The Chase Part 7

"He was dressed like most of the miners who live here, but he wore a big hat like the Mexicans."

"A sombrero."

"I think that's what it's called."

"And he was toting a heavy sack over his shoulder. It looked like it was plumb full of something."

"What else did you notice?"

"One of his hands was missing the little finger."

Bell stiffened. This was the first clue to identifying the killer. "Are you sure he was missing a little finger?"

"As sure as I'm standing here," answered Jackie.

"Which hand?" Bell asked, containing his mounting excitement.

"The left."

"You've no doubt it was the left hand?"

Jackie merely nodded while staring longingly at the gumdrop sack. "He looked at me like he was really mad when he saw I was looking back."

"Then what happened?"

"I had to catch a fly ball. When I turned around, he was gone."

Bell patted Jackie on the head, almost losing his hand in a sea of unruly red hair. He smiled. "Go ahead and eat your gumdrops, but, if I were you, I'd chew slowly so they last longer."

AFTER HE checked out of the Rhyolite Hotel and before he boarded the train, Bell paid the telegraph operator at the depot to send a wire to Van Dorn describing the Butcher Bandit as missing the little finger on his left hand. He knew that Van Dorn would quickly send out the news to his army of agents to watch out for and report any man with that disfigurement.

Instead of traveling back to Denver, he decided on the spur of the moment to go to Bisbee. Maybe-just maybe-he might get lucky again and find another clue to the bandit's ident.i.ty. He leaned back in his seat, as the torrid heat of the desert grilled the interior of the Pullman car. Bell hardly noticed it.

The first solid clue, provided by a scrawny young boy, wasn't exactly a breakthrough, but it was a start, thought Bell. He felt pleased with himself for the discovery and began to daydream of the day he confronted the bandit and identified him by the missing finger.

THE CHASE QUICKENS.

11.

MARCH 4, 1906 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

THE MAN WHOSE LAST ALIAS HAD BEEN RUSKIN stood in front of an ornate bra.s.s sink and stared into a large oval mirror as he shaved with a straight razor. When finished, he rinsed off his face and patted on an expensive French cologne. He then reached out and clutched the sink as his railroad boxcar came to an abrupt stop.

He stepped up to a latched window, disguised from the outside as if it were a section of the wooden wall of the car, cautiously cracked it, and peered outside. A steam switch engine had pushed ten freight cars uncoupled from the train, including the O'Brian Furniture car, through the Southern Pacific Railroad's huge terminal building, called the Oakland Mole. It consisted of a ma.s.sive pier built on pilings, masonry, and rock laid in the San Francis...o...b..y itself, on the west side of the city of Oakland. The slip where the ferryboats entered and tied up was at the west end of the main building, between twin towers. The towers were manned by teams of men who directed the loading and unloading of the huge fleet of ferries that moved to and from San Francisco across the bay.

Because the Oakland Mole was at the end of the transcontinental railway, it was filled twenty-four hours a day with a mixed crowd of people, coming from the east and heading across the continent in the opposite direction. Pa.s.senger trains commingled with freight trains that carried goods and merchandise. It was a busy place in 1906, since business was booming in the sister cities of the bay. San Francisco was a thriving commercial center while much of the actual goods were manufactured in Oakland.

Ruskin checked a schedule and saw that his cleverly disguised mode of secret travel was on board the San Gabriel, San Gabriel, a Southern Pacific Railroad ferry built to haul freight trains as well as pa.s.sengers. She was a cla.s.sic ferry, double-ended, her stern and bow surmounted with a pilothouse on each end. She was propelled with side paddle wheels powered by two walking-beam steam engines, each with its own smokestack. Ferries carrying trains had parallel tracks on the main deck for the freight cars, while the cabin deck housed the pa.s.sengers. The a Southern Pacific Railroad ferry built to haul freight trains as well as pa.s.sengers. She was a cla.s.sic ferry, double-ended, her stern and bow surmounted with a pilothouse on each end. She was propelled with side paddle wheels powered by two walking-beam steam engines, each with its own smokestack. Ferries carrying trains had parallel tracks on the main deck for the freight cars, while the cabin deck housed the pa.s.sengers. The San Gabriel San Gabriel was two hundred ninety-eight feet long, seventy-eight feet wide, and could carry five hundred pa.s.sengers and twenty railroad cars. was two hundred ninety-eight feet long, seventy-eight feet wide, and could carry five hundred pa.s.sengers and twenty railroad cars.

The San Gabriel San Gabriel was to arrive at the Townsend and Third Streets Southern Pacific terminus, where the pa.s.sengers would disembark. Then it would move on to Pier 32 at Townsend and King Streets, where its cargo of railroad cars would be taken to the city railyard between Third and Seventh Streets. There, the O'Brian Furniture Company car would be switched to the siding of a warehouse the bandit owned in the city's industrial section. was to arrive at the Townsend and Third Streets Southern Pacific terminus, where the pa.s.sengers would disembark. Then it would move on to Pier 32 at Townsend and King Streets, where its cargo of railroad cars would be taken to the city railyard between Third and Seventh Streets. There, the O'Brian Furniture Company car would be switched to the siding of a warehouse the bandit owned in the city's industrial section.

Ruskin had ridden on the San Gabriel San Gabriel many times on his trips across the bay and looked forward to returning home after his venture in Salt Lake City. A great whoop echoed around the Mole from the boat's steam whistle as it announced her departure. She began to tremble when the tall walking-beam engines turned the big twenty-seven-foot paddle wheels that churned the water. Soon the boat was riding the gla.s.s-smooth bay toward San Francisco, no more than twenty minutes away. many times on his trips across the bay and looked forward to returning home after his venture in Salt Lake City. A great whoop echoed around the Mole from the boat's steam whistle as it announced her departure. She began to tremble when the tall walking-beam engines turned the big twenty-seven-foot paddle wheels that churned the water. Soon the boat was riding the gla.s.s-smooth bay toward San Francisco, no more than twenty minutes away.

Ruskin quickly finished dressing in an exactingly tailored conservative black business suit. A small yellow rose went in the b.u.t.tonhole. He sat a derby hat on his head at a rakish angle and pulled a pair of suede gloves over his hands. He picked up his cane.

Then he bent down and gripped the handle to the trapdoor in the floor of the freight car and swung it open. He dropped a large, heavy suitcase through the opening. Then he slowly lowered himself to the deck between the rails, careful not to soil his clothes. Hunched down under the car, he made certain none of the crew were within view as he moved away and straightened up.

Ruskin was headed up a stairway to the cabin deck where the pa.s.sengers rode when, halfway up, he met a crewman coming down. The crewman stopped and nodded at him, a serious expression on his face.

"Are you aware, sir, that pa.s.sengers are not allowed on the main deck?"

"Yes, I'm aware." The bandit smiled. "I realized my mistake, and, as you see, I was turning around to return to the cabin deck."

"Sorry to have troubled you, sir."

"Not at all. It's your duty."

The bandit proceeded up the stairs and stepped into the ornate, highly decorated cabin deck where the pa.s.sengers crossed the bay in style. He went into the restaurant and ordered a cup of tea at the stand-up bar, then walked outside onto the open forward deck and sipped as he watched the buildings of San Francisco grow larger across the bay.

The City by the Bay was already becoming a fascinating, romantic, cosmopolitan city. It had risen in stature since 1900, establishing itself as the financial and merchandising hub of the West. It was built on the foresight of entrepreneurs much like the meticulously dressed man standing on the deck with the huge suitcase. He, like they, saw an opportunity and moved quickly to seize it.

Not one for niceties, Ruskin finished his tea and then threw the cup overboard, not returning it to the restaurant. He idly watched a thick flight of sandpipers fly past the boat, followed by a trio of brown pelicans gliding inches above the water in search of small fish. Then, mingling with the throng, he moved down the forward stairway to the main deck, where the pa.s.sengers disembarked the ferry onto the pier in front of the big, ornate, Spanish-style Southern Pacific terminus.

He walked briskly through the interior cavern of the terminus, lugging the big suitcase, and through the doors on the Townsend Street side. For the next few minutes, he stood on the sidewalk and waited. He smiled as a white Mercedes Simplex runabout rolled up the street and came to a tire-skidding halt at the curb in front of him. Under the hood was a ma.s.sive four-cylinder, sixty-horsepower engine that could move the car as fast as eighty miles an hour. It was a marvelous contrivance of steel, bra.s.s, wood, leather, and rubber. Driving it was sheer adventure.

If the car produced a striking picture, so did the woman behind the steering wheel. She was svelte and wasp-waisted. Her red hair was adorned with a large red bow that matched her fiery hair. Her bonnet was tied under her chin to keep it from blowing away, and she wore a tan linen dress that came halfway up her calves so she could dance her feet deftly over the five floor pedals. She took one hand from the big steering wheel and waved.

"h.e.l.lo, brother. You're an hour and a half late."

"Greetings, sister." He paused to grin. "I could only go as fast as the engineer drove the train."

She offered him her cheek and he dutifully kissed it. She inhaled the smell of him. He always used the French cologne she had given him. It smelled like a sea of flowers after a light evening rain. If he hadn't been her sibling, she might have had a love affair with him.

"I a.s.sume your trip was successful."

"Yes," he said, strapping the suitcase on the running board. "And we haven't a minute to lose." He climbed into the brown leather pa.s.senger's seat. "I must record the bank draft I obtained at the Salt Lake Bank and Trust before their agents show up to stop the transfer."

She pushed a laced-up brown leather shoe against the clutch and shifted expertly, as the car leaped down the street like a lion chasing a zebra. "It took two days for you to get here. Don't you think you're cutting it close? They would have contacted law enforcement officials and hired private agents, prodding them to check all the banks in the country for a stolen bank draft worth a fortune."

"And that takes time, not less than forty-eight hours," he added, clutching the side of the seat with a hand since there were no doors on the runabout for support as she made a sharp left turn up Market Street. He barely grabbed his derby with his other hand before it almost flew off into the street.

She drove fast, seemingly recklessly, but nimbly, smoothly whipping around slower traffic at a speed that turned heads and startled pa.s.sersby. She hurtled past a big beer truck, pulled by a team of Percheron horses, that blocked most of the street, slipping between the stacked barrels on the street and the sidewalk filled with pedestrians with only inches to spare. He bravely whistled a marching tune called "Garry Owen" and tipped his hat at the pretty girls coming out of the clothing stores. The big Market Street electric trolley car loomed ahead, and she crossed into oncoming traffic to pa.s.s it, sending more than one horse rearing up on its hind legs, to the anger and fist waving of their drivers.

Another two blocks through the canyon of brick-and-stone buildings, she came to a quick stop, skidding the rear tires when she hit the brakes, in front of the Cromwell Bank on the southeast corner of Market and Sutter Streets. "Here you are, brother. I trust you enjoyed the ride."

"You're going to kill yourself someday."

"Blame yourself," she said, laughing. "You gave me the car."

"Trade you my Harley-Davidson for it."

"Not a chance." She gave a cheery wave and said, "Come home early and don't be late. We've a date on the Barbary Coast with the Gruenheims to go slumming and take in one of the scandalous dance revues."

"I can't wait," he said sarcastically. He stepped down to the sidewalk before turning and unstrapping the suitcase. She saw that he strained as he lifted and knew it was crammed with stolen currency from the Salt Lake bank.

At the press of the accelerator pedal, the chain-driven Mercedes Simplex charged across the intersection and roared up the street, the thunder of the exhaust coming within a few decibels of breaking the storefront windows.

The bandit turned and looked with pride at the big, elaborately ornamented Cromwell Bank Building, with its tall, fluted Ionic column and large stained-gla.s.s windows. A doorman in a gray uniform opened one of the big gla.s.s doors for him. He was a tall man with gray hair, and a military bearing that came from thirty years in the United States Cavalry.

"Good morning, Mr. Cromwell. Glad to see you back from your holiday."

"Glad to be back, George. How's the weather been in my absence?"

"Just like it is today, sir, sunny and mild." George looked down at the large suitcase. "May I carry that for you, sir?"

"No, thank you. I can manage. I need the exercise."

A small bra.s.s sign listed the bank's a.s.sets at twenty-two million dollars. It would soon be twenty-three, thought Cromwell. Only the fifty-year-old Wells Fargo Bank had higher a.s.sets, capital, and liquidity. George swung open the door, and Cromwell the bandit strode across the marble floor of the bank's lobby, past the beautifully carved desks of the managers and the tellers' windows and the counters without bars, totally open to the customers. The open tellers' area was a strange innovation by a man who trusted no one and robbed out-of-state banks to build his own financial empire.

The fact was, Jacob Cromwell no longer needed the additional income he stole for his bank. But he was intoxicated by the challenge. He felt he was invincible. He could match wits with any police investigators, not to mention the agents from the Van Dorn Detective Agency, until he died of old age. He knew from his spies that no one was remotely close to identifying him.

Cromwell entered an elevator and rode up to the third floor. He stepped out onto the Italian-tiled floor of the main office on the gallery above the bank's lobby. He walked into the grandeur of his suite of offices, the deep, ivory brown carpet m.u.f.fling his footsteps. The walls were paneled in teak, with carvings depicting scenes of the nineteenth-century West, while the columns that supported the roof were sculpted in the manner of totem poles. The vast ceiling above had been painted with murals of the early days of San Francisco.

He employed three secretaries to handle his main business, along with much of his personal affairs. They were all beautiful women, tall, graceful, intelligent, and came from fine San Francisco families. He paid them more than they could make working for his compet.i.tors. The only requirement was that they all wear the same style and color dress, which the bank paid for. Every day was a different color. Today, they were wearing brown dresses that complemented the carpet.

They saw him enter and immediately came to their feet and surrounded him, chatting gaily and welcoming him back from what they had been told was a holiday that took him fishing in Oregon. Although he had to use great restraint and willpower, Cromwell never carried on a love affair with any of the three women. He had strong principles about playing on his own turf.

After the niceties were over and the ladies returned to their desks, Cromwell asked his senior secretary, who had been with him for nine years, to come into his office.

He sat down at his ma.s.sive teak desk and parked the suitcase underneath. He smiled at Marion Morgan. "How are you, Miss Morgan? Any new gentlemen friends lately?"

She blushed. "No, Mr. Cromwell. I spend my nights staying home and reading."

Marion was twenty-one when she finished college and came to work for Cromwell as a teller, and she had risen to manager. She had just turned thirty and had never married, which made many consider her an old maid. But the truth was, she could have had any one of the well-heeled men in town. She was an unusually ravishing and nubile lady who could pick and choose her suitors but had yet to select one for a husband. She was particular about men, and the Prince Charming of her dreams had not appeared. Her straw-blond hair was wrapped on her head, as was the fashion of the day, and her lovely facial features enhanced a long swan neck. Her corseted figure looked like the cla.s.sic hourgla.s.s. She gazed across the desk at Cromwell through coralsea green eyes, and a delicately shaped hand held a pencil poised above a notepad.

"I expect agents representing a bank in Salt Lake City to arrive at any moment to check our records."

"Are they going to examine our books?" she asked as if mildly alarmed.

He shook his head. "Nothing like that. I've heard rumors among my fellow bankers that a bank in Salt Lake City was robbed and that monies stolen might have been deposited in another bank."

"Do you wish me to take care of the matter?"

"No. Please, simply entertain them until I'm prepared to deal with it."

If Marion had any inquiries as to the uncertainty about Cromwell's request, she showed no curiosity. "Yes, of course, I'll see that they are comfortable until you wish to see them."

"That will be all," said Cromwell. "Thank you."

As soon as Marion left his office and shut the door, Cromwell reached into his breast pocket and brought out the bank draft from the Salt Lake Bank & Trust. Then he stood and went over to the large stand-up safe that held the bank's ledgers and records. He quickly, and expertly, doctored the books so that it appeared that the draft had already been received and the full amount paid to Eliah Ruskin. Cromwell also made entries that indicated the money had been deducted from his bank's liquid capital.

Cromwell did not have long to wait after finishing doctoring the records. The expected agents walked into his outer office twenty minutes later. Marion had stalled them, saying Mr. Cromwell was extremely busy. When a small buzzer beneath her desk sounded, she showed them into his office.

He was holding a telephone and nodded a greeting while motioning them to take chairs. "Yes, Mr. Abernathy, I will personally see that your account is closed and the funds transferred to the Bank of Baton Rouge in Louisiana. Not at all. Glad to be of service. Have a good trip. Good-bye."

Cromwell put down the phone with a dead line and no caller on the other end. He stood, came around the desk, and offered his hand. "h.e.l.lo, I'm Jacob Cromwell, president of the bank."

"These gentlemen are from Salt Lake City," said Marion. "They wish to see you about a draft drawn against their bank." Then she swirled her skirt, a bare inch above the ankles, left the office, and closed the door.

"How can I help you?" Cromwell asked courteously.

One man was tall and gangly, the other short and stocky and sweating. The tall one spoke first. "I'm William Bigalow, and my a.s.sociate here is Joseph Farnum. We are inquiring if any financial inst.i.tution in San Francisco might have received a bank draft for four hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars drawn on the Salt Lake Bank and Trust."

Cromwell raised his eyebrows in mock apprehension. "What seems to be the problem?"

"The draft was made under duress by the bank manager before a bandit shot him dead and made off with it, including the bank's money in its vault. We're trying to trace its whereabouts."

"Oh, my," said Cromwell, throwing up his hands in a sign of distress. "That draft came into our hands yesterday afternoon."

The two agents tensed. "You have the draft?" Farnum queried expectantly.

"Yes, it is in a safe in our bookkeeping department." Cromwell's tone became grave. "Unfortunately, we honored it."

"You honored it!" Bigalow gasped.

Cromwell shrugged. "Why, yes."

"With a check, no doubt," said Farnum, in hope there was still time to stop the bandit from cashing it at another bank.

"No, the gentleman whose name was on the draft asked for cash and we complied."

Bigalow and Farnum looked at Cromwell in shock. "You paid almost half a million dollars in cash to someone who walked into your bank off the street?" Bigalow frowned severely.

"I checked the draft myself when my manager brought it to me for approval. It appeared perfectly legitimate."

Bigalow did not look happy. It would be his burden to contact the directors of the Salt Lake Bank and tell them their four hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars had vanished.

"What was the name on the draft?"

"A Mr. Eliah Ruskin," answered Cromwell. "He produced a file of papers that showed Mr. Ruskin was the founder of an insurance company that was going to pay off claims brought on by a fire that destroyed a city block in a town..." Cromwell paused. "I believe he said its name was Bellingham, in Washington State."