Jack

Seattle, WA—Police Station

Monday, September 6, 1909

WE HAD DONE it! We’d stopped Laszlo from stealing over a million dollars in gold, had ensured Laszlo would remain in custody for a long time, had helped Evangeline humiliate her rival, and, most importantly, had freed Wilhelm. Everything had gone according to plan.

Almost.

“I’m not going to ask you again.” The beefy police officer leaned over the table, his beady eyes trying to dig into me to find my secrets. “Where’s the gold?”

I’d been in the room for hours. Security from the exposition had turned Wilhelm and me over to the police, who’d separated us and had been questioning me. I imagined Wil was getting the same treatment.

“And for the last time, I’d tell you if I knew, but I don’t.” I’d tried everything I could to convince Detective Johnson. Sarcasm rolled off him, he was immune to humor, anger didn’t rile him even a little bit. I’d even told him as much of the truth as I could without exposing Wilhelm’s ability, but nothing seemed to work.

Detective Johnson slammed his fist on the table, stared at me hard for a moment, and then stormed out of the room. I sat in my chair with my hands on the table. They’d tried putting me in cuffs, but I’d slipped out of them three times before they’d given up. It’s not like I was going to go anywhere without Wil.

I was hungry and thirsty and incredibly irritated. For the first time in my life, I actually hadn’t done anything, and I was still being treated like a criminal.

After Johnson had been gone for what felt like an hour, I got ready to sneak out and see if I couldn’t find something to eat when a different detective came to the door and told me to follow him. He led me to a room where an older gentleman with a hook nose and thin lips, and who wore an expensive suit, was sitting at a table.

“Sit, please,” the man said.

“Look, I don’t—”

“I’ll be happy to explain as soon as all parties have arrived,” the man said.

“Whatever.” I took a seat at the table, which was larger than the one I’d been seated at before. The room itself was nicer too.

“Jack!” Wil was led into the room by the same detective who’d brought me, and I scrambled out of my seat to throw my arms around him.

“Are you okay?” I asked. “Did they hurt you?”

Wil shook his head. “They asked me the same questions repeatedly, as if doing so might change the truth.”

Before I could speak again, Ruth and Jessamy were led into the room. It felt like a reunion.

“I don’t know what the devil is going on,” Ruth said, “but I do not appreciate being treated like a criminal after I helped catch one.”

Jessamy caught sight of the gentleman at the table, and said, “Mr. Carr, what are you doing here?”

The hook-nosed man, who was apparently known to Jessamy and whose name was Mr. Carr, cleared his throat. “If you would take a seat, please, there are a few matters we need to discuss.”

I looked to Jessamy for answers, since she seemed to be the only person who actually had an inkling of what was going on, but she offered little more than a slight shrug as she and Ruth sat down. Wil followed them, leaving me no choice but to do the same.

“As Miss Valentine has mentioned, my name is Edwin Carr. I represent the interests of a number of families who wish to remain unnamed but who have been injured by the criminal activities of the man known as Theodore Barnes.”

“We got Laszlo for you,” I said, my temper long gone, “so I don’t know what else you want from us.”

“Jack,” Jessamy said. “Just listen.”

Wil took my hand under the table and leaned his knee against mine.

“As Miss Valentine so helpfully alerted us to the location of Mr. Barnes, I thought the least I could do was attempt to extricate you from your current predicament with the police.” Mr. Carr cleared his throat. “It seems a substantial amount of gold has gone missing.”

“It’s in the electrical room behind the Philippines Building,” Wilhelm said. “That’s where it was supposed to be.”

Mr. Carr nodded. “Yes, that’s what Mr. Barnes also claimed, yet exposition security officers found the room empty.”

Wilhelm was shaking his head. “It has to be. I—”

Jessamy, Ruth, and Mr. Carr had all turned to look at Wilhelm. I squeezed his hand to keep him from saying more.

Mr. Carr squeezed the bridge of his nose. “Here’s what detectives have managed to gather from Mr. Barnes and his associate, Mr. McElroy. Their plan was to use a cart with a specially constructed hidden space to transport gold-painted lead into the exposition, which would be swapped out for the real gold, though Mr. Barnes’s explanation regarding how he would accomplish that feat made little rational sense.” He looked at Wil, one eyebrow arched. “Unless you truly are capable of disappearing and reappearing.”

I laughed loudly, and kicked Wilhelm under the table so he would do the same. With both of us laughing, I suspected we actually looked more guilty rather than less. But not even I would’ve believed Wilhelm’s ability existed if I hadn’t seen it for myself.

“I thought not,” Mr. Carr continued. “Regardless, once he had made the exchange, he planned to use the same cart to drive the gold out of the exposition.”

“That didn’t quite go as planned,” Ruth said with a snort.

“No,” Mr. Carr said. “His associate, and you yourself, Mr. Nevin, were intercepted smuggling alcohol into the exposition using the cart with the false bottom. Mr. McElroy was then later caught attempting to steal the cart from the exposition security officers.”

I wished I’d been there to see the look on George’s face when they got him.

“So Mr. Barnes only made the real gold disappear,” Jessamy said. “He never swapped it out for the fake.”

“Exactly so,” Mr. Carr said. “And his claim, as ludicrous as it sounds, is that Mr. Gessler was responsible for making the gold disappear. Therefore, if it is not in the power station building, then Mr. Gessler must have put it somewhere else.”

I stood, knocking my chair back. “He’s trying to blame this on Wil? Laszlo kidnapped Wil when he was only four! He’s been poisoning him and threatening to kill him to keep him from running away!”

Wil set my seat right and tugged on my sleeve until I sat down.

Mr. Carr was not amused by my outburst. “Obviously, the story spun by Mr. Barnes is little more than fantasy, and none of the detectives believe that Mr. Gessler has actual magical abilities or that he made a thousand pounds of gold vanish.”

“Laszlo was using Wil,” I said. “He was probably always planning to steal the gold and then leave Wil to take the blame. The only person who knows where that gold is now is Laszlo. You should be asking him.”

“I agree,” Mr. Carr said. “As do the detectives and Chief Wappenstein. Unless you have any further information regarding the missing gold, you are free to go. However, it would be best if you didn’t return to the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. In fact, you might consider leaving Seattle altogether.”

I looked at Wil. “What do you think?”

“I still don’t know where I’m from.”

Jessamy said, “I looked for your parents, Wilhelm, I really did, but I couldn’t find them.”

“You boys are welcome to come with us,” Ruth said.

“You’re really going?” I asked.

Ruth nodded. “That reward gave me more than I needed, and I’m about done with this city anyhow.”

Ruth’s offer was appealing. The four of us could stay together like a family. And while I knew Wil would’ve gone along with me if I’d said yes to Ruth, he never would’ve stopped thinking about his parents and about the sister he’d yet to meet. “Actually,” I said, “I have an idea about how to get Wil home.”

Wil looked surprised at that, and I wanted to explain, but this definitely wasn’t the time or place.

“So that’s it?” Jessamy asked. “We’re free to go?”

Mr. Carr frowned and then said, “There is one last thing the detectives are curious about.”

“What?” I asked.

“Where is Evangeline Dubois?”