Preys and Predators Part 1 Chapter 27

 

27           Appearances and ascension

 

Professor Freud was at luncheon with several associates when he was handed the note by the staff at the club. It was most unusual but there was the instruction that urgent matters may be reached to him. He read the note and excused himself from the lunch.

“My apologies to the host. The Wellington Beef is a marvel here. I much adored my Flemish stew anywhere.” The Professor smiled.

“The hearty dish. I know that. I had that every time I was in your city.” The English associate laughed. “The hunks of beef, onion, thyme, mustard, berries and …... the unforgettable beer to add on.”

“The Old Brown……. I loved the beer there. It is more alcoholic and you will notice the fruity on the aroma and flavour.” The Hungarian associate smiled. “I will still go for my Beef Goulash; the one meal my mother does it. The meat and the vegetables seasoned with paprika.”

“To each of us. Our preference of taste is alike the ego in us. We think the best for our …... appetite.” Professor Freud laughed and got up He had then asked for his cloak and glove. “I must go now.”

The professor left the club and there was a coach waiting for him. There were two gentlemen in the coach.

“Good day, Admiral.” The Professor sat opposite the duo. “How are you, Mycroft?”

The pretence was over. Mycroft knew the Professor was not there just for lecturing. He was also on the task to oversee the interest of his government. It was told to him by the Admiral. Apparently, his section needs to be revamped on the data gathering.

“The person of interest to you was found dead. Maria Pleaste was among the seven dead victims.” The Admiral told the Professor. “We should had been more vigilant.”

“Regretfully but understood. She held a personality that even the Intelligence in my country unable to track her most times. Hence, I was asked to find her here when we were told of her arrival at Dover.”

“She was with another name then.” Mycroft added.

“Yes, Marie Antoine. One of her several alias that she uses. She held several identification papers from Portugal, France and from Romania; some genuine while others fake ones. She moved in stealth and hold connections to the underground.”

“Maria Pleaste is a revolutionary then” Mycroft asked.

“In a manner of speech. We struck independence in 1830 from the Dutch, and it was an uprising then.”

“Riots erupted in Brussels and shops were looted. Theatregoers who had just watched the nationalistic opera La muette de Portici joined the mob. Uprisings followed elsewhere in the country. Factories were occupied and machinery destroyed. Order was restored briefly after William committed troops to the Southern Provinces but rioting continued and leadership was taken up by radicals, who started talking of secession.”

“Dutch units saw the mass desertion of recruits from the southern provinces and pulled out. The States-General in Brussels voted in favour of secession and declared independence. In the aftermath, a National Congress was assembled.” The professor narrated the history.  The Lond Conference of major European powers recognized Belgian independence and Leopold I as King of the Belgians in that following year.”

“The Dutch attempted to reconquer Belgium and restore his position through a military campaign. It was called the Ten Days' Campaign but failed when the French military intervention. The Dutch accepted the decision of the London conference and Belgian independence was signed in the Treaty of London.”

(Extract from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_Revolution).

 “The Pleaste clan was not in joy. They wanted the Dutch back and had since created chaos in the county. Mary Pleaste is the surviving member and holds great wealth. She supplying arms to the revolutionaries of the world, including the colonial states at Africa.” Professor Freud added.

“Why was she here?” Mycroft asked.

“The sea ports of the land were accessible to many parts of the other lands. She held an influence on the ships. She worked with the ship owners and then the rail roads to move her wares. She may be named as a weapon dealer, but her buy back was legitimate wares like spices and cottons, and slaves. Her family was into the slave trades for generations. They also supported the revolution in Mexico some years back. ”

“Is she a Wallachian?” Mycroft asked. He felt silly asking that but with the latest encounter with the Count, he was curious.

“I do not know. She could be Walloons; the Gaelic that may come from Romania.” The Professor smiled. “I do not support war; as to me it is a form of social life was originated in unresolvable conflicts and hence that civilization was always vulnerable to radical disruptions. It led to irrational "symptoms" of these primal conflicts.”

“However, my interest in Mary Pleaste is scientific in nature. She embodies the subject of my interest; ego. The ego is the part of the personality that arbitrates between the animalistic desires of the “id” and the moral and social standards of the ‘superego. If uncontrolled, it will lead to criminality.”

“And you want to study her character?” Mycroft asked.

“Her ego to be precise but now that she is dead, I have to re-look at my findings. There must be something I may had failed to read about her.”

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every ……” Mycroft was interrupted.

“Victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” Professor Freud smiled. “I have read the Art of War.”

“And Admiral Nelson’s strategy at Trafalgar battle. It was an unprecedented move, but the Admiral knew his enemy’s weakness, and exploited it. It was his super-ego at work.”

“Most remarkable, Professor. I would take you for an academic than a ….” Mycroft smiled.

“Nevertheless, I am a student compared to your brother, Sherlock Holmes. He did assist the monarchy of Bohemia once, and there was the Scandinavian.”

“Yes, a perception many had succumbed to over the years.” Mycroft envied his brother. Himself had many victories but there was no one to narrate it or even there was any attempt., The cell at the Tower of London was welcoming such idiots.

“Now we must focus on Mary’s works here prior to her death. Who wants to murder her, and is her death related to our monster’s murder?” The professor went into his thoughts.

“Mary?” Mycroft’s mind drifted the Kansas lady.