powers of concentration and focus. I have found this a useful tool for testing those qualities in my men.” McMicken reached inside his jacket and removed a sheet of paper, which he slid across the table to Dunne. “Have a look at that,” he said.

Dunne stared down at the strange configuration on the page.

“That,” said McMicken, “is a cipher known as the Polybius square. You take the number at the top of the grid, follow it with the number down the side, and you arrive at a numerical coordinate for a letter of the alphabet. For instance, A would be 52. Do you understand the principle?”

“Yes,” said Dunne.

“It is a system for secret codes. But I have also found it a useful tool for testing the mental acuity of recruits. I give them half an hour to memorize it and then see how well they do translating letters into numbers. I would like you to take thirty minutes to attempt to master it.”

“Put it to me now.”

“You haven’t understood. First, you must commit it to memory.”

Dunne tapphis temple. “She’s all up here.”

McMicken smiled dismissively. “A,” he said.

“52,” said Dunne.

“V.”

“54.”

McMicken arched his eyebrows. “Apple,” he said sharply.

Dunne momentarily contemplated the frame in his mind. “52, 45, 45, 55, 42.”

“Banana,” said McMicken quickly, dissembling his astonishment.

Dunne looked perplexed.

“So?” said McMicken.

“I don’t know how many n’s is in it.”

“B-a-n-a-n-a,” spelled McMicken rapidly.

Without hesitation, Dunne rattled off the numbers.

“Well, well, well,” said McMicken. “I am in the presence of a prodigy.”

“I take it prodigy means I pass your test.”

“Yes, yes, indeed you do,” said McMicken with a distracted air. He returned the Polybius square to his pocket, gathered himself and said, “I think you would do nicely.”

“I ain’t reporting to McCorkle,” said Dunne. “He’s too loose in his methods.”

“Of course not. To me. Consider yourself now under my special care.”

“Your special care doing what?”

“In observing the Southerners who congregate in the Queen’s Hotel. I will provide you with descriptions and the names of the principals so you can identify them. Since Beall has fled the scene, a man called Postlethwaite appears to have assumed leadership.” McMicken’s crooked nose twitched. “We have time to sound the situation because they are anticipating a favourable outcome in Burley’s extradition hearing. They do not know there has been a change in attitude to their activities. They think things will play out as they have in the past. When the judgment doesn’t go as they expect, they will look to other means to free their friend. That will be the crucial time. You must note their comings and goings. The more details the better, dates, times, anything of importance. I will want to know which of them vanish from the Queen’s Hotel and which remain. Whether they mass their forces there or disperse them. Such movements will give some indication of their plans to free Burley – whether they intend to attempt to spring him in Toronto or when he is under transport to the American authorities. All this will require the utmost patience and alertness on your part. Do you understand?”

Dunne nodded.

“All these particulars will hel determine whether it is possible to cut the head from the snake in one blow, or whether we have to send people chasing it through the grass. If the Confederate plotters can be taken out of action just before Burley is to be handed over, that would be the happiest, most satisfactory outcome. There are several possibilities to bring that about.” McMicken got to his feet. “But these are matters for future discussion. For the present, tender Mr. Hind your resignation – or simply disappear. As you choose. But leave his house immediately.” McMicken took out his wallet and handed Dunne a small bundle of dollars. “Here is the necessary to rent a room and re-establish yourself. Once that is done, provide me with the address.” He passed Dunne a card. “You may reach me here by letter. When you write, use the Polybius square cipher. It will be the means of all our future communications.” McMicken placed a hand on Dunne’s shoulder. “Grow a beard. A man has two faces to choose from. One with a beard, another without it. Sometime in the future you may want to reclaim your old face.”