Rebel Fire Read Online Free PDF Page B

surprise.
    â€œUnder no circumstances,” Mycroft said sternly.
    â€œAbsolutely not,” Crowe snapped, overlapping Mycroft’s words.
    â€œBut I can just ride into Godalming and ask questions,” Sherlock persisted. “Nobody will notice me. And haven’t I shown that I can do that kind of thing with the Baron Maupertuis business?”
    â€œThat was different,” Mycroft pointed out. “You became involved by accident, and most of the danger to you occurred while Mr. Crowe here was attempting to disentangle you.” He paused, considering. “Father would never forgive me if I let any harm come to you, Sherlock,” he said in a quieter voice.
    Sherlock felt aggrieved at the description of his actions against Baron Maupertuis, which he felt ignored or distorted several important points, but he kept quiet. There was no point in starting an argument about things in the past when there was something more important on the table. “I wouldn’t do anything to draw attention to myself,” he protested. “And I can’t see how it would be dangerous.”
    â€œIf John St. Helen is John Wilkes Booth, then he’s a confirmed killer and a fugitive,” Crowe proclaimed, “who faces hangin’ if he returns—or is returned—to the United States. He’s like a cornered animal. If he thinks he’s under threat, then he’ll cover his tracks and vanish again, and I’d have to go after him. I’d hate to see you become one of the tracks that gets covered.”
    â€œThere is something else,” Mycroft murmured. He glanced at Crowe. “I don’t know to what extent the Pinkerton Agency have kept you apprised of the situation, but there is a growing belief that Booth and his collaborators were a part of something bigger.”
    â€œCourse they were,” Crowe rumbled. “It was called the War Between the States.”
    â€œI meant,” Mycroft said heavily, “that the idea behind the assassination of President Lincoln didn’t come from them; that they were working under instructions, and that the guiding lights, if you like, are still at large. If Booth really is here in England then it’s possible he’s heading back to America, and if that is the case then one might well ask why? What is his aim?”
    Crowe smiled. “If he’s headin’ back to America, then my job’s a lot easier. All I have to do is raise the alarm and get him arrested when he steps off the boat.”
    â€œBut wouldn’t it be preferable to establish his intentions first? Stopping him doesn’t necessarily stop the conspiracy.”
    â€œIf there is a conspiracy,” Crowe said, shaking his head.
    Sherlock felt as if he was caught in the middle of a philosophical discussion. All he knew was that the informal tutor he’d got used to having in his life was faced with a problem that might call him back to his home country, or set him chasing this man all over the world. If Sherlock could do something to solve that problem, he would. He just wouldn’t tell Mycroft about it.
    â€œCan I go now?” he asked.
    Mycroft waved a hand dismissively. “Go and ramble in the countryside, or whatever you do. We will talk for a while.”
    â€œCome to my cottage tomorrow mornin’,” Crowe said, not even looking at Sherlock. “We’ll continue then.”
    Sherlock slipped out while the two men were starting a conversation about the intricacies of extradition treaties between individual American states at the federal level and the British government.
    Outside the sun was still a heavy presence in the sky. He could smell wood smoke and the distant malt odour of the breweries in Farnham.
    Godalming couldn’t be that far away, could it? There was a Guildford Road leading out of it, which indicated it was somewhere near Guildford, and Guildford was somewhere near Farnham.
    Matthew Arnatt would