The Winds Of Fortune Episode 27
Theo stopped a few yards short of the pawnbroker’s shop, clutching the leather bag that Enoch, the shifty man from the Black Swan, had given him.
After talking to Minnie and Norah, he had returned to his lodgings and worked on his plan.
The next day, unshaven and unwashed, he’d put on his most worn-out suit and returned to the inn.
He had not long ordered a gin when the same fellow who had accosted him before sidled over.
“Good afternoon.”
“Is it?”
The man eyed him with interest.
“You becoming a reg’lar?”
Theo shrugged.
“I’ve nowhere else to be.”
Enoch nodded.
“Life can be tough, ain’t no doubt about that, but spirits ain’t the way forward.”
“Have you got a better idea?” Theo returned.
“As a matter of fact, I ’ave. Still got that little job on offer if you’d be interested.”
Theo paused. He didn’t want to seem too eager.
“What does it entail?”
Enoch had grinned and begun to explain, and now, half an hour later, here Theo was outside the pawnbroker’s.
He took a deep breath and entered.
“Can I ’elp you, sir?”
The owner stood behind the counter.
He was a rough-looking fellow in an old suit and flat cap. He wore a dirty apron and had a missing tooth.
“I have a few items that I’d like to sell to you – temporarily, of course.”
On hearing his accent, the man grinned.
“Of course, sir. Things ain’t too good in America right now, so I hear.”
Theo nodded.
“You got that right.”
“What you got for me?”
Theo removed items from the bag and placed them on the counter.
The fellow picked each one up and examined it.
Theo was glad that the man wasn’t looking at him, so didn’t see his own shocked expression.
Why, these were better quality items than he’d expected. Where could Enoch have got them?
Theo was more convinced than ever that they must belong to Sir Reginald Prater and his wife, who were the victims of the theft for which Joe had been arrested.
Enoch must be the thief, and he was using other unsuspecting fellows to move his stolen goods.
Why, if Theo wasn’t mistaken, that was a Lalique vase, a rare Wedgwood dish and a solid gold bracelet.
“Now, let me see what I can give you.”
The man did some calculations and named a price.
Theo was horrified. It was a fraction of the items’ true value.
“Is that all? These are expensive goods.”
“That’s as may be, but I can’t offer you too much. I got a business to run.”
The man named a marginally higher fee and eyed him slyly.
“You can keep ’em if you want?”
“No, I’ll take it.”
The man handed him the money and Theo stowed it in the leather bag.
He left the shop and carried out a number of other errands that were required of him – mostly delivering notes to various seedy establishments and individuals.
Theo wondered if they were tip-offs to clients who would then go and buy the pawned goods at cut-rate prices and sell them on elsewhere, giving Enoch a share of their ill-gotten gains.
Now he was to go back and get his pay.
It had been easier than he’d feared to pawn the goods – his accent had stood him in good stead, as Enoch must have known it would.
Hopefully getting paid would prove just as easy.
Thankfully it was only 20 minutes later that Theo left the Black Swan once again and made his way back to his lodgings.
He could hardly wait until he got there. He wanted to compare the money Enoch had given him to the bank notes from Norah’s brother.
He went upstairs and took the borrowed money from between the pages of his book.
He held it up to the light next to a couple of notes that Enoch had given him.
Carefully, he checked and rechecked the numbers, and a smile spread slowly across his face.
They were a match! He was sure they were notes from the very same batch.
Here was the evidence at last. Minnie would be delighted.
Theo grinned and whistled as he washed, changed and put on a smarter outfit.
He grabbed his shiniest brogues, made sure all the money that Enoch had paid him was safely in his pocket and set off for the police station.
He felt happier than he had for weeks.
He and Minnie were back in the same town and country, he’d found a way to assist her and Norah and, best of all, Minnie loved him.
Now to catch a crook, or possibly a whole network – what a day!
Having mentioned the Northaven name, Theo was soon sitting in an office facing an inspector over a heavy wooden desk.
The man was a thin, sharp-looking fellow with dark hair and a bushy moustache.
“You have information on the Prater robbery, sir. Is that correct?”
Theo nodded.
“I do. I can name the thief, give you proof of his guilt and lead you to him.”
The inspector’s eyebrows shot skyward.
“Can you, indeed? Perhaps you’d better start at the beginning.”
It took quite a time for Theo to explain everything: his original visit to the Black Swan, then his discovery of what had happened to Joe and how he had returned to the pub to trap Enoch.
“I deliberately accepted his job this time in order to compare the money he gave me with the notes given to Joe Pipp,” Theo finished.
“And what was the outcome?”
Theo grinned.
“The money is all here. You may judge for yourself.”
He put the notes on the desk.
The inspector examined them and whistled.
“I believe you’re right, sir. They are the same batch. And you can lead us to the culprit?” he asked.
Theo nodded again.
“Yes. This fellow, Enoch, frequents the Black Swan. He has offered me further work and I’m to meet him tomorrow. I thought you might like to accompany me.”
The inspector chuckled.
“Sir Reginald will be delighted if we catch the man involved, and if we get this Enoch, I’m sure we can persuade him to reveal his associates.
“Excellent work, if I may say so, sir.”
When Theo left the station, he was bursting with excitement.
He and the inspector had arranged to meet with a couple of constables close to the Black Swan the following afternoon.
The inspector was confident they could bring down the whole operation and maybe recover some of the stolen property into the bargain.
To be continued…