44
“EVERY RAILROAD IN THE COUNTRY,” SAID ISAAC BELL.
Complete understanding dawned at last.
The Wrecker’s crimes were driven by a purpose as bold as they were evil.
“At last,” said Isaac, “I know what he wants. His motive makes twisted sense. He is too ambitious for anything less. Monstrous crimes to serve a mastermind’s dream. But how could he enjoy his victory? The instant he seizes the railroads, we will hunt him mercilessly from one end of the continent to the other.”
“On the contrary,” said Ebenezer Bell, “he will enjoy his victory in private splendor.”
“How?”
“He has shielded himself from being identified, much less investigated. Who do you hunt? In what country? A criminal as resourceful as you’ve described would model his ‘retirement,’ shall we say, on the European munitions dealers. Or the opium cartels. I know of speculators and profiteers and stock frauds who have plied their illegal trade unmolested for thirty years.”
“How?” Isaac demanded, though he was beginning to get the picture.
“If I were the Wrecker,” Ebenezer answered, “I would go abroad. I would establish a maze of foreign holding companies shielded by corrupt governments. My shell corporations would bribe the authorities to turn a blind eye. A war minister, a treasury secretary. The European chancellories are infamous.”
“And in America,” Isaac said quietly, “a member of the United States Senate.”
“The corporations bribe senators. Why wouldn’t a criminal? Do you have a senator in mind?”
“Charles Kincaid.”
“Hennessy’s man. Although I must say that I’ve always thought of Kincaid as even more of a buffoon than most who sit in that august chamber.”
“So he seems. But I have had a terrible suspicion about him for quite a while now. What you suggest would explain why. He could be the Wrecker’s agent.”
“With unfettered access to government officials anxious to please. And not only the Wrecker’s agent in the United States but also the Wrecker’s spy inside Hennessy’s inner circle. That would be diabolical, wouldn’t it, son?”
“Effective!” said Isaac. “If the Wrecker has shown himself to be anything more than cold-bloodedly ruthless, it is effective… But there is one problem with this theory: Charles Kincaid appears to be angling to be nominated for the presidency.”
“You don’t say!”
“Preston Whiteway is backing a run. It’s hard to imagine a politician who wants to be president risking getting caught taking bribes from a murderer.”
Ebenezer Bell said quietly, “He would not be the first politician sufficiently arrogant to convince himself no one can catch him.”
Padraic Riley interrupted to say that he had laid out brandy and coffee in the library and would be going to bed if nothing else was required. He turned on his heel and disappeared before anything was.
He had also left a coal fire glowing in the grate. While Ebenezer Bell splashed generous dollops of brandy in two coffee cups, Isaac Bell stared into the flames, thinking hard. It could have been Kincaid who hired the prizefighters to kill him in Rawlins.
“I bumped into Kenny Bloom on the Overland Limited,” he said.
“How is the scamp?”
“About sixty pounds plumper than your average scamp and richer than ever. Father, how would the Wrecker raise the capital to buy the Southern Pacific?”
Ebenezer answered without hesitation. “From the richest bankers in the world.”
“Morgan?”
“No. As I understand it, Morgan is stretched tight. He couldn’t touch Hennessy’s roads. Nor could Vanderbilt or Harriman or Hill, even if they combined. Does Van Dorn have offices overseas?”
“We have reciprocal arrangements with foreign investigators.”
“Look to Europe. The only bankers rich enough are in London and Berlin.”