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Back Cardinal Black Save as PDF
Chapters (44)
  1. Title Page
  2. One: Into the Storm
  3. One
  4. Two
  5. Three
  6. Four
  7. Five
  8. Six
  9. Seven
  10. Two: London Calling
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Three: The Malignant Seven
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-One
  26. Twenty-Two
  27. Twenty-Three
  28. Four: Squirrels and Cats
  29. Twenty-Four
  30. Twenty-Five
  31. Twenty-Six
  32. Twenty-Seven
  33. Twenty-Eight
  34. Twenty-Nine
  35. Thirty
  36. Thirty-One
  37. Thirty-Two
  38. Five: Revelation
  39. Thirty-Three
  40. Thirty-Four
  41. Thirty-Five
  42. Thirty-Six
  43. Thirty-Seven
  44. About the Author

When the door was closed again, Julian turned to face Matthew. “Someone’s going to put two and two together here pretty soon, and that clerk or his manager will be asking us questions about missing bags. I don’t think they’ll do that tonight, though.” He crossed the room and started to pick up his sword and scabbard but then thought better of it. He did reach down to rest his hand on the reassuring pistol, though, which would be out of view beneath the cloak. “So,” he said, squaring his shoulders, “let’s go meet the neighbors and take them their luggage, shall we? And don’t fret, Matthew. Those two look like puffs of whiffle dust, so I seriously doubt murder will be necessary tonight.”

“Says the man with a four-barrelled pistol,” Matthew said as he stood up on aching legs.

“Accompanied by the man with a pistol and a dagger,” Julian answered. He put his tricorn back on and tilted it at its usual rakish angle. “If anyone is dressed to kill, it’s you. Come on, then, let us ease their worried Prussian minds.”

Eleven

Eleven

Julian looked up and down the hallway. There was no one else in sight. He held the case he’d taken, and standing just behind him Matthew had hold of the second case. Julian gave a nod to Matthew, and then he walked to the door of number twenty-one and knocked.

A moment of silence passed. Then from behind the door came a voice: “Was ist es?”

“Pardon the intrusion,” Julian said quietly, his mouth up close to the door, “but my friend and I have found your missing luggage.”

“Gepack? That is … luggage?” The door came open wide enough to admit a face that was glistening with some kind of beauty cream. It was long, pale and angular with a thin nose that twisted slightly to the right on its steep descent from the high forehead and the totally bald pate. Matthew caught a glimpse of a dark purple robe under the man’s pointed chin. The eyes in the pallid face were deepset and as black as inkwells under mere wisps of blonde brows. They found the two cases and the man’s nearly-lipless mouth said, “Ah! Yes!”

“Karlo! Sie haben unsere fehlenden Falle gefunden?” the second man in the room called.

“Ja! Diese beiden Manner haben sie genau hier!” was the reply fired back.

“They were delivered to our room by mistake,” Julian continued. He held the case up before the Prussian’s face with his left hand. “You do speak a bit of English?”

“Yes, I do.” The man opened the door wider and reached out to take the first case from Julian. “Marvelous! I had fear we would not—”