Shell Game – Chapter 40 – The Story

“It’s going to be very important we get our story straight, so when the police come calling, we’re not found out in moments.” Evan brushed his hands together and walked back over to his chair. “That was a good job you did laying out all those clues back at Claire’s apartment. Problem is the trail leads to me, and here we all are at the most likely place for the cops to come to first. We’re going to have to come up with our story and fast.”

Huber, who up till then had been transfixed by Margo’s limp body and the conversation to throw her overboard, suddenly wheeled on Evan. “Why do we need to make up lies about her? Haven’t you done enough damage? I don’t see why we need to ruin this poor girl’s reputation further.”

Evan eyed Huber coolly from his chair. “Listen, Harold, you’re either in with this all the way, or you’re out all the way. This deal doesn’t work if we’re not all in this together.”

“It’s a bad deal,” Harold spat. “Treating good people like a chip tossed on a casino table.”

“I agree with you. This is a nasty business, but let’s face it, none of you are model citizens. You want out, Harold? That’s fine. As soon as the police come knocking, we can just as easily send you over with dear Margo here and be on about our lives. You want that?”

Harold stood still, his eyes darting around the room, his hands nervously rubbing each other, beads of sweat growing on his forehead. After a second of consideration, Harold Huber shook his head slightly.

“Fantastic,” Evan said and checked his watch. “Let’s see; it’s ten right now. I won’t be able to get access to the pearl till the morning.” He thought a moment. “Looks like we’ll just need to sit tight and wait for the time to pass. I can’t say it will be much fun, but I don’t think it would be a good idea for any of us to be out of each other’s sight, at least not with the amount of trust we’ve built among each other.” Evan gave a cat-like grin.

“I quite agree,” said Eye Patch. “No one in or out of this apartment until the transaction has been finalized.”

All eyes looked to the inky stranger.

“Now that we’ve come to some level of understanding between the two of us,” he said, “there is another deal I would like you to consider.”

“I’ll consider it. I reserve the right not to like it, though,” Evan said.

Eye Patch narrowed his only visible eye on Evan.

“As you say, my crew and I have been… clumsy in how we have handled our business here. I suppose you could say our footprint is a little more obvious than I’d prefer. I want your guarantee of two hours minimum to get out of town cleanly. Once the police have their man – or woman in this case.”

“I don’t think you’ll need the guarantee. I’m telling you, the police will have enough on their hands with Margo to worry much about you.” Evan sighed, “No, I think you’ll be quite forgotten by the time the police get wise, should that even happen. Of course, that means you can’t trip over your own feet on your way out of town.”

The man in black grunted a laugh, but Evan noted a look of concern all the same. Evan clapped his hands together and said, “Since time is of the essence, let’s figure out why Margo killed Charles and the train conductor.”

The stranger’s forehead grew deep, vertical lines as he smiled and shook his head. “I don’t know that that is a road you want to travel down, Mr. Gold.”

“I think if we don’t travel down that road, the story we sell the police about Margo is going to be pretty thin. If we want this to sound convincing, I’m going to have to know what happened. I can’t spin gold without a little straw.”

“You don’t think that the guns,” Eye Patch pointed to the many weapons laying on the table, “would be convincing enough?”

“Basic truth about people,” Evan said, “everyone likes a good story. Even cops. It doesn’t have to make complete sense; it just needs to have enough believability that you’re willing to suspend a few realities to accept it as truth. I buy a lot of junk, and believe me, without a story this whole thing is junk.” Evan relaxed into his chair and exhaled as he said, “Let’s start with Jason Charles. Why did she kill him?”

Eye Patch sighed and rubbed his chin. “You must know, that’s not how I hoped that it would happen. Mr. Charles was a thief, a lousy thief, and a greedy thief. He was also a killer and friend of our Miss Porter over there. He was quite valuable in his way. But between you and me, I would have bet good money that she would have done away with Mr. Charles. Don’t let her beauty deceive you, Mr. Gold. Behind Miss Porter’s façade is the heart of a killer.

Evan glanced over to Claire, who stood motionless, except for her hands mindlessly soothing her upper arms. The man in black purred to himself. “We’d recently acquired Mr. Charles, and he informed us of Miss Porter’s abilities. Mr. Charles, a wild card at best, said we’d be wise to employ her talent of separating fools and their valuables. I’m a bit of a gambler and was willing to take the risk on the pair of them. Her beauty. His brawn. You need several brushes to complete a painting, as the saying goes.

“So, I sent Miss Porter to see a Mr. Preston Plumb in Colorado. I’d recently discovered he had the pearl, and he didn’t know its significance. She successfully acquired the pearl from him, but before I could claim it back, I found out she and Charles had developed a scheme to abscond with what is rightfully mine. Before I could act, however, Jason Charles had already slipped town, and Miss Porter was playing coy.”

“You didn’t think Charles had skipped town with the pearl?” Evan asked.

“I didn’t think that because I knew Miss Porter would not let a treasure like the pearl escape from her sight for too long. And I thought Mr. Charles would buy almost any story that pretty face told him. What I didn’t know was that she had already packaged it up and worked out a transportation deal with the now-deceased train conductor. So, trying to salvage this debacle, I sent Margo on ahead to locate Mr. Charles and convince him that judgment was coming if he didn’t repent of his scheme and tell us what was going on.”

Evan said, “So, Margo was, what, she was to find out if Charles had the pearl?”

“Or at least where the pearl was.” Eye Patch shifted his weight and smiled to himself. “There is a certain card game I have picked up along the way. Three Card Monte. Are you familiar?”

Evan nodded.

“A simple confidence game based on deception, but aren’t they all? I enjoy this one because it’s so simple. It’s not without its risks and can be beaten, however,” Evan noted the pain of a memory flash across the stranger’s face. “This situation had begun to feel like that card game. So, while I was turning over Miss Porter to see which card she was, Margo was to do the same with Mr. Charles. Never let it be said that I play fair.

“Margo arrived here and watched Mr. Charles for a day or two. She noticed that Miss Porter and he had reunited and picked her moment to confront him. Presumably, it happened to be that the moment she picked was only minutes after Mr. Charles had killed your Mr. Silver. I would have preferred a better outcome to their negotiation, but I’m afraid Margo felt her ability to broker a satisfactory agreement was at an end.”

Evan nodded. “Okay, that’s good. I can work with that. How about the conductor?”

At this, Eye Patch laughed like a proud parent, “I’m afraid that was all Miss Porter’s doing. You see, Mr. Huber over there had been another representative of mine in Colorado working on Mr. Plumb. He’s the one who drew my interest to Mr. Charles in the first place. In a sense, he was my eyes and ears while I was still in California. I received a telegram from Mr. Huber informing me of the plan to sabotage our whole operation. I hopped on the very next train. By the time I arrived, Charles was gone, and the rest I’ve already told you.

“It was not until after Miss Porter slipped my grasp that I unearthed the plot with the conductor. She’s a very clever girl. I assumed she followed the conductor to whatever destination he traveled. So, I sent Margo here to deal with Charles and, I took a train to Nebraska to find Miss Porter. Little did I know she also came here, and by the time I arrived in Nebraska, the conductor was already en route here. Her entire plot finally made sense, but I was, alas, a day or so behind. Timing, as they say, is everything. It’s unfortunate how the poor man met his end, as I don’t think he had the slightest awareness of the importance of the cargo he carried. As far as I can guess, he was smitten with Miss. Porter’s face and her satin words and thought there was a chance they might build a deeper relationship together.

“We met up with the two of them at the depot the other evening and thought we had reached a good enough agreement by the stroke of midnight. Margo, Mr. Huber, and I left, and I set to acquire the proper funds. However, Miss Porter and he had different plans and, again, slipped through our fingers.”

“So, the fire at the depot,” Evan asked, “was that you?”

“That was Margo,” Eye Patch grunted. “Every once in a while, she needs to let off some steam. It’s been a tough week for her, as you can imagine.”

Evan concealed his reaction to this news and asked, “So how did the conductor get shot?”

“Yes, well,” began the man in black, “we spent the better part of the day hunting them down and thought we had them cornered in Miss Porter’s apartment. However, when we knocked on the door, we heard shuffling feet and the raising and lowering of a window. I sent Margo down to see what she could make of it while Mr. Huber and I went in to see Miss Porter, who was by then entirely alone.

“When Margo made it to the alley behind the apartment building, she saw the conductor hopping off the fire escape. Let’s just say the conversation did not go well, and Margo shot him. She was supposed to immobilize him, but the man overpowered Margo and escaped even though she wounded him. Quite extraordinary. She didn’t want to arouse suspicion, and though this fog is insufferable, the fight happened in the bright light of day, so she didn’t give full chase and increase the number of witnesses.

“While all of that was happening, Mr. Huber and I were trying to reason with Miss Porter, helping her to see reason. She let us know that, yes, the conductor possessed the pearl, and yes, he was on his way to deliver it to you.” Eye Patch pointed his gloved finger at Evan. “By that point, Margo had rejoined our party, and we persuaded Miss Porter to invent a way to draw you away from the office so we could send Margo there to look for the pearl. When she got there, the police were crawling all over the office, and she doubled back here.”

Just then, a moaning came from the direction of the window. Margo was coming to. They watched as she sat up, felt her jaw, and focused her mind on the situation at hand. She quickly put the facts together that she had been sold out and started to move toward Evan.

“You’re dead, Gold. Let me get my claws into you…” she mumbled. It did not take much strength for Harold to keep her contained. Though her body was sluggish, Evan could still see the full fire of rage in her eyes.

The man in black stood and went to her, “I promise you, Margo, I’ve not seen more valor and pluck in any soldier than what you demonstrate regularly. I’m sorry it’s come to this, but we all must meet our end at one point or another. What I must do, above all else, is finish my assignment and mourn all who cannot finish the mission with me.”

Eye Patch returned to his chair, and it was clear that his words had taken all the fight out of Margo. She dangled like an overcooked noodle in Harold’s arms. They would have looked like a romantic couple in a different setting, but the tableau was pathetic to Evan and hoped for a swift end to the evening.