CRYPTIC: (Book One) Scarlet Shadows

Chapter 12 - A Runaway and a Clue

"Harrison?!" Oliver asked in utter astonishment.

"Harrison." Geoffrey stated. He clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Thought you were going to pull off that pathetic scheme, didn't you?"

Harrison, formerly known as Victor North, glared at the two gentlemen. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could say anything, he found his wrists locked in handcuffs.

"The conductor can take care of this situation," Geoffrey said, locking the second cuff and grabbing Harrison's arm. "We would take you back to the Liverpool Police Station, but we cannot do that due to obvious circumstances."

Geoffrey and Oliver were about to lead the criminal to the last car to interrogate him, but before they could step one foot forward, Harrison magically broke free of his handcuffs and pulled a revolver from the inside of his suit jacket. He fired a shot into the air, followed by screams and jumps, and ran out of the car before anyone had a chance to catch him.

"Wha--What--"

Oliver stood in bewilderment and watched the man flee until he could be seen no more.

"I guess I have to get new handcuffs," Geoffrey merely stated, looking down at the broken handcuffs lying on the red carpet. He bent down and picked them up, then stood up to examine them.

"Those handcuffs were sturdy!" Oliver exclaimed, still staring in the direction that the man fled.

"Were sturdy, yes, at one point in time," Geoffrey said. "But I am assuming they lost their strength. Either that, or Harrison is one intensely tenacious man."

"He must be. Geoffrey, do you suppose he's on his way to London?"

"I suppose so; that is the direction in which he ran. I'm guessing he had this whole mess occur to terminate our trip to London--or at least to pause it. But why?"

The two men pondered on the situation as other passengers walked outside to see if the issue was improving.

"Perhaps he paused our trip so Ruby could escape?" Oliver suggested. "Somehow he heard that we were planning to go to London, yes? He was still in Liverpool while Ruby was in London. He did not want Ruby or himself to get caught, so he warned her ahead of time. And he disguised himself as an engineer, then had this mess occur somehow, trying to delay our trip so Ruby could escape without a trace."

Geoffrey looked at Oliver with admiration.

"Excellent suggestion, Oliver," Geoffrey said, causing Oliver to smile proudly. "I have to seriously consider that idea, for it sounds very plausible."

Geoffrey slipped his notepad out again and quickly scribbled down a few notes.

Just as he put it back in the inside pocket of his suit jacket, he and Oliver felt a sudden, strong jerk, which caused them to lose their balance. They stumbled over into the seats on either side of the train. They gave each other a confused look, then turned their heads to the loud stomp that followed shortly.

A conductor stood at the front of the car, waiting patiently as the men and women boarded the train once again. Once everyone was seated, his cleared his throat.

"Ladies and gentlemen, firstly I want to apologize for this entire situation that all of you had to go through," he said sincerely. "I have no idea what that man had in mind, or how he even got on this train. However, he is gone, and we are glad to say that the train is fixed, back on the tracks, and ready to continue our journey."

The passengers cheered as the conductor smiled and walked back outside. Oliver watched from his seat as the conductor walked to the front of the train and stepped inside the first car.

The men smiled at each other as they heard the screech of the train whistle and felt the low rumble.

"That was quite interesting, was it not?" Oliver chuckled.

"Quite so, Oliver," Geoffrey chuckled back. He felt the train slowly push forward, and in the right direction.
"Quite so."

~*~*~

With his thick brows furrowed and his mind in deep concentration, Percival slid out the final folder. With weary hands, he laid aside the huge pile of folders containing information about Worthington's friend, Phillip Crane. With all the information and records contained in those folders, Percival thought he would've come across at least a sentence about Phillip's family life, or, more particularly, something about his wretched brother or Ruby. But in that amount of time he spent looking, he found nothing. He had thought about quitting once he reached the third folder, but desperate for more information, he pushed on. He checked his watch before continuing on to the next folder; he had spent just over three hours examining every little detail on the papers. Every word, every description, every mark, every photo, and so on.

At last, with a heavy sigh, he pulled the final folder closer to himself and opened it upon the table before him. He carefully scanned the first page--nothing. He sighed once more and placed that page on the opposite side of the folder. He quickly scanned the next page, for he was in a rush to get this over with; but just as he was about to flip to the next page, he thought he caught something interesting out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't pinpoint where it was on the page, so this time he again carefully scanned it. About midway through, his tightened, concentrated face loosened, and his eyes widened.

He grabbed the paper excitedly and jumped up from his stool; and just as he did so, William barged through the door.

"Percy! I found out how Ruby is related to the Crane twins!" William cried. He appeared worn from running.

Percival held up the paper in his hands and grinned.

"I have as well."