Chapter 31

As was tradition, the board directors had lunch in the company cafeteria dining room with the other employees. As much as was possible, they sat in pairs at the eight-place tables that were the standard in the dining room, distributing themselves to provide an opportunity to interact with the employees.

It was about half-past noon when a young man, in shirtsleeves and wearing an eyeshade, rushed into the room and looked about. Spotting Arnold Yeats, the man hurried over and handed him a flimsy sheet. Malik watched from across the room as Yeats read what had been written on the paper and, a look of shock and dismay on his face, he stood and glanced over the room until he located Chen. He took the paper to Chen’s table and handed it to him. Chen read the paper, looked around the room, and then stood at his table.

By this time, most of the three dozen people in the room were aware of the commotion and a hush fell over the room when Chen rose and gazed out at them.

“May I have your attention, please,” Chen said, in a voice that easily gained the notice of those few who were not yet aware of the byplay.

Holding the paper at shoulder height, Chen said, “We have just received word that one of our locomotive engineers has been killed in a derailment on the Fort Birney trunk. Seamus Murphy died in an incident when the bridge over the Rio Isabella collapsed. There is at least one other injury. His fireman, Eric Olsen, suffered a broken arm when Mister Murphy shoved him from the engine cab just before the locomotive plunged into the river. This telegram is the first report, so there may be other casualties forthcoming, but the conductor, Fergus Healy, believes that no one else was seriously injured, beyond some minor cuts and bruises.

“We will post further details in tomorrow morning’s Daily Bulletin. Right now, I would like the board of directors to reassemble in the board room.”

There was silence in the cafeteria as the directors made their exit, followed by an intense, if subdued, murmur, in the dining room, discernible as the board members walked down the hallway toward the stairs.

Walking into the board room, the same young man who had brought the telegram to Chen now handed Malik a telegram flimsy. Malik thanked him, then paused to read it while he was still in the corridor.

It was from Andy. The body read:

Judah Deering and others lunching at boarding home and Francine and Mariel Kuiper all report sound of explosion several seconds before train whistle and brake noise. Rock debris landing on Kuiper grounds suggest bridge blown up. Smell of explosives in air. Sheriff suspects intentional destruction for maximum effect on train. Locomotive and tender in river, remainder still on track. Seamus Murphy saved the coaches.

Before he sat down, he handed the message to Chen, who immediately read it, then passed it to Castillo.

Chen said to the group: “We shall suspend our normal business meeting to discuss this incident. Emil, would you summarize this new telegram for everyone?”

“Of course. I was handed a telegram just now, as I entered the board room,” Malik said to the other directors. “It was from my brother, Andy. He said that several witnesses near the bridge heard an explosion prior to the train whistle blowing and the brakes squealing. There was also rock debris that fell some distance away from the bridge, likely evidence of the bridge being blown up. Further, he reported a smell of explosives on the air and that the sheriff believed it to be a deliberate act of destruction timed to catch the train when it was most vulnerable. He said that only the engine and tender were in the river, and that Seamus Murphy had sacrificed himself to keep the rest of the train on the iron.”

There was an ominous silence. Finally, Castillo asked, “Emil, have you any ideas about who may be behind this?”

“Nothing I could hang my hat from, Raul. Of course, my first suspicion would be the Labor Pioneers, but we’ve heard nothing on that front since Senator Aldecott and Marvin Vandeventer were killed. But, right now, I can’t imagine who might have had a purpose in doing this. Have there been other attacks against railroad property or employees anywhere else?”

“No,” Castillo said. “The Fort Birney branch has seen the only notable incidents of this sort in anyone’s memory.”

“Something’s going on that I haven’t a clue about,” Malik said. “I have no inkling about the real purpose of all this violence. It seems directed at me, or the railroad, or the Chinese. Quien sabe? It could be all three. And why was Aldecott involved? Vandeventer was just an errand boy, but Aldecott? I just don’t understand.”

Chen said, “In any event, we need to deal with this. Pete, can you go out there and assess things? See if we can rent a heavy crane from the Southern Pacific or the Santa Fe. Or both, if that would be more effective.”

Malik said, “I’m going to return tonight, Pete. You can ride with us, unless you plan to take your own car. Oh, that’s right, I need to check with Wilber. They weren’t expecting to leave until tomorrow evening.”

Pottinger said, “I’m going to take my own car, Emil, though I might ride in yours. Mine is loaded with tools and instruments and some of them may come in handy. Plus, I’ve got bunks enough for a crew.”

Malik turned to Chen. “Is there someone that can carry a message to Wilber?”

“Just ask one of the clerks across the hall.”

Later, Malik was handed another telegram, forwarded to the headquarters offices by Emma Watts, the Waypoint stationmaster.

Emil Malik, Waypoint, Aren 21Jun1888

Arriving Waypoint southbound tomorrow re bridge.

USM Connor Lonegan Ft Birney, Aren

Malik sent a reply advising Lonegan that he was returning from Wichita and would not be arriving in Waypoint until late Friday evening. Pottinger had decided to assemble a special train in Fort Birney, rather than wait to travel with the scheduled trains.

A return wire advised Malik that Lonegan would wait for Malik to arrive in Fort Birney and travel south with him.

Late that night, southbound out of Fort Birney, Malik, Lonegan, Pottinger, and Shea were in conversation in Malik’s car. Beth Shea had already turned in and Lee Jin was asleep on his blankets beneath Malik’s desk. Several specialist engineers and workers had accompanied Pottinger but were sleeping or playing cards in the engineering coach.

Shea said, “Emil, have you considered adding a third story to those back-to-back buildings you’re having constructed on Wagon Road and Courthouse Avenues?”

Malik, all but open-mouthed, stared at Shea for several seconds. Then he said, “Of course. That’s so obvious, I should have thought of it months before. Thanks, Wilber, that’s a great idea.”

“It’s a method of making better use of the square footage of your lots. It uses the space better and can likely increase your profit at the same time,” Shea said.

Malik was nodding. “You know, as I’m thinking about it, it’s possible I could add a third floor to my existing buildings. It would be an economical way to add more space for storage or even for offices for staff who have mostly record keeping assignments, and who don’t require much moving around to other floors. Yes, I like that idea. Thanks again, Wilber.”

Lonegan said, “Do you think it might be your success that has attracted these attacks, Emil?”

Malik looked thoughtful for a few moments, then said, “Perhaps. That idea would be more convincing if the attacks were directed more against me, personally. But there have been more Chinese attacked, for all that.”

Pottinger said, “For the sake of discussion, let’s assume that the Marshal’s premise is feasible. Then, I’d have to ask, who does your success offend, Emil?”

Lonegan said, “Arthur Coates? Judge Nestor, in Galveston? Maybe that gang of cutthroats that Volkov hired, what few of them remain.”

Malik briefly explained to Pottinger and Shea his relationship to the men Lonegan had mentioned.

Then he said, “I suppose it could be one of them, though neither Arthur Coates nor those hooligans would seem to possess the resources to mount such a broad-based series of assaults, especially with the amount of cash that was involved. And I’d expect Judge Nestor to come at me through the court system, with more trumped-up charges or some baseless lawsuit. It’s possible one of them could be involved, but it doesn’t feel right to me.”

“I’m inclined to agree,” Lonegan said. “I just couldn’t think of anyone more likely.”

“No,” Malik said, “but thinking about it, now, has made me realize that there are certain recurring, oh ... features, of which we might take note: “First, there is me. Second, there is the railroad. Third, the Chinese. And, fourth, money and gold.

“To some degree, I represent all the other three, in one way or another.”

“Even more,” Pottinger said, “because I think you’d have to include the locations as a fifth element on your list: mostly in Jackson and Sonora Counties, save for the incidents involving Aldecott and Vandeventer. But the two counties point to you, as well.”

“Okay, I can see that. The locale is certainly a repeated feature,” Malik agreed.

Then he went on, “My point is, though, that we ought to look for the common thread through all of those elements to perhaps have an indication of who’s pulling the string, or at least, maybe, why.”

Lonegan said, “Let’s leave you out of it, for the moment and consider the railroad, the Chinese, money and gold, and the location.”

Malik said, “All right, then. As far as money goes, no one has demanded, or even hinted, that I give them any payments or anything else. On the other hand, we know a large amount of gold appears to be missing from Buchholz and that Boris Volkov had some substantial amount of cash before he disappeared, according to Vandeventer. That cash came from Aldecott, just like the missing gold. In short, no one has asked me for money while, at the same time, Aldecott’s money and gold has disappeared.”

“So,” Shea chimed in, “your involvement is not because of your money.”

“There’s been nothing to say so.”

“Then, what about the railroad?” Pottinger asked.

“At first,” Malik said, “I thought some of these attacks had something to do with mining, possibly involving the politics of the gold standard versus silver coinage or some such, though that never really made any sense. Now it starts to look as if the railroad, itself, is a target, that is, assuming this latest incident is part of the same campaign.”

“Have we then picked up that proverbial common thread?” Shea asked.

“You mean the railroad, then?” Malik said.

“Yes,” Shea replied.

All four were quiet for a moment. Then Lonegan said, “But how would the Chinese figure in? Missus Tian didn’t work for the railroad. And those two Celestials in Baylor’s store were on a road-building crew.”

Malik said, “Without speaking directly to Wilber’s conjecture, I’ll note that the road crew was working under a contract with the railroad and Missus Tian worked for me, a railroad board director and attorney. Even the Chinese construction laborers killed and injured at the hotel in Dorado Springs were working on a project in which the railroad is invested.

“You seem to be talking yourself into Wilber’s idea,” Pottinger commented.

Malik said, “But why just in Jackson and Sonora counties, then? The railroad has other lines.”

“Yes,” Shea said, “Eight other trunk, not including the Kylie Loop and the two mine spurs.”

Pottinger said, “Perhaps it’s because of that. At the moment, this is the busiest short line in our system. Not only the busiest, but the most experimental, with the new signal system being installed, the cotton farms being developed, the new passenger services, the resort and town developments, and the coal mines. This is not only the busiest but the most diversified spot in the entire system.”

Shea added, “And likely with the railroad’s greatest investment in the system, at least for now.”

Pottinger nodded as he took a draw on his cigar.

Malik said, “And to bring me back into the equation, I am the highest ranking railroad official residing in the area.”

Shea said, “And the only railroad official in the entire system who has a bodyguard paid for by the railroad.”

“I was wondering about that,” Malik said.

“Mister Chen specified that, as a rider on the Land Resources contract with Fu-Chun Li, he is to provide that service for you. He hired Lee Jin after Miss Peng Yan was wounded,” Shea explained.

“So it comes down to the railroad,” Lonegan said.

“At least according to our logic structure,” Malik demurred.

“All right, then, who has it in for the K and ASR?” Lonegan asked.

Pottinger, Shea, and Malik answered, practically with one voice: “Other railroads?”

Just after midnight, the K&ASR special arrived at Waypoint. Pottinger’s coach was spotted next to the rail yard office on the north side of town and Malik’s coach was returned to its siding south of the depot. Everyone elected to spend the remainder of the night in the coaches and to meet for breakfast at the Old Courthouse Inn.