Chapter Thirty-Nine:
Kathryn…
Kathryn sent Moriarty a wire requesting his presence in Venice. She was going to meet him there, give him the fake Elixir and kill him over dinner. She had the vial of the antidote tucked safely away in her handbag.
She waited at the chosen restaurant. She knew Skinner was nearby, shadowing her, making sure she would be safe. And though she knew she had a guard from the League with her, she wasn't completely comfortable with her task. Nemo instructed that she needed to kill Moriarty in a public place so it wouldn't appear to her victim that she was going to do it. But that meant she had to put larger amounts of Deadly Nightshade than she would usually do into his wine.
As she waited for Moriarty to arrive, Kathryn quickly and mentally reviewed everything that needed to be done, everything she needed and everything she needed to do. After she had been waiting over an hour, and just as she was about to leave, a waiter came to her table with a telegram in his hand. "For you, Signora," he said.
"Grazie," she said, taking the telegram from him, smiling. He said a quick 'Prego' and went on his way. She opened the envelope and pulled out the message. It was from Moriarty. It read:
Can't make Venice STOP. Come to Mongolia STOP. Follow coordinates STOP.
Following the message read the coordinates for the location at which she would have to meet him. She sighed, left some money on the table to pay for the bread and wine she had ordered, but not consumed and left, hearing Skinner follow her.
"What's wrong?" he asked in an undertone as they made their way through Venice's busy streets. "Why are we leaving?"
"I'll show you later," she muttered, as they almost had to shove their way through a crowd. On the Nautilus, Kathryn held out the telegram from Moriarty.
Jekyll was the first to take it from her and read it. He looked very surprised as he passed it onto Skinner. As Nemo read the telegram through Skinner, Jekyll said, "That's where his last base of operations was located. We had to blow that entire building to bits."
Sawyer looked a little pale. "I don't wanna go there," he said quickly. Quartermain nodded.
"You won't," Kathryn said. "I will. And I will take care of Moriarty myself."
"No," Nemo said, handing the telegram back to Kathryn. "You will not go unaccompanied. Mr. Quartermain will go with you. Once Moriarty has taken the antidote, you will give a signal and Mr. Quartermain will dispose of him. When the task is complete, you will regroup, then return to the Nautilus. Should anything go wrong, pray that it will not, return to the League as soon as possible. If someone is left behind, there is nothing we can do. Is that understood?"
Kathryn and Quartermain nodded silently.
