The Night of the Obvious Solution

Chapter 1

"What does that mean in English?"

This story is dedicated to Andamogirl who has both been supportive of my writing and supplied the French dialogue.

In a restaurant in a small town somewhere in America

"Je n'en peux plus! (I can't take any more!)"

Francois Lebeau threw the plate he was in the middle of washing up into the sink, sending a spray of water up in the air, and wiped his hands dry on a nearby cloth. Anyone meeting LeBeau for the first time would consider his name inappropriate but once they had had time to observe his features when animated, transformed by his winning smile and his enthusiasm for life they would quickly change their mind. At those times he was indeed as handsome as his name implied.

"No more can I do this!" he exclaimed. "The food here, she is filthy and unworthy to touch the clean water with which I wash her from these dishes so cheap."

He removed his apron and threw it to the floor. "J'en ai assez! J'arrête! (I quit!)" he said as he strode from the kitchen past the amazed stares of his co workers. "Au revoir!" he threw behind him, grabbing his jacket from a peg near the back door as he went outside.

He was just in time to catch sight of the man he had watched leave the restaurant a few moments earlier, who he knew as Mason. Whether that was his real name or not, he didn't know and it didn't really matter. What did matter was who Mason was on his way to meet. His quarry had stopped to roll himself a cigarette and was only fifty yards or so away. He was heavy set and dressed in the unexceptional uniform of the cowboy, canvas trousers, shirt, leather waistcoat and boots. He was wearing a hat and had knotted a kerchief casually around his neck. The man struck a match on the bottom of his boot and lit the roll-up before walking away in the direction of the saloon. Lebeau followed him.

Lebeau strolled up to the bar, all the time keeping an eye on his quarry who had joined a man at one of the tables at the back. From his clothing the other man looked like he belonged out East and Lebeau wondered what he was doing there. He needed to find out his name as soon as possible and wondered where they were both staying. There was only one hotel in town but there were rooms available at the saloon too. The Easterner was probably staying at the hotel and Lebeau wondered if he could get a job there, now he was no longer employed at the restaurant. He waited at the bar until the two men parted. The cowboy went upstairs and the other left the saloon. Lebeau followed the Easterner out into the street and when he had made sure he was headed for the hotel he went to the livery stable to collect his horse and leave town to ride in the direction of the railroad.

ooooooooooo0ooooooooooo

The Wanderer – a little later

"Hi Artie, find out anything?" James West asked. He had been studying a telegraph message when his partner arrived back at the train.

'Francois Lebeau' threw himself onto the nearest couch and put his legs up on a stool. "Mason had lunch at the restaurant. I followed him from there to the saloon where he met another man. I need to change my disguise and see about getting a job at the hotel, see what I can find out about him." He looked pointedly at his partner. "It will be an improvement on washing dirty dishes."

"You should have gotten a job as a waiter," Jim pointed out.

"There were no vacancies so I would have had to bribe one of the waiters to let me take their place and evidently there wasn't any money for that."

"Yeah I do remember you asking now." Jim said. "But there won't be any need for you to get another job; we're leaving here first thing in the morning."

"But..." Artie began, standing up.

"A telegraph message arrived from Colonel Richmond. We're needed in Washington."

It was then Artie noticed the piece of paper lying on the table where Jim was standing. "But what about our assignment?"

"They're sending two agents to replace us. Colonel Richmond asked that we write a report of what we've found out so far. You'd better make sure it's completed before we leave in the morning."

"Have a heart," Artie said. "I've been cleaning dishes all day."

"Excellent, you won't need to wash your hands before you get started on dinner," Jim replied. "Let me know when it's ready. I'll be cleaning my gun."

Artie said something in French that was very rude and stormed off to the galley.

"What does that mean in English?" Jim shouted.

"The same as it does in French!" Artie shouted back.

ooooooooooo0ooooooooooo

Washington DC – Colonel Richmond's Office

"Thank you for your report, Artemus," Colonel Richmond said. "Tom Montgomery and Earl Thompson have taken over the assignment. They just finished a job in Arizona so I forwarded the report to them and they should be in place by now."

The two agents were sitting opposite the Colonel, still wondering why they had been recalled to Washington.

"In pulling us out you've taken the risk of losing sight of our quarry, Colonel" Jim said. "Whatever the reason is you recalled us to Washington it must be pretty important."

"It is," Richmond replied, "it involves the security of the Government, maybe even the country."

"With respect, Sir, that could apply to quite a few of our assignments," Artie pointed out.

Richmond's smile was strained as he said, "very true, Artemus, however the facts of the case I want you to look into defies explanation and I fear we may have an insoluble mystery on our hands. But if we don't solve the mystery and find out who is behind it then…well we just have to, that's all."

The expressions on the agents' faces betrayed their concern.

"You can count on us, Sir," Artie said.

"I know, gentlemen. First of all I though it might be helpful for you to talk with Dr Walter Shelby, as he witnessed it first-hand."

"Witnessed what?" Jim couldn't help asking.

"That is part of the mystery," Richmond replied. He went to the door and opened it. "Would you like to come in, Dr Shelby?" he said to the man waiting outside.

A tall man with grey hair, moustache and neatly trimmed beard nervously entered the room. He scanned the agents' faces as he walked over to the chair indicated by the Colonel and sat down in it. His expression was one of doubt that he would be believed and it was no wonder he felt that way when he finally told his story.

Shelby gave a slight cough and began to speak.

"I am a scientist working for the Government on weapons development," he began.

"The best in his field," Richmond said. "And I might add that he has my complete trust."

Dr Shelby nodded in acknowledgment of the Colonel's support and relaxed a little as he continued speaking.

"A few days ago I went to my office to work on some blueprints – a plan for a new type of large gun. The blueprints are as you can imagine top secret. On the day in question I had stepped out of my office for a moment. I left te blueprints on my desk but I locked the door behind me. When I returned and unlocked my office door I could see the blueprints lying where I had left them but by the time I had reached the desk….." Here Dr Shelby halted and looked at Colonel Richmond.

"Go on, Walter, don't worry about talking in front of Mr West and Mr Gordon. They are very open minded gentlemen," he urged.

"Yes, please carry on, Dr Shelby," Jim said. "We have come across many weird things on our missions for the Government. I'm sure your story can't be that strange."

Artie nodded in agreement.

Shelby swallowed and continued. "I suddenly I realised the desk was empty – there were no plans, nothing."

ooooooooooo0ooooooooooo

To be continued