Interruption
Some fifteen minutes after leaving, Shirley returns to the dining room. “I beg your pardon, Lord Brixby,” he says at an appropriate pause in conversation, “but I fear I must take the ladies away. Plans to make for the race, you know.”
Once out in the hall, Margaret gives an exagerated sigh of relief. “Well! If I had to endure many such meals with the governor, I’m afraid my mind should degenerate into suet pudding! My thanks for the rescue, Shirley. Now, where are we going?”
“The library, to introduce you to Baxter. He’s a decent fellow. The plan is to get through Madras and Rangoon as quietly as possible; they want us to go overland when we can, I suspect to keep an eye on us.”
Even spoken quickly, this brings them to the library door. Shirley clears his throat outside it to give Baxter a chance to get into a presentable posture; it will not do to introduce Margaret and Esperanza to a loafer on a couch. He opens the door and looks in before holding it for the ladies. “Margaret, Esperanza, allow me to introduce Mr. Edgar Baxter. Mr. Baxter, I have the honour to present Doctor Margaret Byrd and Miss Esperanza Garcia y Gutierrez.” Introductions complete, he looks at Baxter for a signal to stay or leave. Baxter gestures to the trio of Ellipsoids, indicating that they should seat themselves. A quick glance at Shirley indicates that he may stay or go at his pleasure. Shirley stays; he has learned as much from watching Baxter as listening to him, and the chance for more observation is valuable.
Baxter smiles reassuringly at Shirley and Margaret. “Before we begin—Miss Esperanza, do you understand English?”
Esperanza suppresses an irritated sigh and replies “I understand the English well, Mr. Baxter.” Margaret gives her a little, conspiratorial smile.
“Excellent.” Baxter rubs his hands together. “I’ve already spoken to Mr. Addam, but he and I agree that it is important that you have an opportunity to consent to the plan, and to voice any concerns you may have.” He looks at each person briefly, giving him or her the opportunity to speak. Margaret simply gives him an enquiring look, obvious encouragement to continue. She has no intention of letting him know she has any prior clue of Shirley’s interaction with the Yard.
“Right-o. The Yard would like you to travel through India together, in disguise. We hope that this will prompt Addison to keep watch on Government House, either in Madras or Rangoon, so that we may apprehend him there. Naturally, we shall have detectives on duty at both places, and they shall do their utmost to protect you all. If all goes according to plan, then Addison will be taken into custody before you even arrive, as we will have seen him before he sees you. Of course, there is no guarantee that all will go according to plan, which means that this may entail a certain degree of risk on your parts. Mr. Addam has already consented to this role. Dr. Byrd? Miss Esperanza?”
Esperanza looks at Margaret for a cue. She is obviously willing to go along with whatever Señora Doctor deems approrpriate. Margaret is thinking quickly. If she asks no questions, that will undoubtedly seem odd to Mr. Baxter. “May I take it, then that you wish us to serve as a stalking horse for Mr. Addison, and that you expect him to strike somewhere in the Indian colonies? My perusal of the Times gives me the impression that Addison may have some particular animus where Mr. Addam is concerned; is that why he, and we by extension, have been approached?”
“We do not know that we are the only ones,” Shirley puts in with a self-deprecatory shrug. “It seems not unlikely—and of course you need not confirm this, Mr. Baxter—that the Yard are contacting all the Ellipsoids they can.”
Baxter looks at Margaret consideringly. “At this time, the Yard believes that Mr. Addam is likely Addison’s preferred target—sorry,” a brief nod in Shirley’s direction “—as a result of the Times interview. Of course, with the attack in Damascus, we are not entirely certain, but as I said, it seems likely. We hope that if Mr. Addam travels in a small group, rather than alone, he will evade Addison’s notice. Under the circumstances, India seems a likely spot.”
Margaret gives him a brief, rather tight smile. “That makes sense. The Times interview was a trifle provocative, wasn’t it, and I doubt Addison would ignore it. But do I take it, then, that the Yard considers the attack on Lady Bonnet’s companion to be related to the other violence that has stalked the Ellipse?”
“We believe that the Damascus attack could be related, as an Ellipsoid was involved. It would be foolish to think otherwise.”
“Yes; I appreciate the distinction. Well, I believe that you may consider myself and Esperanza willing participants in your plans, but I would appreciate if you would explain the matter to us… to the extent that you are able to do so without compromising details you cannnot share with non-agents. As Mr. Addam can tell you,” and she nods in Shirley’s direction, “I am most averse to going into any situation blindly. That may in fact have been one of the first things I said to him. I believe I took him a bit aback at the time.” She smiles and nods at Shirley’s rueful expression, then turns back to Agent Baxter. Once again, Shirley sees the fierce intensity with which she sometimes listens.
“Very well, Doctor. As I told Mr. Addam, the Yard should like you to travel overland as much as possible to both Madras and Rangoon. We should also like you to travel in disguise as far as Rangoon. We think that Addison will be looking for individuals, rather than a small group. In addition, the fact that Miss Esperanza’s appearance is entirely unknown to Addison is a great benefit.
“We know that Addison knows exactly where Mr. Addam is going to be, namely Government House in Madras and then Rangoon. Of course, he doesn’t know when Mr. Addam will be there, and if Mr. Addam is indeed his target, Addison’s best chance to spot him is to watch the place until he arrives. All Addison has to do is watch who goes in and out until he spots his target. Therefore, all the Yard need to is keep an eye on for Addison when he arrives to watch Government House. We hope to apprehend him before you even arrive.”
“I assume,” Shirley says dispassionately, “you have forestalled any possibility that he is monitoring the customs agents. I can disguise myself, but my travel documents contain my name.”
“Indeed we have, although if you prefer a specific port of entry to India, we can focus our efforts there.”
Shirley decides to defer to Margaret, so that Baxter will not be tempted to underestimate her. “Doctor Byrd? I believe you had an idea.”
“Yes, I did,” she says, nodding once. “Two, actually. One was to sail to Panaji, and take the train from there to Madras. The other was to tell everyone, except the captain of whatever ship we are able to charter, that we will be going to Bombay and taking the train from there. We thought it would be safer for us if Addison and his minions were watching one route while we took another, especially since the two routes have no point of convergance before Madras.”
“In that case, the Yard will have agents in place at Panaji. It’s a good plan, and meshes quite neatly with ours. If Addison determines that he cannot find you en route, he will go directly to Government House.”
“In which case we might wish to mention someplace other than Bombay,” Shirley says with a small frown. “The other Ellipsoids may go in that direction, and we should not endanger them if we can avoid it. Possibly Ceylon? Plausible enough.”
“Mmm, yes, a good point. Perhaps Kochi would be better though; it also has a direct rail link to Madras, as Ceylon does not.” By this point, Margaret is thinking, Agent Baxter must be wondering if she’s memorized the railway map of India.
“I shall leave your false trail to your discretion. The important thing is to get assets in place at your real destination. If you have no other questions, I shall take my leave of you.”
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