Free Shadows in the White City by Robert W. Walker

No one will ever find Denton’s remains.”
    He placed a hand on Alastair. “You will be careful?”
    â€œAs always, of course.”
    â€œGriffin was not a big man by any means, but he had forty pounds on Denton and he was a trained investigator with fight in him.”
    â€œNothing saved him…I know.” He stared again at Griff’s corpse. “That unholy bastard Denton must’ve come up out of the fog, took him from behind like all the others.”
    â€œYou should at least have the coach inspected for blood, Rance.”
    â€œFor all the bloody good it’d do! He’ll explain it as some fare who called for Cook County emergency, someone whose hand perhaps had been cut in a bar fight. He’s twisted each piece of evidence to Kohler’s liking and Kehoe’s excusing of it—even the photograph of his handprint at two crime scenes—direct lies.”
    â€œYes, the charming little fellow has convinced Kohler and Kehoe that handprints can be misread and flawed.”
    â€œCorroborated by Dr. Fenger’s findings—inconclusive.”
    â€œA magic trick in the developing room,” said Philo.
    â€œI am convinced there’s only one path now.”
    â€œWill you go down that path today?”
    â€œNo. Today I see to Griff’s family, to his proper burial, to the scant policeman’s fund his wife has coming, and in my private moments, I plot Denton’s execution.”
    â€œI can imagine any number of fine executions you’ve dreamed up.”
    â€œAye, but keep your voice down.”
    â€œWill you burn him alive?” whispered Philo, eyes dilated.
    â€œIt would be fitting.”
    â€œBut first you’ll wanna beat it from him as to why he’s done this.”
    â€œOfficially, we say learn what possible motive set all this in motion. ”
    â€œGood luck, my friend, but beware the truth.”
    Ransom reacted with a deep glare into Philo’s eyes. “Waste no time putting distance between Chicago and the ladies. Off to Mackinaw, and tell no one your destination.”
    â€œPromise.”
    â€œAnd try…try to explain to Jane and Gabby for me, please.”
    â€œNo one is likely to applaud your actions, Ransom.”
    â€œI want no applause, nor expect absolution afterward.”
    â€œHow long then until we might expect to hear from you?”
    â€œAs long as it takes. Look…look at him, sitting atop his cab now, moving off as if…so damn smug.”
    â€œI suppose even if you could get the goods on him, it would take a long time to see justice done, and they’d likely give him a suite at Straight-jacket Academy.”
    â€œCook County Asylum, where at everyone’s expense Christian Fenger will be his keeper to study him like a zoological wonder.”
    â€œAnd what justice for the dead?”
    The question hung in the air between the two men, both of whom had lost people they’d loved to the fiend.
    â€œYou naive wonder, Philo.”
    â€œNaive? How so?”
    â€œWhenever have you seen real justice meted out?”
    â€œI—I…dunno, really.”
    â€œYou haven’t. Few have! When does it happen? True justice found in this life?”
    As he spoke, Ransom had watched Denton take on a new fare. The hansom cab carrying a new passenger from this section of the fair to another with Waldo Denton sitting taller, prouder atop it. Alastair then saw Chief Kohler closely watching Ransom’s reaction to facing his dead partner. Kohler had been made curious of the whispers passing between Ransom and the former suspect, Philo Keane. What scheme is Nathan now hatching?
    Philo asked, “What do you want, Rance?”
    â€œWhat do I want?”
    â€œYes, in the best possible world?”
    Ransom shook inside with what he wanted as an outcome. He walked in a small circle, contemplating the depth of his hatred for the so-called Phantom. His new