‘You memorized it,’ Sherlock pointed out.
‘Yes,’ Mycroft said, surprised, ‘but I am Mycroft Holmes.’
‘Let’s cut to the chase,’ Crowe interrupted. ‘What’s the outcome if the sale of Alaska to the USA falls through and Spain get it? Why should we care?’
‘It destabilizes the region,’ Mycroft said simply. ‘Canada is a new and fragile country. France already has a strong influence in the Quebec region and Great Britain still retains control of British Columbia. If Spain were to gain control of Alaska then we would replicate in another continent all the problems that we once experienced here in Europe. Think of the wars that occurred between France, England and Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The last thing we want is for that to happen again. You want to know what will happen if Spain is allowed to gain control of Alaska, Mr Crowe? The answer is war – and a war that will pull America apart as it tries to work out with whom to ally itself!’
Crowe nodded his massive head slowly. ‘Ah can see that,’ he said. ‘Cram several countries together that way an’ you’ll get trouble. It’s like having three or four families livin’ together in a small house. Bound to be arguments.’
‘Stability is in our best interests,’ Mycroft observed. ‘And by our, I mean yours and mine. America’s and Great Britain’s. As should be apparent, Great Britain has been divesting itself of various colonies over the past decade. Our colonies in Canada have become a country in their own right, and I would expect British Columbia to be handed across to join them in the near future. We are trying our best to build stability into the region. Having the Spaniards, the French or anyone else interfering would set up ripples that could affect the political and geographical landscape for hundreds of years.’
‘All this,’ Crowe said, ‘is kind of outside my remit. Ah’m not a politician, and have no intention of ever becoming one.’
‘Best not,’ Mycroft murmured. ‘I have seen you negotiate. Fists are not generally thought of as weapons of diplomacy.’
‘Oh, I don’ know,’ Crowe said quietly. ‘Didn’t Clausewicz say that war is a continuation of political relations?’
‘Yes,’ Mycroft said testily, ‘but he was German.’
‘So what does all this mean to us?’ Crowe asked. ‘You think that the people who framed you for murder are agents of Spain?’
‘Possible, but unlikely.’ Mycroft shook his head. ‘Why would the Spanish court wish to hide the fact that they had made a counter-offer, unless the negotiations were at a particularly delicate stage? I cannot see them committing murder on that basis. The Russians themselves might have done it – but again, why should they wish to hide the fact that negotiations are going on?’ He thought for a moment, his fingers stroking his chin. ‘Unless the Tsar did not want the American government to know that he was talking to the Spaniards, on the basis that the US House of Representatives might suddenly approve the release of the seven million dollars in gold and thus scupper his plans to get more money from someone else. The whole thing rests on the fact that the original deal is at best ambiguous until payment has actually been made.’
‘There is another possibility,’ Crowe rumbled.
‘Yes,’ Mycroft confirmed, ‘there is. Elements in your own government might be trying to avoid any word of the possible ambiguity of the land deal until they can actually complete it – transfer the gold to the Tsar.’
Crowe shrugged. ‘Ah’m not goin’ to defend my government. They’ve made some pretty strange decisions over the years.’
‘Or,’ Sherlock said, feeling that he ought to say something, ‘it might be someone else.’
‘A third party?’ Crowe asked.
‘Fourth,’ Mycroft clarified, ‘after the Russians, the Americans and the Spanish.’
‘Fifth,’ Sherlock pointed out. ‘You’re involved too, which means so is Great Britain.’
‘I can see why diplomacy gets so complicated,’ Crowe said, smiling. ‘But this is all irrelevant to us, surely? You’ve realized what’s goin’ on, and you’re goin’ to do somethin’ diplomatic. There’s no likelihood of any more action against you, or Sherlock, or even me. Whoever tried to frame you in the first place will have to assume that you’ve gone back to your desk, seen the reports an’ drawn the right conclusions.’
Mycroft shook his head slowly. ‘It’s not that simple. For a start, my superiors are not inclined to take my word on something this big. They will make their own checks, which could take months or years. And I have lost my main source of information in Russia.’ His face took on a brooding quality. I owe it to him to find out what has happened. If he is in the cells of the Third Section then I can at least try to get him out. If he is dead then I can try and bring his murderers to justice – or what passes for justice in the Tsar’s court.’
‘You have more people in Moscow, surely?’ Crowe asked. ‘They can do this.’
‘I have nobody in Moscow that I trust. I will have to go myself, once the charges against me are withdrawn.’
CHAPTER NINE
A shocked silence descended around the table.
‘You’re going to go to Moscow?’ Sherlock asked, stunned. ‘In Russia?’
‘I’m afraid I am,’ Mycroft replied.
‘But you get vertigo if you go north of Oxford Street!’
Mycroft smiled, but it was one of those smiles where humour was a thin veneer over a deeper pain. ‘The fact that I do not wish to go to Russia is immaterial. I should go. I have to go. My own personal comfort is quite irrelevant.’
‘I don’t understand,’ Sherlock protested.
‘I do.’ Amyus Crowe nodded softly. ‘How can you expect subordinates to trust you, to follow your instructions, if they think you will abandon them the first time they get into trouble?’
‘That is exactly it. My people across the world must know that I am not just a fair-weather superior. When storms come, as inevitably they will, I will be standing in the rain with them.’ He shuddered. ‘Uncomfortable as it may be.’
‘And you’re curious,’ Sherlock ventured.
‘Curious?’
‘You want to know the truth. You want to know who actually tried to have you framed for murder, and what the situation is with this land sale.’
Mycroft shrugged. ‘I do confess a certain desire to uncover the actual state of affairs. I dislike uncertainty. It is like having a nagging toothache.’
Across the restaurant, the family that Sherlock had been watching earlier were leaving their table. He stared at them for a moment. The mother was checking that her children were correctly buttoned up and neat while the father looked on. Were they heading off to see the sights of London, or visiting family? Perhaps they were just stopping off in London on their way to somewhere else, and were going straight to one of the main stations to catch a train. Whatever their plans, he felt jealous. He couldn’t remember a time when his own family had been like that – normal, ordinary. What with his father off on army business most of the time and his mother confined to bed, there had never been a time when they had all sat around a table and just been. .. a family.
‘So I won’t be seeing you for a while, just as I won’t be seeing Father,’ he whispered.
‘Unless you come with me.’
For the second time in as many minutes, Sherlock was shocked into silence. ‘Me?’ he squeaked eventually. ‘Go with you? To Russia?’
Mycroft was eyeing the remains of the breakfast on his plate longingly. ‘Perhaps you could explain it to him,’ he murmured to Crowe. ‘I think I may have finished too soon.’
‘Ah’m not sure ah understand it myself.’ Crowe’s expression was severe. ‘Perhaps you could explain it to both of us.’
‘Oh, very well. Sherlock has already become involved in this affair. If I head off to Russia then the best way to distract me, to get me back, or even to stop me going in the first place, would be to threaten him. If he were kidnapped, and let us say a fragment of his ear, or his little finger, were sent to me in a parcel, then I would be rendered incapable of further investigation. I need to establish Sherlock’s safety – ergo I need Sherlock with me.’