Well it seems it just isn't the boys day. What is they say about the best laid plans? Thank you for the feedback and continued support. Enjoy. Cathy
No Honour Among Thieves
Chapter 10
Doris hurried to the front door with a shake of her graying head. Not one visitor in the past six weeks and now one would think she was a doorman at the Savoy considering the number of visitors she had greeted today. "Can I…" Doris squealed in surprise as she was roughly pushed aside when the four burly men entered the house. One reached out quickly, surprising her with his speed considering his size and grabbed her wrist before she could run.
"Where is everybody?" Doris stared defiantly at the man who spoke to her, gasping in pain when her wrist was cruelly squeezed.
"The boss asked you a question." Fitzy snarled as he shook the thin wrist menacingly.
"Now, now Fitzy," McCoy soothed, "you're frightening the poor wench."
"Wench indeed," Doris huffed in annoyance before she returned to glaring at the 'boss.'
"Don't get uppity with me or I'll let Fitzy here have his way with you. I asked you nicely where everybody was and I expect an answer." McCoy snapped.
Doris drew in a deep breath and coolly regarded the man before her. She had no doubt that he would pass her off to the man holding her if she did not reply. "In the conservatory."
"Now wasn't that easy." McCoy smiled menacingly. "Lead the way."
"Who shall I say is calling?" Doris asked as she rubbed gingerly at her wrist.
"Harry McCoy and his party," Frankie snickered at his boss's answer as they followed the maid down the hall, past the staircase and the three closed doors. Frankie opened each door in passing, satisfying himself that all the rooms were vacant and that they weren't in any danger of being jumped from behind.
"Mister Harry Mc…" Doris began only to have her words cut off as a beefy hand covered her mouth.
"Harry McCoy, at your service…ah ah Charlie…now sit down and do as I tell you." McCoy ordered from the doorway as Charles and Johannes pushed themselves to their feet. Both halting their upward progress when two guns were pointed at them.
"What is the meaning of this?" Johannes demanded as he sunk back into the couch beside his wife.
"I would have thought that was quite obvious really. We have come to join your party…oh and to relieve you of your valuables of course. Now where are the other men? And ah…no smart excuses Lady Covington." McCoy added with a sneer.
Elizabeth sat up stiffly in the chair and regarded McCoy coolly. "My nephew is upstairs with his nurse."
McCoy snorted, "Nephew is it?"
"She might be right Boss," Frankie added quickly, "I seem to remember something from years ago about Goniff and her been related or something like that."
"Really?" McCoy raised an eyebrow in thought. "Fitzy, George, find them and bring them down here. And you…" McCoy pointed to Katharina, "You go and join their Lords on the other couch. You too." McCoy pointed at Doris and waited for her to take a seat next to Elizabeth. "…oh and make sure Charlie sits between you two ladies." McCoy waited impatiently for Katharina to take her place beside Charles. "Frankie, keep a close eye on them and if any of them move, shoot him." McCoy ordered.
"Sure thing Boss," Frankie agreed happily, dropping his heavy frame into one of the vacant armchairs. His eyes gleamed in hopeful anticipation as he toyed absently with his gun.
Satisfied that Frankie had the situation well in hand, McCoy turned his attention to Metternich. "As for you, your lordship, or highness or whatever you are, you and I are going to pay your safe a little visit and you're going to share all of your valuables with me."
Metternich stared in some confusion at McCoy. "I don't understand what you mean; I have no valuables here and no idea what you are referring to."
"You don't, do you?" McCoy asked mildly, "Well maybe this will make you change your mind. Frankie."
Frankie grinned. A shot rang out. Katharina screamed. Charles gasped. Metternich lurched to his feet.
"Charles?" Elizabeth demanded urgently as she felt her husband slump back against the couch. She could see blood oozing from a wound high on his right shoulder.
Charles sucked in a shaky breath. "I…I'm…alright."
"And if you want him to stay that way, your Lady, I suggest you convince your friend here to give me his valuables."
GG
Actor closed the door. "Quickly Goniff, lie on the bed."
"What's going on Actor?" Goniff asked as he complied with the conman's request.
"Unwanted visitors and two of them are headed this way. Casino, over here." Actor ordered as he moved to stand behind the door when it was opened and Casino took Actor's place beside the door.
"I wish Chiefy was 'ere now." Goniff lamented softly as he heard the heavy tread on the stairs.
"Goniff start moaning," Actor said as the sound of feet drew closer. He held up one finger and pointed at Casino and then two tapping his own chest and waited for Casino's nod of agreement.
Fitzy and George hurried up the staircase, pausing at the top of the stairs. "Which room do you think they're in, Fitzy?" George panted.
Fitzy shrugged as he eyed the five closed doors that lined both sides of the hallway. "No idea. Guess we'll have to check each one."
"Louder," Actor whispered harshly as the footsteps grew closer.
Goniff squeezed his eyes shut and moaned pitifully. The footsteps stopped outside the door. Actor waved his hand and Goniff cried out. Casino watched the door handle turn as he and Actor readied themselves. Goniff moaned once more and rolled off the bed as the door was thrust open. Casino grabbed the protruding wrist holding the gun and pulled down sharply, at the same time raising his knee, grunting in satisfaction when he heard an audible snap of breaking bone and a howl of pain from the heavy as he dropped to his knees. Before George could react to the sight of Fitzy collapsing on the floor, Actor slammed the door shut and brought his gun butt down sharply on the back of George's head, dropping the second thug silently to the floor. Wasting little time, Actor strode across the room to the heavy window drapes and cut a length of cord with the pocket knife he pulled from his jacket. The sound of a shot from downstairs led haste to his movements as he quickly tied the unconscious heavy up.
"How many more are down stairs?" Casino growled, dragging Fitzy to a sitting position despite his groans of pain.
Fitzy groaned again but didn't answer.
Casino grabbed the broken arm and squeezed. "How many?"
"T…two."
"Who?"
"Mc...Coy…a…nd…"
"Frankie." Goniff interjected.
"You know who they are Goniff?" Actor asked.
"Yes. I did a job with them a few years back. They're just as bad as old Dicky."
"Great," Casino muttered as he securely tied up Fitzy.
"Alright Goniff, you had better stay up here. Casino and I should be able to handle them. There is no sense in you blowing your cover just yet." Actor decided as he carefully opened the door and peered out. "Come on Casino."
"Be careful mates. Frankie's trigger 'appy." Goniff warned as the two cons disappeared down the stairs.
"How do you want to play this?" Casino asked as they descended the stairs.
"Fast. We don't have time for a con. I'll push you through the door and then follow. Our sudden appearance will have to be enough to get the drop on the two men." Actor replied.
"Who do you think got shot?"
"Nobody I hope, Casino."
GG
"Please Johannes, give them what they want." Elizabeth pleaded.
"I would if I could Lady Covington but we do not have any valuables here. We fled Austria with our lives and the clothes on our backs. There is nothing of value here. This is my sister's house; they took everything of value with them when they moved to the country."
"He's lying Boss, he has to be lying." Frankie whined, cocking his gun again and pointing it once more at Charles.
"I assure you I am not lying. I don't know who told you we had valuables but it isn't true."
"My husband is telling you the truth. I am Jewish and the Germans don't like Jews, even when they are their allies. They began hunting down all the Jews in Graz. We fled the country at night, minutes before they broke into our house." Katharina's voice caught and Charles reached out with his good hand to squeeze her arm gentle. "We have nothing left.
Our friends are gone, our home…"
"No need to explain Katharina. Their kind wouldn't understand what it is like to be hunted, persecuted in your own land or home." Elizabeth stated quietly, reaching across Charles to squeeze the Austrian's hand in compassion.
"What do we do now Boss." Frankie asked. "They know who we are."
"I'm think…"
Casino stumbled into the room, lifting his gun as Frankie jumped to his feet. Casino fired, the bullet catching the heavy in the chest and sending him toppling over the back of the chair. Johannes was quick to take advantage of the distraction and knocked the gun from McCoy's hand as Actor entered behind Casino. Swiftly Actor covered the distance between himself and McCoy, slamming the butt of his gun into the side of McCoy's head dropping the man in an unceremonious heap on the floor.
"Is everyone alright?" Actor asked worriedly as he scanned the occupants of the room. "Lord Covington?"
"Yes, yes fine, thank you Cesare. Just a scratch." Charles confirmed.
"Cesare, what of my nephew? Is Rodney alright?" Elizabeth asked, quickly regaining her composure and cover now that the threat had been taken care of.
"He is fine Lady Covington," Actor answered as he assessed Charles wound himself while Casino checked on the man he had shot. Satisfied that Charles was correct in his summation - the wound was a shallow furrow across the top of the shoulder and nothing more serious – "He is lying down at the moment. Rudy?"
Casino shook his head. "Dead."
"Where are the other two men?" Johannes asked worriedly as he took Katharina into his arms.
"Taken care of for the moment," Actor assured them. "We will bring them down here while you ring the police." As much as he would have preferred to ring the army, it would be too difficult to explain. Better in this case to have the police deal with McCoy and his men.
"Thank you Cesare, Rudy," Elizabeth said. "I don't know what we would have done without your help. Now please bring those men down. Once the police have arrived there will be nothing left for us to do here and we really must get poor Rodney and Charles home."
Actor raised an eyebrow as he contemplated Elizabeth's words. Was she telling him the caper was off? Elizabeth inclined her head surreptitiously before turning her attention back to Charles.
"Of course Lady Covington," Actor acknowledged. "Come on Rudy, I will need your help with those men up stairs." Actor turned and left the room followed closely by Casino.
"Doris please bring some towels and a bowl of water," Katharina ordered. "Charles, perhaps you should lie down."
"Please don't concern yourself Katharina, it is nothing more than a scratch, I assure you. Perhaps Johannes, you should restrain that fellow before he wakes up. His belt should serve the purpose nicely and then the police should be called."
GG
"What was all that about with Elizabeth, Actor? Did she just pull out of the caper?" Casino asked as they hurried up the stairs
"I don't know. How fast can you open the safe?"
Casino shrugged, "Thirty seconds maybe. Why?"
"Then do it. Elizabeth seems to think there is nothing in the safe but I want to make sure."
"You don't trust her?" Casino smirked.
"I trust her explicitly. Just check the safe anyway."
Casino entered the first door on the left while Actor continued on to the room where Goniff was waiting with McCoy's remaining two men.
"What's going on Actor? Everyone alright? I 'eard shooting." Goniff questioned, rising from the bed as soon as he saw Actor enter the room.
Actor glanced at the two men on the floor. The one he had hit was still unconscious and the other one was moaning softly beside him. "Frankie is dead. McCoy is unconscious and tied up and Charles has a bullet graze to his shoulder."
Goniff swallowed. "Aunt Lizzie, is she alright?"
"She is fine Goniff. Now you will need to stay up here for a while longer and continue with your cover. The police have been called. As soon as they have removed these reprobates from the premises Casino and I will be back to collect you and then we are all leaving."
"But what about the caper?"
"It is over, Elizabeth believes there is nothing here and Casino is checking the safe as we speak."
"And she was right," Casino agreed stepping into the room. "Safe's as clean as a whistle, doesn't appear to have been anything in it for several months."
"'Ow could you tell?"
Casino rolled his eyes. "The fine layer of dust was a dead giveaway. You don't get that with regular use."
"Alright, then we are done here. Goniff get under the cover and remember to stay in character if the police come up here. Casino help me get him," Actor pointed to the unconscious heavy, "on his feet and then lets get these two downstairs before the Metternich's become suspicious."
GG
"Well, well, well, what have we here then?" The tall, gangly police sergeant asked as he entered the conservatory followed by four constables. "The Lord and Lady Covington and Harry McCoy all in the same room. Most intriguing." The sergeant lifted the corner of the blanket that had been placed over Sneddon. "Frankie Sneddon, no less and deceased and…" He turned to eye the last two heavies slumped on the floor, "…Michael Fitzy Fitzsimmons and George Stanford. As I live and breathe." The sergeant turned to look at the assembled occupants of the room. "Who took out this lot then?" he asked eyeing Actor and Casino curiously.
Elizabeth spoke up quickly, "My nephew's nurse Rudy was responsible for the demise of Mister Sneddon, I believe you said his name was and Johannes and my drive Cesare incapacitated Mister McCoy."
"I see and what about the other two? And more importantly where did a nurse get a gun?"
"That would be myself and Rudy, Sergeant." Actor replied. "They broke into the room that we had just carried Rodney to and well I am afraid they didn't give us any choice. They were both carrying guns." Actor pulled a gun from his pocket and handed it to the sergeant. Casino shrugged but produced a second gun from the waistband of his pants.
The sergeant accepted the two guns and then handed them to one of the constables. "I see and just who and where is this Rodney person?"
"Rodney is my nephew, Sergeant." Elizabeth explained. "He is recovering from serious injuries sustained in the war and needed to lie down for a half hour."
"You seem to have an answer for everything Lady Covington…"
"Now see here Sergeant…?" Johannes paused waiting for identification.
"Mills. Sergeant Mills, sir."
Johannes nodded. "Lady Covington and her husband are guests in my house…"
"And you are?"
"Johannes Metternich and this is my wife Katharina." Johannes replied, placing his arm around Katharina's waist.
"Metternich you say…you're not British are you? How is that you are living in this house then? I believe the Garvers' are the rightful owners."
"Sergeant Mills," Charles objected, "Would your time not be better spent removing those men from the house?
"Anja Garver is my sister and they are staying with David's relatives in the country. They kindly offered us the use of the house when we arrived here. You can check with them if you like but I really must agree with Charles. Don't you think you should be more concerned with removing these men from our house, Sergeant?"
"I will be checking don't you worry about that Mister Metternich." Mills indicated to his constables that it was time to remove the offenders from the house. A coroner's wagon had been called to remove the body. "Just one more question for you though. What were they doing here? What did they hope to find?"
"Really Sergeant Mills," Elizabeth interrupted haughtily. "I'm sure that is patently obvious, even for you, given that that is Harry McCoy sitting on the floor. What else would he be looking for except for jewelry and money to steal?"
"But why here and when you are visiting Lady Covington?"
"Can you not think for yourself Sergeant? This is Eaton Square after all and I do just live down the road." Elizabeth snapped irritably.
Further discussion was interrupted by the arrival of the coroner's wagon. They all stood silently by and watched as the body was loaded onto the gurney and wheeled out of the house.
"Now Sergeant Mills, I really must get Charles and my nephew home. You know where we live if you need to ask anymore questions." Elizabeth turned her back on the Sergeant effectively dismissing the man. "Cesare please help Rudy bring Rodney downstairs and then take us all home. Charles can you walk?"
"Yes my dear, don't worry."
"I can have an ambulance summoned Lord Covington." Mills belatedly offered, realizing that no medical attendance had been requested for the injured.
"That won't be necessary thank you Sergeant, we have our own medical staff in attendance and this is only a flesh wound." Charles replied cradling his injured arm against his chest.
GG
"What the hell is going to happen if that damn bobby recognizes Goniff, Actor? It's obvious he knows who Elizabeth is." Casino asked as they hurried back up to Goniff's room.
"We'll just have to make sure that he doesn't get a good look at Goniff."
"And how do you propose we do that?" Casino demanded as they entered the bedroom.
"Goniff do you know a Sergeant Mills by any chance?" Actor asked as Goniff threw off the bedcover and sat up.
"Mills, Mills," Goniff thought for a moment. "Tall, gangly chap, receding 'airline, and a condescending attitude? I know 'im. Why do you ask?"
"Because he's downstairs you dumb limey." Casino snapped. "Now what do we do Actor?"
"Nothing, I will simply go back down and tell Elizabeth that Goniff is still in too much pain to be moved at present. I'm sure the Metternichs' will agree to allow you both to stay here for an hour or so. Then I'll come back when the police have gone and pick you both up."
"Great." Casino slumped to a sitting position on the bed. "And what happens if Mills wants to come up here and interview Goniff?"
"You are his nurse Casino. You tell him Goniff is asleep and isn't to be disturbed. And you Goniff; get back under the covers and hide." Actor ordered as he turned to the door. "I'll be back in a couple of hours."
Actor returned downstairs noting that Mills was still waiting in the conservatory, no doubt wanting to speak to Goniff about what happened upstairs.
"Cesare, where are Rodney and Rudy?" Elizabeth enquired uneasily.
"I'm sorry Lady Covington, but Rodney is still in too much pain to be moved at present." Actor turned to Johannes. "Rudy has asked if it would be alright for them stay here for several more hours. I will be back then to collect them both."
"Yes of course it is Elizabeth," Katharina confirmed.
"Well then I might just nip upstairs and speak with your nephew now." Mills said.
Elizabeth caught the quick shake of Actor's head, realizing that Goniff and Mills probably knew each other which was why he hadn't come downstairs yet. "I'm sorry Sergeant but I cannot allow you to do that. Rodney's turns are quite debilitating and it will be several hours before he will be in any condition to speak to you. You can speak to him at our house tomorrow. Now if you will excuse us, I really must get Charles home. Thank you Katharina and Johannes for your hospitality. Perhaps you will come and join us for afternoon tea next week."
"I would love to Elizabeth," Katharina replied eagerly. "Johannes, can we?"
"Of course we can my dear." Johannes replied before turning to Mills. "Sergeant, if that is all?"
"Yes, yes of course. I'll be in touch if I need any thing else." Mills replied distractedly as he followed Elizabeth and Charles to the front door.