“I didn’t get much rest,” he said. “I signaled Fitzroy as soon as I got to Calais and he came out to meet me. He wanted to know why I didn’t go through channels and use our contact over here.” He smiled, wryly. “I told him. Fitzroy had never heard of Mongoose. Our contact in England is supposed to be an Observer named Captain Jack Carnehan. Carnehan’s description matches that of the groom who gave me that note from Mongoose, the same groom whom no one else around here seems to have seen,” he added.
“How did Major Fitzroy react?” said Andre.
“He didn’t take it very well,” said Lucas. “He had to check it out, of course. He clocked out ahead and made a routine inquiry and, not surprisingly, discovered that there is no officer in the Observer Corps named Jack Carnehan. At that point, he immediately contacted the TIA, thinking that they were involved in this mission and that he hadn’t been informed. The new director, Allendale, assured him that such was not the case and insisted that we had made a mistake. When Fitzroy told him about the ersatz Capt. Carnehan, Allendale ran a check on Mongoose. The records had him listed as inactive, on medical leave. Fitzroy insisted that Allendale check in with Darrow, as well as agent Cobra. Cobra was unavailable for some reason, but Allendale set up a secure-line conference with Darrow, just to mollify Fitzroy. Darrow told him that Mongoose had been given medical leave following his last mission in the field, but that he had returned to active duty shortly thereafter, which so far coincides with what we already know. If Mongoose had been given medical leave again, said Darrow, it happened after his resignation and he wasn’t aware of the circumstances.
“Allendale wanted to know why Mongoose had been removed from the field duty roster. Darrow was a bit stiff about that, but he did say that it was all a matter of record and he was surprised that Allendale had to ask. The reason he had to ask, as it turned out, is that Mongoose had the records altered. He managed to transfer himself out of evaluations and then place himself on medical leave, so that he would not be missed. Then-get this-he forged departure tags for himself under the name of Lieutenant Vasily Rurik. The real Lt. Rurik is on medical leave from the Observers, recovering from wounds sustained on duty during an arbitration action in the 20th century. Mongoose had access to his records when he was in evaluations. He assumed Rurik’s identity, requisitioned a chronoplate for the purpose of Observer duty in the War of the First Coalition, clocked out, and promptly disappeared.”
Finn nodded. “He bypassed the tracer functions on the plate, showed up here, and reported to Fitzroy as Carnehan. Fitzroy gave him a full briefing on the mission status, naturally. The guy’s got nerve, I’ll hand him that. He showed up last night.”
“You saw him?” Lucas said.
“Not exactly. I had a note delivered to me, telling me to meet him in the maze at one o’clock.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Andre interrupted.
“Because you went up to attend Marguerite and that was where I wanted you. For all I knew, the note was just a ruse to get me out of the house. I wish I had told you, but it’s too late to cry about that now. I never saw Mongoose. We spoke, but he kept out of sight. I managed to get close enough to stick him through the hedge with a sword cane, but I think I only grazed him. He ran and I tried to follow, but he’d switched all the urns around and by the time I found my way out of that blasted maze, he was long gone. I should have remembered the sequence of the turns,” he said to Lucas.
“You should have told me,” Andre said, angrily. “I could have waited for him outside the maze. You let him escape, just because you didn’t trust me enough to-”
“I’m sure that isn’t true,” said Lucas. “Still, that wasn’t very smart, Finn. Suppose we were wrong about him and he was on the level?”
Finn shook his head. “He told me that he wasn’t. Besides, if he was on the level, why didn’t he show himself? No, when he saw that I wasn’t buying his story, he made it clear that he was acting on his own. He knew I sent you to Fitzroy. He said he saw you with him in Paris.”
“What’s he want?” said Lucas. “Did he say anything at all about why he did it?”
“From what little he did say,” Finn replied, “it’s my impression that this is some sort of last fling for him. He knew he had reached a dead end in evaluations and rather than go crazy sitting behind a desk all day, he decided to go crazy on the Minus Side.” Finn sighed. “I don’t know what the hell he wants. He’s out to prove something, I don’t know.”
Lucas shook his head. “If he really thinks he can get away with what he’s done, he’s crazier than I thought. In any case, we’ve got specific orders as far as he’s concerned. We’re to keep our hands off him unless he does something that actively endangers the adjustment. Don’t ask me how we’re supposed to define that, I haven’t the faintest idea. Allendale is sending a TIA team back to bring him in. He wants him alive, both to make an example of him and to find out how he managed to screw around with the records. Darrow’s in for it, too, because he was soft on him and didn’t bust him out of the agency.”
“So much for not having the spooks underfoot,” said Delaney. “I knew this mission was too good to be true. It was too easy.”
“So far, at least,” said Lucas. “It’s about to get a bit more difficult. Fitzroy’s got orders for us. It’s time for the Scarlet Pimpernel to make a trip to Paris. Think of something to tell Marguerite and get hold of Ffoulkes and Dewhurst. We have to leave this evening.”
“Who’s the target?” Finn said.
“The Marquis de Leforte,” said Lucas. “Not a very nice man, by all accounts. Treated the peasants as if they were less than animals, so consequently they’d like very much to kill him now that he’s vulnerable.”
“How’s Blakeney supposed to find him?” Andre said.
“That shouldn’t be too difficult,” said Lucas. “Leforte’s in the Bastille. He’s already been tried and condemned to death.” He smiled, mirthlessly. “All we have to do is get him out.”
“Get him out of the Bastille?” Finn said. “How?”
“That’s what I asked Fitzroy,” said Lucas. “His answer was, ‘I’m sure you’ll think of something. After all, Blakeney did.’”
It was four o’clock in the morning and Finn and Lucas stood in the street, looking up at the north tower of the Bastille. Andre, under protest, had stayed behind with Marguerite. She hadn’t liked it, but they had made her understand that her job was just as important as theirs; perhaps more so. Someone had to watch Marguerite while they were gone, to make certain that Mongoose didn’t try anything with regard to her. They had no idea what he intended to do and they couldn’t afford to take any chances.
They had a plan of the Bastille, thanks to Fitzroy, and they knew where the Marquis de Leforte was being held. He was imprisoned in the north tower, in cell number 106. But knowing where he was and getting him out were two very different things. One was a fait accompli, the other seemed impossible.
Dewhurst was waiting for them on board the Day Dream, which lay at anchor off Boulogne-sur-Mer. Ffoulkes was in that seaside town, about twenty miles from Calais, awaiting their arrival. Several newly recruited members of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel were in a small apartment in Paris awaiting instructions from their leader. Everything was in a state of readiness. Now all they needed was a plan.
“I’m open to suggestions,” Finn said, wryly. “We’ve got exactly eight hours before Leforte’s due to be executed. You got any ideas?”
“Yeah,” said Lucas. “I say we go find Fitzroy and threaten to disembowel him unless he gets us some equipment. With the right stuff, we could walk right in there and take him out.”
“A couple of AR-107’s would be real nice,” said Finn
“I was thinking along somewhat less lethal lines,” said Lucas. “Like, some nose filters and a few gas grenades, real basic stuff. Just put everyone in there to sleep, Leforte included, and walk in, open up his cell and carry the poor bastard out.”