The story begins in 1950 with a scene of an 1800’s steam locomotive being hoisted from the bottom of Lake Flathead on the Montana Canada border. The air is thick with curiosity about what will be found in the locomotive and the one freight car that went to the bottom with it. But we will have to wait for Cussler to give us the whole story. This resurrection of the locomotive and its contents is just the final chapter in a long tale.
Cussler takes us back to 1905 and the story of the “Butcher Bandit.” At first we are just shown his cold cruel killing and robbery of banks throughout the Western United States. He disguises himself and cases out the banks so that he knows the routine and then simply walks in and forces the bank manager and whoever is present to open the vault while they lie on the floor. Then he calmly puts a thick wool scarf over the barrel of his gun and shoots each in the head, leaving no witnesses. He departs and removes his clever disguise and then seemingly disappears.
As the story unfolds Cussler reveals that the “Butcher Bandit” is a wealthy bank owner living in an exclusive mansion on Nobb Hill in San Francisco. He built his empire by cleverly robbing other banks and then doctoring the books in his bank to add the cash to his assets through fake savings accounts and the like.
Issac Bell of the Van Dorn Detective Agency is assigned to hunt down this despicable criminal and spare no cost. Bell is an extremely intelligent and tenacious man. He always gets his man (or woman). But this time it looks like Bell has met his match. The “Butcher Bandit” is also very intelligent seemingly anticipating every possible contingency and planning a clever route around each.
Little by little Bell gathers his clues until he eventually knows that Jacob Cromwell, the slick and wealthy banker is the “Butcher Bandit.” Bell sets a trap by placing a fake news article about a very large amount of money going to a Nevada mining town to help avert a miner’s strike, knowing that Cromwell will be tempted. Bell has learned that Cromwell executes his fantastic disappearing act through the use of his fake freight car departing on a legitimate freight train. But this time the escape has to be different since the track gage is narrow and Cromwell’s car won’t fit on it. Cromwell uses a female dress-up disguise this time and though almost caught at the bank as he kills one of Bell’s fellow agents, Bell sees through his female disguise. But, though Bell manages to wound Cromwell he is grazed on the head by Cromwell’s bullet and left for dead.
Cromwell and his sister are surprised when Bell shows up in San Francisco and a little concerned that Bell is getting closer and closer to them. An attempt on Bell’s life by a killer hired by Cromwell fails and the Cromwells need to flee to start a new life somewhere else. Cromwell gathers up his nefarious gains and hires a locomotive to haul him and his sister to Canada. He had re-painted his freight car but Bell discovered it and had it watched.
The great San Francisco earthquake and subsequent fire gave just the chaos that Cromwell needed to make his escape. He left the city with a train crew at gunpoint and headed for Canada. Bell, only minutes behind him in San Francisco took some 4 hours to locate a faster locomotive to chase after Cromwell. The exciting chase over the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the up north to Montana ends at Flathead Lake. Cromwell forces the train ferry to get underway with his train in the teeth of a terrible storm with hundred miles an hour winds. Bell arrives just as the ferry is leaving the dock and leaps across the water to the ferry. He breaks into the box car and confronts Cromwell. The two are in the midst of a fight when the ferry begins to sink under the onslaught of the wind and waves. Cromwell’s chauffer and henchman kills the engineer and fireman up in the locomotive but before dying the engineer disengages the brake and pushes the throttle forward sending the train hurtling off the barge to sink 270 feet beneath Flathead Lake. Bell leaps from the door of the freight car but Cromwell’s sister grabs onto Cromwell and holds him inside the car as it sinks.
This brings us back to 1950, where an 80 year old Bell witnesses the surfacing of the box car. He and his boss, Mr. Van Dorn look over the bodies of the two Cromwells and collect the 5 million dollars in gold certificates to be returned to the relatives of the people who had savings in Cromwell’s bank.
“The Chase” is another fine adventure story from Clive Cussler. I give it an 8 of 10 on the Weaver meter.
