CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Evangeline and Gabriella stood outside a modest cottage in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine. It wasn’t the bustling city Evangeline had become used to, but a quieter area, well beyond the twenty arrondissements that were the heart of Paris. Still, she was back in France, even if it was decades earlier than when she’d left, and Evangeline inhaled deeply, trying to absorb the very essence of it.           The ground level of the cottage where Gabriella had grown up was fashioned out of whitewashed stone, while the structure’s mansard roof served as the second-story façade. The windows were adorned with shutters, but not the iron grillwork that Evangeline had grown to love. A few late blooming rose bushes lent some color to the walled garden in front of the house.           “Remember what I told you,” Evangeline said, taking Gabriella’s hand.           “I will.”           Together, they entered the cottage. Madame Durand was scolding her youngest child, Etienne, for not eating his breakfast. “You must eat when you can. Later, there may be no food to soothe an angry stomach.”           The little boy ignored her, running from the room. Madame Durand sat on the bench he had vacated and ate the egg her son had spurned. Still her stomach growled with hunger.           “She’s grown so old,” Gabriella lamented.           Evangeline studied the gaunt woman, noticing the dark circles under her eyes and the dull pallor of her skin. “She was not always this way?”           “No,” Gabriella replied, shaking her head sadly. “She was beautiful and full of life.”           Evangeline put her arms around the girl and hugged her tightly. “You must not think about it or you'll become too debilitated to help us find your father. You must put your mother’s suffering out of your mind, and work with me.”           “What can I do?”           “You can help me find your father's picture.”           Gabriella led Evangeline into her parents’ bedroom. On a small bureau, a color photograph of Aubry Durand was the only ornamentation. Evangeline examined the photo. The man in the picture looked just like the man claiming to be Durand in the Lyceum theater, except for the unusual color of his eyes. “You’re right,” she told Gabriella.           But the girl wasn’t listening. Instead, she was tearing around the room, looking for something.           “What’s wrong?”           “My mother’s jewelry box. It’s gone. Papa made it for her, even though she didn’t have much jewelry. She kept her hairpins in it. But now it’s gone.”           “Perhaps she sold it.”           “But she loved it. She told him she would keep it forever.”           “Forever is a very long time when you’re hungry.”           The girl’s lips quivered.           Evangeline took the picture in one hand and Gabriella’s hand in the other. “We must return to Christian, so we can find your father and reunite him with your family. That will bring back a measure of the happiness they once had, as well as the income.” *           “Fifteen thousand three hundred dollars! I told you there was a pile of cash in the safe.” Howard Barnes smirked at Erskine and Frankie Fingers.           “So we divide this in three…” Frankie began.           “Excuse me, gentlemen, but I believe you’ve forgotten the original agreement. First, I am reimbursed for the five hundred dollars that I invested in the plan, as is Mr. Barnes. That leaves fourteen thousand three hundred dollars. We had agreed to give three hundred dollars to Mrs. Ellingham. She might not believe there was exactly enough money in the safe to pay the IRS. But if we return it with the “doctored” books, the necklace and three hundred dollars, she’ll probably never question us and go on her merry way.”           “But what if the pearls are the girlfriend’s?” Barnes complained.           “What if they’re not? We can’t come right out and ask Mrs. Ellingham. This way, she'll think the pearls were going to be a gift from her husband. We still have fourteen grand to divide. Seven for me and seven for you.” Erskine saw Frankie glaring at them.           “Oh. And your fee for opening the safe, of course.”           “I’ll handle that,” Barnes cut in. “You take your cut. I’ll catch up with you later.”           “I would personally like to return the safe and the money, since I’m the one who brokered the agreement at the séance with Mrs. Ellingham.”           Frankie turned to one of his henchmen. “Joey, help Erskine take the safe back uptown to the Ellingham dame.”           Erskine counted out his share and pocketed it. He placed three hundred dollars, the phony papers and the pearls in the safe and stuffed paper in the lock so the safe would remain open. “Gentlemen.” He nodded at the others before walking outside to watch Joey and Fast Eddy muscle the safe into the back of a truck.           Inside, Frankie and Barnes eyed each other like a cat and mouse.           “So, let’s just divide the remaining money in half and that’s that,” Barnes said with forced geniality.           “Right after I take back my five c-notes,” Frankie counted out the money he fronted Barnes. “And a fee for having Joey transport the safe back and forth.”           “Why do I have to pay for that?” Barnes whined. “It wasn’t my idea.”           “It’s insurance. I’m making sure the pearls and extra cash go to the Ellingham dame and not to you and Erskine. “And I’m keeping an extra five hundred, like I said, for my trouble.” He opened his jacket and flashed the gun shoved in his waistband.           “Sure, Frankie. Whatever you say.” Barnes took his money and wasted no time leaving, bumping into Fast Eddy on his way out.           “Everything all right, boss?”           “Yeah. This time. But there something about Barnes that needles me.” *           Barnes kept looking over his shoulder, until he finally arrived home and locked the door behind him. It bothered him that Frankie had taken an extra grand. Still, he had made three thousand dollars without any investment of his own.           He went into his bathroom and unscrewed a piece of plywood that was attached to the wall behind the sink. A plumber had put it there after breaking through the plaster to fix a leak. Now Barnes used it as a poor man’s safe. He stuffed the money in an empty cookie tin and slipped in into the wall, before screwing the panel back into place. *           “Don’t wait up for me. Even if I leave right after the first show, I probably won’t be home before two. Monsieur Aubry will probably want to make a late night of it, once he has the check for the flaming pendulum in his hand.”           “Are you sure you don’t want me to come along with you?” Bess asked.           “No. Don’t worry. I’ll be quite all right.”           Of course, there was always the possibility that Durand might not like the Cotton Club with its all-negro entertainment, but Houdini doubted that. Most Europeans, who got a chance to visit the place, raved about the exclusive nightclub that masqueraded as a tropical plantation.           Besides, Durand was the one who had chosen it as their meeting place.           Houdini exited his brownstone and walked to the corner for a cab. He told the driver to take him to 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue, as he checked his inside pocket to make sure he had brought the check for the Flaming pendulum. Once he handed it over to Durand, he would be free to pick up the apparatus from the warehouse, where it had remained since the inventor’s disappearance. He would probably have to hand over even more money, to pay warehouse fees for leaving the Flaming Pendulum there for so many months. But he hadn't had a choice. He couldn’t remove it if he didn’t own it, and he wouldn’t own it until after he paid Durand. *           “You’re sure you’ve hidden the Flaming Pendulum where it can’t be found?”           “Yeah. Nobody’s going to look for it on that old garbage scow. When the magician shows up to claim his prize, there won’t be nothing left in that warehouse, but rat shit.”           “What about you?” The man in charge, turned to face the man who had been impersonating Aubry Durand. “Are you sure you know what to do?”           “It'll be like taking candy from a baby.”           “All right. I think it’s time I pay a visit to the real Monsieur Durand, and make a little deal with him.”           “Yeah? Like what?”           “The less you know, the better off we’ll all be. Why don’t you go hang around the docks, just in case Mr. Houdini jumps the gun? That way you’ll be able to tell me everything.”           “What if he calls the cops? I should take off, right?”           “No, you idiot. How am I going to find out what's happened, if you don’t stick around to see what’s going on?”           “Okay, Boss. I’ll be glued to that dock like a wad of chewed gum on a hot, sticky day.”           “Wonderful.” *           Aubry Durand heard footsteps in the hallway. He picked up the pipe as quietly as he could and stood behind the door, with the makeshift weapon raised over his head. Freedom was at his doorstep and he wasn’t going to let anything get in his way.           He heard the rattle of keys before the door was unlocked, and as it slowly swung open, Durand took a deep breath. *** Share | WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT EVANGELINE? Read Code Name: Evangeline now on Kindle Don't own a Kindle? Learn how to read Kindle books on your smart phone or PC *This is a beta version of this book and is subject to change without notice. If you have any comments, suggestions or feedback, email the author