[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
two fingerprints are alike; and since our man is wounded . . . patting
Wygate for his good deed of stabbing our man, he could be leaving
evidence behind.
Mr. Trundle stopped suddenly and stared at me, So, he said, you re
saying, if we find one of these bloody fingerprints, and match it to him,
we could prove he s our killer.
Or, I replied cautiously, at the very least John, we could prove he is
the one who tried to kidnap Wygate.
Well . . . , all right then, nodding his head, liking the idea. He then
stepped away, looking at the tunnel wall, obviously contemplating what I
had just told him about fingerprints; and after a moment he turned back
to look at us, Well, you coming? And with that we continued on with
our search of the tunnel with him.
As we went along we did as the other men had done, we rattled the
wrought-iron gates we came to, seeing if they were locked. Each seemed
to lead to a smaller tunnel, presumably connected to a nearby home that
was above us. Also, Mr. Trundle and I made quick study of each lock
to see if it was rusted, or well maintained. If it was rusted then it was
certainly not being used by our killer. If it was well maintained, then we
wanted to make note of it for it might have been used by our killer; and
as we went along I informed Vyola and Wygate of this so they would
know why we were examining them so closely.
After a few moments of looking over gates Wygate noticed, in the
flickering light, something smeared on a section of the left wall. He
pointed it out to us. He was right, it was more blood; and there it was a
fingerprint. We each felt a sense of gratification for its discovery.
WILLIAM M. CULLEN 223
I reached into my coat and pulled out a piece of paper upon which
I take my notes. I placed the paper up against the print, being ever so
careful, letting the blood slowly absorb into the paper; and after a
moment, I carefully blew it dry. Once I knew it was dry I folded the
paper carefully before slipping it gingerly into my coat pocket. We, then,
continued on checking more gates and more sections of the wall as we
went.
We could still see the others ahead of us, tho they were quite a ways
from us, and moving faster. I suggested that we should pick up our pace
and catch up with them since they, and us, haven t found an open gate
as of yet and we can always come back and inspect the locks later; and
just as we were about to move along, we heard a commotion back behind
us. It was someone else coming down the stairs for we could see the
flickering of their torchlight.
Is that you Ebenezer? I shouted, hoping it was.
Aye, Master Franklin. I ve got three of the King s men with me.
Three! I exclaimed, seething under my breath. They must not
think much of what we are doing, said Mr. Trundle.
Don t you worry gentlemen, said Vyola. They will once we catch
this bloody bastard.
Aye, I said. I do hope you are right.
Wait! shouted Ebenezer as he and the three guards began trotting
towards us, coughing and gagging from the stench as well. As soon as
they caught up I noticed that one of the King s men was a Corporal and
the other two were infantry.
Good timing Ebenezer, clasping his hand and bidding him much
welcome, as did Mr. Trundle, Vyola and Wygate.
This here is Corporal Higgins, said Eb, introducing him to us.
And I have brought them up to speed on our investigation.
Excellent. Corporal, I said, shaking his hand. We were just about
to move along and catch up with the others.
He saw the others down before us. All right, let us go then. And
with that we each took off trotting further on up and into the tunnel;
and after a few moments we arrived at another tunnel, jutting off to our
left. By my quick calculations (and later confirmed) we were at Conduit
Street; and from seeing a bobbing torchlight we noticed that a couple of
our men were already exploring that tunnel; and with that, we moved on,
wanting to catch up with the others.
224 THE PRINTER S VAMPYR
Along the way we spotted some more blood smears, showing them
to Ebenezer and the King s guards as we went. With each passing smear
we could see the guards becoming more confident in our story. In fact,
we stopped, for a moment, to show them the blood-stains on Wygate s
dress, and to inform them that Wygate was, in fact, a boy who had to
stab himself in order to escape. (I was ever so grateful that was the worst
of it for him.) From there, we continued on until we came to an open
enclosure, a rotunda, where it joined with two other tunnels, running
perpendicularly, with our original tunnel. (Also, it allowed Mr. Trundle
and I to stand perfectly erect for the first time since we came into the
tunnel; and the air up here was not getting any better; in fact, it was
getting worse.)
Upon arriving at the rotunda we met Mr. Crook, who was standing
guard. He told us he had dispatched some men into each tunnel, waiting
for us to catch-up and for the others to report back any findings. (Good
man our Mr. Crook.) We, then, took a moment to get our bearings. By
my quick estimation I calculated we were now under the Oxford Street
crossing, meaning our original tunnel should continue on upward, up
past Cavendish Square, as the Rector had told us.
Which way Ben? asked Vyola, looking about.
Onward, I said, pointing forward, estimating we were about a
hundred meters, or so, away from where Cavendish Square sat above.
And just as we were about to move along Corporal Higgins ordered
one of his men to stand guard with Mr. Crook on the off-chance that
our kidnapper could come running back through, thus relieving Mr.
Crook of holding his post all by himself. Plus, Corporal Higgins wanted
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]