Steam City Pirates (11 page)

“I am well aware of that fact, Missus Mergenthaler,” I said. “He also says that he was unaware of what Hester Jane Haskins was doing, just as he is probably unaware of what this Society is really doing. He just knows that they promised him a job as the new Police Chief under their administration.”

“He believes these renegades will be running the city’s government?” Doctor Adler asked.

“Correct. I have to admit, according to what I saw when I was in the future, this city was permitting these pirates to steal from the harbor, and I might also deduce that the state and even the federal government must have been aware of what was going on. Therein, said the great Shakespeare, lies the rub. Not only do we need to find out the location of these pirates, we must also uncover what kind of power they might possess that would allow them to steal. According to Kennedy, they are a group that uses its proceeds to advance steam-powered technology and other inventions to benefit mankind,” I explained.

“Kennedy thinks we want in on the investment,” said Walter McKenzie, hitching up his trousers. “That was my idea,” he added.

“Yes, I believe it’s a good thing that they might think we are interested in their enterprise. We might even be approached to contribute to the cause, so be on the look-out for such contacts in the near future,” I said.

Everybody nodded his or her head in agreement.

Bill Maguire came down the stairs. He looked a bit out of breath. His big frame was heaving from deep inhalations and exhalations.

“What did ya see, me boy-o?” McKenzie asked him.

Bill’s eyes were wide and round. He sat down on one of the chairs. “I don’t really know. It was strange, and it ended by me runnin’ out of that park as fast as I could!”

“Just take your time, lad, and tell us what happened,” I said.

“I was making me rounds in the park, just like you said I should do. I didn’t see anything except the usual strollers and bums pickin’ in the garbage cans. Then, I saw this peculiar gent walking like he was cramped in the legs. I recalled you tellin’ us about the mechanical man, Mister O’Malley, so I looked at him closely. Sure enough, he had those herky-jerky motions of his arms, and his head moved from side-to-side in the same unorthodox way. I decided to follow him, so I let him get far enough ahead of me that he wouldn’t suspect me.” Maguire placed his right index finger on his thigh, and then he placed his left index finger behind the right one about ten inches below it. “He was here, and I was walking about here, about ten yards behind him.”

“And then?” asked Becky. “Did he try to accost you?”

“Worse than that! He tried to gas me!” said Maguire, rubbing his face with both his big hands as if he were still attempting to get something off it.

“Gas? Exactly what happened?” Seth wanted to know.

“I saw the gentleman walk down a path toward the old Civil War statute of General McLellan. Then, as he stood there in front of this statue, there was this big puff of gas that came out of the ground all around him. The gas came at me like a fog, and then I saw them,” said Maguire.

“Them? Who were they?” asked Doctor Adler.

“There were about five of these little men wearing all black and pointing big guns at me! I didn’t have any weapons, so I just ran out of the park. Their little legs kept up with me at first, but I was able to pull away from them and make my way here.”

“We saw a little man, a midget, when we over at Superintendent Kennedy’s mansion. I wonder if he could be connected to those men you saw in the park?” I asked.

“It means Kennedy was lyin’ to us, O’Malley. He’s got a lot more to do with these pirates than he let on. I say we put some muscle on him and find out!” said McKenzie, and he smacked his right fist into his left palm.

“Yes, there could be a connection,” I said, “but we must find some definite proof. It’s certainly a good clue to start on,” I added.

“If they saw Maguire, then he will be on their suspect list,” said Bessie.

“I don’t think they got a good look at me,” Maguire said. “The gas was enveloping me, and I started to run before they got close enough to identify me.”

“Don’t keep saying gas,” I said. “What you saw was more likely steam. When I was at Kennedy’s I noticed his door had a steam-powered gadget on the hinges. It sprayed steam when it closed, and it closed very slowly. Kennedy then went on to explain how these scientists were going to use steam pipes all over the city and give all the people low-cost and effective heat during the winter.”

“Nice heat, with yer own little devils comin’ at ya from the mist!” said McKenzie.

“I believe we have the first big lead in our case. We need to put more people in the park to spy, and I am going to think of some way to follow Kennedy around for a while. I believe he will be our link to finding where these pirates are doing their business. If it turns out to be in Central Park, then what Bill discovered is very important. Nice work!” I said, and I walked over to the young man and patted him on the back. I was well aware of his deceased brother, Dan, and I also wanted to perhaps make it up to him in some way.

“Thank you, Mister O’Malley. I’m sorry about the steam. I really didn’t know what it was,” Maguire said.

“That’s quite understandable. The different puzzle pieces must be slowly assembled by us, and then we can get a better overall picture. Right now, we are hunting for pieces, and you found a big one,” I admitted.

“One of my fears is that this group actually has an ability to construct new inventions. We have no idea how far into the future they have gone. They may be able to bring back an inventor who can mesmerize an entire population into doing his bidding. Or, perhaps this inventor can construct a type of weapon to bring on what you Christians call ‘Armageddon.’ These horrendous possibilities have kept me awake quite a bit lately. I don’t mean to be negative,” said Doctor Adler. “We Germans tend to see the dark side of things. It’s in our nature.”

“I agree with you, Doctor. I am not German, and I quite often expect the most ominous events to occur. When I was working on the Poe case, I almost believed I had summoned up the devil himself in Joshua Reynolds,” I said.

“He was certainly evil,” said Becky. “But you can’t compare him to this Jane the Grabber. Not only did she try to run me out of business, she also brought back an inventor from a future I do not want to see. This man created a torture machine right out of Hell!”

“As I pointed out before, he was from the Nazi
Schutzstaffel
. This was the elite group of killers who were in charge of the death camps of World War Two. I saw one of these camps with my telescopic vision,” said little Seth. “Jews were being gassed inside what they thought would be water showers. My father was forced to create such a device in Tennessee. Remember, Detective O’Malley?”

We all turned to look at such words coming from an eight-year-old boy.

Doctor Adler gasped. “Do you believe there could be some way to use our time machine to find a method to prevent that kind of disaster from happening? Seth tells me it’s true, but I cannot believe my countrymen could ever become such monsters!”

“First of all, we don’t know what caused this German group to come to power. It’s the same with the pirates in our own era. We would be searching endlessly for the connections to prove that we could stop the slaughter of millions of Jews by preventing the proximate cause from occurring. This is where my fear lies. I am horrified of time travel and attempting to manipulate the future or the past. Hell, I am even afraid of the small trip I just experienced! What if I caused something to happen that would not have happened unless I was there? Perhaps someone who saw me got murdered because they were not supposed to see me? I am then responsible for this person’s death, and now I am back in my own time, safe and sound.” I had finally expressed part of my deepest fear. I suppose it was Doctor Adler’s admission of fear that gave me the courage to express my own fright.

“What about me? None of you men bothered to ask us women what we were fearing!” said Bessie Mergenthaler. “My son behaves like a genius with you, but with me he is still a little boy. What if one of these pirates decides to attack us when he is being my child? Seth may be a genius, but he can certainly die like the rest of us!”

Seth flew up into the air. He looked down at his mother, hovering in the air like a butterfly, even though we could not see his invisible wings.

“Seth Benjamin Mergenthaler! Come down from there this instant!” screamed Bessie, pointing up at her son.

“I will not unless you tell them I can protect myself!” Seth said.

“All right. Seth can protect himself,” said Bessie. However, as Seth came back down to earth, Bessie’s head was shaking negatively at us.

“One advantage they do have over us is that they can bring back people from the future. Do you think we can ever do that as well?” I was rhetorically posing this question.

“Seth has yet to see any time machine that can do that, but he may yet do so. As you know, he is not responsible for the visions he gets. I happen to believe Yahweh shows him these visions, but you may have other ideas,” said Doctor Adler.

“Listen. All of you. Unless we work together, we will never be able to find the answers we need. Tomorrow, I want you all to explore Central Park. I will be seeing what I can do to follow Kennedy around town. What we need is to discover evidence that links Kennedy with these pirates. We also must find other information that can tell us where they are doing their research. The first clue says Central Park, so that is where we need to be. I want to thank you all for your efforts today, and here is hoping for better hunting tomorrow,” I said.

“May I see the midget?” asked Seth, and we all knew he was still a little boy.

I had my Joshua Reynolds mask and disguise packed in with my other personal effects at the temple. It would prove useful as I followed Superintendent Kennedy around on his daily errands. The mask was all rubber, and it fit snugly over my entire head and extended to my chest beneath my white shirt. I applied flesh-colored powder around the seams of the eyes. My beard was made of human red hair, and I was bald. I also walked with a cane.

After Becky approved my attire, I set out for Kennedy’s mansion on Fifth Avenue. The others were all going to haunt the Central Park environs to see if they could again find the mechanical man or the location where he had disappeared. We already had an idea that he might be around where the General McLellan statue was near the Bethesda Terrace in the middle of the park on the north side of 72
^nd
Street. We briefly discussed the problems of pirates living in or beneath Central Park.

“The Hudson River is thirty-six miles from the park,” said Doctor Adler. “If these pirates have their habitat in the park, then they would be quite visible when they made a trek from their living quarters to the water.”

“When I was on the Mergenthaler case, I discovered a long and intricate passageway dug from the sewers to Mount Sinai Hospital. Doctor, I am certain you have heard of the steam shovel. This was invented in the 1830s, so I am certain there have been improvements upon it. I will certainly be looking out for such technological applications as I follow Kennedy around today.”

“We will also be cognizant of any special technology being used,” said the rabbi. “We have already decided to allow Seth to fly invisibly above the park to give us the proverbial bird’s eye in case we should miss something in our wanderings,” he added.

“Good idea,” I said. “Again, we should all meet back here at sundown.”

They nodded their heads in agreement.

“Becky made us some grub, so’s we ain’t about ta starve, O’Malley,” said Walter McKenzie, patting his mammoth girth with his right hand.

“Yes, we can have a picnic under the Elms while you have to pound the cobblestones,” Becky smiled. She was wearing a fetching outfit consisting of a silk, Japanese parasol and a woman’s kimono. Both the kimono and parasol were brilliant red with blue, violet and yellow blossoms. In her blonde hair she wore a red Kanzashi flower.

“Please be back before sundown. This will be our security measure. If someone is missing, then we will know why,” I pointed out.

“We understand,” said Bessie. She was again in her black mourning dress, and we had taken to calling her “Queen Victoria.” She did not feel ridiculed, as she was a bit of an Anglophile. She even appeared to hold herself with a regal bearing.

“Do not follow anybody you see,” I said. “We cannot risk losing any one of us to these desperados. Just make a careful note of where you are if you see anything relating to their location or to their habitat.”

“We shall,” said Doctor Adler. “We may need some of that Irish good fortune you people are said to possess.”

“Walter has enough to have you rolling and laughing in clover,” I said, and McKenzie laughed.

I paid a hackney driver handsomely to act as my taxi to follow Kennedy around. When Kennedy came out of his mansion, a strange vehicle rolled in front of the marble steps leading up to his front door. It looked like a standard carriage but without the horses. Instead, in the center of the carriage there was a large, circular piece of metal that was hissing clouds of steam. The seats were in the front of this engine, and there was enough room in the rear to store luggage. The wheels had rubber on the outside of the rims, and the fact that it rolled upon us so swiftly caused quite a turmoil along the avenue.

Pedestrians stood along the sidewalks and stared at the vehicle, and the dogs in the neighborhood began to howl as if this vehicle were hauling around a full moon instead of a steam engine. John Kennedy approached it without any trepidation and climbed up into the seat next to the driver. The driver worked the levers much the way I did inside my time machine, and they were off down the avenue.

I pointed at the speeding vehicle, “Follow that carriage!”

The driver looked at me as if I had instructed him to follow a comet, but he brought the whip down hard on his two horses, and we were off and into a gallop in about a minute. The crowds sped by us like blurry automatons, and I held onto the carriage handrails for my life.