Read Online Jack Kane and the Statue of Liberty by Michell Plested, J. R. Murdock - Free Book Online Page A

spat out a manifest for the ship.
    Betsy whistled.
    “What is it?” Jack leaned over Betsy to get a better look.
    She pointed to the ship’s log. “The ship was returning from Africa. They’d been gone for nearly four months. This captain must be really upset. I hope they can recover his ship and his shipment.”
    “What was he hauling?” Jack asked.
    “It says here he had a huge shipment of ivory.”
    Frustrated with Betsy giving only small bits of information, he waved his hand for her to continue. “Who ordered it?”
    She leaned her chin into her hand and continued reading. “It was headed to Sohmer and Company.”
    “I don’t know who they are. Why do they need a big shipment of ivory?”
    “Jack, you need to get out more.” She shook her head as she looked up at him. “They’re the biggest manufacturer of pianos in New York. They do some wonderful craftsmanship. My father owns one of their baby grands. I learned how to play the piano on that one.”
    It didn’t make sense that someone would destroy a shipment of something so seemingly inconsequential. “So why would someone sink a ship full of ivory intended for a piano manufacturer?”
    “Maybe they sank the wrong ship?”
    Jack barked a laugh. “Who would go through so much trouble to sink the wrong ship?”
    “Perhaps they’re trying to drive up the price. I mean, ivory is really expensive.” She ran her finger down the log.
    “There must be more to this. I need to go back to the docks and ask some more questions.”
    “Not without me you don’t, Mr. Kane. And you’re going to help me fill up this skid and sell some pamphlets along the way. The morning is the best time for me to get out there and inform the masses about the British conspiracy that’s going on right under our noses. I wouldn’t put it past the British Royalty to be behind something like this ship sinking business.”
    She handed Jack an apron. He could hear the jingle of change in the pockets. His groans of protest went unnoticed as they loaded two skids. At one point Betsy had children from the neighborhood sell the pamphlets, but she discovered men were more than happy to part with their pennies to her versus the children. The skid, one of Jack’s designs, was really a walker that would spyder its way along the street. This made it easier to start and stop, and it didn’t roll down hills.
    “But Betsy, I don’t want to waste any—”
    She held up one hand, used it to open her parasol, and sauntered down the street. “Come along, Mr. Kane. We have much work to do if I’m to help you solve this mystery.”
    He sulked along behind her.

Five
    Pier 26 looked like any other pier on the harbor, except it was absolutely teeming with people. Lenny had to get Squiggy to walk in front of the carriage, or ‘Plan B’ as it was called, to actually make any headway. The fact they weren’t supposed to draw any attention to themselves made it even more difficult for the habitually taciturn Squiggy.
    Instead of the normal throwing of haymakers and uppercuts Squiggy excelled in, he was trying to politely maneuver people out of the way, referring to Lenny in the vehicle and explaining that a very important person rode in the back who needed to arrive at the pier on time for the ceremony.
    Oddly, that worked, especially when Squiggy was mysterious about who the important person was. They left a trail of whispering people who formed groups to speculate on the identity of the passenger.
    A person on foot could have walked the final block in under five minutes. As it was with the milling crowd, the car took more than twenty minutes before it arrived. Lenny parked the vehicle right beside the French ship and slipped out from behind the wheel. He nonchalantly stepped away from the vehicle, whistling and smiling at anyone and everyone who would make eye contact with him.
    Lenny met Squiggy and the two spent some time wandering through the crowd. It was an eclectic group of people.