Chapter Twenty-Six #3
“There’s some paper on the desk too.” She walked over to it and glanced down at the entry. “Miss Cartwright’s name is on here! Oh, my God, Tobias, so is Mary Brunham’s, and two other women’s: Sandra Wakehurst and Amanda Vickers.”
A loud bang sounded from behind the closed door to the warehouse.
“Stay behind me, Jack,” Tobias said as he swiftly pulled out his revolver from his jacket holster and strode over to the far door.
Jack followed behind him, pulling out the derringer from her knapsack.
“Stay on that side of the wall.” Tobias indicated to the left of the door so that she’d be out of anyone’s line of sight when he went through the opening.
She nodded and did as instructed, at least as far as staying behind the wall.
Tobias quickly reached out with his free hand and twisted the handle, opening the door and rushing into the room beyond, crouching low and to the side, his pistol aiming in front of him.
Jack ducked around the corner of the door and saw the back of someone wearing a black cloak at the far side of the room, standing in front of a kiln, which was roaring to life with flames.
He glanced over his shoulder at them, and Jack couldn’t get a good look at his face, as the cloak was pulled over the bottom half, but there was a flare of surprise in his eyes.
Tobias saw him too, and he began to sprint towards him as the man reached into his cloak and threw something towards the open kiln. Then man then spun on his heel and raced for the far exit door.
“No, Tobias, don’t!” she yelled, rushing after him, but a loud explosion sounded in the air as a sharp burst of light flashed across the space.
Jack dived to the ground, her eyes blinded for a moment as the smell of magnesium filled the air. She blinked slowly, her ears ringing from the bang.
“Jack, are you all right?” Tobias growled as he closed the gap between them, crawling over to her while thick, white smoke began to fill the warehouse.
“I’ll be fine. He used flash powder in the kiln, but he’s getting away.”
Tobias gave a sharp nod and shook his head from side to side, obviously feeling the effects of the explosion just like her. “Stay here.” Then he got to his feet and began to hurry after the man.
Unwilling to stay put, she got to her feet, though she was a bit disconcerted when her legs wobbled.
Nonetheless, she gritted her teeth and steadied herself.
What if the man tried to use some other illusion on Tobias?
She wasn’t going to stay here and let him get hurt.
Hiking up her skirt, she ran after them, the thick smoke still wafting in the air making it slightly difficult to navigate through the warehouse.
The door to the back entrance was flung wide and she raced through it, coming to a halt as she saw Tobias up ahead staring intently up the street towards the main road ahead, where a plethora of pedestrians and carriages were rushing past.
“He disappeared up there. Damn it!” Tobias swore, holstering his pistol, then dragging a hand through his already disheveled hair.
“He would have discarded his cloak, and he could be anyone.” It was what Jack often did to stay hidden in plain sight. “He probably had a costume change under his cloak too.”
“Like I said, a ghost.” He pulled out a whistle from his breast pocket and blew into it, a shrill, high-pitched noise that he blew in a pattern to attract the cavalry. Not even a minute later, two constables came rushing down the alley, their batons at the ready.
“Sir?” one of them said to Tobias as they came to a halt outside the factory gates.
While Tobias discussed the situation with the officers and gave them his orders, Jack turned back to the factory. What was the man doing in there? She walked back to the door and went inside.
The smell of the magnesium powder he’d used to disorient them was still strong in the air, but at least the smoke had mostly abated. She glanced around the space, glad that there was no movement.
“It smells like magnesium.” Tobias’s voice beside her had her jumping and swiveling around to face him.
“How does someone of your size move so silently?” Jack admonished. “Usually, I can hear anyone approaching. It’s unnerving that I can’t hear you.”
He shrugged. “Being silent in my line of work has saved my life on past occasions.”
Yes, she supposed it would be important for him. “It smells of magnesium,” she said, returning to the topic at hand, “because that’s what flash powder is made of.”
“‘Flash powder’?”
“It’s similar to what photographers use in their flash photography, but magicians use it in their shows to create a distraction and divert the audience’s attention.”
“So that’s what he was throwing into the kiln after he spotted us.”
“Yes, it seems so,” Jack replied, walking over towards the kiln. “The question, though, is: what was he doing here in the first place? He seemed surprised to see us.”
“He did,” Tobias agreed, following her to where the kiln was burning away, its door still open.
“Oh, no.” Her whole body froze as she caught sight of a body in the kiln.