Robert Walker - Shadows in the White City

“Your job now is to get plenty of rest, get your health back.”

“Those three, two boys and a girl, they were…Jane, they’d be better off today had I been able to finish ’em all.”

“Alastair, you did everything humanly possible.”

“I suppose…I suppose.” Ransom still felt weak. “My greatest fear is for the homeless.”

“The shelter children, yes, I know.”

“Every child in Chicago remains in danger from those hyenas out there, wherever they are.”

“Don’t be naive, not you, Alastair. Our children have always been in danger from one kind of hyena or another, and after those murderous kids are caught, the homeless children will still be in danger from others.”

“What do you propose?”

“We start up a fund-raiser. If the suffragettes can raise funds for their cause, then, by God, we can raise money for this cause.”

“Whatever I can do, just tell me when and where.”

Just then young Audra stood in the doorway. The young girl was shaking with tears, overcome by grief. Jane went to her and held her close. She broke down and began confessing nonstop. “They made me do it. If I didn’t, Zoroaster-their father-he said they’d slice me up and eat me! So I did it. I did it!”

Jane rushed to Audra and hugged her. Ransom flashed back to what he knew of the girl’s involvement. She procured for Leather Apron. Was one of them, even if that hadn’t been her in that tunnel the night he’d killed the parents.

“Easy…easy, now, Audra!” Jane reassured her. “Whatever did you do that is so horrible?”

Ransom had eased from his bed, and Audra tried to pull away from Jane, fearful of Alastair, who asked, “Do you mean to say, Audra, that you led-lured-some of the children to Leather Apron?” It explained why most victims had not been in Aurdra’s gang. She wouldn’t willingly sacrifice her own, and Danielle’s death may’ve been a warning to Audra to keep silent.

Audra fought to pull away, but Jane held her in a bear hug. She broke down completely, terrified of her fate, terrified of what Ransom might do to her-the man who had slain Zoroaster-and equally terrified of the three children of Zoroaster still at large.

“So this is how Anne Chapman, Alice Cadin, and even your friend Danny disappeared-by trusting you!” Ransom shouted. “Using their trust, your toothy smile and innocent looks.”

“I had no choice! They’d kill me if I didn’t do it!”

“Hell, who wouldn’t follow her into a warehouse or into a bloody drainpipe?”

“Easy on her, Alastair! She’s a victim here, too!” shouted Jane. “Can you imagine the terror she has lived through and the guilt?”

“I suppose not,” replied Alastair, “since I’m not given to leading my friends to slaughter!”

“Bloody Mary made me do it! I didn’t want to!” Audra’s cries only increased.

Jane held her tight. “We’re going to get you help, Audra. None of this was your fault. You’re just a child, a frightened child.”

“Have they contacted you, the other three Aprons?” demanded Alastair.

“No, no!” she blurted out, and between sobs, she added, “I-I came to f-find Miss F-Francis f-for help!”

“I’m going to get you admitted for observation,” said Jane, “and we’ll take one day at a time, Audra. All right? All right?”

“All right.” Audra wiped her tears with a hanky Jane handed her. “Thank you, Miss Francis.”

But as soon as Jane relaxed her hold on Audra, the child fled out and down the corridor, past people Jane shouted at to stop her. With the speed and agility of a sewer rat, Audra was out of the hospital in moments. Out front of the hospital, Jane gave chase, but it was no use. Audra had disappeared back into the streets. Jane scanned every direction. Nothing . She wondered if she’d ever see Audra again.

News of Audra’s visit and her betrayal spread among all of Jane’s closest friends. Gabby, of course, took the news the hardest, disbelieving. Alastair retold the story to Philo, Christian, and to the man who purportedly saved his life down in that black hole-Ken Behan-when he came to visit at the hospital. Soon everyone in officialdom knew to be on the lookout for this poor child, and in the meantime, Jane remained angry at Alastair for frightening the child off as he had. “You big…bear,” she’d spoken her last to him as she stormed away.

A few weeks later, Alastair had arrived home from the hospital, and an hour into a nap, someone rang his doorbell. He made his groggy way along on his cane to the door, and when he opened it, he found Philo Keane and Dr. Christian Fenger looking stern and grim on his doorstep.

“We have a matter to discuss,” said Christian, “you and I, Alastair, and I brought your best friend along to…well, frankly, to keep you from killing me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Doctor. Come in, the both of you. I’ll put on water to boil, and we’ll find some tea.”

“That would be good.”

Philo shot Alastair a look that only puzzled him.

Once everyone was seated with a cup of tea, the three old friends stared from one to another, until Ransom said, “Well, what’s this about?”

“The good news, Ransom, is that those three feral children, the ones who got away, will never again feed on human flesh.”

“Then they’ve been caught? Great! When…by whom?”

“Not caught-killled.”

“Killed? How? What happened? A manhunt uncovered them, and they came out swinging, heh?”

“Not exactly.”

“How did they die, then?”

“Kohler’s involved.”

“Kohler? Damn the man. He’s taking credit for it all, isn’t he? No public release of this information.”

“Actually, no one else knows, and it’s to stay that way.”

“Christian, will you stop talking in cryptic code and tell me what the hell you’re driving at?”

“It began with that girl Audra’s confessing in your room. Seems she tried confessional at a church, but all she got from the priest was raped-according to her.”

“Raped by a priest? Impossible.”

Philo hadn’t said a word.

“What’s happened, Philo?”

“They got wind of Audra-Kohler and Chapman!” Christian blurted out.

Ransom digested this, his face bleeding white. “They got their hands on Audra, didn’t they?”

“They made her talk, yes.”

“Is she…is she alive?” He recalled Bloody Mary and Bosch’s double.

Philo piped in. “They let her live.”

“But she’s no longer the same and never will be again,” muttered Christian. “In fact, she is now a permanent resident at the asylum.”

“Those bastards!” exploded Ransom. “They tortured her until her mind snapped, didn’t they?”

“Not before she led them to the feral children,” replied Christian.

Philo choked out, “That maniac Chapman made her watch as he fed those kids to…to…”

“Let me guess. Fed them alive to the senator’s starved pigs.”

“Only after skinning them alive.” Dr. Fenger then tossed a small bundle tied with twine into Alastair’s lap, causing him to spill his tea.

“What the hell? What is this?”

“Final payment. The two of them, Chapman and Kohler, insisted.”

“Said you took a down payment to go after Leather Apron for the senator,” Philo near whispered.

Ransom gritted his teeth. “I told you what happened, Christian, and Jane was in danger. I had no choice.”

“Well, now, it would appear you are paid in full and the senator is happy, and Kohler is the richer for it, as are you.”

“And you?” asked Alastair.

Fenger shook his head. “Not a dime.”

“You have the joy of a clean conscious, then.”

“Not that it will save me from my debts.”