Chapter 25

Thursday, September 17, 1891

After Malik’s report to the Board of Directors, Pauline Jones asked, -- “I’d have thought you’d have preferred a man from a larger, more professional police force, like Chicago or Saint Louis.”

“I actually wanted someone with more rural experience, which is more in keeping with what our officers face. Mister DeWitt performed law enforcement duties for eight years, all over what became southern Arizona Territory, when he was with the Mexican army, and he continued that work, when Tucson was still a frontier town. He, in fact, wrote their first procedures manuals, on his own time. The professionalism will come from following the procedures they’ll learn.”

Jones asked, “Were there any women you considered?”

“Yes, in fact. Both Lieutenant Moira Daley, the head of the Intelligence Section, and Leandra Basie, the new lieutenant on the Kansas Southern Division were considered. Either would have been an excellent instructor, but neither had the extensive law enforcement experience I wanted for this transition period, while we convert from British to American manuals and while we’re moving the training to the college system.”

Doctor Lee Wuying said, “I’ll remind you that we have not agreed to that system yet.”

“I am speaking speculatively, then, Doctor, just so that you may know my thinking. But, to return to your question, Pauline, I also want Missus Daley right where she is, heading Intelligence. That’s why we upgraded the position.”

“Then what about Missus Basie to fill the Inspector vacancy?”

Malik paused before saying, “It has nothing to do with Missus Basie’s qualifications, but could we go off the record here, for a moment? Are there any objections?”

When no objections were made, Malik said, “Then, off the record, Miss Peng.

“Pauline, the reason I don’t want Missus Basie in that position is because I really need a man to travel with me. And I suspect you’re going to suggest Marty Finnerman, but Marty has ambitions to replace Bill, though Bill’s a good ten years from even thinking about retiring. Putting Marty at my side would foster his notion that he has the inside track. In fact, I’d rather see Missus Basie replace Bill, when that time finally comes, but it’s much too early for anyone to be making those plans.

“Finally, and though I have nothing but praise for his work, I don’t really like Marty. He just rubs me the wrong way. He’s tolerable in small doses, but I would dread the long--”

Jones interjected, “Emil, that’s fine. I understand. I didn’t intend to impugn your motives, but just to keep you on the ball about hiring women. Do you have someone in mind?”

With a quick glance at Dixie, he said, “I do, though he hasn’t applied yet.”

“We’ll go back on record, now, Miss Peng.”

Under New Business, and after lengthy discussions, the Board approved the limited dividends and the training agreement with the Junior College Trust.

(Thursday, September 17, 1891)

Friday, September 18, 1891

“Much better, much, much better,” Dr. Edelman pronounced as he examined Malik’s stump in the light from the window. “Have you had any problems, any localized pain?”

“No, Doctor, just the occasional phantom sensations. I’ll go outside and it will feel as if my hand were cold.”

“It can be very frustrating, I know. And, do not forget that the analgesics can combat many of those experiences.”

“I know. But I am still dumbfounded that it can happen.”

“Are you prepared to start Miss Krause’s exercises and skin treatment?”

“More than ready.”

“Follow her regimen. Don’t get ahead of yourself, it might easily do more harm than good. If you have any trouble, contact her directly, but please ask her to send me copies of both of your communications.”

“I will.”

“Then I will see you in two weeks.”

(Friday, September 18, 1891)

Friday, September 25, 1891

Malik met Tremaine as the policeman entered his office. He offered his hand, which the detective shook with a firm grasp. “Detective sergeant, please come in. Lets sit at this conference table here.”

Malik led him to a five-foot diameter table in the corner of his office, attended by six comfortable conference chairs. Malik said, “This is Miss Peng Yan, my companion who is in charge of my personal security.”

“Miss Peng,” Tremaine acknowledged, offering his hand, which Peng took. “Miss Yeats has mentioned your proficiency and expertise. I am pleased to meet you.”

Peng said, “And I you, sir.”

They all sat down, Malik across from Tremaine and Peng at Malik’s left.

“Detective Sergeant,” Malik began, “this first part is a test.

“If it’s no trouble, I will call you Frank, which is how I’ve heard Dixie refer to you. And you may call me Emil. Miss Peng, in small groups such as this, is usually called only Peng.”

Tremaine was smiling. “Dixie’s told me that no one seems comfortable using your given name, save for her father, and Mister Castillo, and Pickax Pete. But you have another name that intrigues me. I’d like to try calling you Shadow.”

“That is bold of you. Permission granted and you’ve already passed the first hurdle.

“Now tell me why you want to leave the Wichita Police Department and become a railroad policeman, if you would.”

“You mean, Shadow, besides the eleven dollars a month wage increase? It’s simple. I’m sick and tired of toadying to people just because they have money or influence. I am humiliated by being required to perform some patently illegal, though not essentially harmful, acts. Finally, I am fed up with the abuse that officers heap on various minority groups: coloreds, Indians, Orientals, Jews. It’s demeaning, and more to those doing in than their victims. Hell, why not just go around kicking dogs and stealing candy from children, then laugh about it in the locker room?”

“To what source do you credit your attitude about race, Frank?”

“I reckon my ma and pa. My first friend, just when I started school -- this was in Stannard, Massachusetts -- my first friend was a colored boy, except I didn’t know it. It wasn’t until I was in third grade that I figured out Jody wasn’t going to school, too. I asked my Ma about it and she explained the facts of life to me. I stayed friends with Jody until my family moved to Wichita.”

“What’s your Pa do?”

“He’s a machinist, works for an outfit he and three other men own.”

“Why did you quit college?”

“It wasn’t teaching me what I wanted to know. I wanted to know the how of things more than the why of them. College was high-falutin’ theories more than here’s-how-it’s-done. It’s not that I minded the theories, it’s just that there was no hands-on.”

“So you think college is a waste?”

“Not at all. It just depends on what you want for your money and what the school has to sell you.”

“Was becoming a policeman your goal in going to college?”

He chuckled. “No. No, I wanted to design handguns. Pistols. When I saw that it would be two years and a couple hundred dollars before I was even allowed to begin that type of study, I became discouraged. Then, I snuck into one of the advanced classes, on metallurgy. The professor was standing at the podium, reading from the book he had written. That’s what he did for the entire class. I figured I could read as well a he could. So I quit school after the first semester. Gave my Pa his money back, started working around the shop, mostly menial chores.”

“One afternoon, a couple men came into the shop to have some work done on their revolvers. I got to talking to them.” He shrugged. “Turned out they were city coppers.”

“Why gun design, especially handguns?”

“Uh, is there a free pass on any of these questions?”

“Sure, of course. There was a pass available when I asked what kind of work your father did. But only for that question.”

“Fine, then. When I was a kid, I heard a story, supposedly a true story, about a Canadian Northwest Mounted Policeman who had been attacked by a pack of wolves. He was able to kill six of them, but then his revolver was empty and the other wolves killed him before he could reload. I wanted to design a pistol that would carry more cartridges but be no bigger that an army Colt chambered for a forty-four.”

“I read that book. It was fiction. The title was something like Adventures of the Northwest Mounted. I’ve also read that wolves rarely attack people. Now your tigers, they’re the true man eaters. I go out of my way to avoid tigers. Peng is especially wary of them.”

“Tigers,” Tremaine repeated. “Good advice, Shadow. I’ll have to be more careful.”

Peng said, “I have killed a tiger. With my bow.”

Both men turned to her.

“Tell us about it,” Malik urged.

“I just did,” she said.

Tremaine looked at Malik expectantly.

“Forget it, Frank. What you just heard from Peng is the equivalent of an hour’s braggadocio from anyone else. It is a rare occurrence and you were fortunate to witness it.”

Tremaine, with a deep nod of his head, said, “Peng, I bow to your hunting prowess, to your personal audacity, and to your self-restraint.”

Peng nodded in response.

Malik made eye contact with Peng. She raised an eyebrow.

“How was your interview with Bill McCroskey? I understand Moira Daley and Marty Bannerman joined in.”

“Seemed good from my perspective. Those are three smart people.”

“You could work with Bill as your boss?”

“I don’t see why not, unless they were all lying to me.”

“Ah, probably not.”

Then Malik said, “The Kanzona is operating under austerity measures. We’re anticipating a major economic recession and we’re trying to prepare for it.”

“Dixie’s mentioned that.”

“At present, we are required to hold vacant positions open for two months. So the earliest I can fill this position is October nineteenth, a Monday. Are you still interested?”

“Definitely.”

“Then welcome aboard the Kansas and Arizona Southern Railroad.”

(Friday, September 25, 1891)

Friday, October 23, 1891

Raul Castillo, Bill McCroskey and Moira Daley were at the conference table in the Board -- room, seated to Malik’s right. To his left were Peng Yan, Marty Finnerman, and Frank Tremaine.

Malik said, “Let’s get started. I don’t know who’s idea it was to have a meeting on a Friday afternoon--”

“It was your idea,” Castillo interposed, “so may we please get on with it?”

“But I was prepared to rant at length about boring meetings after lunch. Raul, you really know how to take the fun out of running a railroad.”

“Please,” Castillo pleaded.

“Very well. Everyone wipe the smile from your face.

“Here’s the problem for our discussion: we want to improve out intelligence-gathering capabilities, with a new emphasis on learning what our major partners are planning. Those partners include five railroads: the Acheson, Topeka and Santa Fe, the Union Pacific, the Denver and Rio Grande, the Southern Pacific, and the Chicago and North Western.”

“Excuse me,” Tremaine said. “What about the Wyoming Central Railway? Isn’t that railroad the northern terminus of the Medicine Bow Division?”

Castillo said, “You’re correct. However, the WCR is actually controlled by the Elkhorn, that is, the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad. What’s more, the -- FE and MV has come under the influence, possibly even the control, of the Chicago and North Western. This might be an opportunity to take a quick look at some of the complications of our business, as it might effect our discussion.

“The Elkhorn -- the FE and MV -- wanted to build from its terminus in Rapid City, in what was then Dakota Territory, to Casper, in what was then Wyoming Territory. However, Wyoming Territory had passed a law, in eighteen eighty-five, that any railroad in Wyoming had to be incorporated in Wyoming. So the Elkhorn incorporated the straw-man Wyoming Central Railway and then leased everything back from the WCR.

“The Elkhorn, itself, originally served much of central and northern Nebraska, hence its name. Then it expanded into central South Dakota, and, most recently, via the WCR, into east-central Wyoming. But, throughout its existence, it has had only one eastern terminus, and now all the shipping, for all three states, passes through Omaha, and the Chicago and North Western.

That gives the CNW a great deal of influence over the Elkhorn’s business, and gradually, the CNW is taking over. That is why we chose to sell our right of way that connected to only one other road. That is, save for the Ogallala, for which we have our own plans.

“As far as Wyoming’s law about incorporation, we did the same thing as the Elkhorn. We incorporated the Wyoming, Kansas, and Arizona Southern Railroad in Medicine Bow. The Division Superintendent, who resides in Medicine Bow, is the main stockholder and if we have a change in personnel, he will sell that stock to the new superintendent.

“We did something similar with the Ogallala Division. Our purpose there was to isolate its status as an interstate carrier from the rest of the company, where none of our Divisions’ tracks crossed -- state borders.

“Those are some examples of what railroad ownership is like, throughout the country,” Castillo concluded. Then he looked at Malik and said, “Emil?”

“Thanks, Raul.

“What Raul just explained is one of our major business concerns. Except for the Ogallala Division, which we plan to change when the time is right, we have eliminated our single-partner trackage. But that does not fully alleviate the problem. Fortunately, we have fairly good relations with all of our partners, and that’s in a large part due to that there are so many of them. None of them want any of the others to have too much influence with us, so they all treat us square. Chen and his partners were very smart, setting things up that way, as much as they did.

“But even the best business relationships can go sour, especially if adverse outside influences wreak havoc with our partners. And we anticipate such adverse influences within one to three years.

“Now, many of the machinations of the major roads becomes fodder for the big city newspapers, so we do have considerable current information about them. Even our business decisions can garner headlines in Wichita or the towns on our divisions, sometimes in the state capitals.

“But what we don’t know is what our partners are planning, nor the direction of their overall strategy, as it may affect us, especially in light of the anticipated economic crisis.”

Castillo said, “The Union Pacific is a good example for our discussion. From all the information that has been publicized or is otherwise available, the UP is overextended in taking loans to purchase other roads, primarily short lines. In other words, if the economy goes south, projected revenue would not be sufficient to both operate the road and to pay back the loans that the UP has assumed.

“We are left with myriad questions about this important business partner. First and foremost, do they also realize they are overextended or do they have information which would mitigate that conclusion? Are they oblivious to being overextended? Are they aware of the problem, but are disregarding it? Is there some manner of internecine warfare raging in their boardroom? Do they have hidden assets? When economic troubles arise, would they more likely work to save the essential portions of the road, or would they just grab the petty cash and run?

“Answers to all or any of these questions would be valuable to our own plans to deal with the anticipated crisis.”

Malik said, “Let’s take a fifteen minute break, visit the necessary, refill our coffee mugs. I’ll ask the kitchen to send up some fresh java.”

Daley called out, “And wash your hands before you leave the privy and come back to handle the coffee pot.”

Malik added, “Hear, hear!”

McCroskey said, “I like Marshal Lonegan’s idea, Emil. If we don’t hire a former Pinkerton, maybe we could pay one to sit down with us and give us some advice.”

“I’d go along with either of those,” Daley added.

Tremaine said, “I like the second approach better. If we hire one man, or woman, we get one person’s ideas. But if we paid several Pinkertons to advise us, give us some ideas and techniques, we’d be getting a wider range of ideas.”

Castillo asked, “Are they free to discuss their methods, or is that proprietary information?”

Peng said, “Their advertisements include the word ‘consultations,’ but it is uncertain what that would mean.”

Malik said, “As I’m thinking about it, now, I recall that the Pinkertons do considerable railroad work. I’m not sure I would trust them not to betray our purposes to a bigger customer. In any event, Pinkertons would more likely want us to hire their company for the work, rather than do it ourselves. But even if we did hire them, my concern regarding confidentiality would remain.”