Sigmund Shaw: A Steampunk Adventure by Mark C. King Read Free Book Online

Lion Hotel, careful that his light overcoat not get caught in the front door, Sigmund surveyed his surroundings. His brown eyes searching first for people, then for anything out of place. Having visited this room previously that day, under pretense of examining the hotel for an unnamed employer, Sigmund could see that nothing had changed – not that he expected it to but in this line of work, details were everything. Moving quickly around the front desk, he tried the handle to the door marked, ‘Employees Only’ – it was locked. Before deciding on using his lock picks, he first looked over the front desk and saw several individual keys. The second one worked.
     
    Just before entering the room, a man, hair messed, dressed in slippers and an overcoat – no doubt covering his sleep garments – strode to the front desk and said sharply, “I need to lodge a complaint.”
     
    Sigmund, not expecting this situation, did the only thing he could think of and said, “Yes, sir. Of course, sir. What is the nature of your complaint?”
     
    “How is one supposed to rest with bells ringing and people shouting in the streets? It is most unacceptable!” The man’s face was turning a shade of red.
     
    “I fully understand, sir,” replied Sigmund, barely suppressing a smile. “I have already contacted Scotland Yard and they have promised to look into the matter quickly and fully.”
     
    Sigmund immediately feared he may have overplayed his hand a bit as the guest considered this information. But to his great relief the disgruntled hotel guest said, “Right, right. Good man. The Yard shall have the proper resources to deal with this atrocity.”
     
    “Yes, sir. Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?”
     
    “Please let the maid know that I would like to be undisturbed until after eleven.” And with that, the guest turned and stomped back upstairs.
     
    Sigmund, pleased with himself for the bit of acting, opened the ‘Employee Only’ door and closed it behind him – hiding him from view. Any other upset guests will just have to wait for the real desk clerk. The room Sigmund now found himself in was a small office, with only the one door and no windows. Equipped with an electric light, Sigmund activated it and looked over the furnishings, a desk and chair, a small wooden filing cabinet, a painting of the hotel, and nothing else. Where was the safe? Sigmund looked closer at the furnishings but a room this small with only a few items made it hard to miss anything. He put his bag down and gave thought to the possibility that that safe was perhaps hidden behind the painting. He lifted it off of its hook but there was nothing there except a solid wall. Maybe ‘safe’ was used loosely, perhaps the manager simply put items in a drawer. Rifling through the desk drawers turned up nothing but various papers. Next, Sigmund moved over to the filing cabinet next to the desk and pulled on the top drawer and was surprised when the whole cabinet, not just the drawer, moved a little. It was as if the drawer was locked but there was no locking mechanism. He tried the bottom drawer and it also did not open – this one too without a locking mechanism, almost as if the drawer was glued shut. Whatever part of the mind that recognized oddities and motivated further research was yelling at Sigmund to investigate further – something was there. He stood up and considered the small cabinet for a moment. What use is a cabinet that had drawers that didn’t open? Just a show piece? – but why have a show piece hidden away in an office? Sigmund decided to test the weight of it – a showpiece would weigh very little – and put a hand on either side and lifted. To his little surprise, it didn’t weigh much. To his great surprise, hidden under the cabinet was a safe – the cabinet was nothing more than a clever shell.
     
    Placing the shell to the side and applauding the disguise, he turned his attention to his leather bag. Undoing the