“Ray… ”
“Jasper, I know you want to see the end of this anarchy business, and it is here, in Chicago, now, and with, I think, a Toronto connection. I need to keep an eye on Viola and Luca. I need… ” Jasper could hear him swallow. When his voice came back, it was raspier than before. “I need to fix this problem with my brother-in-law. This constant, unending problem. I can’t involve the police. Not that they would do much good. Hedgehog’s told us he’s bribing officers. Clearly Toronto isn’t the only city where the police are corrupt.”
“What can I do?”
“I need you here. I need to know how Hedgehog’s business is tied to the trolley incidents.”
“I’m still dealing with those trolley incidents. You know I want to help you, but I’m needed in Toronto.” Jasper looked up at the ceiling, closed his eyes. “Jones died, Ray. Yesterday morning. Another explosion.”
“This is getting… This is… I’m sorry. But see—now you can find some kind of justice for Jones. Jasper, please. We need to get to the bottom of this. Besides, I already said you’d do it.”
“Do what?”
“You hurt my ear from here. Calm down. Some job that this snake and his men lined up. I said I’m bringing a friend.”
“Maybe you should… ”
“Maybe I should what? Hire Jemima and Merinda?” Ray cut sardonically. “Yes, they’d be so useful digging through the rubble of the latest explosion.”
Jasper exhaled. He wanted to help Ray, definitely, but he also felt he owed it to Jones and his memory to see the anarchists and their bombs out of his own city for good. But Ray was right. They needed to root out this evil once and for all. Moreover, how flustered would Merinda be to look up and notice he was gone? On his own adventure. With nary a word to her. It wasn’t as if they were speaking to each other anyway. He didn’t care if he ever saw her again… He didn’t…
“Jasper, are you still there?”
“I have to go,” he said shortly.
“So you’re not coming, then.” Ray’s voice sounded distant and deflated. “Jasper… ”
“No, I have to go tell Tipton I’m taking a week’s leave.”
Jasper could almost see that bright, full DeLuca smile from over the receiver, even as Ray gave him the address of his boardinghouse.
CHAPTER TWELVE
If one is to undertake the unparalleled adventure of the Canadian wilderness, one must be at once familiar with the history of the Force: initially trackers across the prairies, stopping rebellion, whiskey running, and cattle rustlers. Ruling with honest code rather than the threat of bullets. The war against the Boers began and the Canadian redcoats honored Her Majesty Victoria by fighting in her name in a faraway conflict. They returned, a hybrid of the cowboy and militiaman, larger than life, larger than the untamed land they patrolled through sleet and rain.
Benfield Citrone and Jonathan Arnasson, Guide to the Canadian Wilderness
As Jasper was knocking on Tipton’s office door, David Ross was sending a message to King Street. Merinda received it from the messenger and tore open the envelope.
“An address,” she said to Jem, “for when we reach Chicago.” She folded the paper and tucked it in her pocket.* “It seems they cannot do any of this without us. My deductive prowess—not to mention my ability to be a chameleon in any situation and Benny’s proficiency at sniffing out a bobby from a mile away—are invaluable to this cause.”
A few telephone calls, and Merinda’s father’s funds secured two comfortable passages to Chicago as well as a room at the Palmer House Hotel.
“I don’t think we need to stay somewhere quite that extravagant,” Jem said, hearing Merinda relay Walter Herringford’s absolute insistence on the upper-class hotel.
“Nonsense.” Merinda shooed away her reservations. “He has the money and we like the comfort. No one will suspect girls at a grand hotel of being on the trail of dangerous anarchists!”
“I should leave word for Ray.” Jem chewed her lip, wondering if it was best to telephone the office with a message or return home and leave a note there. “Just in case he comes back and… ”
“No!” Merinda grabbed her arm, tugging her playfully in the direction of the attic where a trunk of pants, bowler hats, moustaches, and wigs awaited them. “You can tell him in person! We’ll all be together!” Merinda made it sound like Christmas dinner.
Benny put a few bills on the counter at the Empire Hotel and gave the barkeep a smile and a tip of his cap.
He had just become familiar with the sounds of Toronto, he thought. The whirring automobiles and halting streetcars warring for right of way on the harried streets didn’t faze him as they had just days before. Perhaps Merinda could tame the city for him, he thought before he could stop himself.