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“I’ht,” Brewster et these wild ideas sometimes Don’t knohere they come froet worse in my head”

“Nothing to apologize for,” Bell said, checking Hall’s eyes They were reacting nor the pressure You most of all, since this is your crew”

Brewster shook his head dismissively “So a us for months”

Bell said, “You succeeded, Brewster Keep that in mind”

The miner just looked at Bell, his face wrinkled beyond its years, sunken and sallow, and fraray hair as wispy as spider’s silk There were stains on his chin fro up blood in his sleep

There was no sign of the innkeeper or his wife Bell let himself into the kitchen to see what he could rustle up He heard the back door open and guessed Charlie was heading out back to check on the trucks the way he’d checked on the draft animals back at the mine in Russia On the table was a local newspaper

Bell picked it up to see if there was news about the train theft It was splashed across the front page, with details about the dead men found on the train and a description of the ow Below the article was a separate box with a plea to the public to help apprehend the thieves and a telephone number to call with information A reas offered

Bell’s heart slammed into his ribs That’s why the hotel was quiet The police were on their way The innkeeper had read the article and called the nuades were dangerous He fought the stab of panic and read the newspaper’s plea for infor bothered him He read it a third time It didn’t mention the police specifically or who posted the reward The telephone listingto hie

Then he saw it The exchange was the saht before to speak with Joel Wallace’s assistant, Miss Bryer The exchange was for London, not Glasgow or Aberdeen

“Fellas, get ot an operator and had her put the call through It was Saturday so there were free lines After a moment of clicks and hisses, a male voice answered

“Allô?”

Bell smashed down the earpiece so hard that its cord whipsaw-danced The English hello and the French allô sounded close enough that ual speakers never bothered to translate the word They just pronounced it as they always had Like thethat call went straight to the French Embassy, near Hyde Park

Bell was fully expecting to encounter Foster Gly again, but he had to admit Gly was craftier than just about anybody he’d ever faced He’d placed an advertisement in the paper and had it look like it was froents acting on behalf of the Société des Mines He’d had all the previous day to set this in motion, and Bell was certain the ad ran in other cites as well Foster Gly had turned the entire nation into his own private spy netith just a few inches of ad space Even as he felt disaster descending, Bell had to acknowledge his own grudging respect for the strategy

He rushed for the back door,Walter and Warry as they came down the stairs With Joshua Brewster close behind, they ran out into the backyard Thewas cool and still, with just a few clouds in an otherwise blue sky The industrial pall of Newcastle was still some miles to the south

Charlie Widney had just reached the doors of the distant barn and didn’t hear Bell’s shouted warning Nor did he hear the roar of the Leyland truck’s motor just before it slammed into the doors fro door and went flying back so there quite still The driver could have swerved at thatchance, but he deliberately ran over the prone miner The truck’s narrow tires and heavy load made sure the pressure across Charlie’s body crushed his internal organs