The Flying Scotsman Read Free Page B

follow my thoughts and said, “This is one time I could wish for more of Edmund Sutton’s gifts.”
    At the mention of his actor-double, I said, “I should have thought you have learned much from him. Your disguises have fooled even me.”
    “Ah, Guthrie, that is the problem in a nutshell. It is one thing to vanish with the aid of a disguise, and quite another to do it without disguise. If Sutton were here, he could make himself invisible.”
    “An actor—invisible.” I laughed, as I did my best to watch the crowd without drawing undue attention to my surveillance.
    “Oh, yes. I have seen him do it just as surely as if a magician had waved a wand. It is a talent in him I envy. I certainly could have used such a talent that one time I trod the boards.” He stared at the line of carriages drawing up to receive their glittering passengers. “This is what troubles me the most, this confusion.”
    “But the police are everywhere,” I observed, for I had not often seen so many Bobbies at a public occasion.
    “And they claim they can handle anything,” Holmes agreed. “In ordinary circumstances I might agree. But what if a malcontent should leap from the crowd? Do you think the police would be able to do anything in the chaos that would ensue? Or if a kidnapper should be driving a carriage, he might easily make away with those inside before anyone knew what he had done. There could be a demonstration that could cause embarrassment to the government or a similar outcry from the Scandinavians here in London. The Prime Minister has said he does not anticipate any incident, but you see he is gone and I am here.”
    “As a scapegoat!” I exclaimed.
    “Nothing so sinister,” Mycroft assured me. “Only as a lieutenant. If the Prime Minister supposed anything untoward would happen, he would not have given me the blanket authority he has. He would have divided it among three or four men so that he could claim he did not know their ineptness. With only me, he must assume the whole responsibility for his judgment and bring my work more into the open, which would serve no one’s purpose.” He rocked back on his heels. “I hope Tyers has attended to the task I left him.”
    “Securing Prince Oscar’s passage home,” I said, “without exposing him to some of the very elements you fear here.”
    Prince Oscar’s carriage was now third from the lead of carriages; the Prince began to make his way down the steps, his delegation around him.
    “Just so,” Holmes said. “He cannot go with the official party because Grand Duke Karl has a number of supporters in the Sweden-and-Norway contingent who may be planning some mischief. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you for uncovering that unpleasant intelligence.”
    “But you told me the Prime Minister had decided it would be a bad show of faith not to send Prince Oscar back with the delegation.” I was surprised at this news; I began to wonder what else Mycroft Holmes had not told me.
    “He was persuaded to change his mind,” Holmes said. “In return for my clandestinely taking on the position of his deputy, he agreed to make other arrangements for the Prince.”
    One or two of the lesser Hapsburgs objected to the attention being paid by the police, which slowed the loading of their carriage. This resulted in a backup of wedding guests that began to spill out of the area set aside by the barriers. After some soothing of Austrian nerves, the carriage moved off and the Swiss got into their state carriage without fuss; it was now time for the Swedes and Norwegians to be away. The crowd began to mill as the delay to get into their vehicles became more intrusive.
    “It will not be much longer,” Mycroft Holmes said to me; I could hear the relief in his voice, which told me he had been more apprehensive than he had been willing to confide.
    “And it went well enough,” I said, just as a rifle shot cracked.

    FROM THE PERSONAL JOURNAL OF PHILIP TYERS
    I have secured the