The Journal of Jonathon Lindey From the main part of the journal - Page 13
It seems that at the time of the explosion he had been nearby showing a visiting English detective around his patch of the city. Naturally the two of them had rushed to the site of the explosion, and had been among the very first people to reach the scene. The first thing he noticed on reaching the site was a strange acrid smell in the air. The English detective also noticed the smell, but he had encountered it before. "Nitro-glycerine!" he exclaimed, explaining that he had been on duty when the Fenians had damaged Scotland Yard trying to blow it up with nitro-glycerine. At that moment there was a shout from the pile of rubble. The landlady had been found alive! She was failing fast and asking to speak to a policeman. My landlady's story was strange, to say the least. Earlier in the afternoon a man had called with an item which he claimed had been 'ordered by the lodger'. The man, described as 'tall, gaunt and dressed in black' (I bit back an exclamation!), was carrying a small glass flask half full of a strange oily liquid. The landlady felt that the flask must have been very cold because it was starting to frost on the outside. She had asked which lodger it was for, since she had several. The strange man had given my name, and since I was at work, she directed him to leave the flask on the table in the hallway. One thing she did notice was that the man treated the flask with a great deal of care. She saw the man out and then went back to her parlour to finish the household chores. Early in the evening she heard one of her lodgers come in through the front door. She heard him call 'What's this strange flask for?" Before she could reply there was a tremendous explosion which demolished the house. At that she slipped into unconsciousness, and died with out regaining consciousness. It was at this stage that the smell of gas became obvious - it was leaking from a fractured pipe. The police had located three of the five lodgers, and were forced to work on the hypothesis that at least one of the others was buried under the rubble, hence their attempt to find a further body. "We can surmise", concluded the detective, "that the fifth lodger was the one who came in and disturbed the flask. Undoubtedly the flask contained nitro-glycerine, a notoriously unstable explosive, and the lodger probably picked it up to look at it. We do not expect to find his body, for he was surely blown to bits." "You will undoubtedly have noted the similarity in the description of the man who left the explosive and the man in the graveyard." he concluded, puffing at his pipe "Yes", I replied, "but what on earth can the Fenians have to do with this affair? I thought they were a secret anarchist society dedicated to the overthrow of British rule in Ireland?" "Well...", he said, "they are not exactly anarchists, that's something different, but I take the meaning of your question. I think you are jumping to conclusions. Because the Fenians used nitro-glycerine in England, it doesn't mean the Fenians are involved in this outrage. Though I grant you that it is unusual - I would have thought dynamite would be more obvious to blow something up." He pondered that point for a while and then looked up. "Well, at least you can see why, in the light of this information I do not dismiss your story out of hand!" I must have looked relieved when I asked what the next move was, because he smiled and told me to get myself some new lodgings while he investigated where the nitro-glycerine had come from. "I will have someone keep an eye on the lodgings if you let me know the address when you have moved in. When I have anything further I will send you a note." |
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