"Good morning, Constable." " George, what have you?" " A skeleton, sir." "Yes, thank you, Constable." " The circumstances?" " Uh, yes, of course, sir." "The workers were digging this pit here, they found this poor chap about 15 feet down." "They should have left the body where it lay, but time is money, I suppose." "Indeed." "I'd say he's been down there some time, sir." "Mmm." "Yes, about 30 years or so, I'd say." " Thirty years?" " Yes, he was buried under a landfill." "If I'm not mistaken, there were once docks here for passenger boats." "Mmm." "Interesting." "Perhaps he was expecting trouble." "Indeed." "His pocket flask has held up well." "And, sir, it appears those chains were wrapped around his entire body." "In that case, George, however he went into the water," "I'd say it's safe to assume someone didn't want him coming back up." "A Philadelphia Derringer manufactured in 1862." "The same type of gun used to kill Abraham Lincoln." "When was the dock filled in?" "1865." "So our man was murdered between '62 and '65." "That's 35 years ago." "Probably just some rummy who got rolled." "This flask is full." "Oh!" "Bloody gin!" "It's filled to the top." "This is a five-ounce flask." "So?" "There are only four ounces in it." " Oh, my." " Well, how about that?" "Jerod Hampson and Lyndon Grove." ""Mr Shanly is to be entrusted under my authority" ""to oversee this cargo. "" "Which cargo?" "And what did this key open?" "I have no idea, sir, but this is signed by a John A MacDonald." "The old Prime Minister?" "Our first Prime Minister, sir." "It would appear that this victim of ours isn't just some rummy." "Sir, I love secret compartments." "They're so mysterious." "I'm thinking about putting a secret compartment in my book." "I mean the story, not a secret compartment in the actual..." "Sir!" "A secret compartment in the actual book!" "Think about it, you could hide a..." "A smaller book." "George, why don't you see if Jerod Hampson and Lyndon Grove are included in the census records?" "Yes, sir." "Sir, what's this key for?" "I don't know yet, George." "Sir, do you think this note was signed by the John A MacDonald?" "Well, I have no reason to believe it wasn't." "I hear he was something of a tragic figure, sir." "He had a sickly wife who was addicted to opium, his younger brother was murdered and, of course, he himself, sir, was a bit of a..." "Run along now, George, and see if you can find any newspaper reports on Shanly's disappearance and if he had any dealings with MacDonald." "Yes, sir." "Right, away." "Any initial impressions, Doctor?" "Actually, I have discovered something of interest." "The lateral section of the fourth rib had a deep scratch, suggesting an encounter with a knife." "Could that be the cause of death?" "I can only say that at some point in this man's life, he was stabbed." "The knife entered the ribs just below the right armpit by what appears to have been a slight upper thrust." "But, yes, it likely killed him." "I find that an odd location, beneath the arm." "Shake my hand." "Interesting." "Yes, that could be how it happened." "Yes." "Which would imply that the killer was left-handed." "Oh, very good, Julia." "Was there anything else?" "This is a pile of bones, William." "Consider yourself lucky we found what we did." "Yes, of course." "Sir, I'm afraid there's no record of a Jerod Hampson or a Lyndon Grove pre-dating 1861." "However, I do think we've found Mr Shanly." "He disappeared October 22, 1864." "The Minister of Defence?" "Top toff, then, was he?" "Which begs the question, how does a Minister in the Canadian government end up being chucked into Toronto harbour?" "Actually, sir, begging the question is a term for a logical fallacy in which the proposition to be proved is assumed in the premise." "It's not a question that begs to be asked?" "No." "Then why the hell do they call it that?" "I don't know." "Mmm." "So how do you intend to proceed?" "Well, sir, I believe I'll start with Mr Shanly's widow." "Mortimer just dropped off the face of the earth." "I'd assumed he'd met some unkind fate, of course." "Do you have any idea what he might have been doing down at the docks?" "None." "As far as I knew, he was in Quebec City, where parliament was in session." "Did he have any enemies?" "He was in politics." "Ones that may have wished him harm?" "Mortimer was obsessed with the idea that the Union Army would attack Canada when the South was defeated." "Ah, yes." "A common fear at the time." "One of the reasons for Canadian Confederation." "Morty was convinced that the Union government was spying on him." "They may very well have been." "He was the Minister of Militia and Defence, after all." "Do you think that's who killed him, then?" "The Americans?" "It's much too early to say for certain, Mrs Shanly." "Well, please keep me informed." "Now, if you'll excuse me," "I've got to make plans to bury my husband." "Detective Murdoch, I presume?" " Yes?" " Carson Turner, Toronto Gazette." "Any developments on the Shanly case?" "Not as yet." "And now is certainly not the time." "Was anything recovered from the body?" "A letter from John A MacDonald, perhaps?" "I'm not at liberty to discuss matters of evidence." "Do you deny finding such a letter?" "I won't confirm or deny anything until I've concluded my investigation," "Mr Turner, was it?" "Thank you for your time." "Good day." "George." "Rather a small turn-out." "Have you spoken with everyone?" "Yes, sir." "Mostly friends and professional acquaintances." " I have all their names and addresses." " Very good." "Sir, an old friend of ours is here today." "An old friend?" "Terrence Meyers." "We are gathered here today to mark the passing of Mortimer Shanly..." "So, sir, clockwise from this chap nearest us we have Colonel Grodin..." " Army man?" " Yes, sir." "American Civil War." " Oh?" "Which side?" " The South, told me twice." "He's living in St Catharines now." "What's his relationship to the deceased?" "Uh, friends, apparently." "Next to him we have Lawrence Cheevers, now that's Shanly's old secretary, now working for the government of Ontario." "Over here standing next to the widow and her family," "Bertrand Jacobson, another friend." "Now lives in Toronto." "He leadeth me towards water." "He restores my soul." "He leadeth me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake." " Amen." " Amen." "He is at peace." " Detective." " Mr Meyers." "Is there any point in asking you what your connection is to this case?" "Hmm." "Well, let's see." "Shanly was Minister of Militia and Defence." "I work for the Ministry of Militia and Defence." "Mmm." "And are you here to scuttle my investigation once again?" "Oh, it's too late for that." "Cat's already out of the bag." "The public demands an investigation." "But it's going to be on my terms." "There are issues of national security involved here." "Aren't there always." "I want you to keep me apprised of any developments whatsoever." "Call me at this number and I'll be at the station within the hour." "Oh..." "If you're approached by this man, say nothing and inform me immediately." "I was already approached by him." "His name is Turner, he's a reporter for the Gazette." "Reporter..." "His real name is Allen Clegg." "He's an attaché with the American Consulate, ergo a spy." "What did he want?" "He wanted to know if a letter from Sir John A MacDonald had been found with Mr Shanly's remains." "Uh-huh." "What did you tell him?" "Nothing." "This letter must never be mentioned to anyone." "Especially Clegg." "What's the significance of the letter?" "Well, there is no letter." "You didn't find one, did you?" "What did you find, Murdoch?" " A pistol and a flask." " Uh-huh." "Anything else?" "The contents of the flask." "Well, that's not surprising." "Shanly had a fondness for the bottle." "Not by MacDonald's standards, but..." "Anyway..." "Remember, Detective, any developments." "Meyers, eh?" "This Shanly business must have rattled a few closets in Ottawa." "All over this little note." "Well, I didn't give it to him, sir." "He likely would have confiscated the only evidence we had." "Careful, Murdoch." "Meyers has threatened us with treason before for keeping secrets from him." "Sirs, according to Shanly's schedule, he cancelled all appointments on October 21 and 22, 1864." " He disappeared on the 22nd." " Well, something must have been up." "Also, he seems to have had quite a few meetings with the Secretariat of the Treasury in the weeks leading up to his disappearance, a Frederick Norton." "Is he still alive and kicking?" "No, sir, I checked." "He died 10 years back." "But Shanly's secretary might know something of these meetings." "He's still alive." "He was at the funeral today." "A Mr Cheevers." "I don't know why Mr Shanly was in Toronto." "No one told me anything." "According to his appointment book, Mr Shanly had no less than six meetings with the Secretariat of the Treasury in the weeks leading up to his death." "What was discussed in those meetings?" "I'm afraid I wasn't privy to those meetings, either." "But you were aware of them?" "Well, they later became the subject of some controversy." "Why is that?" "A rumour circulated that gold bullion had been removed from the Treasury the day Mr Shanly disappeared." " Oh?" "How much?" " A million dollars' worth." "There was a flurry of activity in both ministries." "Police confiscating files and such." "And then, suddenly, everything was fine." "An accounting error, apparently." "Uh, sorry to interrupt, sir, but there's been a development." " Sir." " George." "Do you think it's coincidence that Mr Shanly's good friend" "Bertrand Jacobson is now lying here shot to death?" "I wouldn't say, sir." "No." "It would appear our case from the past has taken a detour into the present." "Sir, Mrs Jacobson said she surprised the killer going through her husband's desk drawers." "She's confident she would recognise him if she saw him again." "Very good." "Sir, the weapon lies here, as we found it." "Hmm." " A cap and ball revolver." " Yes, sir." "I haven't seen one of those since my training day." ""Training Day"?" "It's been fired recently." "This was standard issue for the Confederate Army." "Colonel Grodin was a Confederate soldier." "Sir, what I find a great coincidence is that two men killed 35 years apart both have a wound to this unusual part of the body." "Yes." "How does one get shot in the underarm?" "One thing I thought of, sir, was that perhaps it's a defensive wound." "Perhaps he raised his arm thusly, exposing his underarm." "Meaning he knew the shot was coming." "Hmm." "George, perhaps the contents of Mr Jacobson's desk drawers will tell us what the killer was searching for." "I'll pack them up straight away, sir." "It's such a shock." "Bertie and I had been together for 34 years." "Since I was 18." "You met him in 1864?" " Mmm-hmm." " Mrs Jacobson, did you know him on October 22 of that year?" "Why, no." "That was the day before I met him." " How is it the two of you met?" " Oh, it was..." "Like a miracle, really." "He washed up at my family's cottage on Toronto Island." " That's unusual, to say the least." " He'd fallen off a fishing boat." "He was near dead and frozen by the time we found him." "I nursed him back to health." "He was a good man." "Brave, too." "He almost died in that lake yet he went back out fishing every Sunday." "Mrs Jacobson, what do you know about your husband's life prior to him meeting you?" "I know he was an American, born and raised in Virginia." "Did he fight in the American Civil War?" " Yes, he did." " For which side?" "Both." "He was drafted into the Union Army, but he switched sides." " And do you know why?" " No, I don't." "He didn't like to talk about his past, especially the war." "Yes." "According to your statement to my constable, you got a good look at the killer before he fled." "Can you describe him?" "Dark hair, high forehead, um, not very tall." "Is this the man you saw?" "That's him!" "That's definitely him." "Sir, Allen Clegg is on his way." "And look what I've just found in Jacobson's files." "Elvira May." "Who's Elvira May?" "Not who, sir, but what." "Have a look." "Elvira May was a steamboat?" "A steamboat that sank on October 22, 1864, one day before Jacobson washed ashore on Toronto Island." "Bertrand Jacobson claims to have fallen off of a fishing boat." "He washed up on shore the day after the Elvira May went missing." "Jacobson knew Mortimer Shanly." "Shanly was killed on the docks." "How does Shanly connect to the Elvira May?" "Where was the Elvira May going?" "According to the papers, it was commissioned to go to St Catharines." "George, we know someone from St Catharines." "Colonel Grodin." "Yes, I knew Jacobson." "We both fought the war for Southern independence." "You mean the Civil War?" "There was nothing civil about what those Yankee bastards did to my home." "How did you come to know Jacobson?" "We broke out of a Union prison in Ohio and headed north." "We found a home for ourselves here." "Jacobson carried on to Toronto and I settled in St Catharines." "Yes, St Catharines." "That was the destination of the Elvira May, yes?" "You're familiar with that name?" "Of course I am." "Jacobson was on the boat." "Oh, I think it's more than that, Colonel." "I believe that boat was on some kind of mission involving a special cargo." "And I think Mr Shanly was also involved." "He was." "In fact, until a day or two ago," "I believed he had gone down with that boat, too." "Shanly and Jacobson were on their way to see you?" "Yes." " Why?" " We..." "We had business." "What kind of business?" "I'm afraid I made a promise never to breathe a word of that." "A promise to Shanly?" "He died 34 years ago." "It's a question of honour." "A Southern gentleman keeps his promises." "Sir?" " Yes, George?" " Allen Clegg is here." "Mr Turner, how are things at the Toronto Gazette?" "I apologise for deceiving you, Detective." "Where were you yesterday at about half past two?" "I was at Bert Jacobson's house." "You admit it?" "The truth is Jacobson was dead by the time I arrived." "But instead of reporting to the police that a man had been murdered, you rifled through his desk drawers?" "I would have preferred to talk to him personally, but..." " What were you looking for?" " Information." "On a boat that sank 34 years ago." "The Elvira May." "Do you know what cargo it was carrying?" "I have my suspicions, but by all means." "The Elvira May was hired by Mortimer Shanly to transport four strongboxes of gold bullion from the government reserves in Kingston to a Confederate agent in St Catharines." " To what end?" " You have to ask?" "Your government supported the Confederate States." "Sir, Canada was neutral during the Civil War." "Nobody's neutral, Detective." "Everyone has an agenda." "Canada's was the break-up of the American Union." "You were under specific instructions not to talk to that man." "That man is the lead suspect in a murder investigation." "He has diplomatic immunity." "We still need to know what happened." "This investigation is now over, gentlemen." "I don't think so, Mr Meyers." "I beg your pardon." "We live in a democracy, pal." "You want to shut down this investigation, show us your letter of authority." "And while you're at it, tell us about Shanly, the missing gold and the letter from John A MacDonald." "There is no letter." "I found it." "And I want to know what it means." "Where is it?" "Where you can't get your grubby little hands on it." "4179." "It's Meyers here, put him on." "Yes, sir." "It's as we feared, I'm afraid." "Uh, no, sir, I think you'd better come to us." "Thank you, sir." "That was my boss." "And he's coming to speak to you." "I tell you, lads, this year the Stanley Cup goes to the Ottawa Capitals." "They've just acquired this brilliant chap from the Rat Portage Thistles." "He used to play cover point." "I'm here to speak with Detective Murdoch." " Bloody hell!" " Ah, gentlemen, allow me to introduce Sir Wilfrid Laurier." " Prime Minister." " Sir." "Gentlemen, we need to talk." "Yes, this is Sir John's handwriting." "Then this note must be destroyed." "But it has evidentiary value." "Murdoch, if the Americans were to get their hands on this, it would mean the end of Canada." "Apologies, Prime Minister, but what the hell is going on?" " Inspector, we..." " Gentlemen." "Have either of you heard of the Copperheads?" "A loose assortment of Confederate-leaning renegades who sought to end the American Civil War, I believe." "Yes, they also sought to create a second breakaway republic in the American north-west." "Now you can see the benefits to Canada in such a scenario." "An American republic divided into three parts would be vastly weaker." "So it's true, then?" "The Canadian government conspired to fund the Confederacy?" "Elements of the government conspired, namely Shanly and Frederick Norton." "The Secretariat of the Treasury?" "Shanly arranged to steal gold bullion from Government reserves and transport it to a Confederate agent." "But surely even the Minister of Defence can't simply walk into the Treasury and check out a million dollars in gold bullion." "No, it would have to be transferred according to a strict protocol." "Overriding protocol required a special letter of authority from the highest office in the land." "Why would John A MacDonald write such a letter?" "Shanly lied to him." "He told him a Canadian soldier was killed taking part in a Confederate raid into Vermont from Canadian soil." " Oh, the St Albans Raid, sir." " Oh." "The Americans were already furious about that." "MacDonald knew if a Canadian soldier was involved, it would have meant war." "Shanly claimed the soldier's body was smuggled back across the border, but that Union spies had gotten wind of it." "So he requested a letter of authority to escort the casket home, to ensure the spies didn't intercept the body." " But there was no dead soldier." " No." "It was all a ruse to obtain the letter of authority." "Which Shanly then used to transport gold bullion to the Confederates instead." "So who killed Shanly?" "We have no idea." "Whatever became of the gold, the Americans must never find it." "It's proof of a Canadian-Confederate conspiracy." "The war that would provoke would destroy the Dominion." "But, sir, it was 34 years ago." "McKinley's administration has already attacked Spain on the slimmest pretext." "Now, on the verge of victory, they'll be itching for more." "We can't give them an excuse." "Well, if it's of any help, Prime Minister," "I believe I know where the gold is." "I believe this map is what Allen Clegg was searching for at Bertrand Jacobson's house." "Clegg told me that Shanly loaded the gold into strongboxes and shipped them aboard a steamer called the Elvira May, headed for St Catharines." "So the Confederate agent was to receive the gold there?" "Yes, sir." "But the Elvira May sank." "Jacobson's wife told me that he went out fishing every Sunday, probably dragging his nets for the Elvira May." "I believe this shaded area here represents the section where Jacobson thought the boat sank." "Those are American waters, less than, what, ten miles from their shores?" "Why would the Elvira May end up in American waters if she was destined for St Catharines?" "Maybe Jacobson had the location wrong." "It's possible." "I don't know what we're worried about." "No-one is going to find a sunken boat in a circle five miles wide." "Well, sir, at that shallow depth, a convoy of fishing boats dragging their nets would eventually snag on it." "So if the Americans are bent on finding this, they will." "That means we have to find it first." "Sir, surely we can't send a convoy of our boats into their waters." "There may be another way." "It would involve some untried science, but I think it could work." "Murdoch, I am loathe to say this, but I'm listening." "I'll need some special equipment and some time, Prime Minister." " Not too much time, Detective." " Sir." "Everything we see is the result of light waves being reflected off of the surface of any given object." "Unfortunately, light waves don't travel very far under water, but sound waves do and the same principle applies." "We call it an echo." "So it stands to reason that, if we were to send strong pulses of sound from our source here, any that hit a hard, vertical surface will be reflected back and detected by our microphone here." "Up to what distance?" " By my calculations, up to one mile." " Hmm." "And since sound travels at a fixed rate of speed, by continuously measuring the amount of time it takes for the waves to be reflected back to the microphone, we can determine the distance to the sunken vessel." "To that end I've built..." "A graphiser." "Hmm." "As the sound pulses are collected by the microphone, they are then converted to electrical pulses which move the needle and mark the paper." "Let me try that." "Hah!" "You can see my voice!" "Very good, sir." "So when is this to happen?" "Constable Crabtree has secured a fishing vessel." "We sail tonight." "I can't see a bloody thing." "Sir, how can you tell where we are?" "At a fixed bearing and speed, location is a function of time." "Okay." "So where are we?" "We're entering our range." "Right then, George." "Put the microphone in the water." "Aye, aye, sir." ""Aye, aye"?" "Just trying to get into the nautical spirit of things, sir." "The needle's moving already." "It's capturing the sound of the motors, sir." "What the hell was that?" "That's our source sound." "I've rigged it below decks to sound automatically." "Ah." "Suppose the Americans proved that we tried to fund the Confederates and these Copperheads." "Do you really think they'd up and march across the border?" "Probably not how it would happen." "A bully doesn't pick a fight with a punch." "He provokes it with an insult." "Most fistfights start with a shoving match." "Exactly." "And then they would demand an apology." "If we gave them one, we'd be admitting guilt." "The yellow press would demand punitive action." "Any further denial would be viewed as fresh provocation, and so it would go." "Until they're marching across the border." "Make no mistake, they'd hand us our heads." "I think we've got something." "Murdoch!" "Cut the engines!" "Fifty yards and closing." "George, time to for you to put on your diving suit." "Sir." "How do we know it's the Elvira May that's down there?" "We don't, sir." " Ready, Crabtree?" " Sir." " Good luck." " Ow!" "Thank you, sir." "I'll fasten the helmet." " Now, George, you remember the signals?" " Yes, sir." " When you find the boat?" " One bell." "Good." "And when you locate the strongboxes?" " Two." " Very good." "Now remember, it's only 100 feet but the pressure will be tremendous." "Don't hold your breath on the way back up." " Yes, sir." " Right, then." "Skipper." "All right." "Take it down." "He's found the boat." "Bloody hell, he's found the strongboxes, too." "Bring him up, skipper." " Are you all right, George?" " I'm all right." "I found it!" "At least we found the gold before the Yanks." "Sir, we're picking up a sound." "Something's coming right at us." "You are in American waters." "Prepare to be towed to port." "Bloody hell!" " Meyers." " Clegg." "We meet again, as they say." "Open the strongbox." "We don't have the key." "Drill the lock, we'll blow it." "Stand back." "Shield your eyes." "Bricks." "Nothing but damn bricks!" "I wasn't sure that the Yanks weren't going to lock us up anyway." "We're not made of gold, Inspector, it's that simple." "But that look on Clegg's face." "What I don't understand though, is, how did 240 pounds of bullion turn into bricks?" "Maybe there never was any bullion." "No?" "One thing we know for certain is one million dollars' worth was removed from the Treasury." "If it helps, sirs, I think I know how the Elvira May went down." "How?" "Well, there was a great hole in the hull, sir." "That's how I was able to locate the strongboxes so easily." "You think she hit something?" "I don't think so, sir." "The hole was splintered outward and one of the boxes seemed to be blown apart." "So there must have been a bomb in that box." "But who set it?" "And what happened to the bloody gold?" "According to records, four strongboxes, each containing 60 pounds of gold, were removed from the Treasury in Kingston, then taken to the train in an armoured wagon." "What then?" "The strongboxes were placed in a safe, to which only the rail guard knew the combination." "The key to the strongboxes was then entrusted to Mortimer Shanly after he showed the letter of authority to the Treasury officials." "Then the strongboxes were accompanied by Shanly and the rail guard until the train reached Union Station." "Could Shanly have stolen the gold after that?" "Unlikely." "Why would Shanly put the strongboxes on board the Elvira May if he had already removed the gold?" "Sirs, the rail guard from Grand Trunk who oversaw the shipment is here." "Ah." "Were you guarding the baggage car the whole time?" "Most of the time." "Mr Shanly told me to get dinner at one point." "Then about Port Hope, I came down with a case of potty trots." "But there was always someone there." "We all took our turns." "All?" "Me, Shanly and the other guy." "What other guy?" "I don't remember his name." "Do you remember anything specific about him?" "He was nice." "Shared some of his candy treats with me." "We talked a bit." "As I recall, he had a bit of a stutter." "Mr Shanly intended to claim ministerial prerogative but this was always of questionable legality." " So you didn't steal the gold?" " How could I?" "It was locked up in that safe." "I didn't have the combination." "But the safe was opened while you were in the baggage car." "You could have noted the combination, Mr Cheevers." "There was a guard at all times." "Mr Shanly was there." "They didn't leave to have dinner?" "And I believe you fed the guard laxatives in the form of candy." "No, Mr Cheevers, I believe there was a period of time when you were alone in that baggage car." "And a time when Shanly was alone in there." "He stole the gold." "No, sir, it was you." "When Shanly and the guard were gone, you opened the safe and removed the strongboxes filled with the gold." "You then replaced those strongboxes with identical ones filled with bricks." "You then took the original strongboxes filled with the gold and put them back in the shipping crate." "Bravo, detective." "You make it sound so easy, I almost wish I'd done it." "Do you really think I'd have spent the last 34 years in a boring government job if I had a million dollars of gold at my disposal?" "Sir, we struck gold, so to speak." "We found these in Cheevers' basement." "I see you've been to my house." "You sawed through the boxes once you got them home." "What choice did I have?" "That's right." "Mr Shanly had the key to these strongboxes." "You have the key to these boxes?" "Why not put your theory to the test." "These bars are made of lead." "Disappointing, isn't it." "Try sawing through them for two weeks and see how you feel and then try doing it again, just in case the first was an anomaly." "I obviously didn't steal any gold." "So what's the charge?" "Murder." "Murder?" "I..." "I didn't kill Shanly." "I was nowhere near the docks that night." "Perhaps, but in order for your plan to work, you needed Shanly to disappear, permanently." "That's why you loaded a strongbox with a time bomb, believing Shanly would sail on the Elvira May." "You have no evidence." "We found the one of the strongboxes blown apart on the lake floor." "People died when the Elvira May went down, Mr Cheevers." "First bricks, now lead." "Where's the bloody gold?" "Could a rail guard have taken it?" "No, I believe it was Mr Shanly." "But you said it wasn't him." "Yes, I know, sir." "At first, I thought it didn't make sense that Shanly would knowingly ship the strongboxes filled with bricks, but it makes perfect sense if he thought his mission was compromised." "You think he knew that Cheevers was going to make a play for the gold?" " Not Cheevers." " A spy." "Right?" "He thought an American spy was onto the plan." "And what better way to flush out a spy than to go ahead with the plan as intended, but substitute the lead bars for gold." "Stash the gold somewhere safe." "Get it to the Confederates another day." "Where the hell did he stash it?" "And how did he do it?" "The same way that Cheevers did." "Mr Shanly observed the combination to the safe, as did Cheevers." "Later that night, when the others were at dinner," "Shanly removed the strongboxes containing the gold, but instead of using a shipping crate, as Cheevers did, he used the coffin of the fictitious soldier." "So Shanly thought he was compromised, so he brought along lead bars in the coffin." "Cheevers wants to steal the gold, so he brings along four strongboxes of bricks in a shipping crate?" "Yes." "Cheevers thinks the gold is in the crate, but Shanly has it in the coffin." "So, gentlemen, where the hell is the coffin?" "Mr Meyers, I believe I know where it is." "Jerod Hampson and Lyndon Grove." "Lyndon is a small town just west of Hamilton." "The rail line runs through it." "What's Grove then?" "Sirs, would anybody else like to..." "Come on, hurry up there, son." "Is this what you're looking for, Mr Meyers?" "A million dollars in gold." "Actually it's only worth about 370,000 now, Murdoch." "The market value of gold has diminished somewhat since the Civil War." "Hmm, and what's the Government going to do with all of this found money." "Oh, that's top secret." " Really." " Not really, no." "I have no idea." "It's not my job." "What exactly is your job, Mr Meyers?" "Well, that is top secret." "Well, you found the gold, Murdoch, but you still have to solve the murders of Shanly and Jacobson." "Yes, I've been giving that some thought, sir." "No doubt." "Well, sir, I've been considering Prime Minister Laurier's question," ""What was a boat that was headed to St Catharines" ""doing in American waters?"" "Unless it was headed to America." "There was a Union spy on the Elvira May." "He killed Shanly, left him at the docks, took control of the boat and headed to America." "Exactly, George, and I believe that Union spy was Bertrand Jacobson." "Why him?" "He knew of the plans to ship the gold." "His wife told me that he fought in the Union Army but switched sides." "I don't think he switched sides." "I believe he became a spy for the Union Army." "And Shanly's killer was left-handed." "Jacobson was also left-handed." "George, take some of the men over to the Jacobson property." "I believe you'll find the ball..." "The ball from a Griswold and Gunnison revolver." "Sir, right away." "So who killed Jacobson?" "Colonel Grodin." "You were the Confederate agent awaiting that shipment of gold in St Catharines, weren't you?" "I know what you are thinking." "I did not murder Jacobson." "I've noticed that you choose your words very carefully, Colonel." "Murder, that's cowardly." "A Southern gentleman does not commit murder but he can kill with honour, can't he?" "This is a ball that my constables found on Jacobson's property." "We've tested it and it matches Jacobson's pistol." "Is that so?" "It was found roughly where you were standing when you shot Bertrand Jacobson." "You challenged him to a duel, didn't you?" "I did nothing of the kind." "No." "That's your answer?" "Would you stake your honour as a gentleman on that?" "We agreed to fire at the count of three." "He fired first." "And missed?" "No, I dodged at the count of two." "I knew he would cheat." "He was a Union man, after all." "How did you know he was a Union man?" "Jacobson told me that Shanly went down on the Elvira May." "Now why would he lie about that unless he was the son of a bitch who killed him?" "And why would Jacobson kill Shanly unless he was a goddamn Union spy?" "That's why I killed Jacobson." "Well, the country is safe from invasion and you've solved two murders in one go." "You'll sleep well tonight, me old mucker." "Yes, sir, I believe I will." "One thing that puzzles me." "How did you know that Jacobson was a lefty?" "Well, I surmised that only a left-handed shooter would have exposed his left underarm to Grodin's line of fire." "Hmm." "In other words, you assumed your conclusion in your premise." "You just begged the question, Murdoch." "Yes, sir, I did." "Oh..." " Prime Minister." " Detective Murdoch." " Inspector." " Sir." "I wanted to thank you personally." "Your country owes you a great debt." "Thank you, sir." "Gentlemen." "You realise, of course, the country can never really know of the debt it owes you?" "I'm aware of that, Mr Meyers." "Ah, well, till we meet again." "Oddly this time, Mr Meyers, I look forward to it." "Huh."