Rafferty returned to his seat at the Rotten Unicorn. He had Corklin’s killer, and


    Bones, but he was no closer to getting Brown. The spy ring would have to be


    someone else’s problem for the moment.


    Sir Laurence would have to spend some of his resources on keeping things in check


    while he figured out what to do.


    He supposed that his time as a masked vigilante was coming to an end. The woman


    would tell everyone that he was the masked man on the scene. He had motive, means,


    and opportunity. Maybe he could throw the authorities off the track if he could get


    someone to impersonate the masked man while he was visible somewhere else.


    He didn’t know how well that would go over with Brown. The mobster was not


    stupid, and would take a lot of convincing that Rafferty and the masked man were not


    the same man.


    And he didn’t know if he could be that convincing. Sometimes trying to make people


    think that you were not the target and someone else was just made them think you and


    the someone else were in things together.


    Hawley would want him to come down to be questioned. How did he get out of that?


    He had used the Webley taking both murderers. Ballistics would match the gun to the


    two attacks.


    Hawley would see through any alibi. He would know that Litner’s avenger was telling


    the truth as soon as he had a chance to talk to Rafferty. The ex-detective couldn’t get


    out of that except by fleeing the police.


    And Brown would want to put the squeeze on if he thought there was some kind of


    profit in letting his own masked man run around London sorting out his enemies for


    him.


    There had to be a solution to this problem.


    At least Bones was not shooting anyone while he was waiting for the bullethole in his


    leg to heal.


    And the worst thing about the situation was he had dropped everything on Sir


    Laurence to fix and walked away.


    It might have been better to have shot the woman and left her for someone to find.


    Then Hawley would have to prove he was involved somehow instead of knowing it.


    Rafferty smiled at the sentiment. Killing someone in cold blood was beyond him. If


    he had to shoot a man, he would rather do it when he had some reason to do it.


    He ordered some eggs and tea while he thought about his next move. He needed


    some way to wreck Brown’s organization without an open confrontation.


    He needed a way to get at the accounting. That would help him look for chinks in the


    armor. Then he could work out how to let the police do most of his job.


    It would make the Yard look like heroes cleaning up the city. He could live with that.


    How did he get what he wanted?


    Rafferty decided the needed a way to get at the money. Once he had that, he could


    dictate terms to Brown. That wouldn’t go over well in his opinion.


    He didn’t know enough about that side of Brown’s operations. Maybe Hawley did.


    He couldn’t ask. That would lead to exposure of his new double life beyond one


    woman claiming it.


    He needed to minimize that as much as possible if he wanted to continue.


    The money had to be the key. He needed to seize it in such a way Brown couldn’t


    earn anything as long as he was holding it hostage.


    Then he could use that to force something out in the open.


    He decided that wasn’t a perfect plan, and wasn’t going to be as easy as he thought


    while he ate his breakfast and readied for the day.


    Maybe Fletcher knew a vulnerable target he could target and take apart. He seemed


    to know things that maybe he shouldn’t. Someone might have told him who did


    Brown’s accounting.


    Rafferty would love to wipe Brown’s smirk right off his face.


    Rafferty finished his meal. He left money on the table to cover the bill before he left.


    He needed to figure out how to get at Brown. That meant walking and talking to


    people who would rather not be seen talking to him.


    Once he had enough information, he could make his move.


    Maybe he could suit Brown up for a frame while he was about his business. That idea


    entertained him as he walked down the street.


    He decided that looking at Brown’s club would give him something to work on. The


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.actual business of running his criminal empire was somewhere else, but maybe he


    could pick up something he could use.


    Maybe he would be able to pick up someone who could be made to talk. He needed


    something to get started. Anything would do at this point.


    At least he didn’t have to deal with the false clues of Bones, and Litner, now. He only


    had one challenge to work on and he could take as long as he wanted. The target


    wasn’t going to run to a country where he couldn’t be extradited back to England to


    stand trial.


    If he did run, that might solve Rafferty’s problem before he could.


    The ex-detective smiled. No way would Brown run. He would stay and fight out any


    legal action.


    He made a note to avoid Hawley for the foreseeable future. He didn’t need his old


    boss connecting him to the new vigilante in town.


    Rafferty made his way across town. He wasn’t in a hurry, and it would be better if he


    had some idea of what happened at the club. Once he had an idea of how to get in, he


    could think about what he needed to find when he was inside.


    Maybe he should stop by the building people and see if there were plans for the


    building he could peruse. That would help him figure out if there were hidden


    passages and such.


    It was the expected thing if the building was old enough.


    The chances of a secret passage were low. A hidden safe was a better bet in his


    opinion.


    Rafferty spotted the club approaching on his right. He expected a lookout to warn


    Brown that he was coming to see him. He looked around and found a two story store


    he could enter. He walked past the garments on display to the back of the building.


    He used the back door to drop down in a space that trucks used for dropping off


    supplies.


    He looked around as he walked along. He discovered a fire escape on one of the


    buildings. He slid a trash can over to get under the bottom rung of the ladder. He


    jumped up and grabbed that rung. He pulled himself up until he could start climbing


    the metal rungs.


    He swung over the rampart to the roof and looked around. He didn’t see anyone else


    on the roofs with him. He moved to where he could look down on the club and take


    notes.


    He spotted a lounger down the street from the club. The man leaned against a light


    pole and read a paper. The man looked up and down the street more than he read the


    news.


    Rafferty spotted another man down the block, sitting on a chair provided by a café.


    A cup of coffee rested by his hand.


    There might be more, but those two seemed to be covering the front.


    He pondered if he should take a look at the back of the club. There might be a hole


    in the net there he could exploit to get in.


    Rafferty checked again. He might be able to get to the roof of the club from the


    neighboring buildings if there was a way to get to a roof from the street.


    He decided to retreat from his post and check the other side of the street.


    If he could get into the club from the top, he wouldn’t have to deal with the security


    at the doors. He would need to make sure he didn’t alert the enemy, but he could walk


    around without attracting attention as long as he didn’t do anything stupid.


    He smiled. It had been a long time since he hadn’t done anything stupid.


    He went to the fire escape and worked his way back down to the street. He exited the


    alley away from the club. He watched the block as he crossed the street. He didn’t see


    another lookout helping the coffee man.


    He checked for another fire escape. He found a ladder over a set of trash cans. He


    jumped up and grabbed the ladder. He swarmed up the ladder to the roof.


    Rafferty jumped across the gaps to the roof of the club. He found a skylight to look


    through as he considered his next step. The skylight let him look down at a hall


    connecting the offices he could see.


    He realized that Brown’s office was out of sight. He also didn’t know if there were


    guards in front of the doors.


    Rafferty decided he needed to know the hall was empty before he broke in. That


    meant coming back at night and sneaking in.


    He doubted Brown kept people on post to stop burglars.


    He made his way back to the end of the buildings and descended to the street. He


    looked around and made his way along away from the club. He needed more


    information about the club before he did something stupid,


    And he didn’t want to get caught breaking in. That would be the perfect excuse for


    Brown to turn him in and prosecute him.


    He had enough on his plate. He didn’t need to fight a burglary charge on whatever


    else he might have done in the last few days. He couldn’t count on Fletcher to get him


    out of trouble. The point of a secret organization was to be secret. Fletcher wouldn’t


    jeopardize that for him.


    The man might have him murdered in his cell to protect his new organization.


    Rafferty walked down the street. He needed to get a look at the plans for Brown’s


    club. Then he might be able to break in after hours. He needed to make sure no one


    was on guard against someone like him doing the deed before he committed to the


    thing.


    He wondered what Brown would do if someone did pierce his inner sanctum. He


    supposed an execution of such a villain would be in the works before you could fry


    an egg.


    Rafferty smiled. If he could force Brown to shoot the wrong man, he could maybe get


    Hawley to press another charge and arrest the man.


    The problem was Brown would try to buy his way out of a trial. If he didn’t have any


    money, that might nip that problem in the bud. That made finding the books or the


    accountant important as a way to close the case on Brown.


    Then he could concentrate on the next man taking over the territory.


    Rafferty nodded to himself when he saw the old building that housed the plans for


    most of the buildings in London. Some of the buildings were so old, there weren’t any


    plans filed.


    The club should have something filed that he could use. He doubted it was so old


    there weren’t any plans at all.


    Rafferty spent the rest of the day poking around until he had the plans he needed. He


    spread them out and went over them until he had the layout memorized in his mind.


    He put the prints back when he was sure he knew where to go and what to do.


    He left the office and looked around for somewhere to eat. Once he had a full


    stomach, he would try to get a look at Brown’s office. Anything he learned from that


    could be turned over to Fletcher to be sent back to the police.


    Rafferty found a place he could settle into for a bit. He ordered a meal that should


    carry him for the rest of the night, and tucked in.


    He planned the next few hours in his mind as he ate. He needed to change into his


    other persona, go back to the club, and break in. Then he needed to find anything that


    could be used to locate where Brown was getting his money. Then he needed to get


    out before there were complications.


    And he had to avoid being taken alive at any cost. No one could tie his masked face


    to Fletcher.


    He finished his dinner and hoped it wasn’t his last meal before he stood and paid for


    it. He walked out of the door.