The Journey: Illustrated Edition (An Anna Kronberg Thriller) (28 page)

‘A faculty member was concerned about transmission of the disease to the city. I told him that the number of germs would be too dilute and that cholera bacteria prefer warm temperatures and gut contents to thrive. They would be weakened from such a long time in cold river water. But I also stated that if a number of cholera fatalities were to float down the Neva into St Petersburg, chances were that the disease would spread. Corpses can carry a great load of cholera germs, much like packages dispatching deadly disease. I gave an example of Barbarossa disposing of dead soldiers in water wells in order to infect his Italian enemies. His attempt was soon discovered and not very successful. Floating bodies are conspicuous. People will be warned and measures taken.’

‘Had a transcript of your presentation been published?’

‘Of course.’

I studied the tips of my shoes and decided to not share my conclusions with him. ‘I always thought of you very highly, Dr Koch. And I still do.’

He nodded once — a stiff movement, the tip of his beard tapped against his chest.
 

‘Could I ask one more thing?’ I didn’t wait for a reply. ‘Would you please report me?’

There was something in his expression that told me he had considered it initially. There was also amusement mingled with the surprise. I explained what I needed. He agreed, but showed his discomfort when I couldn’t give him my reasons for the enquiry other than it had to do with my safety and that of the child.

Dr Koch’s first graduate course in bacteriology in Berlin, 1891. Koch is seated in the front row, 4th from the left. (17)

— twenty-five —

W
e needed someone to shine a light on this chaos of half-knowledge. Late in August, Mycroft did just that — a beacon arrived in the shape of a thick letter.

Sitting on my bed, I deciphered numbers to letters, words, sentences. The lamp on the nightstand spilled its twitchy light over Mycroft’s scrawl.
 

A soft knock and an, ‘It’s me,’ announced Sherlock just before he picked the lock. He called it
exercise
. Investigating without the satisfaction of solving the mystery and catching the culprit was depressing him.

‘This arrived three hours ago. Read it,’ I said, massaging my ankles and nodding to the eight pages I had just written.

He took off his hat and unbuttoned his waistcoat, slapped cold water on his face, poured a brandy, and sat down.

Soft rustling of hands on paper, of paper on cotton blanket, breath pushed through nostrils, and the occasional
clonk
of brandy glass upon nightstand. I listened while stretching my abdomen. My ribs were being pushed out. Kicks against my stomach sent acid up my oesophagus.
 

‘Hum…’ he said and rubbed his eyes. ‘My brother appears to have obtained a good spy or two.’ The snide remark was washed down with a sip of alcohol. ‘And he extracted information from the good Dr Walsh.’

He rummaged in the drawers of the nightstand, took out his pipe and tobacco, stretched his legs, and began to smoke. The billowing curtains pushed at the clouds of smoke.
 

As it so often did, the clicking of pipe against teeth preceded his first comment. ‘Admiral von Tirpitz plans to build a battleship fleet to rival Britain’s in twenty years. He says the German Empire needs to expand in order to remain strong. The once-fragmented people will gladly believe him. The man who can convince others of his version of truth wields a dangerous weapon.’

‘He speaks about Britain as an enemy,’ I said. ‘
The
enemy, no less. Whether he really believes that or not doesn’t matter. He certainly uses it to gain support for his battleship plans. If the Germans really wanted to keep that secret, they shouldn’t have set up a naval base on Helgoland.’ How odd, I had referred to the Germans as though I wasn’t one of them. But then, hadn’t I always referred to
humans
as though I didn’t belong?

‘Indeed. But, then… politics are often clumsy. Driven by wants, rarely by needs. But this,’ Sherlock pointed his pipe at the stack of papers, ‘must have surprised even Mycroft.’
 

He threw me a sharp glance. ‘The transcript of the interview with Dr Walsh worries you.’

I tipped my chin in reply. Walsh had stated that James saw Russia as the main threat to Britain. But he’d become more curious about Germany after I had lied about the Kaiser planning a war.
 

‘Yes. It does worry me. But I’m also aware that my statement was only the last drop to flood the bucket. James was already involved in espionage and he already had the idea of using germs as weapons after Moran showed him the transcript of Koch’s presentation in St Petersburg. Even if Koch hadn’t talked about corpses transmitting cholera, someone else would have ignited the spark.
 

‘Talk about germ theory and how disease is spread has occupied everyone’s mind since the announcement of the tuberculosis remedy. Kinchin told me he had been waiting for this to happen.’

‘I neither blame you nor your mentor, Anna.’

‘I know. I was blaming myself.’

‘One question remains,’ he said. ‘We were able to reconstruct Moriarty’s motivations and most of his actions. Russia growing into a threat to Britain’s resources in India and China, and hence, threatening Moriarty’s assets as well.
 

‘Simultaneously, the German Empire appears to evolve into an aggressive power with a growing naval force and excellent — if not the best — scientists at the forefront of medicine, bacteriology, chemistry, and physics. An imaginative and logical mind will arrive at the conclusion that such a country has the potential to invent modern weapons that could kill with much greater effectiveness than anything we have seen before. Walsh stated that Moriarty only wished to defend the British Empire. A presumptuous lie! From what I learned about that man, I must conclude that his motivation lay foremost with his personal interests and investments, and if Britain might profit from his actions as well, no harm had been done. Ha!

‘Now. The one question that has yet to be answered is what or whom precisely Moriarty intended to target with his bacterial weapons. He cannot have planned to spread disease in the whole of Russia and Germany. He neither had the resources nor the men to accomplish this. It would cause chaos; it could hardly ever be controlled and might even turn against him. He must have had a precise aim. But
what
was it?’

I heaved myself off the bed and began pacing the room. Images of Moran stirring his tea and pouring more and more sugar into it, his insanely aggressive, but brilliant idea of packing deadly bacteria into sugar cubes. ‘Moran and James favoured anthrax, and I found it impossible to change their opinion. The risk… They didn’t care…’

Sherlock watched, unspeaking, calm grey eyes following me around the room.

‘Oh!’ I cried, holding my aching back.

‘What is it?’ He jumped up.

‘An idea hit me.’ I continued my rounds through the room and he settled back on the armchair, pipe between clenched lips. ‘We developed weapons for germ warfare,’ I muttered. ‘As you know, of course. The Kaiser’s favourite toys are battleships. Russian railroads threaten British resources. The best place to spread disease is in isolated spaces. Battleships are isolated. Trains are isolated.

‘Of course I cannot be absolutely certain. I can only pick what seems most likely. James and Moran strongly favoured the idea of spreading anthrax. They didn’t care that spores… Oh, you don’t know — spores of anthrax bacilli are like eggs that retain the ability to hatch for tens, or even hundreds, of years,’ I hastened to explain.
 

‘Um… what was I saying? Oh! They did not care that anthrax spores can contaminate land for generations. Claiming anthrax-contaminated land is dangerous. Cattle will die, sheep will die, and people will die from eating the anthrax-contaminated crop. The farther it was spread, the greater the danger.’

I rubbed my hot scalp. ‘But none of that is a real problem when one plans to spread the disease in confined spaces where the targets are isolated for a sufficient period of time. How long would it take for a train to go from Moscow to, let’s say, China's border?’

He scratched his chin. ‘Four to six weeks, perhaps.’

‘Perfect! Infect all food and water that will be consumed in a train, and Russia would be unable to deliver soldiers or draft animals anywhere beyond a one-week radius. Infecting all men on a battleship is just as simple. James and Moran discussed the use of anthrax-contaminated bullets. They wanted them badly! Even though the use on a battle
field
wouldn’t make sense. Sticking a bayonet through a soldier would be just as practical. But in a completely isolated space like a battleship — it does make sense. One such bullet hits the target, or a small bomb with anthrax spores as the payload — think of my hornet bomb! — and ninety per cent of the men will contract the disease. Brilliant!’

His arm had wilted a little. The pipe hung limply from the corner of his mouth.

‘What?’

He cleared his throat. ‘Nothing.’

What had I said? I searched though all the words that had spilled from my mouth, but couldn’t find anything particularly shocking.
 

He sucked on his pipe. The thing had gone cold. He lit it again. An impatient, almost aggressive gesture.
 

‘It is easy to hypothesise the sequence of events,’ he began. ‘Moriarty earns part of his riches by trading opium and cotton from China and India. He hears about Moran’s report on Russia’s railway plans, he interviews him and offers him employment in order to gain more information.
 

‘He sees the British Empire’s limited interest in Russia’s plans and her non-functional secret service, so he decides to form his own, while forging plans to protect his lucrative opium and cotton resources. He is aware that shooting railway workers will draw suspicion. But infecting and killing them all with a disease a few of them are likely to catch anyway, and with no one expecting a bacterial weapon, he has found the perfect solution — breed deadly bacteria and spread them among railway workers, soldiers, or civilian passengers.

‘When he learns of the military purpose of the Central-Asian Railway, his plans change shape. He also hears of your lie about the Kaiser planning a war, so he sends his spies to Germany and doesn’t like what he learns: the German Empire is increasing its naval and military forces. Even her bacteriologists are excellent. So he must wonder how long it might take others to arrive at
his
conclusions — how long until someone else thinks of bacterial weapons?

‘That the Transvaal and the Orange Free State are regions of constant conflict potential is widely known, so he uses both, Germany and South Africa, as sources of impending conflict when talking to you about germ warfare. He keeps his plans about Russia to himself, for these are the only ones he is deeply concerned with. He learns more about anthrax from you and, together with Moran, decides that this disease is the perfect solution. It can be used to stop deliveries of soldiers and draft animals to India and China. Should there ever be a conflict, should Russia ever try to invade our colonies, he could stop them and keep his opium and cotton fields safe. And finally, he would be a hero. The man who saved our colonies.’

He rubbed his neck, then laughed out loud. ‘Imagine Moriarty being knighted by the queen for his accomplishments!’

He placed his pipe on the ashtray. ‘This is the first time I have to congratulate ourselves for ending a man’s life.’

I couldn’t say anything. My eyes took in the papers on the floor.
The power of knowledge
, rang through my mind.

‘I’ll verify the crucial points of our hypothesis with Moran, once we have arrested him. And I’ll not communicate our conclusions to my brother. Not all of them. Not as long as it isn’t absolutely necessary to share this information with the government.’

‘I thought you trusted him.’

‘Of course I do. I must think about that matter.’

I nodded, exhaling a sigh. ‘I’ll burn these.’ I pointed at our notes — a cookbook on how to wage wars with deadly disease.