The Spiritualist's Dilemma

Three Brothers

"Who is he?" shouted the professor picking himself from the floor and shifting his corpulent frame behind Maya.

"Randall Williams," said Maya not taking her eyes off the intruder, "He is a robber who has escaped recently from the Vasco Prison."

The professor gasped. "A robber living in my house!"

Randall Williams shifted uneasily on the floor. He was cowering in a corner, his knees huddled against his body. The man was bare-chested and clad in a khaki trouser which was covered in fine red dust. On his face, he sported a long shabby beard and his hair was disheveled and covered in grit and dirt.

"Yes," said Maya, "And not any robber, Mr. Chinew, Randall is a man of considerable fame. He is credited with the biggest heist in Cardim's history. You must have heard of the Bank of Cardim Robbery. Randall Williams was one of the masterminds of the robbery. He, along with his younger brother Dohorthy Williams, and elder brother Hristo Williams, in July 1875, dug an underground tunnel from a rented shop one block away from the Cahira branch of the bank to its underground lockers and made away with more than 100 Thousand Cowries in cash and jewelry. The bank owners found about the robbery only a week later and by the time an extensive manhunt was ordered for the three men, it was very late. They had escaped. For one year there was no trace of the three associates and the 100 Thousand Cowries. Then suddenly in August 1876 Dohorthy Williams, Randall's younger brother, made an appearance to the Vasco Constabulary to turn witness and reveal the location of his brother Randall Williams in return for legal immunity. As for the loot, he claimed that it had perished along with his eldest brother Hristo, who had been trying to escape the country in The Empress of Arabia which had sunk on its way to Madagascar a few weeks earlier. Randall was found in Delhi, hiding in a Mosque as revealed by his brother and was arrested while Dohorthy escaped punishment and took up residence in South Bank. The detectives investigating the case did not initially accept Dohorthy's theory about the loss of loot on the ship. They searched his house as well as all his known hideouts in search of some information but were unable to find any clue. However, when they interrogated Randall, he too agreed that the loot was with Hristo. Randall's statement left no doubt in their minds that the treasure was indeed now at the bottom of the Indian Ocean. They accepted the theory and put the case to rest. But it seems now, two years later, that Dohorthy was lying after all."

Randall scowled at the mention of Dohorthy and spat at the floor in rage.

"The money," continued Maya, "was with Dohorthy Williams all this time. He seems to have betrayed the brothers and had hidden the loot in Shadow Vault in three separate lockers. I don't suppose you have heard of The Shadow Vault, professor Chinew. It's not something many people know about. Even I had to spend two hours in the crime section of the Emilia Library to find about it. The Shadow Vault is one of the most interesting institutions in Cardim. It is not your normal bank where you deposit money and valuables. In fact, the institution does not cater to commoners like you and me at all. It is meant exclusively for criminals. People who have illicit wealth or valuables to hide from police, from the government, from enemies, from family and from brothers. The Shadow Vault offers locker services to these people, secret lockers whose contents are never scrutinized. All types of things can be found in the endless lockers of the institution. I have read people hide ancient Egyptian treasures, artifacts, wills, and documents as well as dead bodies in these lockers. The existence of the organization is rather secret, and it carries on uninterrupted with the blessings of some of the most influential men in the city - council ministers and merchants, who, I am sure, too hide a part of their considerable wealth in the millions of underground lockers that the Shadow Vault maintains across Cardim.

Now, Dohorthy Williams was a clever man. It seems to me that he never intended to share the loot with his brothers. He knew that when he turned police witness and gave the detectives the story about the loss of the loot in the sea it was certain that they would not believe him and search his house as well as all his other hideouts. So he deposited the loot in three lockers in the Shadow Vault. Each locker in the bank is designated by a locker number and one specific key. Without either you cannot withdraw the contents of the locker. Just to be double sure, Dohorthy did not keep the numbers in his house in South Bank but here in this place. Do you know who owned this house before you, Sir?"

The professor shook his head, "I got it from a bank agent a few months ago. It had been mortgaged to the bank and when the loan was not returned they auctioned it. That was the reason I got it rather cheap."

"The original owner of this house," said Maya, "was Johnathan Williams, grandfather of Randall, Hristo, and Dohorthy Williams. The three brothers grew up in this house. When the brothers were in hiding, Johnathan Williams had mortgaged this house to cover his medical expenses and the brothers were not aware of this. Dohorthy knew that the detectives would search his house for the loot, so he hid the locker numbers here. What I still cannot reconcile is why Dohorthy wrote the code down at all, he could have just remembered the digits. But anyway, he put the locker number somewhere in this house with the intention of claiming it when the matter subsided. Randall, on the other hand, was in jail but he was not sitting still. Though in front of the detectives he too had agreed to the theory that the loot had drowned in the sea along with Hristo so that they stopped chasing it, he obviously knew that Dohorthy had all the loot for himself. He wanted to avenge his little brother's betrayal in any way possible. So he made a deal with Sergeant Michael Munro of the Vasco Constabulary to help him escape in return for some portion of the loot. As soon as Randall escaped, he went straight to his brother who must have told him the exact location of the locker numbers. Randall murdered the brother and set out to this house expecting it to be empty after the death of his grandfather. But he found your servant Moin here cleaning the house. Moin told him that the house had been bought by you and that you would shift here next week. Randall must have paid Moin handsomely to get access to the house asked him to stay away for some days. Your servant conveniently wrote to you that his mother had died and took his leave while Randall got into your house to search for the locker numbers. He did not know, however, that you had preponed your shifting to the house. I suppose Randall was already in the house when you came here and hearing you enter, he must have made his way to one of these secret passageways which seem to be spread all around the house in every room. On the first night that you were here, he came down with the first code to meet Munro who was out on the street. But he could not get out of the house as the room was locked. Instead, he decided to write the locker number on the window. Munro must have already known that the loot was in the Shadow Vault in three separate lockers. Three locker numbers hidden all around the house in different places which would explain why it took Randall three days to get all the three of them. Each night Randall came down and wrote the number of one of the three lockers while Munro came on the street outside to note the symbols and then extracted the money from the locker the next day. What Randall did not anticipate though is that just like his brother Dohorthy, Munro too had plans to betray him. He had planned to leave Cardim with all the money to South Africa. He had booked a ticket aboard a ship due to leave tonight."

"But he has already left, you said? Has he not?" asked Randall, suddenly looking up at Maya.

"Not yet," smiled Maya, "I knew that you were hiding somewhere in the house and that there were some secret passageways spread across each room of the house which you used. There was no other way you could have appeared and disappeared through closed rooms. If you remember, professor, I checked all the walls and the floor for trapdoors but could find none. It now appears that Randall was commuting through the ceiling. Since I did not know where you were hiding I wanted you to come out of your den. That is why I said that Munro has escaped. Actually, I have already tipped a High Guard to arrest him. And unless I am much mistaken, here he is now coming into the house."

Ernst Wilhelm entered the room with quick strides. His face was writ with worry and perspiration had drenched his uniform.

"Did you manage to get Munro?" asked Maya.

"Yes," said he, "Or at least what is left of him. Michael Munro is dead."