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Chapter 24 The great mahogany table

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in the Club Macaw's conference room

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was again surrounded by a grave

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assembly. As Gilbert McKinnon brought the meeting

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to order, there were congratulations offered

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to one of their number, August

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Fenwick brushed aside the compliments with

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a casual air. Not a bit of

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it, McKinnon, he said. The newspapers have

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made much of the bravery or cleverness

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involved in my escape. I imagine that they do

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so in the hopes that I will elect not

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to sue them as a body. The small group

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chuckled at this. I assure you gentlemen that

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only a most fortunate accident permitted

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me to call for help at all, and

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surely that was more an act

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of motivated self-interest than bravery. I scarcely

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felt a moment's courage from the time that

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I was taken until Chief O'Malley and his

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men came to the rescue. O'Malley was pleased

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at this, and chided himself again for

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his suspicion of August Fenrick, who was

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starting to seem like not such a

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bad fellow after all. Certainly the papers

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had made much of Fenrick's escape. even

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to the point of relegating the battle

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on Young Street to secondary status. As

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Fenwick suspected, it was most likely

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in the interest of making the

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most public retraction possible of their

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earlier accusations of villainy, but

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it did not displease Chief O'Malley at all.

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The story of Fenwick's rescue made much

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of the involvement of his police force,

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while the routing of the mechanical men

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who savaged downtown seemed to have been the

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work of an outside force, and not even the

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papers had much in the way of detail.

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McKinnon harampt and moved on. "'Of

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course we are regretably without one

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of our company today,' he said,

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indicating the chair, usually occupied by

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Ian James. "'James's son Wentworth

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was, as most of you know, injured in

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the blast that destroyed the power plant he

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had designed, and much of the complex it

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was meant to support.' "'Is he hurt

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badly?' Arthur Wells asked with some

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concern. "'Wells was roughly of an age with

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Fenrick and the younger Mr. James, though he

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had not known them well at school at

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school at school.' McKinnon brushed

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aside Wales's inquiry. No,

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no, he said the boy is fine. His

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father refuses to leave his side

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is all, given the free fall

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that his company is in, it

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strikes me as most irresponsible. August

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Fenwick elected not to voice his

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disagreement, or to mention that for

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the first time in his life

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he felt envious of his old

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friend Wentworth. Ian James was not

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a warm man, but perhaps this

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accident might bring about a connection

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between father and son. Defenwick's knowledge

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the two had never been close.

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and the younger James' devotion to

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science and research had not impressed

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his father, though it had certainly

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saved his company once already. Perhaps

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the young man's injury in the

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recent blast would touch some paternal

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nerve within Ian James now, before

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it was too late. Fenwick himself

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felt only mildly guilty that after

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their meeting the other day, he

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had briefly toyed with the notion

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of went with James as a

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possible Captain Clarkwerk. Certainly his old

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schoolmate was clever enough, and arrogant

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enough. as few knew better than

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Fenwick. But now that he had

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met the fiend in person, disguised

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as Clockwork had been, he had

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dismissed the idea. Even if he

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were prepared to overlook the damage

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done to his father's company and

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Wentworth's own research, even his own

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minor injuries, now that the red

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panda knew Clockwork was motivated solely

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by greed, he did not seem

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to be in Wentworth James's nature.

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Still, Fenwick thought there might be

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some reason for the younger James

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to work against his own father.

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And yet Captain Clockwork had allowed

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the captured August Fenric to observe

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his technical plans, believing him to

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be too great a fool to

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comprehend them. Whatever his former schoolmate

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might think of Fenric's supposed pursuits,

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James knew better than that, and

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would never have made such an

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error. But every other man in

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this room surely thought as little

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of the Red Panda's alter ego

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as he was intended to. If

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one is serious about devoting one's

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public life to an elaborate lie...

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It is a simple matter to

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convince people of just about anything,

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especially if one wishes them to

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hold one in slight regard. It

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occurred to Fenwick as the men

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talked and planned around him that

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one of these men was likely

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playing a very similar game. And

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however obvious a secret identity might

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seem, once it is known, it

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is still a powerful shield if

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maintained by an intelligent man with

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strength of will. Both Byron Page

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and young Arthur Wales had been

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pushed to the brink of ruin

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by supposed accidents caused by Captain

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Clockwork as the viper. Or had

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they? Such calamity would be a

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convenient cover for Clockwork's villainy. If

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either man had hidden wealth, it

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might not be an easy thing

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to discover. But the Red Pand

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ahead agents who were ideally suited

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to such research, he decided to

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set just such an investigation in

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motion, in case of fortunate discovery,

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might make further deduction unnecessary. Quincy

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Harrison might very well have the

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same sort of reserves. Indeed, drawing

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the attention of the committee to

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the tests of his own armored

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transport could have been nothing more

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than the engineering of his own

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cover story. The small and mousey

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Harrison hardly seemed like a super

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villain type, but if he had,

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as Fenwick had, created a public

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mask to hide his secrets, he

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could hardly have picked one better.

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Fenwick raised an eyebrow as he

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contemplated Harrison sitting in his oversized

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tweeds trying to get a word

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in edgewise. Certainly he possessed significant

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technical knowledge. And while the publicly

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traded shares of Harrison Arms manufacturing

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had plummeted in value since the

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accident that wrecked the transport, it

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was also possible that Harrison himself

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might be buying them up at

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cut rates, regaining total control over

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his own company in the process.

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If it were done cleverly, that

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might be a very difficult thing

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to prove, but the red pander

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felt sure that he had just

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the man for that job as

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well. Stanley Church sat with his

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bold head in his hands as

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the arguments continued. Of all the

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wealthy men at the table, church

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had kept the closest connection to

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the real work done by his

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company. The collapse of the masters

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in town... had been such a

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public humiliation for the proud Mr.

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Church that the Red Panda found

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it difficult to credit the church

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himself might have been the cause

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of it. Still, he admitted, if

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he found it necessary, he would

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willingly destroy August Fenwick to keep

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the Red Panders' secrets and goals

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intact. An examination of churches financials

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were also in order. Marcus Bennet

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was the only person besides Fenwick

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himself who had spoken with this

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fiend, albeit in his third identity

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as the viper. when the threats

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had come against the New York

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special. Fenwick paused. That had to

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be significant. The crash of Bennet's

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plane was still the only time

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that Clarkwick had announced his intentions,

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and his claims of authorship to

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the recent misfortunes had all come

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on that one occasion. But now

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that Fenwick had spoken with Captain

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Clarkwork directly, such an announcement seemed

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almost counterproductive to the arch-criminal's plan.

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Was it pure ego that made

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him unable to simply take over

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the city's major companies without a

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whisper? Or did he realize his

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mistake afterward, and that was the

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reason for the launch of the

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terror campaign of the mechanical men?

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In any case, something must have

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provoked that call to Marcus Bennet.

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Perhaps the red pander thought it

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was Bennet's own presence on the

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plane that necessitated the call. Was

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this fiend unwilling to kill the

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men that he would subjugate? Was

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he willing to murder strangers but

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not those whom he had known

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for years? Certainly he had held

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August Fenwick prisoner rather than kill

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him, at least briefly. Perhaps it

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was remorse that prevented him. The

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same kind of remorse that Ian

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James was feeling as he sat

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by his injured son's side. The

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red pant aside quietly, the list of

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suspects was not slimming down by much,

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and so far he had little to

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show for his outing beyond a new

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list of research assignments for certain agents.

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He was drawn back to reality by

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the booming voice of Gilbert McKinnon. Not

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by what the man was saying, which

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seemed to be another imperative call to

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unspecified action. but by the man's demeanor,

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he stood at the end of the

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table acting as unelected chairman to the

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proceedings, yet as far as

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the red panda knew, his interests

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had not yet been touched by

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industrial accident or swarm of killer robots.

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No one would deny his right to

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be involved in the direction this committee

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took, but was he not perhaps

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protesting a bit too much? McKinnon ended

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his speech and noticed Fenwick's

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gaze. August Fenwick nodded at the

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older man and thumped his hand

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upon the table in agreement with

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whatever had been said, prompting just

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such a chorus from around the table. It

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occurred to him that what he had not

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felt since sitting down was any man at

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the table considering him, how he

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had managed to cripple an Android and

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escape from his cell, or why he

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had not shared that information with police.

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He sensed no hidden knowledge, no deception

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at the table at all. and could

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not press a hypnotic spell against

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such a degree of mental discipline

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without tipping his hand. On the other

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hand, he thought. Perhaps he was on entirely

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the wrong track. He had to admit his

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failure to narrow down the list of

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suspects might just mean that none

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of them was a particularly likely

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candidate for villainy. August Fenwick took

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a small sip of a cup of coffee that

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had been put before him at some point,

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quite some time ago, to judge by the

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temperature. After the last several

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days, it had little effect.

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What he really needed, he thought,

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was a nice run over the

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rooftops to unwind.