"Grantville Gazette.Volume XVI" - читать интересную книгу автора (Flint Eric)

Sure Thing
Kerryn Offord

Sunrise, Monday, March 13, 1634,

Magdeburg

Elisabetha Schmelzer was sure the shadow walking behind her was a man, and that he was following her. Every time she stopped, he stopped as well. She wasn't quite ready to panic just yet, but a woman alone in this area at this early hour of the morning wasn't safe. She loosened the knife she kept in her sash, and considered her options. Around the next corner, if she put on a quick burst of speed, she should be able to get to the alleyway before whoever was following turned the corner. If she could hide in the shadows, then maybe she could lose him.

She stepped round the corner, and then ran as quietly as she could for the alley. Once there she crouched in the shadow of a doorway, her knife ready.

Elisabetha was tempted to poke her head out to see if she could see her follower. No, it's safer to wait. I'd surely hear him if he comes down here. She settled down to wait.

The movement and rustle just about caused Elisabetha to jump out of her skin. But it was only a black kitten playing with a bit of colored paper. Elisabetha grinned. Then she concentrated on the piece of paper. It looked like a banknote. She leapt to her feet. Well, she would have if her right leg hadn't fallen asleep. Instead she lurched to her feet, making a noise as she did so. The kitten took fright and was off in a flash.

Elisabetha picked up the piece of paper. It was a bank note. A ten dollar note. Then she saw the other zero. A hundred dollars. That's nearly a week's wages at the laundry. She searched the alleyway just in case the owner was looking for it. There was nobody. So she wiped the note as clean as she could and put it in her purse. She looked around to see if she could see the kitten who had found her this prize, but it was long gone.

The sun was getting higher in the sky and more people were on the streets, so Elisabetha stepped out of the alley and continued on her way home. She needed to buy food for the day and then she needed to get some sleep. The nightshift at the laundry paid well, but it was exhausting work.

Johann Roeloffse sat at his usual table in the cafe just down the road. Whenever Elisabetha had a spare dollar she bought a number in the lottery from him. She adjusted her shopping bags and felt in her purse. The coins didn't add up to enough for a ticket, but she did have the banknote she'd found earlier. Feeling lucky, she walked over to Johann with the banknote ready. "Could I buy a number for today's draw, please?"

Johann smiled and pulled out his policy book. "Of course you can, Elisabetha." Then he saw the note in Elisabetha's hand. "A one hundred dollar note? Elisabetha, what've you been up to?"

"I found it," Elisabetha protested. She was pretty sure she knew what Johann thought she had been up to. There weren't that many things a girl could do that would result in being paid with a one hundred dollar note. "Honestly. I was walking home from work when I thought I was being followed. So I slipped into an alleyway and hid. A kitten was playing with it. Look. You can see when he chewed on it."

Johann examined the note. "I don't suppose you have anything smaller? I don't have that much change." A sneaky grin appeared on Johann's face. "Hey, why not buy a hundred tickets? It's not as if they'll cost you anything. It's all found money."

Elisabetha shook her head. "It's the smallest I have, sorry. And it might be found money, but there are other things I want to buy."

"Well, what about fifty tickets? I can give you fifty dollars in change. Go on, girl. Think what you could do with your winnings."

"I don't know. Fifty dollars is a lot of money to gamble."

"Sure it is, but it's not your money. It's found money, so you're not really gambling. Go on, Elisabetha, take a risk."

Elisabetha sighed. "Oh, very well. Fifty tickets, please."

Johann opened his policy book and got his pencil ready. "You won't be sorry. What numbers do you want then?"

Elisabetha looked around searching for inspiration. The only number she could see was the date on the paper Johann had been reading.

"Thirteen."

Johann wrote out the first ticket. "Right, 'thirteen.' Only forty-nine to go."

"No, I mean, thirteen is the number I want."

"What?"

"I want fifty tickets made out to the number thirteen. I can do that, can't I?"

Johann nodded vigorously. "Yes. Sure you can, and think of the money if you win. Seven hundred dollars fifty times, that's…"

"Thirty-five thousand dollars," Elisabetha supplied.

"Yeah, thirty-five thousand dollars." Johann quickly wrote out the tickets and passed them and fifty dollars in one, five and ten dollar notes. "Don't spend it all in one place."

Tuesday morning March 16, 1634,

Karickhoff's Gym, Magdeburg

Wilhelm Koch walked into Tommy Karickhoff's office. Tommy sat behind a massive desk, leaning back in his chair. "Herr Karickhoff, I have the results from Monday's lottery. The winning number was zero-one-three… "

"Hey, I like it. Not many people like the leading zeros. How did we do?"

Wilhelm buried his face behind his papers. "Sales for Monday were eighteen thousand six hundred and twenty-three tickets. Our gross income was eighteen thousand six hundred and twenty-three dollars. Less commissions that is seventeen thousand six hundred and ninety-one dollars and eighty-five cents."

"Wilhelm, just cut to the chase. How many tickets won and how much profit did we make."

The papers rustled in Wilhelm's nervous hands. He poked his head over the top of them. "Normally we would expect between fifteen and twenty winners on sales of that size…"

"Come on Wilhelm. We don't have all day. How many winning tickets were there? From the way you're carrying on I assume there were more than expected."

Wilhelm nodded.

"Well? How many?"

"Fifty-six," Wilhelm whispered.

"Speak up. That sounded like you said fifty-six."

"I did, Herr Karickhoff. There were fifty-six winning tickets on Monday's draw."

Tommy shot to his feet. " What? Fifty-six? On a leading zero? We haven't been selling more than ten tickets per number on any number with a leading zero for months. Who the hell sold those tickets?"

Wilhelm checked his notes. "Anna Dieckmann sold two, Philipp Schneider one, and Otto Wolforath three. Johann Roeloffse sold fifty."

"Fifty? One person sold fifty tickets on the winning number. Something smells." Tommy slammed his fists onto his desk. "I want you to take Conrad and Georg with you and invite Johann Roeloffse to visit me before noon. Understood?" Wilhelm nodded nervously. "Well get a move on."

The day started just like any day for Johann Roeloffse. He sat at his favorite cafe and opened his newspaper. He read the comics first – chucking quietly at the antics of Brillo – then the sports page. Finally he turned to the financial reports for the previous day's trading. He looked at the three trading figures Tommy Karickhoff used for his numbers lottery, and wrote down the last dollar digit from each. By the time he'd recorded the third number he knew today was going to be bad. He put down the paper and looked around. Already he was starting to sweat.

And there they were. There was no way a person could fail to recognize Tommy Karickhoff's men. The black American-style pinstripe suits with the tip of a white handkerchief poking out of the left breast pocket and a white carnation pinned to the lapel, the black hat with the white band, the black shirt with a white tie, the black and white lace up shoes, and finally, the small instrument cases they carried, made them instantly recognizable. He'd never met anybody who'd actually seen what was carried in the instrument cases, and he didn't want to be the first of his contemporaries to find out. He looked behind him, looking for a line of escape, but it was no good running.

Wilhelm stepped up to Johann's table. "Herr Roeloffse, please follow me, Herr Karickhoff wishes to talk to you."

Johann stood and followed. Resistance was futile. He'd once seen a couple of bully boys after they'd foolishly attacked one of Herr Karickhoff's men. It hadn't been pretty. "Is Herr Karickhoff angry?"

Georg Wachter smiled grimly. "What do you think?"

Johann swallowed.

Karickhoff's Gym

Tommy was building up a useful sweat on the punch bag, alternating periods of punching with periods of kicking. He kept working the punch bag for another five minutes after Conrad and Georg escorted Johann into the room. Finally the timer went off and he stopped.

He grabbed a towel and mopped up the sweat pouring down his face. "This the guy?"

Conrad nodded.

Tommy turned his attention to Johan Roeloffse. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I didn't expect the tickets to win. Everyone knows that numbers less than a hundred don't come up very often."

Tommy held back a grin. Only ten percent of the time. "So you sold fifty tickets on the number thirteen. Who did you sell them to?"

"You can't blame Elisabetha. I pushed her into buying so many tickets."

"Elisabetha? Are you saying one person bought fifty tickets on one number?"

"Yes. She tried to buy just one ticket with a one hundred dollar note. I didn't have change so she took pity on me."

"And where did this Elisabetha get a one hundred dollar note?"

"She found it." Johann must have seen the look on Tommy's face. "Truly, Herr Karickhoff, Elisabetha is a good girl."

"Sure she is. Well, it seems your 'good girl' has bought tickets worth thirty-five thousand dollars. Do you know where she works?"

"She works the night shift at the laundry, Herr Karickhoff."

"Right. Lead Conrad and Georg to her and then you can get back to selling numbers. And don't plan any trips out of town for a while. Understood?"

"Yes, Herr Karickhoff," Johann answered.

Her landlady looked grim. Elisabetha wondered what she'd done to so upset Frau Knoche. She really couldn't afford to lose this room. Affordable rooms were in short supply in boom town Magdeburg.

"There are a couple of men who want to talk to you," Thrina Knoche said.

Elisabetha looked around Frau Knoche. She saw the suits. "Oh."

Conrad pushed forward. "You are Elisabetha Schmelzer?"

Elisabetha nodded.

"Right. Georg, escort Frau Knoche back to her room."

"Now just a minute. This is a respectable house. I'll not have strange men in one of my girl's room," Thrina protested.

Georg reached out a hand. Applying pressure to a point on her shoulder he escorted the suddenly silent Frau Knoche out of Elisabetha's room.

"Sorry about that." Conrad smiled. "But I don't think you want people knowing your business. On Monday you bought some numbers from Johann Roeloffse. Correct?"

"Yes."

"Do you have your tickets?"

"Yes. But what is this about?"

"Have you seen today's paper yet?"

"No."

Conrad opened his instrument case and extracted Johann's paper. He opened it to the financial page and passed it over.

It took a few minutes for it to sink in. Then Elisabetha dived for the purse under her pillow. She pulled out the bundle of tickets and checked the numbers. "I won?"

"Yes, you won. The boss would like to talk to you."

Elisabetha held the tickets protectively to her breast. "Why? I haven't done anything wrong."

"Why don't you come along with me and Georg and find out?"

"I've really won? I've really won thirty-five thousand dollars?"

"Yes, you've really won. Don't shout it from the rooftops. The fewer people who know, the safer you'll be."

Karickhoff's Gym

Tommy liked what he saw when Elisabetha walked into his office. She wasn't what most people would call beautiful, but she came close to his ideal with those enormous green eyes and shaky smile. "Take a seat, Fraulein Schmelzer. Has Conrad told you why I wanted to see you?"

"He said I won Monday's lottery," Elisabetha answered.

"Yes. You won thirty-five thousand dollars." Tommy stood up and approached her, knowing it would make her uncomfortable. "That's a hell of a lot of money to win on a single draw. It makes me suspicious. To bet fifty dollars on a single number makes me even more suspicious. It makes me wonder, is someone trying to pull a con. "

Tommy leaned forward until his eyes were less than a foot from Elisabetha's. More intimidation couldn't hurt. "You wouldn't be trying to steal from me, now, would you?"

Elisabetha swallowed. "No."

"So explain to me why you bet fifty dollars on 'thirteen.'" Tommy stood back, his eyes still watching Elisabetha. She told him the same story Johann had.

"What alleyway?"

"Just off Sommersburg Street up the road from Venice Avenue."

"I know it. Medium rent area of the red-light district," Conrad said.

Tommy nodded. One hundred dollars wouldn't be an unusual fee in that area. "You sure you didn't earn it yourself?"

Elisabetha shot to her feet. "I don't have to take this. I want to leave. Give me my money."

Tommy nodded to Conrad and Gerog who pushed Elisabetha back into her seat. "I'm not passing judgment. I don't care how you earned the money. I just want the truth. I find it hard to believe anybody would lose a hundred dollars and not try to find it."

"It was sunrise when I found it. Maybe they couldn't see it in the dark? If a kitten hadn't been playing with it, I wouldn't have noticed it myself."

"A cat? How did I know there had to be a cat in this somewhere? Right. We're going for a little walk. I want to see this famous alley."

"This is it." Elisabetha pointed towards the narrow space between the buildings. "Over there is where I hid."

The door was recessed far enough that Elisabetha could have been hidden. It certainly looked like she was on the up and up.

There was a gentle rustle in the accumulated rubbish over by the wall. Tommy concentrated on the shadows. Then he launched himself at the small shape.

"Ouch! Shit, that hurts."

"Do you need help, Tommy?" Conrad called out.

"No. I think I just captured Elisabetha's accomplice."

Tommy emerged from the alleyway with his thumb in his mouth and a kitten held securely against his jacket. He looked over at Elisabetha. "Do you know this animal?"

"It's the kitten I saw. What are you going to do with him?"

Tommy examined his bleeding hand. "Right now, I'm inclined to break the little devil's neck."

" No! You mustn't. He's someone's pet," Elisabetha said.

"I doubt it. The guy's all skin and bones."

"Well, then, I'll take him."

Tommy handed the kitten over. "It seems I owe you thirty-five thousand dollars. Now, I could give you the money in cash, but that's a lot of cash. Will you accept a check? Do you have a bank account?"

"Yes I have a bank account. Could I have a bank check?"

Tommy grinned. "I like the way you think. How about we both go to the bank and we can draw the money out of my account and put it straight into yours?"

"That will be satisfactory, thank you."

Tommy examined the scratches on his hands. It seemed Elisabetha's story stacked up, which left him worrying about the rest of her story. He didn't like the idea that someone had followed her when she left work. He'd tried to talk her into quitting. With her winnings she could afford to look for a better job. But no, the stubborn girl insisted she'd stay working at the laundry. He had been able to convince her to transfer to the dayshift, but she had insisted that she would finish off the week so as not to inconvenience her employer. Tommy didn't like to think of her walking the streets alone at night. He rang the bell on his desk.

Wilhelm poked his head round the door. "You rang?"

"Yeah, I rang. See if Heinrich has finished with Conrad and Georg. If he has, ask him if he can spare me a few minutes."

"Immediately, Herr Karickhoff."

Tommy checked the time and sat back in his chair to wait for Heinrich to turn up. The master class he was taking normally finished at half-past, but sometimes Heinrich ran overtime.

The quarter hour had just sounded when someone knocked on Tommy's door. "Send him in, Wilhelm."

The door opened to admit Heinrich, Conrad, and Georg. At the door, Wilhelm tried to make himself as small as possible. "I am sorry, Herr Karickhoff, but they insisted on accompanying Herr Kreffting."

"That's okay, Wilhelm. Just see that we aren't disturbed." Then Tommy looked at his men. "Stop trying to terrorize Wilhelm, you two."

"Yes, Herr Karickhoff," they chorused.

Tommy glared at them. Their grins were unrepentant.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Heinrich asked.

"Yeah, I'd like you to ask Susanna to strike up a friendship with a young woman."

"'A young woman,' he says. What he means, Heinrich, is that he has found a girl he is interested in, and she might need some protection," Conrad said.

"Though I don't know what he sees in her. There's not a lot of meat on her bones. He needs a real woman," Georg said.

"I don't happen to agree with your idea of a real woman, Georg." Tommy looked back to Heinrich. "She thinks she was followed home from the nightshift at the laundry. Whoever it was had her sufficiently rattled to duck into an alleyway in the red light district to hide. I don't want her walking to and from work alone."

"You want Susanna to find a job on the same shift as your lady friend and to strike up a friendship?" Heinrich asked.

"Something like that. If Susanna is willing, I can talk to the owners about giving her a temporary job there."

"Tommy, Susanna doesn't like doing laundry."

Tommy grinned. "It's only for the rest of this week. Elisabetha will be transferring to the day shift next week. I'll make it worth Susanna's while."

"Susanna wishes to get Anna and Andries into the Duchess Elisabeth Sofie school."

Tommy whistled. "She doesn't want much. Anna shouldn't be a problem, but Andries? It's supposed to be a school for girls."

"With boys admitted to selected classes. Susanna would be satisfied with that."

Tommy sighed. "I'll have a word with Staci, but I need Susanna to start tonight."

"I'm sure Susanna will trust your ability to convince Fraulein Matowski, Tommy."

"Thanks, Heinrich. Conrad, would you go along to point Elisabetha out to Susanna?"

"Sure thing, Boss."

Saturday morning, March 18, 1634

"Thank you for walking home with me."

Susanna rolled the magazine she had been reading during work breaks and grasped it lightly. "No need for thanks, Elisabetha. Two women together are safer than one."

"Who are you going to walk home with next week? Tonight was my last night on the night shift."

Susanna shrugged. "Don't worry about next week until it arrives. Something will come up."

They both heard the footsteps. They stopped when the women stopped and started when they resumed walking. Susanna leaned close to Elisabetha. "When we get around the next corner I want you to run for the alley."

"But there are at least two of them," Elisabetha protested. "And you don't have a weapon…" It suddenly dawned on her that the magazine Susanna carried was being held as if it was a weapon. She met Susanna's eyes and saw the martial gleam in them. She swallowed and looked ahead. Her new friend obviously felt quite capable of taking care of herself.

Once around the corner Elisabetha took off as instructed. When she reached the sanctuary of the alley, she looked back. Susanna had her shawl in one hand and her tightly-rolled magazine in the other. When two men ran round the corner she struck. She cast the shawl like a net to entangle one man while she thrust the rolled up magazine hard into the gut of the other. Then she kicked out at the man struggling with her shawl.

Almost before it started, it was over. Two men lay moaning on the ground while Susana stared down at them, daring them to move.

"Come on, Susanna, leave them before someone sees."

Susanna shook her head. "First let's get some names." She quickly rifled the men's clothing looking for documentation. Once she had the content's of each man's pouch in hand Susanna threw her shawl back over her shoulders and walked off.

Elisabetha rushed to catch up. "Where did you learn to fight like that? I've never seen the like."

"My father is a maitre des armes and runs a salle des armes in Bremen, and my husband also comes from a long line of masters of what the up-timers call 'martial arts.' What my family didn't teach me, he did."

Elisabetha turned to look at the two men who were now staggering to their feet. "Could you teach me to fight like that?"

"Of course. I give classes at Herr Karickhoff's gym."

"What? Susanna, if you're teaching martial arts, why are you working the night shift at the laundry?"

Susanna smiled. "Herr Karickhoff asked me to look after you."

Elisabetha blushed. It'd been a long time since anybody had looked after her. "Why did you want names?"

"So Herr Karickhoff could determine their motivation. Maybe they were just following a couple of women for a little fun and games. Maybe they have heard that you won so much money and hope to force you to tell where you have hidden it." Susanna shrugged. "Who knows? Herr Karickhoff will find out."

"I want to be there when you give those papers to Herr Karickhoff."

Susanna shook her head. "No you don't. It'll take time for Herr Karickhoff to make inquiries. In the meantime, you've just finished work, you're tired and hungry, and…" She looked Elisabetha up and down. "… not looking your best. That's no condition to be in when you confront a man. Go home, eat, have a few hours sleep, and you can confront Herr Karickhoff looking your best."

Karickhoff's Gym

Elisabetha looked at Tommy in disbelief. "You publicized the fact that I won all that money?"

"It was a perfectly logical business decision, Elisabetha. We didn't release your name; just that someone had won thirty-five thousand dollars on the lottery. Sales have been up nearly fifteen percent."

"I might have been robbed or worse and all you can think of are your lousy sales?"

"Hey, a fifteen percent increase is nothing to sneeze at. Besides, you were in good hands. You had Susanna looking after you."

Elisabetha glared. "If you didn't release my name how did those two men discover I had won the money?"

Tommy gave a wry grin. "Blame your friend Roeloffse. He let it out that he sold the winning tickets. Someone must have noticed Conrad and Georg talking to you."

"Someone must have noticed your two men talking to me!" Elisabetha shouted. "How could anybody miss noticing the uniform you have them wear?"

"Don't blame me. It was their choice. Mind you, I think it's pretty snazzy myself."

"Herr Karickhoff…"

"You can call me Tommy. It's a privilege reserved for those I let yell at me."

Elisabetha looked around the room. Susanna lounged on a double chair with her husband. Conrad was sitting back in a chair watching with interest, while Georg idly cleaned his fingernails with a knife. She started thinking. "Frau Knoche?"

Tommy nodded. "Probably. I think you need to leave her boarding house."

"But where will I live?"

"You can have one of the spare rooms here at the gym until you get settled."

"I insist on paying rent," Elisabetha said.

"Sure, just as long as you move out of that rooming house as soon as possible. Conrad and Georg will help you."

Susanna grinned. "I bet I know where you'd like to see Elisabetha settled, and it isn't in one of the spare rooms."

Tommy stared at the door Elisabetha had left through and smiled. "I don't bet against a sure thing."