Chapter 11 The revelations

The rest of Artemus's evening went was as fast as he could have hoped for. Augustine was acting cold toward Dorothy and vice versa. He tried in vain to make Augustine and Dorothy talk about their uncles, or to each other, but something was stopping them from being themselves. The atmosphere was were eating in a dreadful silence. The only person breaking it, was the waiter coming to take their plates away or to pour wine in their glasses. Even he, seemed to notice the strange atmosphere of the dinner.

Artemus kept thinking about what Dorothy had told him earlier, about Augustine. The way she acted when she came out of her room, made Artemus even more suspicious about her. But then again, when he started analyzing Augustine behavior, other controversial thoughts came to his mind; and what about if Dorothy was trying to put the blame on Augustine? She was after all injured in the process of trying to find her uncles! What started this feud in the first place?

Confused and not knowing what to make out of this unusual evening, Artemus looked at his pocket watch, hoping that it was time for goodbyes. He had given up trying to break the cold atmosphere.

"Ladies, dinner was delicious, and your company…" he hesitated a bit " well…interesting to say the least…but…I guess…"

Dorothy looked Artemus with a polite smile and interrupted him.

"The two of us would have had a much nicer evening, dear Artemus." said Dorothy with a cold stare towards Augustine.

"I don't know why you suddenly started to dislike me, Dorothy, but I can assure you that I am as worried as you, about my uncle, as you are!"

"Am I going to assist to a cat fight tonight?" thought Artemus while resting himself more comfortably on his chair.

Dorothy wasn't going to stop there. She continued,

"I don't believe you…at first…I did…but frankly…now? There is just something odd about you Augustine Jackson!"

Dorothy stood up, looked at Artemus and simply said,

"Thank you for dinner Artemus, if you find any new developments about my uncle, please, tell me as soon as you know. Don't let no one fool you with their pretty little smiles!"

And on that note, she gave Augustine a snobbish look that said it all and exited the small dining room.

Augustine sat there and didn't say a word.

"I hope to God I can find what's wrong with Dorothy. Do you have any ideas Augustine?" asked Artemus almost speechless.

"I wish I could tell you, but I don't know what's going on with her. She has been acting strange these last few days…"

Augustine gracefully stood up from the table and said,

"If you find anything about my uncle, please tell me as soon as possible. Thank you for the lovely evening. I think I will try and get some rest now…my arm is bothering me a bit."

Artemus stood up, and looked at Augustine leave the dining room.

"James, my boy...you had to be here to see this weird evening." he though while sighing.

Artemus sat down again, and drank what was left in his glass. He had better dining experience before, and certainly didn't think this one was going to finish this way. The place was empty, it was around 9:30 and the dining room was about to close.

Meanwhile in a house…somewhere.

James painfully woke up from the blow to his head. His eyes were still closed, but he could feel right away that his hands were tight up with a rough realizing that he could not use his hands, he opened his eyes to realize something even worst; he was attached to a gambling casino wheel, shirtless, his head upside down. His unfortunate position wasn't helping his splitting headache either.

He looked around the room where he was and knew immediately that he was at Baxter's house. The living room was large with red drapes and beautiful antiques and paintings. James's gaze stopped on the poor two uncles who were sitting on a velvet couch, looking at him with despair. Their face said it all; they were scared to death of what was going to happen next.

"Are you comfortable, mister West?" asked Baxter, bending to approach Jim's face with a nasty smile.

James looked at him with disdain.

"Baxter…I knew this was all you. I've had better positions in my life." James grimaced from the blow to his head. A small amount of blood was running down the side of his face.

"I see you are quite an original. A casino wheel, really?"

Baxter then turned the wheel so James would be straight up. He welcomed the change of position.

"Yes, West. I am an original, and original with great visions."

Baxter then walked away from James and sat in a chair, facing him. The man had grey hair with a mustache, and was kinda short. He was wearing a costume that resembled Napoleon Bonaparte's clothing. He looked odd.

"Another frustrated short man…" thought James while examining him.

He then added,

"What is this all about, Baxter. Why did you kidnap Jackson and Spencer?"

Baxter extended his arm to pick up a crystal glass of champagne that was on a small table next to him.

"Oh…don't worry West…I will tell you what this is all about." said Baxter with a haughty voice. "Then afterwards…Nina will have some fun with you."

A young stunning woman just entered the room. She had brown hair and piercing blue eyes, and strangely resembled Dorothy Spencer. She easily could have been her little sister. She was also wearing some sort of a vest with little pockets filled with small knifes. She was obviously a knife thrower.

"Ahhh…I see you like entertainment." said James with a very calm voice.

"I do! A good champagne always goes well with good entertainment, don't you agree mister West?"

Jackson and Spencer looked at James with horror. They looked even more frail under a good lighting.

"I am all ears, Baxter. Please…do tell me what is your plan. I figure…you must have a plan, right? I just didn't figure it out yet…" James was keeping his cool. The more he would make Baxter talk, the more he could try to find a way out of this sticky situation.

Meanwhile, in a dining room, with Artemus.

"I see your beautiful women have left you, sir?" said the young waiter, clumsily cleaning off the table and the plates left behind.

"Oh my boy…this evening didn't exactly go as planned. You see…those two women have lost their uncles..and…"

Artemus stoped and thought that the wine was making him talk more then he should have, but felt like he wanted to tell someone his weird evening and continued anyway.

"Those two women have lost their uncles…but you see…each one tells me the other one is suspicious! So, now…who do I trust? They both have good arguments...because frankly, those women were acting very weird tonight."

The young waiter, still standing there with plates in his hands, seemed interested in Artemus's story.

"I see , sir…this is really a touchy situation. Men can't never tell with women…they are so clever at hiding things! I have learned that while courting some pretty ladies."

"I couldn't agree more with you, young man."

And on these words, Artemus paid the young waiter, got up and left the dining room. He was the last customer.

He walked toward the exit of the restaurant, with his mind still back at the table with the two ladies. He kept wonderfing, how the evening quickly turned sour.

"Something is wrong here…why the sudden turn of situation? I wonder if James found anything…"

Meanwhile back at Baxter's house…

"Ahhh" said Baxter with a condescending tone, "It was really fun to see you, and Artie, try and find out where I kept the uncles."

Baxter got James's attention with his last statement.

"See us?" You knew what we were up too?" asked James, curious.

"Well of course! I wasn't gonna kidnap the uncle and not keep an eye on you and your partner! Your reputation proceeds you! I am not a fool! I knew I had to keep you in check!"

If James could halve scratched his head, he would have, because Baxter was more intriguing then ever with his statement.

"More explanations would be welcomed, Baxter…I'm sure you are dying to tell me more."

Jim knew, with experience that evil men always wanted to tell how they did it…so he would wait to hear the rest of the story.

His host smiled, placed the glass of champagne back on the table and got up. He approached the two uncles, sitting on the couch.

They moved instinctively, afraid to get hit by the man.

"Yes, West…I knew what you were up too…you see…someone reported back to me, and told me everything little thing you and your partner were doing. A lovely lady working for me, was spying for me, right under your eyes!"

Baxter laughed.

James's expression suddenly changed.

He was thinking about Artie, who was probably sitting down with the woman…a traitor…but would not even know it.

"You sneaky little man." said James trough his teeth.

"OH…but, this is only a small part of my master plan, mister West, I am sure that you will agree with me, once I am finished, that my plan IS genius!"

Meanwhile with Artemus…

"Augustine seemed pretty winded for a woman, who was supposed to be in her room. She did look evasive and…suspicious." thought Artemus, getting closer to his horse waiting for him.

He then stopped, hesitated, and looked back at the hotel.

"I won't be able to sleep tonight if I don't investigate more…Augustine, I'm going to pay you a little visit."

Artemus, sneaked back into the hotel, passed the empty reception, and went straight up stairs to Augustine's room. He approached in silence, trying not to be heard. Once in front of the room, he gently pressed his ear against her door. He could hear her voice, and the voice of two other men in the room with her.

"You little devil woman." thought Artemus, pressing his lips together.

He then check if the room next to hers what occupied. He slowly tried to open the door, and to his surprise, the door wasn't locked. A small lamp was providing some lighting to the room.

"No one? Good…"

Artemus got in, gently closed the door behind him, and went straight to the wall dividing the two rooms, with the idea to listen in on their conversations. Artemus was about to place a glass to the wall and press his ear on, when someone stopped him. He felt a hand on his shoulder, pulling him away from the wall.

A voice in his back whispered,

"They are coming back! We better hide!"

Artemus found himself being rushed into a big armoire, with someone he didn't even have the time to look at. All he saw was his back, in a dimmed light.

Once they both were hidden in the dark armoire, Artemus, more then curious, looked to his left, squinted his eyes, only to discover, that he was hiding with the waiter that previously served him dinner.

The surprise on his face was obvious. He was about to ask the man, what on earth he was doing there, when he was stopped by the young waiter who placed his hand on his mouth, to silence him.

He pointed to the exterior of the wardrobe, making Artemus realize that they were not alone in the room anymore.

Meanwhile, back at the mansion... with James…shirtless.

To be continued!