9_4

By the time they reached Mill Lane the light had begun to fade. Bailey stopped by a line of trees and pulled back the flint lock on his coach mans gun into the firing position. As the others reached him, he turned.
“Thatcher. You go with Stokes around the other side and keep an open eye. Stokes, you stay at a distance so you can get a good line of fire if he breaks cover”
Stokes nodded and Bailey turned to de Hogue.
“You keep me covered whilst I go in.”De Hogue shook his head.
“What’s the point of the rest of us standing outside whilst you go in and get yourself killed?”
Bailey paused then turned his eyes on de Hogue.
“Perhaps you have a better idea?”
“Aye” de Hogue pointed to the mill. “It’s a old wooden building with only one doorway. Let’s just torch it”
Thatcher grinned and Stokes nodded.
“It makes better sense.” He said “after all, both Kirby and Arkwright were fighting men and look what happened to them.”
Bailey did not reply at first. He turned to stare at the mill with accusing eyes, but eventually his emotions subsided and he relented. He turned back to de Hogue and nodded silently.
“We’ll need some thing to start the fire” de Hogue said. He turned to look at Thatcher. “Can you get us something?”
The tall man nodded and ran heavily back the way they had come.
“I’ll go around and cover that door from the far side” Stokes said. Bailey nodded wearily. Within seconds the twilight had swallowed the two men up and he found himself alone with de Hogue.
“How did Melchior get on with the gold?” he suddenly asked.
Caught by surprise, de Hogue blinked and wagged his head.
“Very well. He established that the gold was easily worth a good fifty thousand pounds or more and that it bore a Dutch goldsmiths mark.”
“From Holland?” Bailey asked in surprise.
“Yes” de Hogue regarded Bailey’s face in the gathering dark, “Why?”
“The gang we broke up last year in Chatham were smuggling from Holland as well. They were getting the gold from Dutch herring boats and bringing it up the Medway. At the time we thought we had them all, but we could never find a link between the smugglers here and the gold in Holland.”
“Fishing boats meet all the time out to sea” de Hogue shrugged. “It wouldn’t be hard for them to know how to turn such chance encounters to their advantage. Many of them have probably known each other for years.”
“Of course” Bailey agreed “but who was co-ordinating it all? Thatcher?”
“That’s what I thought” de Hogue replied; “Now I’m not so sure.”
“You’re not?”De Hogue spread his hands.
“I know he is involved. Every one here takes orders from him. I just never considered the fact that some one else could be manipulating him from else where.”
“Ah… but what makes you think that other person is else where?”
De Hogue narrowed his eyes.
“You mean the Cooper? Willem Maes?”
Bailey nodded.
“Why not? He’s Dutch, lived here for years so he’s well connected on either side of the channel. All he has to do is send word by way of Thatcher and his fishing boys back to his old friends in Holland and pick up the profits whilst they do all the work.”
“It’s possible” de Hogue admitted, “but he’s hardly the only Dutchman in the Medway area!”Bailey shrugged. He knew de Hogue was right, they needed proof but they had the smugglers in Chatham now, and they would talk soon enough. Who ever was running the smuggling ring, would not remain hidden for long.