“So’s the sheriff,” said Mack. “At least, according to my sources. Rarin’ to roust the strikers out of their tents.”
“That would be a bloodbath.”
Wally said, “The operators, and the Coal and Iron cops, and the Pinkertons, and the state militia wouldn’t mind a bloodbath one bit.”
“But the mayor and some of Pittsburgh’s powers that be are afraid of a bloodbath,” said Mack, “account of all the women and kids. And with church ladies and progressives breathing down their necks. They’re hinting they’ll negotiate.”
“At least ’til after the ball,” said Wally.
“What ball?”
“Pittsburgh Society ball. Big annual la-di-da. Industrialists looking for gentility. Swells steaming in on specials. The mayor knows the newspapers would have the real ball — tycoons dancing on workmen’s graves — so he’s trying to sit on the hotheads for a couple of days more. Meaning we have two days before this blows sky-high.”
Bleeding steam, the limited from New York rolled beside a platform, and a big man in a voluminous coat bounded down before it stopped.
Wally Kisley said, “Look out, Isaac! If you think you have problems now, here comes the Boss.”
Joseph Van Dorn spotted Bell’s wave from across the tracks, strode into the station building, and doubled back to the private platform where his detectives were conferring. On the way he had bought an extra edition the newsboys were hawking inside. He waved it in their faces.
“Couldn’t help but notice that the city’s on fire. Says here, we lost two men.”
“Terry Fein and Mike Flannery,” said Bell. “And a steamboat captain who went out on a limb for us.”
“Us?” Van Dorn demanded. “Who are ‘us’? Detectives or strikers?”
“Both,” said Isaac Bell. “We ended up on the same side.”
Instead of remonstrating with Bell, Joseph Van Dorn asked, “Driven there by Henry Clay?”
“Explosives and arson are Clay’s hallmarks,” answered Bell. “Captain Jennings’s towboat was a dependable workhorse. Highly unlikely it would blow up without help. And even the cops say the union hall was arson.”
“But conveniently blame a dead striker,” said Wally Kisley.
Joseph Van Dorn looked Bell in the eye. “What’s your next move, Isaac?”
Wally Kisley blurted, “Isaac’s next move? Aren’t you taking over?”
Joseph Van Dorn’s hard gaze never left Bell’s face. He answered in a tone that invited no questions. “Isaac got us into this mess. I’m counting on him getting us out of it. What’s your next step, Detective Bell?”
Now Mack Fulton protested, exercising the privilege of the Van Dorn Agency’s oldest employee. “It’s too much to put all on him, Joe.”
And Wally chimed in, “It needs an experienced man with a bird’s-eye view.”
Van Dorn asked, “What do you say to that, Isaac?”
Van Dorn, Kisley, and Fulton were staring expectantly at him, and if Isaac Bell had any doubts left about his “bird’s-eye view” of the Striker Case, they were demolished once and for all when Kenny Bloom staggered off his train arm in arm with the cook.
Both men were clutching highball glasses. Kenny raised his in salute.
“The man of the hour. Gentlemen, I give you Isaac Bell, the hero engineer who saved the lives of a worthless plutocrat and his worthy cook. Whatever you want shall be yours.”
Bell said, “It’s not all on me, I’ve got you gents. Here’s what I want— Wally, Mack, I want you two to keep trying to track down Henry Clay.”
“I’ll track Clay,” growled Joseph Van Dorn.
“No,” said Isaac Bell, “you can do better than track Clay.”
“Clay is my fault. He’s m