A Study in Brimstone (Warlock Holmes #1) by G.S. Denning Narrated by Robert Garson

[Music] recorded books and one-click digital present warlock homes a study in brimstone by g s denning narrated by robert garson a study in brimstone part one from the journal of dr john watson chapter one the dominion of man is drawing to a close the age of demons is upon us this i recognize is largely my fault and let me take just a moment to apologize for my part in it i am very sorry i doomed the world really just absolutely horribly sorry and yes i do realize my apology fails to come up to the occasion i'm not accustomed to expressing regrets of this magnitude in fact this being the first time the world has been doomed i can safely say that no man has ever had to craft such an apology so let's all agree to give me a break shall we it's not as if my words could save any of us in any case no i'm afraid the only useful commission remaining to me is to chronicle the history of our fall if this book survives to be read if any survive to read it i hope this volume will make clear that warlock holmes though powerful almost beyond description was merely a dupe that moriarty whose name is unknown to the species he betrayed was our true nemesis and architect of our destruction that i am well not so much of an idiot as might be supposed how is it some might wonder that a london doctor chose to share his lodgings with a sorcerer is this the same john watson who once demanded a new room at medical school just because splitty winslow kept that damned yappy dog yes then why did he fail to move out of 221b when he noticed the walls were bleeding in what way is a howling demon-filled void preferable to a schnauzer these are fair criticisms but there were extenuating circumstances believe me if fortune had not contrived to do me to the company of warlock homes i would not have enjoyed it you see i do not enter into this story as a healthy well-monied london gentleman i enter it as a 92 pound typhoid wasted wreck secretly rifling his wallet in a cheap pub i was sure sure i had another shilling i could not have miscounted i had not spent every night of the last month agonizing over the ever dwindling pile of coins just to lose count where was that damn chilling had i put it in my waistcoat pocket i had there i found it i gave thanks for small mercies withdrew the coin and snuck it into the leather sheath our waiter had brought with our bill it was my last shilling i had only three coins left to my name tuppence sixpence nine pence starvation could not be far off on the one hand it was folly to be paying for a meal out for stamford and myself i hardly even like the man and if it were not for a chance encounter on the street and the burdens of london gentility i would not have made the offer on the other hand why not my choice as i saw it was this if i did not purchase lunch i would starve to death in a london gutter in two weeks time if i did purchase lunch i would starve to death in only one week's time but just before i succumbed i could turn to the next beggar over and tell him with my dying breath if you ever find yourself at the hoben don't bother with the beef consummate it's somewhat overrated without taking my eyes off of stamford without respite in my continual oh yes quieting agreeing and nodding i slid the sheath to the edge of the table hoping our waiter would claim it the next time he passed and that stamford would not notice i needn't have worried stamford was not known for his observational acuity i have the worst luck he was saying just the damnedest luck why such misfortune should flock to me i will never know oh yes quite i agreed nodding in the years since we'd worked together at st bart stamford had done nothing to cure the tediousness for which we'd all shunned him he'd been holding forth for 10 or 15 minutes about his troubles which seemed to revolve around nothing more than making an ill-advised promise to help some chappie knew at the hospital at last he came to the end of his diatribe and settled on a topic i enjoyed even less i say watson i don't mean to be rude but you look like you may have had a bit of misfortune yourself i've rarely seen a man so changed do i miss my mark or no you're quite right stamford i was shot shot through the shoulder but how did you manage to get shot a ninja nobody gets shot in ninja nobody british anyway exactly why i elected to go there i told him but then the army realized it had been nearly 40 years since our last disastrous invasion of afghanistan i was sent to maywand maywand afghanistan as in the battle of maiwand the same but we lost that one didn't we i winced well you know i missed the end still the last bit i remember it looked as if we weren't doing all that well oh yes i'd say we lost that one i'd choke back memories visions of my friends and comrades being hacked to source all around me oh well you got out all right though eh stamford stammered so getting shot that's what made you so skinny eh oh no enteric fever my orderly murray got me back to the hospital at peshwa before i bled to death but the conditions were filthy the fever killed off half my ward before it relented memories piles of corpses baking in the sun the doctors too busy the soldiers too sick the natives too wise to dig our graves i tried to think of something else besides the big black wasps that laid their eggs in our dead and dying puppies perhaps christmas ponies big eyed puppies riding ponies home for christmas ah so sorry to hear it watson said stamford visibly regretting the zeal he just employed complaining of workplace trivia what is next for you are they sending you to india they're not sending me anywhere the army has reconsidered our partnership i suppose i wasn't the most useful doctor they've ever had what are you going to do watson what could i say the truth was i had considered myself a goner from the moment i was struck the better soldiers had the sense to be unconscious before they hit the ground and dead two minutes later i it seemed was determined to stretch the ordeal out i don't know i whispered i suppose i ought to be seeking a job or common living arrangements of some sort but i looked up expecting to see pity in stamford's eyes instead i found him wearing an inscrutable expression that encompassed both hope and guilt he licked his lips and mumbled so many misfortunes watson ought i to add one more it's cruel yet it also seems you may have been sent as the remedy to my own woes let me admit that i didn't care for his tone i said add to my misfortune what an extraordinary thing to say what are you speaking of well that man i was complaining about before at the hospital oh he is the damndest fellow but if you need an inexpensive place to rest yourself he may be just the man you need if he is that would not be adding to my misfortune it would be an unexpected boon i said tell me about him awful fellow a loner and a skulker loves the macabre always breaking into the hospital to hang about in our morgue he has a devil of a time getting anyone to lodge with him well trouble keeping them i suppose he was complaining of it only this morning i said i would help and i made a promise i should not have and i got myself rather tangled up in the whole affair i've been drifting about all day wondering how to get out of it for a moment the man sounded revolting to me yet as stamford spoke i began to reflect that i myself was far from an ideal living companion not many londoners craved the company of a shoulder shot gutsick invalid who would mope around the house complaining of life's treatment of him occasionally screaming when he heard a loud bang or suffering an attack of nerves if he realized his blanket was afghan also having become destitute over the concern of this one meal my need was dire i swallowed my pride stamford i am intrigued i would very much like to meet this what did you say his name was warlock holmes stamford replied wincing as if the name alone were enough to undo all my interest it was not i should very much like to meet this warlock holmes when might it be arranged a look of profound relief broke across stamford's face and he turned to the wall clock above the bar if we rush we might intercept him now he said hurry hurry get up let's go i was loath to hurry i had no money for a handsome cab and no strength for the walk i related this regret to stamford and suggested that perhaps i should come around the next day and that our current attentions were best devoted to lunch no he cried and slapped the soup spoon for my hand spattering the table with second-rate beef consummate all heads turned he immediately demurred and added ah what i mean doctor is why waste the day certainly i would be happy to provide us with a cab wait here don't move do not leave this spot do you hear me he disappeared out of the door only to reappear a few moments later feverishly beckoning me to follow one side of his suit was torn and dirted apparently the fastest way to get a cab on hi hoben was to run into the road and be struck by one then insist that you would summon the police unless the driver took you where you wish to go as soon as we were settled in his ill-gotten cab stanford shrieked that he would like to be taken to saint bart's hospital as quickly as possible and shoveled the driver twice the usual fare once during the ride he gave the man an extra shilling in joining him to hurry lest we arrive too late a lighting at the hospital stanford practically shoved me down a small flight of brick stairs through an aged side door towards the morgue as we neared it the sound of an argument came to my ears though i could discern only one of the participants voices absolutely not brains are the natural property of the individual in whose skull they reside they are the seat of our very identity a man's brain is his kingdom the voice had a high strident timbre to it but lacked the haughtiness of a true gentleman in a few moments i heard it again saying i have already told you i am unwilling to part with it good day sir a second later i said good day sir something crashed to the floor and the sounds of a distant scuffle reached my ears the voice said unhand me you have your own brain be content with that can't you ouch you can't very well you have brought this upon yourself now the combat began in earnest a series of bangs and wet fleshy thuds echoed down the corridor stamford who had grown ever more nervous as we approached the source of the noise at last suggested you know dr watson perhaps tomorrow would be a more ideal time i disregarded him and pushed past intent on discovering the nature of the disturbance i rounded the final corner into the morgue and beheld for the first time my future friend warlock holmes he was an excessively tall man easily the better of six feet his face was hawkish and thin he stood in his shirt sleeves his long jacket discarded across a nearby chair his sleeves rolled to his elbows to keep them from interfering with his current study his striking green eyes were wide with the physical effort he was engaged in which jude him brow and arm with sweat on the table before him lay the corpse of a gentleman who must have perished in the last week or so he already displayed the bloating and discoloration that comes as decomposition sets in the hospital winding sheet on which he lay was spattered and stained with almost every bodily fluid one could name some of it may have leached out naturally but you didn't have to be a doctor to see there was a more immediate cause for the majority of it holmes was repeatedly striking the corpse across the chest and face with a dented cricket bed crying stay down stay down stay down by god whatever are you doing man i gasped holmes froze for a moment mid-swing his guilty eyes locked with mine and his mouth began to move as if to formulate a response but no sound emerged stanford stepping in offering holmes is a scientist of sorts greatly interested in forensic studies doubtless he is conducting some experiments or other to um ah to determine whether and to what extent bruising can be caused post-mortem isn't that right holmes holmes stood frozen a moment more cricket bat raised a look of consternation crossed his features and he wondered aloud what are you talking about stamford what was all that the perfectly reasonable scientific explanation for your extraordinary behavior holmes oh yes so it was yes thank you stamford holmes began to look about the room searching i suppose for somewhere he could lay a battered bloody cricket bat where it wouldn't look out of place finding none he lowered it to the floor and slid it under the autopsy table with one foot as casually as he could manage once this was accomplished he gave me a half convincing smile of welcome and said you see there it's gone now um who is this stamford ah this is dr john watson he has given me to understand that he has an immediate need for shared lodgings at this holmes's bright green eyes flashed up at me and for a moment i had the sensation of being held in place by a giant but invisible hand when i next exhaled it seemed to me as if it contained not only the discarded air but the complete truth of my person and position as well dr john watson holmes intoned his voice suddenly two octaves deeper than it had been his expression remote as if lost in thought or struggling to hear a conversation being held at a great distance late of the british army having been wounded in the left shoulder in afghanistan currently residing at the hotel to amsterdam on the strand the feeling of restriction left me but i stood aghast nonetheless after a moment i breathed by god by god how did you do that man why it's almost supernatural what no supernatural no no no said holmes again stamford endeavoured to explain no it isn't holmes is particularly observant with the merest glance he can glean facts that elucidate a man's entire history though it may seem supernatural it is an entirely explainable phenomenon isn't that right holmes oh yes of course that's it why i merely observed my dear watson i merely observed he gazed at me searchingly almost desperately your left arm hangs limp but not stiff indicating a wound but not to the arm itself the shoulder then you have a sad expression so of course you must have been to afghanistan any doctor recently wounded and recently in afghanistan is bound to have been attached to the british army as to the hotel to amsterdam well ah observe the red mud caking your left shoe sir it is of a very specific type unique in london to one particular puddle just outside the hotel to amsterdam on the strand he gazed at me with an expression of triumph and relief my eyes wandered to my left shoe it was indeed caked with mud but not of a reddish hue and definitely not for my hotel in fact it was from a wet patch that stamford had dragged me through just outside the hospital it occurred to me that a truly observant man might have realized that it was still wet as it was not a rainy day this small quantity of mud would surely have dried on the journey from the strand nonetheless he had guest exactly and i had no means to refute him holmes stanford interjected i think you said you have already found lodgings i have said holmes a fine suite of rooms at 221 b baker street my heart sank though baker street was not the most fashionable area of london its central location and proximity to regents park assured it would be beyond my meager means nevertheless with flagging hope i inquired what should be my share of the rent oh a sovereign holmes replied what did he mean a sovereign a month would be nice but so would having a passing leprechaun present me with underwear woven of solid gold the two phenomena were equally unlikely most probably holmes meant to sovereign a week yet the more i reflected on it even that figure seemed optimistic surely not one per day i hoped a sovereign how often i asked just once he said one sovereign once and you may stay however long you please my jaw dropped surely he was strange company but what other company was i fit for and here here on the proverbial platter was presented to me the cure to all my present woes the leprechaun it must be said failed to appear yet might that not be a blessing too when one considered the advantages of cotton over gold as an undergarment material durability breathability ease of cleaning not to mention the difference in weight however homes continued there are some circumstances you should know are you averse to the smell of strong tobacco smoke not at all i said what about sulfur this i presumed would be a result of his scientific pursuits so i nodded my agreement and informed him that should i establish a medical practice i might also need to bring home some odorous chemicals or medicines he agreed immediately let's see let's see what are my other faults he said beginning to pace you must be constantly wary of poisons for i seem to have some always about i'm sometimes the victim of periods of melancholy or elation that have no apparent cause also i play the accordion when i say i play it i mean with no warning at whatever hour i must i shall endeavor to keep this to a minimum and make it up to you if i should begin it at untoward hours but well there is the truth of it what do you say can this arrangement be satisfactory for the cost of one sovereign's rent ever i should not have cared if you had the entire london philharmonic strapped to his back perpetually blaring aunt petunia's pepper pot absolutely said i then blush to have to mention this in front of stamford except that owing to a few outstanding obligations and the daily demands of my belly uh it may take me almost two weeks to raise the sum of a sovereign even as i said it i could scarce believe it but that was the fact of the matter but it did not seem to bother warlock holmes in the least that is of little consequence he said so long as you are willing to move in at exactly midnight tonight and agree to step backwards over the threshold the first time you enter hmm odd odd but not impossible and as my own situation seemed more desperate every time i stopped to consider it i agreed that i could at this point stanford leapt between us jabbed his finger into holmes's chest and declared i think you must admit holmes that dr watson here outstrips me in every criteria that is of value to you indeed holmes agreed i doubt you should have lasted the week take him then stamford urged and release me holmes fixed me with his searching green-eyed gays and asked you'll do it then dr watson you'll move in tonight at midnight backwards i shall i said with more relish than i felt then stanford you stand unbound said holmes with a dismissive wave stamford released a profound sigh turned to me grasped both my hands and said dr watson thank you oh by god thank you and i'm sorry with that he turned and fled the room holmes watched him go with a knowing grin and then turned his gaze on me strangest thing his eyes grew softer and his smirk transformed into a genuine smile yes thank you dr watson he said i am an excellent judge of character and i can tell already that you are perhaps the most suitable companion i might have found in all this wide city i am glad of you i am not well suited to being left alone for any great period of time we shook hands and parted i had more than 10 hours to fill before midnight and precious little to do i forced my feeble legs to drag me back to the strand packed my few possessions into two steamer trunks cajoled the landlord to have them delivered to baker street the next day and sat down to rest i left for baker street early lest my progress was slower than hoped on the way out it occurred to me to scan the grounds for holmes's unique red puddle i found none i arrived shortly before midnight to find homes standing just inside the threshold of his rooms expounding on how glad he was that i'd come as eager as he seemed to welcome me he nonetheless stood in the doorway all but a door himself barring me entry until the clock in the hall struck the hour i was weary with walking and almost broke my neck tripping backwards over the threshold as i entered nevertheless i was thrilled when i saw the place i had not thought to inquire as to furniture and indeed if there had been none i was scarce in a position to remedy the situation happily i entered a well-appointed sitting room not ostentatious not cramped there was a dining table and chairs set by the small back windows and before the front window that looked out onto baker street were two overstuffed armchairs and a small sofa they sat before a clean brick hearth upon a tasteful rug which i admired despite the fact it was clearly afghan off the main room was a hallway which ended the bathroom with to my great relief indoor plumbing on opposite sides of the hallway stood two doors the bedrooms i presumed i inquired as to which room was mine ah i am only just arrived myself home said so i'm not yet installed you may take whichever you please as i examined them my heart fell on the baker street side the room was large airy and luxurious the room across from it might easily have been mistaken for a closet if it were not for the fact that it had a closet there was no fireplace in the small room and only one tiny window which gave no visible sign that it could even be opened the room must have been designed by a sadist sure to be sweltering in the summer freezing in the winter and cramped all year round 221b it seemed had been intended to accommodate one gentleman and one wretched slave which room did i prefer of course there could be only one answer and yet my total contribution to this venture was to be one sovereign ever just one i took a deep doleful breath and announced that the smaller room was ideal for my needs warlock's face drew into worried lines you may have your choice of course he said but if one is as good as the other to you well i would be obliged if i might be allowed that room the smaller that one i asked incredulous i have always preferred having walls close by me he said and besides that large room has a western window oh i do not care for so much light watson i don't know how i'd abide it i know we've only just met but you would have my enduring thanks if scarcely believing my luck i entered into by far the more luxurious of the two rooms and flung myself upon its excellent bed i had meant only to test it but before i realized what was happening i was fast asleep chapter two those first days in baker street were a profound comfort to me it seemed as if all the perils that assailed me had dissolved into luxuries overnight they hadn't of course in point of fact i had just moved in with one of the most dangerous creatures ever to walk the face of the earth perhaps the most dangerous still the threat that holmes represented was slow to reveal itself his peculiarity on the other hand was apparent right from the start though he was kind almost to a fault there were a thousand social niceties home stood ignorant of his every meal consisted of toast and soup i never saw him eat anything else i couldn't even be certain the man slept i never caught him at it he packed his tiny room with the most extraordinary quantity of books he had a desk in the corner upon which he kept a kit that resembled nothing so much as a 16th century alchemical workshop which indeed it was he also had a bed that was all the remainder of his floor was covered in books he had gigantic tomes and single sheet leaflets some were ancient and some contemporary but they were present in such numbers as to fill his room from floor to ceiling such was their weight that the floorboards frequently groaned when anybody stepped in holmes's room or even in the hallway before it they groaned with a strangely human voice one might almost discern words the only area not covered by these books was a cramped path that led from his door to the bed with a minor spur that diverted to his desk this setup granted the impression that holmes was living in an overfilled storage shed i several times enjoined him to trade rooms with me as my own possessions were few but he refused he loved his little hideaway he was like a hermit crab that had found the perfect little seashell for itself often he would retreat there when he felt threatened or solitary when his mood was foul i could hear him in there holding whispered debates with well with the walls or nobody i presumed just as common as his depressions were periods of ecstatic mania during which he would leap about the sitting room with strange vigor stopping now and then to say how happy he was of my company in these moments he was apt to scoop up the battered accordion he kept on the mantelpiece and launch into some antique warshanty or other singing along with such abandon that you might have thought he himself had won the battle in question one morning i woke to find him leaning over my bed watson he cried if anyone calls and says they are the physical embodiment of ammon i am not in he then disappeared into the confines of his bedroom and slammed the door i was sure i could hear him barricading himself in there piling his innumerable books against the door we had no callers then again on days when we did have visitors they were strange ones homes would often beg use of the sitting room preferring to send me to a tea shop or regents park rather than allow me to sequester myself in my room i would not have minded so much if these visits had not come at all hours and without warning there was a little old lady from dorset who came in with the dawn one saturday a few dock workers stopped by over the next days we had numerous visits from a peculiar little man named lestrade a romanian fellow judging by his accent he was in his mid fifties beady of eye pale and hunched he was one of those who had a complaint for every occasion and seemed even less able to abide sunlight than homes my first overt clue as to holmes's true nature came two weeks after we moved in the day he sprang from his room interrupting me in the middle of my luncheon watson what a fine day don't you think i agreed that it was despite the drizzle i could see through the window he seemed not to hear me at all instead he grabbed me by the arm and hauled me to my feet suggesting how about a walk in the park what now i asked as he dragged me towards the door god yes right now what about lunch it can wait he said handing me my hat and walking stick only as he was pushing me out into the hallway did i realize that he had not dressed himself for an excursion uh are you not coming i stammered oh i've seen the park before he answered gazing distractedly over his shoulder you'll tell me if anything has changed won't you suddenly the quiet was shattered by a beastly roar from the direction of holmes's bedroom ah damn enjoy the park watson he cried and pushed me bodily into the hall the door slammed behind me i had no intention of allowing the situation to pass unexplained so i reached for the door handle to let myself back in it burned me somehow it had been heated to the point where it was unbearable to touch even with gloves from behind the door holmes yelled be gone you are unwelcome here but i live here not you watson obviously holmes answered best run along to the park there eh don't want to miss the uh pigeons or whatever anything else he might have said was drowned out by a second hellish roar and the thud of heavy footfalls whatever company holmes had it possessed the voice of a lion and the grace of a rhinoceros i banged upon the door and demanded to know what was going on in there but was ignored at last lost for better options i huffed my annoyance and left ignoring the sounds of battle behind me i allowed myself the expense of a paper from the boy at the corner and a cup of tea at a nearby cafe when i returned an hour and a half later i found holmes contrite and welcoming he asked as to the state of the park and i told him i had elected to go to a cafe instead he said that sounded pleasant i could not help but notice that half his face was bruised and swollen and that he seemed to have developed to limp our dining table had fared little better one leg was broken and had been clumsily glued back together the waste paper basket was full of the remains of my lunch and the shards of the plate that had held it on the table lay an ineptly prepared replacement lunch at which homes fired occasional nervous glances hoping no doubt that i would fail to realize that this was not the original holmes what has happened here i demanded sheepishly he mumbled look now watson i think both of us would be happier if you could develop the habit of ignoring these little occurrences eh i shall replace anything that is damaged i shall make things right i promise these matters are private i hope you will not think less of me dear reader but i took his advice to heart i buried myself in purposeful ignorance and did my utmost to ignore these oddities and outbursts in this i was merely displaying the common human reaction to unbelievable events which is just as the phrase implies not to believe them i did my best to carry on as if they had not occurred and besides was it not in my best interest to deny these perils my clearest alternative to living at 221 b baker street was to live in the gutter just outside my petty debts were almost cleared notwithstanding the single sovereign i still owed homes which engendered in me a love of this new situation which no amount of domestic peculiarity could eradicate indeed my chief nemesis in those days was not holmes but our landlady mrs hudson she was a tough old spinster as advanced in ages she was regressed in height and interpersonal skills she had the eyes of a weasel and the heart of a shrew and a scowl to rival any of the grand inquisitors who had so troubled spain in the fourteen hundreds she stood at about four foot nothing in battered pink house slippers several times as i prepared to leave our rooms i would sweep the door open only to find her standing there waiting to assault anybody who appeared with her disapproving stare as if they had just done something unspeakable what this crime against her sensibilities might be i could not guess nor could i imagine how long she must have stood there her nose all but touching the door just waiting for someone to scowl at sometimes i feared she might have been there for days i think she must have been a very lonely person the only things she had for company were the hundreds or perhaps thousands of french romance novels she inexpertly concealed about the house there was nothing romantic about them merely biological in fact these books contained such a highly refined brand of smut as to render them illegal in each and every civilized country such was our hatred and fear of this hovering dwarf that holmes and i formed a silent accord to release mrs hudson from her contractual obligation to provide us with meals instead at my direction and homes as expense we built the little alcove beside the dining area into a proper pantry jammed with cupboards an icebox and a preparation table the fireplace had a pivoting crane from which we could hang a kettle a pan a pot or even a grill if needed usually though holmes's toast racks had pride of place it was a damned inconvenient way to get sustenance yet infinitely preferable to dealing with mrs hudson we limited our reliance on her to the washing up of dirty dishes we would pile our used settings on a tray and leave this on the landing outside our door occasionally we would peep out and find that they disappeared or that they'd been returned to as washed and quite often broken out of sheer spite regardless of these precautions the peculiarity of our eating habits did attract her notice one thursday after surviving a particularly vicious hudson scowling home slunk into our sitting room and muttered i think our landlady takes it to miss that i survive on toast and soup watson i suspect she does i said it's the most unusual trait well damn what am i supposed to do toast and soup quite suffice to provide all the nutrition i require indeed why are people so particular about what they eat where do they find the time to worry over such things his expression was one of animal desperation i made no answer except to shrug he paced the room for a few moments sparing me an occasional nervous glance until having worked up his courage i presume he approached and asked i say watson i don't suppose you'd help that is if you wouldn't mind you could go down to the grocer and furnish us with some more suitable food you know what people are meant to eat don't you of course i do well then go and get some won't you have them deliver it here sometime when old mrs hudson is watching tell them they can present the bill to me may i count upon you watson you may i replied later that day i set off at first i approached our nearest green grocer but at the last moment a cruel idea occurred to me and i resolved to carry it out you see i still had no notion as to holmes's occupation or the source of his funds despite this he seemed to have no concern over money nor indeed did he place much value in it when he needed me to go out so he could conduct his private business he would often dispense a few shillings and encourage me to visit one of the local tea shops i don't know which i resented more the fact that he did this or the fact that i always accepted thus i decided to test the limits of his fiscal disregard i directed my step south to fortnum and masons on piccadilly i knew of no other place so aloof elite and criminally overpriced i bought everything i could think of the finest ceylon tea cakes crumpets french cheese italian wine german beer cold meats greens and a truly singular marmalade i had admired once while lunching with the dean of my medical school these i ordered in unnecessary quantities and asked that they'd be brought round at about two that afternoon i hardly made it back before the tower myself my legs still being uncertain i pulled one of our sitting room on chairs closer to the front window into a suitable vantage point to observe the coming exchange sat and waited promptly at two mrs hudson ushered up a pair of porters who deposited two large hampers on our dining table i had ordered even more than i realized the quantity was such that the two of us could scarce heat at all before it spoiled and the bill would have raised eyebrows at buckingham palace warlock did not mind in the slightest he paid without complaint smiling all the while then as our landlady retreated grumpy down the stairs he called out i say mrs hudson you must come around sometime and join us for one of our perfectly normal meals he then spun on his heel whistled a cheerful jig stepped over to our fireplace and proceeded to make himself as usual toast and soup he seemed to have no desire to examine his newly acquired mountain of vittles or even remove it from the table he may not have been tempted but i certainly was and i confess i proceeded to eat him out of house and home thus it was that on that fateful saturday holmes interrupted me in the middle of my fourth consecutive marmalade crumpet i had been stuffing myself insensible for three days running home stepped out of his bedroom gave me a nod and opened his mouth to mutter some pleasantry or other yet it never came all of a sudden he stiffened as if stricken his spine arched his face contorted he threw back his head and his eyes shone with such an intense brightness that i swear they illuminated a circle of the ceiling above him in that strangely deep voice he had used the day we met he intoned on the 11th hour of the fifth day of the month of nine thou shalt receive a dire messenger the sea hath refused him his sheep cast loose upon the waves to wander uncommanded fear him for in his hand lies the mark of the reaper death brought him hither and discovery shall be thy fate homes if thou darest attend his challenge at that moment his spine lost all its rigor and he crumpled to the floor in a heap tossing the crumpet to my plate i ran to attend him i found him shaking sweating and even more pallid than usual what is wrong holmes what has happened to you oh why nothing watson he stammered his voice was weak and uncertain i was i was practicing for a play you see a play i demanded incredulous yes yes a play that is all much as i wish to believe you i said i cannot help but reflect that the only people who rehearse for plays are those who are actually in a play which you are not i think you will recall ah yes well no he spluttered but i hope to be i practice this play every year in case some theater mounts it then i shall be ready to audition what is the name of this play i pressed uh the dread messenger of course he answered then changed the subject i say watson what day is it november the 5th i said at what time he asked um three minutes to eleven but that makes no sense does it holmes wondered aloud i was sure he hoped i'd failed to notice his fell prognostication but such was his confusion with his own message that he could not help but stop to puzzle it out month of nine september there was some curious word choice you know i reflected september may be the ninth month but it is named for the latin derived term for seven sept oct is eight nov is nine deck is ten so though the months are effectively named seven month eight month nine month and ten month their numbers no longer match their names curious said holmes so if it means the ninth month then this warning relates to something that happened two months ago or which will happen nearly a year hence that is correct yet if it relates to the proper name month of nine or nine months then it references an event which will occur as i could see he was having difficulty with the mathematics i chose to inform him roughly two minutes from now what oh wonderful wonderful thank you for the ample warning moriarty he howled then watson help me up i must reach the window i pulled him to his feet and towards the armchair by our front window thinking to deposit him in it but he had no intention of resting he propped himself on the windowsill and scanned the street below there he said pointing that man there that man i asked appearing at the large hunt shouldered figure he indicated who is he he is a retired sergeant of the royal marines holmes said he's coming here why there has been a murder i think chapter three the carriage bounced along over the cobblestone streets shaking the already pale warlock homes where he slumped in the corner he looked as one who was in the very depths of pneumonia fused rest our strange visitor who had indeed been a recently retired sergeant of the royal marines had come to deliver a letter this proved to be the oddest missive i had ever seen but the messenger seemed afraid of homes and would not tarry to explain it as soon as he left us holmes resolved to set out immediately he tottered to the hook by the door donned his long tweed coat and that peculiar hat of his i had never seen its like he said it was called a soul stalker still unsteady on his feet he asked to borrow my walking stick which i happily lent him then he sent me into the street to hire a cab holmes asked the driver to hurry to three lorriston gardens and collapsed into the corner of the carriage homes i said you look terrible why are we rushing to answer this strange summons because moriarty told me not to he said staring out of the window at the grey streets and who precisely is this moriarty i inquired nobody you ought to have any dealings with if you can help it well so you say but it is a very strange business and i don't understand yes it is a strange business but it is my business homes interrupted and the mere strangeness of it cannot contrive to make it any other man's i demurred this is a plea that cannot be ignored by any english gentleman under any circumstances the day an englishman turns to any other and says isn't it strange that none of us get married until our thirties yet when we do it is to enjoy the pleasures of the hearth rather than out of 15 to 20 years of pent-up sexual frustration on what i'm sure is an unrelated note i can't help but notice our streets are choked with flower girls yet i never see anybody carrying newly purchased flowers in fact you yourself seem to visit the flower girls two or three times a day but you never bring flowers to work or home or to the doctor's office where you go twice a week to combat your magnificent array of venereal diseases well that would be the day all our lives unravel and our society collapses thus we doggedly afford each other the luxury to conduct our own matters as you say i conceded read me the letter again won't you holmes asked to change the subject i think i leaned over pulled the letter from holmes's hand and read hey warlock found a dead guy why is he dead i can't tell don't look like no one smote him or nothing no axe no ammo empty room empty ass why is he dead i'm hungry you help number three lorriston gardens with my thumbs wiping away smears of dirt blood and strawberry jam musing this has to be a hoax it is quite genuine i assure you said holmes shaking his head gravely but who would who would write such a thing talk grogson just as it says well yes but what manner of man he is a detective inspector at scotland yard home said surely not i began to laugh in spite of myself he is i assure you home shot back and a quite effective one at that perhaps he is not the finest example of reason or observational prowess but there is more to police work than just that watson when you meet him i think you will realize why why i pressed unwilling to wait the last word of that letter before his name which you read oh no is in fact honor it is the topic dearest to his heart when you meet him examine him carefully and ask yourself what might become of you if tor grogson ever caught you in a lie warlock turned to the window threw his arms across his chest and settled into one of his sulks i realized i had insulted a friend of his as luck would have it i had another topic i was all too willing to address a holmes that messenger yes he snapped how did you know him to be a retired royal marine sergeant a look of extreme weariness crossed his features and he looked over at me as if he were a nine-year-old lad whom i just found with one hand on my tea cake and the other in my wallet his eyes bespoke exhaustion and they sought mine begging with a glance to be excused the labor of explaining i said nothing so he heaved a sign began simple observation of course his left boot was spatted with a unique red mud particular to a puddle outside the royal marines sergeants pension dispensing office or whatever they call it is this unique red mud akin to the sample which told you i was staying at the hotel to amsterdam don't be cynical watson i think his boots were clean homes i assure you they were not there's no sense arguing about it i said it is an easily settled matter when we get home we shall see if there's any dried red mud upon our carpet that's upset holmes he began to stammer i wonder did you note the tattoo on his left forearm holm seemed to have forgotten that our guests had been wearing a great coat either that or had forgotten great coats have sleeves i didn't i said well he had one and it was a large blue anchor and it said royal marines sergeant retired 1869 to 1880. i was sure our visitor had no such thing or at least that warlock would have had no opportunity to see it really i pondered that's a peculiar tattoo don't you think he was a peculiar man home said what would drive a man to get such a tattoo just suppose home shrugged perhaps he was concerned that if ever he should die and be discovered with no identification on his person that the coroner would be unable to establish his previous occupation look here watson i cannot surmise what drove the man to favor such a tattoo i merely observed that he had one odd that i overlooked it hardly holmes countered most people see but they do not observe there is a difference between seeing a thing and observing it i know i told him i'm a doctor but he continued unabated for example watson how many times would you say you had traveled up or down the staircase from our rooms to the street having been now about three weeks in his company i estimated 50 or so then you have seen those steps 50 times watson i wonder have you ever observed how many there are seventeen there are in fact seven no yes seventeen [Music] for a moment he sunk back into his sulk then jerk towards me with sudden vigor he fixed me with a hideous grin his green eyes burning and demanded in his deeper voice but tell me watson do you know their true names if ever you should have to call upon the power the loyalty of those steps what name would you call them by mortal i confess i cried out and shied back toward the opposite corner of the carriage sputtering ah holmes really really now i'm not sure such a thing as step should have names he shouted i say krieger what he continued holmes are you quite all right hey grace [Music] the creaky one third from the top i gasped your instinct serves you well he said and began to issue a slow deep laugh this is highly irregular homes i said but you would not cease his morbid laughter seizing the initiative i demanded i wonder would you say that a retired royal marine sergeant had been refused by the sea leaving his sheep to wander uncommanded upon the waves i would not he laughed vaguely and yet you did what did i just before the man appeared i said out loud damn the fire in his eyes cooled and he dropped once more into his seat muttering i hate that moriarty we rode along in silence for a while his breaths came ragged and tired i stared at him he was my deliverance from poverty and i quite liked him on a personal level i had the sense he needed me still there was so much of the inexplicable and dangerous about him i half thought i should throw myself from the cab take to my heels and not stop until i found myself master of the jamaican cotton plantation i told myself i would if the need arose and gazed out of the window to distract myself from the unwelcome thoughts that flooded in upon my repose the morning was dreary though the rain of the past evening had abated the low oppressive clouds hung heavy with the threat of more there is something malicious about november drizzle in london it is always cold unwelcome and delivered at the most fiendishly inconvenient times the cab horse was a veteran of some years service with the rhythmic gait to prove it but even he stumbled once or twice over the irregular cobbles why did we come i asked home said nothing why does the detective inspector of scotland yard ask the help of a of you still staring out his window at the grey mass of london holmes admitted i am a sort of consulting detective but what does that mean what is a consulting detective i have never heard of such a thing no well you wouldn't have i am the only one it means that when certain individuals encounter a crime that they cannot solve they call upon my powers of observation he quickly added quite i said but i couldn't help reflecting you know holmes scotland yard has always seemed to project such an air of superiority that if god himself were to descend and offer to help them find the holy grail that asked to see his badge holmes nodded and agreed i don't work with the yard often or anyway i don't work with most of them at all but if grogson or lestrade need my help i must answer lestrade that queer little man who comes to visit the same home said and they pay you for your help he sighed again heavily no ah then you are credited with solving the crime which helps build your reputation for private practice no then holmes why are we going understand watson the yard and i we get along rather poorly why it can hardly have escaped or notice that iron an unusual sort of man it is not i agreed to their way of thinking i am a guilty outsider if ever there was one whenever there is a crime with unusual characteristics i must solve it as rapidly as possible or expect to be accused of it in short order i see i said and you assume this to be such a crime no he shrugged or rather i don't know it's just that grogsan and lestrade are unusual gentlemen themselves despite their positions the rest of scotland yards seems to harbor almost as much suspicion of them as they do of me yet these two are my only friends there it is of some importance to my continued freedom to ensure that grogsan and lestrade remain the most effective inspectors on the entire force so long as they continue to solve cases the others cannot they are safe and so am i so no watson there is no money in this for me and no recognition only safety that is why i am going he settled back into his thoughts for a moment then suddenly sprang up and exclaimed oh hey now why are you going i was embarrassed to admit i didn't quite know i'm sure i must have said something about abandoning a friend or the duty of a doctor to see a seizure victim but that was not the truth of it why was i in that cab i had always considered myself a creature governed by reason clearly i had seen enough to know that homes was dangerous to me and dangerous to the fundamental foundation of my world view as well yet that i suppose was the very bait that had caught me i realize that most men will shy away from a thing that contradicts their understanding i admit i'd done it too ignoring holmes's supernatural nature for as long as i could manage but eventually awe and wonder overruled my fear there is nothing so intoxicating to the scientific mind as the weird and unfamiliar the fundamental basis of scientific thought is that an observed truth that undermines one's understanding is yet the truth if the observation is not flawed one's previous understanding must be to the open mind this is not a crisis it is an opportunity to form a new more perfect understanding of the world did i ever abandon science for a belief in magic as some people may accuse never rather i included magic in my understanding of the physical phenomena that shape our world science is a path to knowledge one that must include and explain every observable fact embracing all and rejecting none so there is the professor's answer to the reader who cares not a wit for science or the scientist let me say curiosity that's why i went i was curious all right of course that day in the cab i had no ready answer all i could do was stammer half truths until i looked out the window and noted lorriston gardens we're practically their homes homes wrapped on the ceiling with my walking stick and called driver stop here chapter four i walked calmly down the street towards three lorriston gardens holmes did not on the pretense of investigation he ducked behind every single hedge we passed occasionally he would break a leaf between his fingers and examine the sap or rub his finger against a brick in one of the neighbor's walls and say yes that's all very well but i wonder the closer we got to number three the slower his pace became at last he eschewed the pavement altogether and slunk from lawn to lawn hopping over the walls when he thought himself unobserved i waited patiently in the street or rather let us say i waited in the street i deduced that homes must have some compunction about actually arriving at three lorriston gardens but could not guess what it might be it remained a mystery until the constable guarding the front door saw him pop up over the garden wall oy it's you the officer shouted face reddening at home's chest he leveled one finger it shook nearly bursting with the strain of containing so much vehemence and accusation warlock stopped halfway over the wall frozen like a deer in a hunter's sights no it isn't but the constable's whistle was already at his lips he blew three sharp blasts and shouted for his fellows then turned to homes who was engaged in extricating his trouser leg from the wrought iron railings that topped the wall and cried warlock holmes i charge you stand in the name oh the law warlock didn't stand instead he toppled backwards into the neighbor's azaleas shrieking when at last he was free of both masonry and shrubbery he endeavoured to take to his heels but accomplished no more than three steps before being tackled by two burly constables a third arrived a few moments later huffing and panting he must have been embarrassed to have missed the apprehension for he made a point of re-tackling homes right out of the arms of his comrades my walking stick bounced free of the melee and clattered into the street i made sure to recover it before wading in to save my friend it is good to have something to lean on when dealing with constables they can be tiring wait i didn't do it this time warlock was protesting as i approached oh i mean ever that's what i meant to say i didn't do it ever officers what is the meaning of this i inquired in my most imperious tone we are engaged into the apprehension of this suspicious individual stand hawaii sir one of the peculiarities of london's police force is that they're all recruited from areas of britain where folk use no h's at all or far too many i almost protested that warlock homes was not a suspicious individual but caught my tongue just in time it was not an argument i could have won instead i told the red face constable this gentleman whom you have just collared is here on the particular request of detective inspector grogson to assist in the solution of this crime i don't know about that he said i rolled my eyes at the man reached into warlock's overcoat and with drew grogson's letter i presented it to the constable who glared at it for the barest instant before huffing his disapproval and waving his friends away we don't need none of his mumbo jumbo one of them protested as he wandered back to his post warlock gave me a look of deep relief and sidled away towards the garden path by the side of the house head who might you be there my fine friend the constable barked at me as if the murderer might make the mistake of approaching the police to argue the innocence of other suspects my name is dr john watson i'm here as a friend of warlock and to lend my knowledge to the case you may want to take note of my name and address constable in case anybody asks you to identify me later he nodded curtly as if to say that was going to be the next thing out of his mouth which it was not of a certainty and began searching his pockets for a notebook and stub of pencil he took down my information and even ventured to get a little free work done which is a hazard of my trade medical doctor then he inquired i am i wonder if you take a look at me back doctor watson sir pains me something awful now no need man there are three courses of cure for you take the clerk's position the next time they offer it spend more on shoes or spend less on pastries i said gazing around his bulk towards the door boy wait there i said me back your back is in sad shape because you've been walking your beat for far too long in cheap shoes on cobblestones the whole situation is not aided comfortable by the fact that you have doubled your weight since joining the force observe the stretch marks on your neck and your original issue academy stockings which are swollen almost to bursting this has ruined your feet and the waddling gate you have adopted to pamper them has begun to work upon your spine i am told that should a constable break his leg it is considered poor form to take him out behind the station house and shoot him instead the force finds desk jobs for its physically unsound members if they haven't offered you sedentary employment already they soon shall accept it if they haven't offered you sedentary employment already they soon shall accept it now i feel i must reclaim my friend and address the matter of the day if you please very well doctor he replied and here's some advice in payment you need to consider more carefully the company you keep i found warlock crouching over a patch of mud by the garden path absorbed in the examination of some characters scrawled in the dirt some of it was in our roman alphabet but in pseudo-latin phrases that made no particular sense much of it was symbolic in nature drawings of little stick figure constables with daggers stuck in them look watson warlock enthused someone has inscribed symbols of ancient power right here beside the crime scene have they i inquired observing his muddy index finger what is the meaning of it do you think who can say watson who can say he piped springing to his feet well i suppose we ought to examine the scene eh let's i agreed and we strode past the angry constable at the door and into the house we found ourselves in a gloomy hallway which led us to an equally dank sitting room there was a dead man lying face up with eyes wide and a rolled piece of paper jutting from his mouth disconcerting to some perhaps but i had seen dead men before there was blood on the floor but a doctor is no stranger to such sites no the thing that stopped me cold in my tracks was detective inspector torg grogson the room seemed barely able to contain him and his clothes had an even harder job of it he stood at least seven feet tall i could not swear to the exact measurement for at that moment he was bunched up against the ceiling unable to straighten to his full height his shoulders were broader than most men are tall and every seam of his brown tweed suits stretched and groaned to contain the muscles that bulged against them through many of these belabored scenes jutted tufts of spiky brown hair which i suppose must have covered most of him in the fashion of an ape the stubble on his chin looked as if it would serve as sandpaper and he scraped at it constantly with a silver-plated straight razor his fists were wrapped in cloth as a prize fighters and upon his head was perched a battered bowler when we first met i could not imagine what might work such a ruin upon an innocent hat but i soon discovered the source of the damage in spite of his height grogson had a habit of failing to duck under doorways the lack of care he took with his own head was alarming when he saw my companion his jutting brow relaxed and he grumbled warlock good you're good afternoon inspector warlock said then turn to the shadowy corner behind us and added inspector lestrade i hadn't noticed at first but there was our queer little romanian visitor he lurked in the darkest corner over one of the pools of blood that dotted the floor he had traces of that blood on his fingers and on his lips he was entirely silent i would have been prepared to swear he was not even breathing until he drew air to say what is this holmes have you brought your fellow lodger i have vladislav you may trust him he is sympathetic to peculiar individuals said holmes then grinded me and added surprisingly sympathetic i must say i smiled warmly lestrade smiled back and i nearly cried out his lips drew back much further and higher than a normal person's out revealing a more of overlapping fangs as i watched they grew sliding from his gums until each of his teeth from the front to the very rear was a curved white knife at least i understood why he had always been so tight-lipped when he spoke well then letters bid farewell to the world of men lestrade suggested but rather than embark upon a mystic journey to a fairy realm he simply shut the sitting room door in all my strange adventures with warlock homes that is the moment i came closest to washing my hands of the whole business perhaps if i had not been too terrified to move i might have run away and never more associated myself with warlock or his peculiar friends i didn't i stayed and in that moment my illusions fell from me despite what i believed to be true about my world despite all my medical knowledge i was forced to admit that the room certainly appeared to contain an ogre a vampire a warlock and a dead man oh and myself of course ignorant of holmes's true powers impotent against grogson's strength no more than a tasty treat to inspector lestrade there i stood chapter five i cannot recall what i expected to happen next did i anticipate some sort of black mass that my hideous companions would fall upon the corpse and devour it creeping shadows chanting perhaps i was too involved in my terror to anticipate anything at all in any case i was heartily relieved when they started doing police work it was in no way supernatural and it was also in no way competent grogson seemed unable to talk about the corpse without giving it a derisive little nudge with his foot quite disturbing the crime scene vladislav lestrade had a professional demeanor compared to the others but could not stop dipping his fingers in the congealing pools of blood and sucking at them greedily raised a magnifying glass to his eye and began looking all about the room what is that device for i asked ah he said as if divulging a great secret only look at my face and you shall know it makes one of my eyes look large and disconcerting that it did though nobody asked me i endeavoured to help understand i had no knowledge of investigative practice at least i had no knowledge of investigating a crime then again what does a doctor do but investigate illness each disease leaves its mark its signature for any man with the wit to spite out my instinct was to approach crime solving with the medical method to observe the symptoms their effects and aftermath and from that data determine the cause by happy chance this proved to be an apt method i began with the object most familiar to me the human body this particular specimen was approximately 40 years of age and utterly without friends i assumed this last part but his expression even in death was one of an insufferable self-centered blowhard i cannot explain what gave this impression only that upon entering the room and beholding him one got the feeling that he was much more fun to be around now than he had been while living there were no visible wounds on his body i concluded that if it would not for the note in his mouth there would be no reason to judge this a murder it had every appearance of a heart attack the only strange thing about the body was the smell it reeked of alcohol but there was something else as well a bitter tang not native to corpses whiskey or any food i knew poison isomized despite the lack of wounds upon the corpse the room contained a notable quantity of blood there were no spatters upon the walls such as one might expect from a sword swing or gunshot rather it was spread across the floor mostly in small droplets there were a few puddles of it one only a few feet from the corpse near the door i guess it must be the murderer's blood unless there was another victim probably this man's killer had some slow bleeding injury or other and the puddles represented spots where he had stood for a time he must have paused by the door to watch the victim expire the blood was o negative as i learned from lestrade who practically moaned rare this is rare such blood would sustain any human into whom it was suffused the blood is the purest bringing life to all death to none a search of the man's pockets revealed more clues he had personal cards they listed no occupation but gave his name as enoch drebber he had a wallet with several banknotes still in it until grogson snatched them so theft was clearly not the motive nor had the killer taken much care to obscure the victim's identity i think he was american i'm used see here he carried his wallet in his back pocket in the american style rather than in his breast pocket and look it is stamped with the motif of a bull's head within a star i can think of no people barbaric enough to fashion such a monstrosity none but the texans yet the best clue and also the most baffling was the paper in his mouth i drew it out employing my surgical practice of slow and steady hands it is well i took such care for the artifact was fragile in the extreme it was wax paper yellowed and brittle with age it bore the marks of having been carefully folded and kept for some time unrolling and then unfolding it i beheld the faded logo of hall and sons bakery saint louis missouri that warlock cried give me that i had nothing until now but this this was precious to someone how can you tell i asked oh well you know observation since his tone was so desperate i elected to bail him out i see you suppose it's good condition despite its fragility and age means someone has gone to pains to see it preserved thus proving that it is not rubbish but treasured to them quite right watson quite right warlock said with a relieved sigh he turned the paper over and over in his hands folded it gingerly and placed it in his breast pocket saying he should not have left it i'll have him now precisely how he intended to lure the murderer with a baked goods wrapper was beyond the reach of my reason then again i realized that reason would only carry me so far in this present company i began to examine the room and after only a moment gave a cry of discovery look here i called to my companions here scrawled on the wall in blood it's a word somebody has written raja no insisted the vampire lestrade not possible it was not there before they would have smelled it i shouldn't pay much attention to that warlock said it has nothing to do with the murder i was quite taken aback and demanded to know how can you say that holmes raja is german for revenge surely this is a fine clue no it isn't he said revenge grogson smiled it was one of his favorite words this was not here when you came in lestrade insisted it must have been i said none of us has been near this wall and anyway why would we wish to write revenge in german in blood on a wall holmes turned on me wagging his finger and said dr watson if you recall before you moved in with me i distinctly warned you that certain objects notably walls are likely to bleed in my company when i listed my faults as a living companion i told you to expect bloody messages to appear in german latin and sanskrit excuse me you did not oh did i not replied holmes with a sheepish look i ought to have anyway it's nothing to do with the murder lestrade you can have it if you like i'll not be touching that he said staring at it as if it were well the word revenge scrolled in blood in retrospect i suppose revulsion should have been a common reaction and unusual only for lestrade well i suppose we must try to determine who he was i suggested indicating the body of enoch dreber easier said than done home shrugged i suppose we he did not finish for in that moment his spine spasmed and stiffened he threw back his head and his green eyes lit to the ceiling once more quicker than i thought possible lestrade's hands flashed to his pocket and emerged holding a notebook and pencil with these he took note in a positive blur as warlock recited he is enoch of the latter-day saints fallen from grace fallen from life soiled in spoiled before he fell from the dry dusts of wild mojave he has come in company seek ye joseph son of stranger their steps lie side by side their fates intertwined enoch the master joseph the man clark secretary brother in faith and blackest crime justice comes upon the wicked the finder knows he that beheld the work beheld him that did the deed this must have represented his entire opinion on the matter four as soon as he had finished venting it warlock gave a satisfied little smile and then collapsed face first to the floor lestrade must have been used to such spectacles for without moving to see to homes at all he began to read over the strange speech he just transcribed into his notebook he tapped his horrid fangs with the end of his pencil and muttered so two of them then american just as you guessed dr watson enoch the rebber we have now for this joseph strangerson did we did we have a last name i asked from where i crouched a comforting hand resting on warlock's twitching shoulder son of stranger lestrade said that stranger son almost certain spend more time with homes and you'll start picking up on these things it boggled me but i began considering if what holmes said is true grogson grunted always true well if they are american visitors they must be staying somewhere i reflected can you scotland yard fellows figure out where maybe grogson said distastefully look to work ah i said snapping my fingers the finder he that beheld the work who found the body is he still here lestrade flipped through his notebook for a moment and said a constable john the rants he went home got his i want it i said perhaps on the way back to baker street warlock and i might stop by to see if he really did behold him that did the deed chapter 6 this is how i know myself to be a man of no great intelligence in the cab i was giddy with anticipation when i was surrounded by doctors and nurses who wished me to heal i had been sullen and disconsolate now surrounded by monsters and corpses tracing the steps of a murderer i could not have been merrier the streets between loriston gardens and orderly court were every bit as dreary as the ones we journeyed through earlier yet somehow in spite of the cold grayness of london everything seemed to sparkle with possibility and intrigue if we had not had a cab i should have run to john rance's house 46 orderly court was a humble dwelling but i like john rands immediately he being one of only three london constables who understood the letter h rants was tired after all he'd just come off an extra long shift with the added stress of having discovered a murder he didn't wish to speak to us at first insisting he had already given a full report and police business was not to be disclosed to strange men who knocked upon your door just as you were beginning to dream i'll admit he had me there i began to despair of having any help from him until his eyes fell and locked upon the half sovereign warlock was fidgeting with as he waited for me to conclude my business rent looked away from it when he addressed me but his eyes always wandered back to the coin he licked his lips i had an idea warlock you should put that away lest you lose it i said how would i lose it it's right here in my hand it is but what if we went in and sat down with john here suppose we sat in his kitchen and discussed what he saw why when you got up again you might well forget it and leave it on the table unlikely he scoffed very likely said i in fact i am certain that is exactly what is going to happen really ask tomes yes i said eying rants holmes regarded me with wonder and asked how can you tell in the end rant and i induced him to realize that we meant it as a bribe i did feel a pang of guilt not only was i corrupting a constable only slightly i suppose but i'd also been rather free with holmes's money the previous week still it was a coin well spent for it yielded quite a story rants told us how he was drawn into the house at three lorriston gardens by the sight of a burning candle his beat carried him past the house every day so he knew it ought to be vacant dreber was quite dead when rants found him and the room was empty of furniture and feature other than the dead man with the note in his mouth and the pools of blood rants then ran back to the street and blew his whistle to summon the nearest fellow constable when his comrade arrived rant sent him running to the local station for help while he himself stayed to guard the scene it was well he did for that is where his story took an interesting turn and what did you see after that i asked him he shrugged now worth noting if you take my meaning sir rain falling dogs barking drunk swerving drunks i asked just one drunk i guess tell me about him whoa he was drunk rants began lamely come up to me crying about this donut of his donut i wondered exactly what is that some sort of pastry they've got over in the united states rants explained i take it to be something like a real sweet crumpet with old pokeden cooked in hot oil a hole yeah right through the middle and exactly why i wish to know would any man in his right mind wish to pay another man to poke a hole in his crumpet ranch shrugged again might be some advantage to it such as well just think you could hang 50 of them on a rod or a wire dip them in and cook them all at once then pull the rod up and hang them all up to cool neat as you like i gasped i suppose i may have shed a tear then for england and her empire what hope was there for us against the people who would destroy the stately majesty of our favorite breakfast treat a people who had actually industrialized the crumpet how could we compete the decline of our empire was thus presaged to me as plain as a hole in a crumpet monstrous i muttered anyways rants continued that drunk was looking for one said he left it somewhere there abouts and missed it somewhat terrible wanted me to find it or any trace of it asked if i'd seen the rapper even warlock and i exchanged a loaded glance i asked france what did you say to him told him to stumble off didn't i had other worries last night i did i wonder constable rants did you examine the note in the dead man's mouth no sir i don't go messing with no scene of no crime not when specular stride is coming he'd have my skinny wood mind if grogson's got the case you might as well rifle the body rob the place and draw a moustache on the corpse he wouldn't mind i suppose not i agreed then asked what became of the drunk oh he didn't want to go i had to load him back into his cab and send him on his way he had a cab waiting no sir it was his cab he with a cabbie lots of them fellows drink more than they ought i had a growing doubt that the man had been drunk at all perhaps he'd been faking to seem less suspicious or perhaps he had been overwrought with emotion having just killed a man no the actions of this killer this poisoner were calculated and sober the fact that he had asked after the rapper did make me suppose that warlock's prognostication was correct and this cabbie had indeed been the killer i asked rants what had he been drinking how should i know he replied surely a constable on the beat like that knows the smell of whiskey and wine and gin which was it uh i don't recall smelling nothing like that sir this was as i had expected though i could hardly take it as concrete proof that the man wasn't drunk john rance though well-meaning and dutiful was not an especially observant patrolman even his physical description of the subject was lackluster the man had been large and athletically built he recalled with ruddy hair and an unkempt beard his clothes were of standard workman's cut and quality rants remember the man had an unusual accent but couldn't place it in the end there was nothing to do but thank him and be on our way as we left i told holmes i think we might have it right given rance's description the fact that the rapper is from missouri and the murderer's use of the word doughnut the overwhelming likelihood is that we are looking for an american-born cab driver holmes nodded and said i too believe i have discovered a fact that will be pivotal to the solution of this case and what is that i asked home smiled that my new friend john is really good at this sort of thing chapter 7 even in my prime the day's exertions and excitement would have caused me some weariness but i was not in my prime i was still recovering from my shoulder shot gut sick afghan misadventure thus the instant we reached 221b baker street i collapsed into my armchair before the half and slept i woke at quarter to eight famished and bejewed with my own drool it was not my hunger but the slamming door that stirred me from my rest holmes rushed in with evening paper in his hands and a look of terror upon his face on your feet watson the game is a foot and the wolf at our door or anyway he should be at our door in as little as 15 minutes rubbing the sleep for my eyes and spittle from my chin i asked him whatever can you mean warlock i think i owe you an apology he said and flicked the newspaper into my lap it was open to the classifieds one of the advertisements was circled in black ink that i might identify the source of our strife found one bakery wrapper in the street outside number three lorriston gardens if the owner wishes to reclaim i shall be in my rooms at 221 b baker street alone unarmed and probably drunk from 8 pm until 9 pm i am physically feeble and my neighbors cannot hear loud violent noises inquire dr john watson md mother's maiden name constance lloyd's bank account number eight seven two zero seven six four what the juice is this holmes i howled the times he said no this advertisement how has this happened well i posted it myself to lure the killer here when i demanded it takes days to get an advertisement in the times i know i think it was four maybe five days ago that i submitted it ridiculous how could you have known what to say it was a surprise to me as well i assure you he replied though i must say it is nice to know what it means i remember being quite baffled at the time why have you included my bank account number well how should i know watson to grant you the increased very similitude perhaps this way the killer can stop him at the bank and learn that there is indeed a doctor john watson residing at 221 b baker street and clean me out while he's there i suppose oh come now watson everybody knows that you have no money to steal i'm surprised that that one detail is what should concern you in any case what is the theft of a few shillings compared to the prospect of your murder well i suppose i'd better go what go where to get grogson of course we'll want him here to intercept the killer he's just down the street shouldn't take me more than 20 minutes if the streets are clear back in a tick holmes was already at the door hat in hand warlock i may be dead by then nonsense watson he scoffed the poison probably takes a few minutes don't you think stall him for us shoot him if you must you've got a gun that was true i had my service revolver i was already mid lunge heading for the case i kept it in when warlock added i stripped it all down and cleaned it for you where did you put it why isn't where did i put it he mused ah i recall that the chamber is on the bathroom sink tatar watson good luck the chamber i went pale how clearly my mind's eye could picture it holmes in a fine mood humming one of his absurd little ditties cheerily cleaning this pistol component and then the next carelessly discarding one the instant he was ready for another if somebody had asked me that morning whether i might be able to ravage all our rooms in 11 minutes i should have said no i would have been right too in 13 minutes i could have done it i think but i ran out of time i had the chamber the carriage the barrel both halves of the handle the revolving pin the advanced mechanism the trigger and four bullets when i was interrupted by a knock at the door promptly at eight no hammer i had no firing hammer i let the pieces drop onto the dining table and called yes dr watson said mrs hudson poking her head in at the door lady to see you doctor she swung the door wide there framed against my only reasonable route of escape was a lady with a bulging purse and a copy of the times she was a strapping six-footer with well-muscled shoulders and a prominent adam's apple obviously she'd had some hurry getting here for her face still bore the traces of the lather she had used when shaving off her beard the dress could not have been hers for it was made for a person barely half her size but the bonnet did actually suit i'd say the disguise was insufficient to fool anybody were it not for the fact that mrs hudson had been taken in entirely she fixed me with the first friendly smile i'd ever seen her perform and chirped well i'll be off then i hope you'll not be wanting anything dr watson it's scrap metal knight and i'm just off to fire up the grinder no i won't hear you call i don't think why that old contraption would be to brass band wouldn't it anyway sure it'll drown out any noise you two could make up here night all for a second i thought mrs hudson was leaving us alone because she would be happy to see me murdered but the sprightly glint in her eye gave me to realize she had other reasons the idea that young unmarried doctors might be willing to rendezvous with aged spinsters unchaperoned in their quarters at night was a source of great hope to her doubtless she'd had several scandalous novels that began in exactly that manner her rusty old heart swelled with optimism she tripped lightly down the stairs and was gone the killer smiled and stepped through the doorway realizing my only hope lay him playing along i cropped good evening um mrs sawyer the killer said affecting a pathetic impersonation of an elderly crone i come about the advertisement do you still got that rapper just there on the table you're welcome to it i said nodding my head to where the bakery rapper lay beside the ineffectual pile of pistol parts oh god of mercy thank you good sir you're very welcome good day it belongs to me daughter you see the murderer continued visibly counting off his rehearsed speech on his fingers point by point she married that tom dennis regular fellow he is so long as he's not in his drink he's true enough at seba in port well the women and the liquor they got the better of him oh sure my good daughter was true for a savage beating had you not recovered her missing rapper how lucky that i did please take it back to her lives at three mayfield place peckham and i live at 13 duncan street houndsditch she was on her way to a circus that night when she dropped the wrapper ha i cried three lorriston gardens does not lie between mayfield place and any circus that was open on the night of wait i don't care please take it sally sawyer that was her name now sally dennis since tom dennis wedded her i have their marriage license here if you care to see not necessary please now have a look sir and you'll know i speak true please i believe anything you say no matter how preposterous i pleaded i have no intention of fact checking any of this just take the rapper and go but he ignored me utterly and continued it was just a token of their love you see i gave a deep sign muttered how odds yet perfectly credible it's off the first donut what he bought her i'm sure it was a very nice donut i said which turned out to be a terrible mistake the killer's face went pale a look of remorse and longing that would have drawn sympathy from the very stones crossed his face for a moment but was chased away by a flood of vengeful hate that froze me where i stood he howled with a rage so intense he managed to drown out mrs hudson's scrap grinder for a moment then turned away to punch the wall his fist shattered laugh and plaster and sank in so deep i half-phanted he'd broken through the opposite side as well that it was he told me all pretence of the fictional mrs sawyer gone from his voice the best one ever he closed his eyes hung his head withdrew his fist from the wall then promptly plunged it through again setting a second hole just six inches from the first with trembling hands i picked the paper up from the table inch by inch though terra gripped my heart i approached him a sudden inspiration took me as stealthily as my unsteady fingers could manage i tore a tiny corner from the wrapper and placed it in my pocket i forced myself across the room to where he stood with his fist in the wall and his petticoat all in disarray i placed the wrapper in his free hand closed his fingers over it and squeaked it's yours in my heart i prayed he'd not see me tear away the corner of his precious rapper his back was to me how could he have noticed i hate to think what would have occurred if he had thank you he said strange how heartfelt his gratitude seemed he sounded as if i just saved him from the gallows and i had an instant of guilt when i realized i intended to do just the opposite without another word he drew his fist from the wall and disappeared through the door the moment he was gone my knees gave out and it would have plunged to the floor except i knew i must observe all i could about the man in the hope of catching him later i staggered to the window and sagged into the very armchair i'd thought to deposit warlock in just that morning the killer walked into the street approached a waiting cab and called out loudly so that all the street might hear three mayfield place perkham driver all this in spite of the fact that there was no driver after shooting a fleeting glance up and down the street the old crone bounded up into the driver's seat herself and whipped the horse into a gallop at least we had it right that the killer was a cab driver the urge to collapse overcame me i staggered across the room to the brandy decanter then back to the chair before the fire here at last i allowed my legs to buckle and i fell in a heap interrupting my tremors from time to time to pour a healthy draft of brandy down my throat it was nearly an hour and a half before warlock returned by that time i had already turned away two other callers one was some sort of insane baked goods collector the other one had just come from my bank and claimed to be a nigerian prince in spite of the fact that he was clearly of chinese descent his family fortune had been seized he said and if only i would deposit a thousand pounds in my own bank account the number of which was written on a crumpled piece of paper clutched in his right hand this would somehow allow him access to his own monies ten thousand pounds of which he would immediately pay to me exhausted and by no account sober i told him i would the instant he left i made a note to open a new account at my earliest convenience at last warlock burst through the door in high spirits he clocked hi watson i've just had a merry chase i quite forgot grogson was headed out to the theater this evening i checked a few but never found him any luck here i nodded did you encounter the killer again i nodded tell me all what and tell me all i shook my head perhaps tomorrow then you look quite undone i must say he leapt into the other armchair and poured himself a sniff to a brandy he had no intention of drinking it i knew but would often pour himself one whenever anyone else had a glass so he could pretend to be joining in he settled back smiling but then jerked forward his reverie interrupted by sudden remembrance after rummaging through his coat for a few seconds he withdrew a small metal curio and said by the by watson i found this clear little device in my pocket have you any idea what it can be i can hardly describe the wave of fury that washed over me if i had not been in an alcoholic stupor i think i would have leapt from my seat and throttled him yet in my current state there was nothing i could do but say that homes is the firing hammer of a webley price .455 revolver his face contorted in a mixture of amusement and wonder is it i am fairly certain chapter eight i awoke much later than usual the next morning just before 10 am i had not meant to sleep so long yet the body is always master of the mind and my own physical form was still in feeble shape having wasted so badly since being wounded it was in no condition to receive the quantity of stimulation the previous day had yielded and not half the brandy i had the impression that my slumber had been deep and profound and i realized i had no idea what had wakened me from it mrs hudson's next shriek reminded me danger screaming that was it i rolled from the bed and stumbled for the door still dressed in the crumpled remains of yesterday's suit by the time i reached our sitting room warlock was already at the door to the hall shouting it's quite all right mrs hudson they are here by my invitation really i hope in the future you will keep a more civil tongue in your head when you address my guests in principle i agreed in practice i had no time to voice an opinion on the matter before i began screaming myself in through the door streamed a swarm of rats probably a hundred of them they swirled into our sitting room they scuttled over our table and into our cupboards quite devouring the last of my crumpets you must not thank me less for screaming at the sights of them i am a grown man and have certainly seen rats before but none like these each was afflicted in some unique and horrifying way one had eight legs one was the size of a dog yet coloured like a cow one was inside out one stopped upon my shoe and turned its eye up at me it had only one in the middle of its head a hand upon my shoulder stopped my screaming and i turned to behold warlock who with a hurt expression said watson please a little kindness to our guests don't you think what the hell are they i demanded quite forgetting to be kind nothing so out of the usual holmes responded these are some of the rats that live on baker street with us but what's wrong with them watson how rude they are merely unusual rats like people are subject to accidents at birth and just like people the unafflicted members of society the regular rat folk quite unfairly disdain these good rodents you see here today so all these rats are the baker street irregulars i recoiled towards a chair but it was occupied by a rat with long whip-like tails in place of ears and another with tiny stigmata reeling about the room with some care not to step on our strange visitors i sought an unoccupied spot to rest myself but found none holmes did not even try to mask his disappointment he tutted loudly and turned to the one normal looking rat in the room saying there wiggles juicy do you see what a stir they make i am sorry but in the future you would best come up alone the rest of you lot must wait outside i fear the normal rat looked up at him for a moment then began to shift the bones moved about beneath its skin its hair grew back into its hide even as the body began to expand and contort into a bipedal form in two weeks a young street urchin stood before me clad in rags with a battered cap in hand yes sir mr home sir he said and smiled at me devilishly i grasped my chest and fell into the nearest chair sending six eyes rat and open sores that smell like chocolate rats scurrying for safety warlock asked the rat boy anything to report yet wiggles nothing yet sir begging your pardon i gots all the boys gathered up and we're on the streets we'll have him for sure sure as we're breathing i never doubted it warlock confided here is one day's wages in advance from one of his pockets warlock produced 20 or 30 pounds of rotting cabbage by means i still cannot explain and began casting it about the room to the waiting irregulars very generous sir wiggles said with a tip of his cap we'll be off then oh bought your papers her wiggles gave a nod too big as a dog but coloured like a cow rat who began a rigorous campaign of wretching and choking at last with a final spasm he regurgitated our paper onto the table gave himself a congratulatory nod for a job well done then turned to join the swarm as it scurried out the door and down the hall i watched them go with horror and disbelief vying for control of my wits warlock only turned to the paper wiped off some stomach acid and chewed up cabbage and began scanning the first few pages suddenly he piped watson look we're famous after perusing the article for a few moments i was inclined to disagree though the case was causing quite a sensation i was relieved to find neither homes nor i were mentioned by name in fact holmes was mentioned by the wrong name when the writer declared that the unwelcome consultant mr raja had once again appeared and scrawled his name in blood on the wall lestrade and grogson fared even worse it was clear the author believed one or both of them were guilty of the crime he complained that they would probably solve it as they usually did finding a party who would prove more guilty than they even if he seemed less the article included a wealth of information much of which we previously lacked the reporters had already uncovered the name of the deceased and the fact that he was traveling with one joseph strangerson his secretary further they had information as to where the two had been staying madame char pontia's boarding house in toure terrace although they had checked out the evening before the crime the paper even detailed the last time dreber and strangerson had been seen together just after quarter past nine on friday night arguing on the platform at houston station the two men had then walked off in separate directions on a whim i flipped through the paper until i found the schedule for the trains likely as not the two of them had just missed the liverpool train the question was where had they gone after missing the train why not head back to the boarding house together i was forming a strategy of investigation when holmes sitting in his armchair by the window picking cabbage from his shirt front muttered oh dear it looks as if grogson has read the paper this morning rushing to the window i beheld the massive form of torg grogson coming down the street he was beaming broadly face a light with self-satisfaction in spite of the fact that he was practically naked his left fist was closed around the collar of a battered corpse which he dragged to our door before ringing the bell presently mrs hudson began her second screaming fit of the morning and a moment after that grogson himself flung open our sitting room door and shouted i win he triumphantly tossed the body into the center of the room only when it gave a groan of protest did i realize the man was still alive i bolted to my bedroom for my medical bag and then back to attend him while there was still time one side of his face was half stove in i later learned that grogsan had hit him only once with his fist very nearly killing the man talk fine killer grogson declared jabbing himself in the chest with his thumb i is best detective ever no the man on my floor was younger shorter and entirely less threatening than the killer had been i had no idea who he might be but i knew who he wasn't good job grogson said warlock i had hoped watson and i would capture him but you've bested us entirely come in why don't you and tell us how you did it tor grogson proudly recounted his morning's adventure but i will not relate the conversation it was so riddled with grammatical and pronunciation errors so horribly tainted by the most rudimentary attempts at speech that i hope it is never committed to paper instead i shall offer you my own version of events reconstructed as best as i could manage from grogson's account witness statements and the police report that madame shaw pontia later filed against him it seems grogson had arisen at roughly half past seven that morning and proceeded to read the paper a feat i can still barely bring myself to believe him capable of when he came to the mention of madame char pontia's boarding house on toure terrace he became particularly excited he knew the place in his eagerness to apprehend the killer he had neglected to dress and bounded into the street in his nightwear unfortunately this consisted only of underpants his bowler hat and a tie after 20 minutes of running through the streets of london howling his battle cry he arrived at madame char ponties or rather near it he'd forgotten exactly which door was hers so he frightened a number of her neighbors by bursting in upon them before chanting upon the correct address madam char pontia was not overly glad to make his acquaintance nor was her daughter alice who was also present this daughter must have been quite pretty for torg spoke of her much more than the story warranted sometimes leering like a maniac other times tracing delicate patterns in the air with his goat-sized hand as if softly stroking her cheek i was sure there was just the hint of a tear in his eye at first communications were strained madame assuming herself to be under attack by a rampaging monster shot grogson twice in the chest only after he mentioned it did i realize this was true one of the bullets had not even penetrated his tough hairy hide the other had left a comically small hole and a trickle of thick blood torg would not allow me to examine him he protested that such things happened to him all the time and in truth it didn't seem to have injured him much after plucking the offending revolver from the landlady's grasp and bending it to useless scrap torg demanded to know where enoch drebber was it seemed he'd momentarily forgotten drebber was dead and had come to apprehend him madame charpontier also had a copy of the paper handy and used it to convince torg that drebber was no longer in residence talk does not respond well when his plans go awry even though they usually do so he began making quite a lot of noise at that point and smashing furniture odd as it may sound this proved to be an adroit strategy it turns out that if someone of grogson's size temperament and state of undress begins doing this in one's company one will tell him almost everything one knows in the hopes of finding some tidbit of information that will please him enough to end the rampage madame charpontier related that dreber and strangerson had checked out friday night and that she was almost as glad to see them go as she would be to see grogson leave strangerson was a reasonable enough fellow it seemed but dreber was prone to drink and carousing happy as madame charpontier had been for the near criminal pound per day she had from each of them she made it clear that they were not welcome to return they had both left on friday just after eight in the evening to catch the train to liverpool at a quarter past nine i took some satisfaction that i'd guessed their purpose some hours later drebber returned much the worse for drink it seems that you had missed their train by a matter of a few minutes strangerson had left for alternate lodging thinking to meet drebber there trevor had returned to madame char pontia's boarding house claiming to have forgotten one item alice charpontier what drebber lacked in sobriety he made up an obscenity offering a few choice suggestions for an unconventional courtship upon hearing this torg swarter killed drebber already dead and according to some sources proposed marriage to young alice once the deed was done she declined however during this polite rebuff alexa pontier let certain interesting facts come to light her honor had already been defended she said it seems the exchange with dreber had awakened her brother arthur he was on leave from the royal navy and it turned in early as the military schedule had become his custom though he had missed the earlier conversation arthur soon caught the gist of it and escorted drebber out with some alacrity in the street trevor offered a few parting comments that sent arthur back inside to fetch the family cudgel arthur then claimed to have chased trebba all the way down the street and halfway back up until the latter staggered into a cab and made good his escape all of this was related to torg who gleaned nothing from it except that arthur charpentier had motive means and opportunity to kill drebber he elected to take young arthur into custody a process that consisted of a single blow to the face and a long drag across town to our place it never occurred to grogson to take him to the police his urge to brag being a larger portion of his character than his grasp of judicial process most of all he seemed eager to talk to lestrade stupid lestrade stupid grogson laughed him think stranger man did it him chasing all over town when talk have criminal talk i had to approach my next sentence very carefully so grogson is it your opinion that mr charpontier here poisoned mr drebber yeah with a cudgel what you talking watson stick for hitting that's right torg i agreed but remember dreber was not found beaten to death he had been poisoned probably not with a stick torg stood for a moment blinked low he raised his giant fists to smash the closest piece of furniture he could find likely our table and for the first time i got to see warlock employ his gifts on purpose stop said holmes and grogson immediately did so but not by choice understand that no visible force restrained him it is hard to conceive of one that could not chains but merely the shadows of chains sprung from the darkest corners of the room entwined themselves not around grogson but his shadow he roared in frustration and strained with all his might but could not move an inch we're not going to have any of that in here grogson said holmes watson raises a fair point also i like that table now i'm going to let you go and we're not going to have any more of this nonsense are we but but lestrade make fun of me grogson complained he may indeed holmes agreed he'll be here soon he's coming i can feel him looking out the window i realized he was correct lestrade was turning the corner onto baker street no he won't make fun of you grogson i told the giant i don't think i've ever seen him so downcast something has happened oh said holmes eagley the plot thickens how nice for mrs hudson that she got to answer the door once that morning to someone who didn't make a scream the third time is the charm they say i listened for lestrade's step on the landing but could not detect it nevertheless he soon stood in the open doorway wearing a hang dog look i began to welcome him but warlock clapped a hand across my mouth and said lestrade how good to see you you have permission to enter only once for the purpose of solving this case stepping through the doorway lestrade gave a resentful look and muttered you have no reason to fear me warlock caution is its own reward lestrade now tell us why have you come the same reason as always some fool has got himself done in i'm afraid i've located our mr strangerson chapter 9 i made tea it was a dreary sort of day and both of our scotland yard friends had nothing else to savor but the bitter broth of professional defeat a perfect day for salon tea soon warlock and i held steaming cups for grogson i filled our never used watering can though it still looks small in his hands lestrade also had a teacup he held it close as if treasuring the heat but i never saw him drink arthur charpontier didn't touch his either as soon as we were all arranged in the sitting room lestrade sighed and began to recount his efforts i don't mind telling you i suspected joseph strangeson of the murder of enoch treber the two were from out of town who here would have known dreber much less where to find him would any londoner have had time to form a vendetta it seemed to me strangerson was my man i began looking for him i went about by night peeping in windows and knocking on doors i went to public houses taverns hotels and rooms to let hunting him always hunting the dark house fled but i still searched beneath the cursed sun at last i came to hollyday's private hotel on little george street when i asked for stranger son the desk clerk said finally you're here he's been waiting for you all day and all night oh you told him you were drebber i asked no but he assumed so and i saw no need to correct him he was perfectly willing to take me up to the room despite the early hour we had not made it to the top of the stairs before i realized something was amiss that wonderful smell that rarest of blood most of the blood was strangesomes a common brew i'm afraid but the killer's blood that most perfect draft was there as well i heard the clerk open the door strangers and lay by an open window still in his nightshirt killed by a single stab wound to his left side the murder weapon was still lodged in the body a pearl handled knife with an eight-inch blade it struck him right to the heart yelled torg who loved a good killed in a single blow story stabbed i cried but our man is a poisoner could it be there are two killers on the loose lestrade shook his head and insisted see man it would be strange indeed to find two killers with that same rare blood besides look what i found in stranger son's mouth lestrade began divesting himself of mr strangerson's personal effects which had pulloined from the crime scene preferring our help to his colleagues at scotland yard sure enough there lay the aged bakery paper it is the same kind lestrade said it is in fact the same one i went in triumph to the cupboard and withdrew the tiny corner i had torn from the wrapper it fit exactly by jove breathed homes grogson seemed to care not at all lestrade was wonderstruck how on earth did he get it back ask holmes i said bitterly adding and this time we are keeping it i've had quite enough of entertaining murderers thank you as you wish watson smiled holmes so you have seen the killer lestrade asked rather will we are in luck lestrade said he was also observed leaving the scene of the crime a milk delivery boy noticed a ladder propped against the wall of the hotel under stranger son's window he saw a man come down the ladder and run off for a nearby cab perhaps we can determine if it was indeed the same man the milk boy said he was tall over six feet he was i answered red-faced and the radhikard continued lestrade indeed in a red and white gingham dress that is our man how fortunate said lestrade we almost missed the witness entirely until i questioned him the milk boy assumed the killer was simply a cross-dressing carpenter of some sort performing window maintenance in the dark i made a mental note on my sister's behalf her son was so simple she worried he might never be employable perhaps you should become a milk boy what is the rest of this i asked lestrade indicating the pile of personal effects he had deposited on the table everything except his clothes said lestrade almost five pounds still in his wallet so we know it was no theft identification and papers he was american like the rebber a novel a pipe there was a glass of water on the bedside table but i left it there thinking it was the hotels what is this little box anything in it i asked a few pills said lestrade with a shrug his medicine i suppose i froze no not likely the box was old and battered it bore every sign of having traveled far and wide for some length of time probably in someone's pocket it was not the type of pill box dispensed by a doctor but a wooden keepsake box such as one might purchase at a curio shop there was no label stating what kind of medicine lay inside but i thought i knew with trembling hands i opened the box with inlay two pills irregular and crude clearly homemade the poison i said everybody drew closer to stare at the pills warlock asking i say watson are you sure no i had to admit but these are like no professionally made pills i've ever seen i suspect that this box belonged to the killer and that he planned to poison strangerson perhaps strangerson resisted so the killer stabbed him this is just conjecture of course i can't be sure this is poison until we test it good idea said warlock i'll be right back wherever you going holmes i asked a test watson a test was all he said before disappearing out our door only when he was gone did i realize how very uncomfortable i was in the company of grogson and lestrade grogson stared at me silently challengingly lestrade i kept wandering to the helpless form of arthur charpentier i suppose i should have offered them food of some sort then again the baker street irregulars had eaten most of what we had and lestrade still hadn't touched his tea something in me recoiled from the notion of offering to feed a vampire i must have stared too long for without turning to me he gave a paint grin and grumbled you aren't about to start asking foolish questions about garlic are you dr watson no no i'm pardon me for staring lestrade shrugged you have nothing to apologize for in fact i must congratulate you you are doing very well doctor why thank you it turns out that ferreting out a criminal is much the same thought process as diagnosing illness so i was not thinking of the case lestrade interrupted though you seem to have a death-handed that as well no i am referring to how well you have dealt with us i had nothing to say grogson grunted out a laugh at my discomfort even lestrade allowed his regular downness to fall away for a moment he chuckled shook his finger to me and said you are a man of science i would have thought you incapable of operating among such a profusion of abnormal creatures it hasn't been easy i said my voice hoarser than i'd intended no lestrade agreed but the rest assured doctor i intend you no harm humans who speak with our kind are a rare commodity humans willing to live with homes are even rarer that ought to keep you safe on grogson i have encouraged him to remember how very cross warlock would be if grogson lost his temper with you the comment caught me off guard and i laughed at the silliness of it grogson turned his head towards me and bellowed not make fun no i'm sorry i don't mean to insult you i protested i only i can't imagine i mean warlock is not a brave man i just can't see him standing up to you grogson that's all grogson turned away from me and mumbled thought doctors was smart lestrade smiled well torg i suppose that just means he hasn't really met warlock holmes yet grogson gave a rise snort lestrade crossed one leg theatrically over the other pressing his fingertips together and said let me tell you something you ought to know suppose the three of us decided to murder homes in his bed tonight suppose he had no warning no weapon and you brought that service revolver of yours i tell you this tomorrow morning warlock homes would wake up safe as a babe in arms there would be a bubbling pile of molten pistol on the floor and no such thing as grogson lestrade or watson this speech had a strange effect on me i became lonely though i did not understand how the unassuming homes could be a match for either grogson or lestrade i did not doubt the news rather it had the effect of removing my last confederate though i knew him to be unusual i still perceived holmes as basically human like myself somehow lestrade's words had removed him from that sphere and left me the only man amongst monsters it hadn't been so bad until i was alone i hung my head and mumbled i don't know what i'm even doing here can i be of any help at all i am only a man my thoughts were interrupted by a thunderous crash grogson had smashed the table when i looked up i beheld him staring at me with a primal rage in his eye he bellowed a challenge and balled his fists i shied back and fell from my chair in an instant lestrade was between us shouting torg no remember he doesn't mean it he doesn't know i think i was beginning to form some words of thanks when lestrade rounded on me i was surprised to see his face alight with anger as well i think you should apologize dr watson he said for what i asked drawing another cry of rage from grogson the straw gestured for him to calm down but his gaze made it clear he thought me the stupidest creature on earth as he said look out that window doctor what do you see is london peopled by vampires by grogson's kind i made no answer i am sure that grogson or i might best 20 of you but can we best 2 billion no dr watson the battle has been fought the matter is decided this is the realm of men you are the most powerful force in the world the undisputed masters of earth how dare you bester so totally and called yourself slight how dare you make us run and hide ourselves and obey your strange customs for fear of our very lives and then declare yourself only a man i sat stunned for a moment and then said well i never thought of it like that what the luxury lestrade sneered then grumbled to talk you'd better tell warlock you'll get him a new table my head swam i understood what he was saying but i wanted to protest that such treatment was not reserved for only monsters it applied to all of us how welcome were african tribesmen in london or or anybody who dared to step outside his front door wearing the wrong hat wear a top hat to the lunch counter or a boater to the opera and you'd find out in a second exactly how much mercy london has for outsiders none returning from the army i myself a native born well-educated doctor had almost fallen through the cracks and found myself digested by this greatest of sitters i suppose i had known my society well enough to expect no pity yet at the time it did not seem unfair to me or even unkind suddenly mankind's policy of intolerance which i'd always obeyed but never much considered made itself clear to me how total how cruel my thoughts were interrupted by warlock who returned at that moment proclaiming gentlemen a test in his arms was our neighbor's flop eared puppy off guard as i was this suffice to jolt me back to my senses warlock no surely not i protested now i am a man of the world i understand that the medical knowledge i possess was built upon the corpses of many an unfortunate experimental subject both animal and human but this really was beyond the pale rocco was a three-week old basset hound blessed with the kindest disposition i think i have ever encountered in beast or man but he also bore the dual curses of short legs and long ears either one of them in isolation is harmless together they are burdensome rocco could not take two steps without treading on an ear and tumbling to the ground it was the cutest thing i'd ever seen you are not going to poison that dog i insisted watson calm down this animal is doomed said warlock because you intend to poison it no no watson he said shaking his head i've been watching him for days i can feel the pale reaper following this poor little mutt one way or another i promise you this dog will not survive the week preposterous i tell you watson i am very in tune with this sort of thing i don't know what fate awaits young rocker here but i know this we can save him from it by poisoning him i cried warlock you are not feeding those pills to that dog of course not lestrade agreed we need some for evidence the dog can have half of each bill he already had a kitchen knife and was carefully sawing the pills in half before i could stop him he tossed half of the first pill over to warlock i moved to snatch it from his hand but grogson caught the back of my collar between his thumb and forefinger and held me as easily as you would a kitten here boy here rocco holmes cried dangling the half pill in front of the puppy when rocker was sufficiently excited holmes tossed the pill up in the air so rocco could catch it he wolfed it down happily and waited for more we all drew close wrapped in morbid curiosity waiting to see what would happen the puppy sneezed he barked twice he left upon warlock's knee and licked his nose hoping to restart the game when it became clear none of us were playing anymore he lost interest and began sniffing around the room lost in the fascinating rat smell five minutes passed then ten hmm mused lestrade poisons take days i suppose not the kind our man used i said remember the killer stood and watched dreber die do you suppose he poisoned him on wednesday and then figured out exactly the correct time to pick him up on friday spirit him to an abandoned house and watch him expire no our killer's poison is quick not work on dogs grogson suggested possible i said but most acute poisons are deadly to a wide range of organisms perhaps it isn't the poison said lestrade maybe it is medicine after all i screwed up my face and shook my head they're too irregular to be professionally manufactured pills if they are medicine they must be homemade but you have a pointless rod perhaps they are something else entirely we all pause to rack our minds for a moment what other small round edibles might somebody place in an unmarked box and carry on their person warlock snapped his fingers and crowed ah perhaps they're candy candy cried grogs and lunging for the box we tried to stop him of course but i think i might have had better luck trying to wrestle a carriage and sticks to a halt he gleefully popped half of the second pill into his mouth and smiled for a moment before making a face and spitting it to the floor shouting ah bad candy it was a good thing for all of us that he spat it out as quickly as he did for it would have been no small task to move his body out of our sitting room almost before the half-chewed gob of poison hit the floor a worried expression passed across grogson's face and he suddenly contorted he fell to the floor twitching awfully warlock and astrad stood stunned i knelt down to sniff the pill it smelled pungent but not acidic nor did grogson grasp at his throat or belly as if they were burning get him to the bathtub i shouted and snatched up my medical bag the three of us struggled to drag him into the bath and i poured my entire bottle of ipecac down his throat for a moment i thought him too far gone to swallow and prayed he would not choke on it but enough must have made it down to his gut to take effect in seconds the emetic property of the syrup took hold and he began to emit i had not paused to consider how much food might be necessary to sustain an individual of grogs and size and energy but let me tell you it was an impressive volume it was a good thing we hadn't taken him to the sink or commode he would have overflowed them both equally impressive was the strength he possessed in his abdominal muscles which caused him to void with such efficacy that for a few moments he might have been mistaken for the world's most revolting fire hose soon there was nothing left in him and his wretching and twitching subsided warlock looked about the vomit-drenched ruin of our bathroom and noted will be wanting mrs hudson to come up and do some cleaning eh we dragged grogson back to the sitting room and made him as comfortable as possible on the floor we didn't give him the sofa because arthur charponte was still recovering there and we couldn't have lifted grogson in any case it took him half an hour to regain his senses his hands shook and he looked positively green his first words after his ordeal were the same as his last words before bad candy i fell back into one of the armchairs and wondered aloud only one of the pills is poison why would the killer do that why carry two identical pills one harmless one deadly i think we shall soon know warlock said smiling indicating the clock it had just struck noon and in a moment there came a scratching at the door well it began as a scratching but unaccountably transformed itself to a knock part way through i listened and horror as the noise which had begun at the lower corner of the door slowly worked its way upwards until it was a pounding just above the knob come in wiggles said holmes and report the door swung wide and there stood the urchin grinning afternoon sir pleased to say we found him capital holmes cheered crossing the room to deposit a handful of coins in wiggles hands here's for the fair and a little extra have him come round at half past one not here he'll recognize the address we'll use grogson's place you know where it is that i do sir half past one wiggles replied and was gone warlock walked to the prone figure of grogson and mused hmm he won't like us going to his house without him and i hardly trust him here what do you think watson is talk fit to walk a mile or so i leaned over him to assess he was becoming responsive his muscle movements were still unsteady but voluntary and his groans had taken on a melodramatic quality the big baby well he's been shot in the chest twice at point blank range and had a dose of deadly poison all before lunchtime yet still yes i think he's fit to walk warlock smiled and we all set to the task of getting the ponderous bulk of torg grogsum back up on his feet as we grunted and struggled warlock noted he gad watson you're right lunchtime i quite forgot i laughed perhaps we can stop at a bakery and get an english muffin to eat on the way well and good for you three lestrade complaints i don't suppose they'll have toast and soup holmes wondered an english muffin is toast round toast lestrade said i don't even eat food and i know that i paused a moment to reassemble my service revolver while the others don their coats thus armed and prepared we set off to catch a murderer on the way out grogson told you so said holmes chapter 10 [Music] the lighter scent of lavender graced the air i sat upon a tasteful velvet city utterly in ore grogson owned a proper house on the edge of town and by proper i mean immaculate no speck of dust could be seen framed prince of europe's finest ballet dancers male and female adorned the walls no other subject was featured in any of grogson's artwork he even had a pair of maritaglione shoes preserved in a glass display case warlock and lestrade had known of this predilection but it was my first time in grogson's house grogson stared at me with a look that promised utter physical destruction if i breathed a word to anyone or dared to mock in fact i had no desire to cast fun but rather felt a swell of sympathy for the hulking detective ballet dancers are graceful delicate refined and beautiful in order to make the list complete one need only add well spoken and preface the whole thing with here are five things tor grogson will never be warlock rummaged about in the attic for a few minutes returning with a battered trunk this he took out onto the front step and filled with large decorative rocks from the garden lestrade and i helped him position it on the floor of the sitting room near the door as if grogson had packed for a trip and was preparing to depart after that there was not to do but sit and wait it was agony i had never been present at the apprehension of a murderer before and it was not the sort of thing i was capable of approaching calmly lestrade looked eager holmes grinned like a schoolboy his enemy was boredom and that nemesis would not be showing its face this day as it approached quarter past one lestrade became even more bitter and agitated as twenty past neared warlock turned to him and said vladislav my friend i think perhaps we ought to chain you up a bit just for safety you know lestrade made an awful face but nodded his agreement saying i do not know if i could trust myself if i had to lay hands on a man with blood like that grogs and i both have irons you fellows ought to try this type home said drawing a pair of shiny handcuffs from his coat pocket i find them to be light portable and magnificently quick to fasten then again i'm saving them for our friend let's use yours holmes clasped one pair of cuffs around lestrade's ankles so he might not run the other he fastened to lestrade's left hand and then the wooden arm of the chair he sat on i can't say why but this put me quite on edge perhaps i was simply unaccustomed to seeing people clapped in chains more pragmatically i was sorry to lose lestrade's help the walk had done grogson no good so i had every impression that warlock and i would have to face the murderer alone though each passing day improved me i was still frail i had my pistol but i had never shot a man and though i could not recall the specific wording i was fairly sure the hippocratic oath took a dim view of such things homes i still had little faith in despite lestrade's warning and the shadows that bound grogson i could not picture homes as anything more than a well-meaning but bumbling buffoon i steeled my nerve as best i could and waited just before the half hour we heard hooves in the street outside i placed myself with my back to the wall near the front door it was all i could do not to draw my pistol i never liked guns even before my disastrous encounter with one in afghanistan but i found i yearn for its comforting presence in my hand when the door opened i practically jumped through the ceiling but it was only wiggles it was fortunate that i hadn't drawn my weapon such was my fright i might well have blown the poor urchin's face off afternoon wiggles holmes said beaming i wonder would you ask the driver to come help me with my trunk wiggles disappeared down the path and in a few moments came scampering back with the murder at his heels i meant to avert my gaze lest he recognize me from the night before but i could not help staring when he came through the door i saw a man transformed he was wearing men's clothes this time but that was not the chief change in him gone were his hate and his fury replaced with a light stride and a wonder-struck torpor as if he had just seen the world for the first time this morning and found it beautiful in his amiable days the killer failed to notice me he stepped up to homes with a friendly nod and reached down to grasp the trunk in a flash holmes had the cuffs on him one around his wrist and one about the handle of the luggage the surprised murderer recoiled and tried to run only to find himself chained to a hundred pound trunk gentlemen crowed homes turning to address the room allow me to present the murderer of enoch drebber and joseph strangeson should never stop to count the spoils before the battle is done though his eyes flooded with rage and fear the killer's mind remained unclouded he simply reached down and unfastened the trunk single clasp he tipped it forward sending a dozen dirty rocks clattering onto grogson's pristine floor you didn't lock it i shouted to warlock who had time to shrug slightly before the murderer swung the empty trunk at his head warlock collapsed against the wall blood streaming down his face the killer turned for the door i stood to block his escape but i might have saved myself the trouble he put his shoulder into me as he passed knocking me aside as if i were a man of straw i wound up on the floor half indoors half out holmes was shouting something the cab watson shoot the cab my gun was under me stuck in my coat i struggled up to one knee and yanked it clumsily from my pocket it occurred to me to wonder what effect one pistol round might work upon a cab but i had no time to ask the killer was already on the garden path and nearly at the street i knew i ought to shoot the horse but the animal was blameless and it seemed unfair he should die for his master's sins i resolved not to aim my first shot at him and squeezed the trigger with the cab in my sights i felt the webley buck in my hands and heard its report ring through the neighborhood an instant later the front of the cab exploded in a flash of purple flame the horse must have been more shocked than i was it bolted down the street dragging the ruins of its harness with it the explosion had freed the animal from the cab which lay sprawled in the road with one wheel crushed and the cabin smashed wide open for the second time in less than 20 seconds i was knocked to the ground much harder this time grogson had roused himself he later admitted that he had been perfectly happy to let holmes and me handle things until he saw what that killer had done to his nice clean floor his frailty forgotten grogson stormed past like a maddened yak with warlock close behind clutching his bleeding nose and shouting alive talk we want him alive though he might have preferred rougher alternatives grogson mastered himself enough to obey he overtook the killer just as he sprang back from his stricken cab grogson grabbed the back of his coat and the belt of his trousers and hoisted him easily off the ground slamming him roughly into the side of the wrecked cab the blow was enough to daze the killer who went limp the empty trunk dangling from his wrist warlock cheered grogson roared in triumph i might have joined them if i had not been checking each of my teeth with my tongue wondering how many would fall out later as soon as he recovered from the shock of being thrown against his cab by grogson the killer held up his free hand in a gesture of surrender and said enough you have me warlock removed the cuff that bound the trunk to the murderer's wrist and used it to fasten the man's hands together this was not enough for lestrade who came down squarely in favor of binding him head to foot having been released from his own bondage lestrade suggested that we also use the other two pairs of cuffs one around the prisoners ankles and the third between the other two locking him in a bent over position then he said we should chain the trunk full of rocks to him again and drain enough of his delicious wonderful blood so that he would be too weak to run away i say vladislav that seems a bit much doesn't it holmes asked are we gentlemen or are we not well probably not lestrade reasons grogsa nodded that yes he concurred with this assessment you've no worry of me the killer said i'll not run now ain't a point to it i reckon i'm a debtor this time tomorrow no matter what i'll confess all but when i tell you why i done it i think you'll find each of you would have done no different his account had to wait however for at that moment he burst into the most spectacular nosebleed i think i have ever seen lestrade went fairly ballistic and had to be restrained by grogson the tiny romanian would not stop struggling and we eventually had to lock him in the garden shed while we waited for transport yet i think things ended happily for vladislav lestrade when our prisoner asked for a cloth to staunch the flow of blood holmes handed him a drinking glass instead wiggles was immediately dispatched with the direction to hire two more handsomes to drive us to scotland yard when these arrived warlock insisted that only he and i should be allowed to ride with the killer he trusted neither grogson's fury nor lestrade's thirst thus our two monster friends were banished to the first cab holmes the murderer and i followed in the second surprisingly of the three of us it was our prisoner who began the questioning what kind of gun was that he asked holmes smiled that depends first you must tell me who you are and why you expect to die the killer shrugged and gamely answered my name is jefferson hope out of well i suppose saint louis was the last real home i had that's in america i ain't from here as i'm sure you know i followed enoch and joseph out here to do him in as to why i ain't gonna be around long i got cardiocranial narrative sensitive explode itis holmes turned to me and asked doctor are you familiar with that affliction no i replied but the language is simple enough it describes a condition in which some element of a story will cause this man's head and heart to explode that said i have never heard of such an illness and i doubt it's veracity i don't said holmes respectfully mr hope i'm afraid that you are quite right and not likely to survive much longer i have always been able to sense impending doom and if you will forgive my directness you are right with it i know it hope said i've been wishing doom on those two so long i've come to have a sense of it my own self why holmes asked why go to such lengths to ensure those two men's deaths to my great surprise the killer burst into tears it took some moments for him to regain his composure enough to tell his tale part two not from the journal of dr john watson but from some nebulous undefined source that is suddenly third person and almost makes you think you've picked up the wrong book chapter 11 south of canada and north of mexico lies a land many englishmen do not deign to speak of for the triple crimes of blooding our nose stealing itself from our empire and eventually surpassing us at the industrial revolution that we ourselves started it has been banished from the thought and vocabulary of our more conservative element towards the western edge of that cursed land lies a blighted waste called the mojave it is as if the hand of the creator having formed the earth but not yet adorned it with flora and fauna paused here unable to think of anything apt to draw the immortal architect resolved to complete the rest of the earth first then come back and finish up except he forgot nothing of consequence lives here in fact any life that happens to wander into this sun blasted hell usually dies before the day is out this is the place where scorpions go to perish of dehydration behold the spring mountains unfinished and unadorned which jut from the empty plain these are naked heaps of rock shoved up from the bowels of the earth just so there could be something here east of them lies an open basin of sand and alkaline dust an almost endless open expanse of vegas which the spanish call las vegas it is a place of madness where the heat and the unending miles of sand have caused delusion in the few travelers who have managed to traverse it and live many report ghostly visions they speak of a city of a million lights rising from the sand some claim to have seen an ebony pyramid captain light some a vast italian villa that takes the tiny quantity of precious water that exists there and blasts it into the air in intricate patterns for no reason one gentile insisted he came across a replica of camelot itself gone to squalor and disrepair these reports are all sun drunk fantasy of course such a city would be totally unsustainable who would consent to live there but madmen insatiable gamblers and the dutch one evening in 1870 this blighted wasteland beheld a rare sight as daylight faded a tiny spot of light sprang up upon the plane it was a campfire beside it huddled three dark shapes men travellers in those days anybody who wished to prospect in california had their choice of roots the wise ones went north through oregon territory though which was hundreds of miles out of their way those foolish few who decided to hurry along the most direct route ended here these three travelers belong to the latter kind and were beginning to wish they'd thought better of it when they'd had the chance they had gathered a pile of the stunted brush that overgrows the plane and set fire to it as much out of spite as anything this campfire provided scant relief against the encroaching darkness and the mood of the travelers was strained joseph strangerson was the youngest most handsome best educated kindest most reasonable member of the party but the novelty of these advantages that dried out a thousand miles ago he was worn to a nub he sighed feels like i haven't seen a river this side of a week no no no pastry shop for a good while longer enoch drebber groused staring with unguarded greed at the dainty pink box that rested upon the lap of their companion jefferson hopes hard eyes fixed him with a warning glare let's not have no talk like that enoch you are really eight years joseph shook his head and kicked a rock into the fire enoch whose temper had been growing shorter and shorter over the past few days spat i sure did and it was delicious too what the hell kind of man wouldn't eat a donut if he got one a fool if you ask me i may be a fool enoch drebber but not so much that i can't recognize when i'm holding a good thing you can take your eyes off my pastry now here strangest inside again and sent another rock to the flame saying he's got a point mr hope if you ain't gonna eat it you might as well share sharing is one of the seven cardinal virtues you know i never heard of no seven virtues jefferson hope said his gaze fixed at the heart of the fire just the seven sins one of them is greed god damn it shouted drama springing up eat it eat it right now or hand it over jefferson hope's eyes rose slowly from the flames to class b knock drebber in their fell grip i leaded when i pleased dreber he said in a voice calm and quiet but loaded with menacing promise and there ain't no man nor beast nor god can make me take a bite before i'm ready i'm saving it calm down fellas joseph pleaded he's just a damn donut no it ain't it's the bestest most perfect donut whatever there was i named her lucy and i love her and that's all there is to it jefferson hope insisted crazy that's what you are enoch drebber said but they'd reach that same familiar impasse they did every night in the end there was nothing for it but to hunch down into their bedrolls and go to sleep the night was not four hours along and the moon not yet so high in the eastern sky when joseph strangerson awoke suddenly to find a hand clapped across his mouth for a moment he thought to scream but gazing up he saw the wide earnest eyes of enoch drebber he had a warning look about him and held one finger to his lips to signal silence dreber withdrew his hand and joseph sat up what what's going on i'm mean to have that donut said enoch that ain't nothing but crazy joseph said and began to settle once more into his bedroll but trevor shook him bodily and insisted i mean to have it i tell you and you're gonna help me the hell i am whispered joseph trying to pull himself free you've got them light fingers trevor said sure i'm gonna eat that donut but he's sleeping on it again and i ain't got the heart to get it without waking him the two men looked over at jefferson hope there he lay with the piece of angels on his face and his arms curled around the pink box which lay half under his bearded cheek joseph strangerson heaved a sigh of resignation like a man condemned as he mounts the gallows steps he had not the bravery nor the brawn of his two companions but he could see how this would all play out and he wanted it done with he drew his long thin knife from its sheath and crept towards the sleeping form of jefferson hope silently as he could he slipped the thin strip of clear tape that held the box top closed and cut down both corners of the box from top to bottom he scarce dared breathe as he folded back the side of the box to reveal the precious wax paper packet within with steady hands he pressed the scrubby remnants of a half burned bush into the box alongside lucy so as to stop it collapsing when the pastry was withdrawn then he slipped the long blade underneath the donut and worked it silently out over the labor of some fifty minutes at last he held the tiny packet balanced on the flat of his knife he turned it and held it out to dreber who snatched it and retreated some 20 yards or so from the fading ring of firelight joseph wiped his brow he had not realized how freely he'd been sweating a practice that could prove fatal in a dry waste such as this keeping his footfalls as soft as he could he followed dreber away from the camp already drebber was pulling at the paper with quivering fingers his eyes were wild and fearful with every crinkle the wax paper released his eyes shot back to the sleeping form of jefferson hope terrified that the telltale paper had betrayed him to the sleeping giant joseph could not help licking his lips as he peered over drebber's shoulder at the stolen treasure fold by fold the paper yielded until at last the naked form of lucy lay before them bathed in moonlight she was half crushed and all stale nonetheless the sight of this forbidden delicacy drew a gasp of awe from the two men half joseph dared to whisper i want half dreb's eyes flashed with fury and greed but only for an instant wait yes yes let him eat it was the taste of doughnut drebber craved not the quantity far better to have a confederate should this crime rouse the fury of jefferson hope he would rather it was a two against one argument here in the wasteland a man was his own law strangestone wasn't much of a man but half a donut was a small prize for an ally here where they all slept so vulnerable beneath the wild sky let him eat eat it joseph strangerson and whatever fate it brings on me you will share as sure as we shared lucy enoch drebber voiced none of this his eyes drifted to the knife in strangerson's hand it was not the instrument of a man being pearl handled and delicate of blade and trevor had no fear of it unarmed though he was his mind travelled different paths you split i choose joseph bent over the moon drenched doughnut and for a moment his nerve failed him he stopped his blade trembling in the air above lucy finally conscious of what dreber must think of him he leaned in to do the deed strange but as the blade slid into lucy's soft flesh he felt the hand of fate close on him a fellow must have felted at desdemona's last gasp hannibal as he watched the roman lines close at zama what had he done such a simple thing but so permanent no mortal hand had the power to mend that cleft the closer side of the donut had been cut right through even if he were to put it back hope would know what he had done there was but one way now forward the second cut was easier he made one half noticeably larger as if claiming the smaller share would lessen his blame with a muffled laugh of triumph trevor pounced upon the larger half and ran with it still further into the darkness strangerson picked up his half and followed the two of them eight already laughing already reminiscing about their crime not one minute past to one another they painted it as boyish mischief a simple prank for a few moments this lie comforted them as their white teeth tore the flesh of lucy yet moments fly fast in that desolate and open land there is nothing to hold them in no rocks no trees no buildings to stop them drifting away into the vastness there amongst the crumbs the sky began to press down on the two men they sat in silence for almost half an hour their joy faded the deed remained let's leave him trevor said we can't said joseph louder than he meant to a man can't live alone in a place like this it's murder it ain't ain't insisted drebber wide-eyed and shaking look we all come into this thing free to leave whenever we choose we ain't abandoning him it's only you leave the group and i leave the group just at the same time tomorrow you and me will form a new group but tonight we're just quitting that's all joseph shook his head it ain't right we don't need him trevor said he's got us all the way out here that's what we wanted him for he don't know a thing about prospecting and that's a fact look joseph look california's just over them hills we can make it i can't i just i can't trevor rocked back on his heels strangest and disgusted him sometimes the weakness of him though there were supposed equals in this venture though joseph in fact possessed the knowledge of geology they both hoped would make them rich drebba knew himself to be the master he decided to show it fan he said better this way you tell him when he wakes up you tell him i ate it tell him i took it all maybe he won't look too close at those pretty little slits down the side of the box maybe he won't know you had a hand in it maybe he won't notice your tremble or how you hide your eyes from him in the long years you work together maybe not me i'm striking out on my own no enoch no joseph muled but drebber moved off to gather his gear silently as he could in the end joseph gave in just as always jefferson hope was a sound sleeper and the two of them made off that night without waking him they left him little only two canteens of water and those half empty they took all three horses and the pack mule as it was dreber who had paid for them strangerson left the knife he didn't want it anymore never wanted to look on it as the two rode off dreading every clop of every hoof joseph strangerson looked back at the sleeping bulk of jefferson hope he tried to imagine what that form would look like with no meat upon it flesh could not bide in a desert such as this no this was the land of dry and bleaching bones without water or hooves strangesten knew the desert would destroy hope the shifting dust would cover their crime the open sky would never tell let the desert have him chapter 12 a man could not have survived but jefferson hope was no longer a man love died reason died all the better graces of humankind dried up and perished in him though hunger dogged him and thirst was his constant companion he took no joy in food or water hate sustained him he staggered about the desert by day and by night howling for vengeance with lucy's empty wrapper clutched in his fist the beast was all that remained in him the reaver wendigo the indians called it yet he who lives for revenge must find his prey madness is blinding one may not steer by it only reason can make a clear path thus not because it was welcome but because it was needed thought began to return to him jefferson hope could not say how long he had wandered those wastes living on scorpion meat and his own tears it must have been months maybe years yet he knew he must leave the cradle of his madness his destiny lay in the goldfields of california though that metal did not shine for him now the mountains could not stop him he crossed to california there he encountered his first test trevor and strangerson no fools had elected to change their names nobody knew them here and they abandoned their tarnished identities in favor of a fresh start hope had no easy time garnering information his grief had transformed him totally he had lost command of the language of man forgotten the taste of donut had drebron strangest and hidden in the wild hope could have tracked them like a wolf but men hide amongst men not trees even as the local prospectors and tribes began to whisper of the wild men hope began word by agonizing word to teach himself to speak again he never did get it quite right in those days though he always tried to pass himself off as a fellow human when he did get a tidbit of information it was never civility that afforded it to him but fear that first winter after his return to the world of men he had a breakthrough he came across a trio of dejected prospectors on the brink of abandoning their claim they'd purchased it some months before from a duo from back east one of the pair had been a geologist they said who had been in the territory not two weeks before discovering the vein that made his fortune he and his partner had worked the claim for some months until flush with money and tired of their labors they resolved to head to one of the major cities and set themselves up as outfitters to profit from the sweat of other hopefuls these new owners were hot with rage for having purchased the profitable claim with the last of their monies they found it had been quite played out they had no stomach for revenge themselves but happily told jefferson hope that the pair had headed up to frisco in early autumn under the names genoc streber and joseph dangerson it was a hard and heavy winter that year many an old square huddled in her teepee found it to be her last yet jefferson hope had no care of cold he did not stop to rest he no longer slept except for when exhaustion took its hold and he fell where he stood foot by foot step by step he made his way north the earth rejoiced at spring as jefferson hope reached his destination but the man himself took no more comfort from the season of rebirth than he had in the season of death it was in san francisco that hope made his first attempts on the lives of his quarry at first he had trouble nearing them since they were respectable businessmen with the trappings of money and he was a ravening wild man in three-year-old rags only in the rough hewn docks district was he accepted so that was where he lodged he took on work as a dockhand slowly gaining money for a haircut and respectable clothes he met his first true friend since the lucy disaster and as it turned out the last one he ever had it was the self-proclaimed ruler of the united states emperor norton the first norton allowed hope to lodge with him for a time and taught him the streets and customs of san francisco once able to blend with the general population hope began to hunt again dreber and strangerson were easy to locate they had opened their own outfitters shop but difficult to slay jefferson hopes first attempts were artful but met with no success a load of lumber being hoisted to build a new roof fell and nearly crushed strangerson who leapt away at the last moment examination of the main hoist rope revealed that it had been cut how alarmed strangerson would have been to know it was his own pearl-handled knife that did the deed drebba found a bootlace woven in amongst his linguine one day and lucky for him that he had it was rumored that boot lasers were indigestible and caused sickness or death in anybody unfortunate enough to ingest one in early june 1873 dreber was very nearly the victim of a strange incident in which a gorilla appeared at the highest point of lombard street and began rolling barrels down at the unfortunate people below only managed to preserve himself by leaping over the barrels as they rolled towards him two days later the union square theatre reported one of their ape costumes missing and enoch drebber began to doubt the random nature of these occurrences the final proof came on august 2nd when hope frustrated at his failed attempts decided to simply shoot strangers and down in the street he bought a derringer from a dockside pawn shop and intercepted joseph as he walked to work hope called strangesome by name he wanted his foe to know who it was that killed him and why he must die strangerson later recalled the moment when those terrible angry eyes resolved into a once familiar face and jefferson hope entered his life once more though he had never disappeared from strangerson's guilt-induced night terrors hope raised his pistol to fire but at that very moment strangerson was rescued by what appeared to be a small outdoor dining area packed with grinning patrons which sped up the hill behind him strangerson leapt onto this passing monstrosity and made good his escape on what turned out to be the city's first cable car the clay street hill railroad on its maiden voyage hope fired but the derringer like most of its make carried only two shots and was inaccurate at a range of more than three feet once again dreber and strangerson fled in the night leaving their inferiors to sell the shop and settle affairs they abandoned their homes at about three that next morning to board the first steamer to seattle it didn't take hope long to figure out where they had gone and he followed hot on their heels by the time he reached that northern town he was once again short of funds and was compelled to take work as a timber fellow in the hills above the city dreber and strangerson now went armed and took care with their persons never walking alone always sitting with their backs to the wall and their eyes on the door in every public establishment they entered still hope's attempts grew ever more bold until they were forced to flee seattle as well so began the merry chase that stretched on for another eight years from seattle they fled to cleveland from there to detroit thence to pittsburgh austin and finally new york if only they had thought to settle in saint louis they would have been safe for jefferson hope would have died of grief if ever he had happened past haul and sons bakery in each city where they landed hope pursued menial labor while drebron strangestand sought to expand their trade in the little time they had before their pursuing phantom materialized again and forced their departure finally they left the united states thinking hope would lack both the funds and the heart to follow them to unfamiliar lands they first tried their luck in saint petersburg after hearing that the burgeoning russian empire wished to modernize an open trade with the west unfortunately for the two pastry thieves they spoke no russian and ran headlong into that country's entrenched conservative values outsiders were not welcome they were there less than a year struggling to begin a successful trading company before hope found them they could hardly have been more conspicuous strangerson especially was glad to shake the dust off the place from his boots and flee to copenhagen from copenhagen to paris from paris to barcelona from barcelona to berlin here predator and prey parted ways gerber and strangeston fled to rome hope to london years of study had taught him well the habits of his quarry hope realized dreber and strangerson had a predilection for capitals he also knew they were nearing the end of their patience with the language barrier london then when the pair fled berlin hope ignored their destination instead he installed himself in london and found work as a cabbie they would come he knew they would land here and when they did this time he would already be on his feet with a job the funds to pursue them and knowledge of the terrain london streets are a study in madness or perhaps randomness or perhaps the threshold between the two nevertheless with diligence jefferson hope learned the streets well enough his job took him off into the docks to train stations to hotels and in each of these he asked after his prey when they came he would know part three once more from the journal of dr john watson and isn't that a relief chapter 13 the drive to scotland yard was a long one at the best of times in the middle of the afternoon through streets bustling with traffic trade and about six thousand flower girls showing off their wares it took even longer thus jefferson hope finished his tale air we arrived as soon as i found they'd landed in london i began to shadow them he told us i started spending most days and nights near charpontier's boarding house but they took care as they always did not to travel alone that last fateful night i followed their cab to houston station and watched to make for the trains i don't mind telling you i was desperate i couldn't have them escape me again for the pressure in my head and heart had grown so intense that i thought i might explode early at this point i was forced to intrude myself upon the story and ask now precisely why are you convinced that you are going to explode russian gypsy wise woman he remarked as if it were a perfectly common avenue of medical advice even before saint petersburg i felt the pressure growing i knew i had to catch him she's the one who told me i was likely to bleed profusely at exciting moments in my life story due to my unnaturally high blood pressure she seemed real sorry when she told me i'd explode after everything was all resolved but i didn't mind much i just want to have justice and be done with it i don't reckon a man ought to outlive his own story on any count do you doctor preposterous as it all sounded you should have heard his chest he gave me permission to examine him and i was astounded by what i found his skin was hot and throbbed with an unaccountably powerful and uneven pulse though my medical training encompassed no such possibility i found myself shying to the opposite end of the cab lest his heart and brain burst in my lap anyways they missed the train hope continued and they argued leaving my horse i snuck through the crowd close enough to hear him strangers and wanted to go on to another private hotel he knew holidays i guess they wasn't welcome back where they come from still drebba said he had business back at cha ponties dreba weren't too nice to his friend that day being already rotten would drink he treated everyone pretty bad i guess stranger son took one cab drebber another i followed dreber i guess i hated him more he went back to charpontiers but didn't stay long in no time at all he comes running back out onto the street with a young man at his heels waving a stick and threatening to beat him to death well i pulled my cab to the curb to save him funny but in that moment i wasn't thinking to kill him only that i couldn't let nobody else do it or i'd lose my chance forever was until we were alone in my cab that i realized i finally had him he hadn't recognized me he was as jolly as you like kept taking swigs out of that flask of his and telling me about some pretty girl he'd just been caught he said he was tied out and ordered me to take him to some place to sleep i drove him round to three lorriston gardens what i knew to be vacant he followed me in friendly as you like and complained to the darkness i lit a candle held it before my face and said you know me drebber who am i he must have thought we're playing a game free guest abraham lincoln but when i showed him lucy's rapper he knew what was coming he tried to push past me but in that moment i had to strengthen the best of rhino he tried begging promised me money but nothing nothing was gonna stay in my hand i'd come so far i showed him the pills i told him now drebber you choose one of them is deadly poison the other ain't you choose one now and eat it i'll eat the other and we'll see if there's any justice in this world or not i wasn't afraid for i could feel lucy with me smell her sweet dough either she would be avenged or i would join her in the boundless ever after mewling like a baby cat drebber chose one and we ate then i seen his face tighten up and i knew he'd chose a bad pill in that moment i knew myself an instrument of justice can't tell you how good that felt for a number of years up until then i was afraid i might just be crazy felt so good to watch him die it was only a fraction of the misery he'd caused me and lucy but it still felt good i stuffed the wrapper in his mouth and left i didn't even realize i'd been bleeding till then no no no i protested you carried that paper across ten years and two continents not a day after the murder you risked capture to retrieve that rapper from my very hand do you expect me to believe you just decided to leave it with drebber's corpse thought i wanted to he shrugged i wanted to make him eat it wanted it to be the last thing he ever tasted only when i got back to the cab i felt she was gone i was alone you know for the first time since nevada even in my madness i had her there i could smell her now lucy i had to go back but that damned cop had already come i didn't know what to do till i saw the ad in the paper i pulled the dress off a clothesline and i sure fooled you doctor i saw no sense in arguing with the man you sure did i said good thing too he added amiably i'd had to slice you up i fell silent he continued once i had lucy's ghost back i drove around to holidays and began sneaking around i saw strangestone up there reading by his window i went in and found a ladder and climbed up to see him i gave him the same choice i gave dreber but he weren't having none of it he come at me and i let him have it i meant to poison him but i wasn't sad to see him fall to the same knife he took to my lucy i left lucy's ghost in his mouth too for i thought i wouldn't need it no more then i went outside to explode only you didn't i pointed out in passive aggressive defense of actual medicine i should have figured getting caught and explained to myself story wasn't over till i did that i shook my head again and reflected so you followed these men for 10 years taught yourself the trades of dock work lumberjacking portering cab driving taught yourself russian spanish german french and danish yes i did hope said that may be the most trouble any human has ever taken over the matter of a crumpet with a hole in it i said the perfect revenge holmes mused yeah hope agreed only only what tones now that i get to thinking on it i should have done strangerson first mr hope said shaking his head sadly should have killed him with that knife cut him in half poison half his body and told trevor i split so you choose i'd eat him whatever half the body he didn't of course i had a poisoned smaller half treble would have taken the smaller half horror struck i said nothing that would have been masterful said holmes hope only nodded and said i know it so what about that gun how'd you shoot my cab in half with one pistol shot it wasn't the gun that did the damage mr hoop i only had watson fire it for appearances that way any neighbors who beheld the action would see what you did a pistol apparently loaded with a potent explosive cartridge that is not the truth but what else could one assume what's the truth then oddly it was not jefferson hope but me that warlock fixed with his otherworldly green gays he sighed moriarty said i should be discovered if i took this case i realize now he was speaking of you watson strange i have grown accustomed to denying everything but one of you gentlemen is not long for this world and the other is too close and too observant to be fooled i wonder have either of you ever noticed the brimstone thread what's that asktobe think of the world as a sheet of cloth woven on the master loom there are thousands of threads that make it up each coming and going in patterns as you travel through life you happen upon various threads there is one for poverty one for plenty there is a thread for love two for last several for disappointment one for balsa wood and of course the brimstone thread holmes paused until jefferson hope said i still don't think you've answered my question the brimstone thread is an echo there are powerful things that exist outside our own comfortable reality they would like to be here they are constantly searching for a way in thus they are ever willing to do favors for people in this reality after all is one ever truly absent from a place that has felt one's influence do a favor for a millionaire sometime and whenever you remind them of it you are sure to find yourself treated to a nice meal if not in your house they can never be entirely free of their obligation to you with guilt i must admit that i am a person whom these outside entities perpetually attend all clambering to do me favors i try to avoid accepting them for with each deed they do for me they are closer to this world the brimstone thread shows itself more and more within the cloth you must have noticed i think i have mr hope nodded a far away look in his eye i think i was stuck on that thread for a while i almost feel part of it it wouldn't surprise me holmes mumbled but his eyes were on me not mr hope when i said nothing he tried it oh come now watson you must have seen it why do the zealots of every religion behave in the same way whatever their native faith might teach they always turn hate violence and intolerance against the innocent regardless of the god they turn from why is it always the same one they turn to why is any number raised to the power of zero equal to one it doesn't make sense it seems otherworldly because it is but it is so well entrenched in our reality that we can no longer understand our own world without resorting to it that is the brimstone thread i know you have seen it watson and i know you to be keen of mind and gifted with great powers of observation i have hidden the existence of the outer realms from the simpletons who have lodged with me previously but you having caught one glimpse one tattered edge of the thread a man like you has the capacity to make scientific analysis of it a study in brimstone which i would be powerless to stop except by killing you or ruining your intellect you wouldn't i retorted no i wouldn't really watson you are a danger to me exposure to the unsympathetic world being my keenest fear but you have no idea what a relief it is not to be lodging with some drooling imbecile who grows slowly more and more frightened of me with each passing day until he finally makes his escape why you even seem to be my better at this crime solving business preposterous i declared effects insisted homes i know how it can be settled said jefferson hope which one of you called me he did said holmes and i together i did not i told hope he used his powers i wouldn't holmes protested every time i allow one of those things to do me a favor i sell them another piece of this world i betray the entire race of man i would never use my powers for anything so trivial as the capture of a single murderer ah so it was my pistol that blew up the coach i counted well that hardly counts that was azazel smiting something he loves to smite hardly a favor better to say i did him a favor by giving him something to smite qed you used your powers i said really watson don't be foolish it was you who figured out that mr hope here would be a london cab driver with an american accent all i did was to send the baker streeter regulars out looking for such a man as it happens there was only one mr hope nodded his approval and congratulations i sat stunned stunned it really hadn't occurred to me before that moment but i had done it i had solved the crime i was so enchanted with the power of grogson the terror of lestrade and the mystery of homes that i had come to view myself as quite powerless but in the end i sat speechless the rest of the way to scotland yard whilst holmes and hope chatted about demons pistols the finer points of cutting men in half etc that is about the end of the matter except to relate one final event which i will admit caused me some sadness it seems that cardiocranial narrative sensitive exploditis is a real condition the story of his life having run its course his revenge complete his capture having illuminated his strange history jefferson hopes head and heart burst that very night as he slept in his jail cell what surprised me most was the sheer power of the explosion he was hardly more than a husk when they found him the force was such that it tore the window and door from the stone walls of his cell there was blood everywhere detective inspector vladislav lestrade insisted on handling the investigation personally chapter 14 holmes was out as had become his habit it was a habit i gave him though quite by accident in passing one day i had shown him a penny dreadful that one of the nurses gave me to read during my recovery after my fever i showed it to him only to recall the woman's kindness but holm seized it and devoured it with scholarly zeal for two days thereafter he paced and fretted wondering why there was so little real literature left in the world when i informed him that the profusion of penny dreadfuls on the streets of london had reached near epidemic proportions he seized his coat and ran forth to buy up every one he could find after reading this initial batch he developed a regular patrol visiting every cheap bookseller he could find waking them at all hours to demand new novels i was glad to have a moment alone i was deep in my thoughts some happy some not and all of them uncertain i sat at the dining table playing with the lead soldier i'd purchased the day my ship left port supposedly for india his uniform and kit with a perfect mirror of my own done in a clever hand down to the minutest detail in recent days the thing had become a source of some dismay for me his face was stern his bearing soldierly his uniform so straight and perfect that i felt the little leaden man had the better of me i should have been more like him by all accounts it boggled me to think how different my life might have been if i'd been listening when murray shouted duck if not for that bullet and that fever who would i have become would i have extricated myself from thrice cursed afghanistan and made my way to bombay would the daily practice of war have hardened me into the stiff upper-lipped british medical officer my late father had so overtly hoped for home stepped back in about half past ten and uttered what was becoming an ever more customary greeting for him this author watson this mary bryce she is some sort of sprite or fairy you may count on it i tell you elder blood is in her veins how else does she write them so exact i'd no heart to talk of fairies holmes i have something for you i said oh and what is that i held up a single sovereign the rent i suppose i might have been taking my leave of him settling our account like a gentleman before i went yet i was not and he knew it with a proper crow of triumph he sprang across the room swept the coin into his hands and cried happy day watson gads could this morning be better a proper masterpiece concerning fairies a vani vampire book that will anger astrad something wonderful and now you have decided to stay ah i am glad as am i i assured him well then he said pulling out a chair opposite me and settling into it with a wide grin why don't you look it i sighed heavily as you probably realize holmes i have developed a taste for these adventures you claim are so commonplace to you how could you not watson the thrill of the chase eh indeed yet it is unsettling to me i don't expect you to understand homes but i was supposed to be very different than i am and well i understand what it was i should have become but not what i have become do you see i understand medicine you and all your peculiar friends i do not understand at all in fact you make me realize that the world which i thought i knew so well is a wider wilderness scarier place than i had thought i can't figure out where i stand who am i what are you and how is this situation even to be maintained for in spite of the lure of it all i don't see how all this intrigue earns us a single penny holmes's mouth spread into a sympathetic grin he reached over to give my wrist a reassuring shake and said perhaps i may help you are john watson a man of worth possessed of a sharp mind and his true heart as for the last two points he swept the lead soldier from the table and regarded it for a moment his features turned suddenly whimsical and sad he cut the soldier between his hands so i could not see it and continued have you ever heard of the alchemists watson suppose one of those poor fellows had succeeded picture the unlucky fool who had finally learned to turn base metal into gold only to find that in the same moment he had turned his own golden self into something base he unclapped his hands and i gave a little cry of surprise for from them issued a gout of sulfurous smoke and a surprising quantity of blood i recoiled i saw no wound upon his hands and his face registered no pain instead he stood up resolutely and gave me a one smile welcome to the fight watson we're all very glad to have you on our side he rose leaving me to gawk and stare there in the middle of the table dude in blood and wreaking a brimstone stood my little soldier once of simple dross now gleaming gold the adventure of the resident sacrifice just after luncheon on a quiet tuesday afternoon i said no holmes robert e lee was not a demon home stared at me mouth a gape that is what you were thinking is it not well it is incorrect he was a gifted general that is all but watson holmes gasped i said nothing nothing you have read my mind i did no such thing but you did for that indeed was my last thought i sighed folded the front section of the times into my lap and said holmes you know better than that simple observation has revealed your thoughts to me and if you are going to persist in explaining away your demonic insights as detective work i think you had better take the trouble to learn how to correctly observe and deduce do you expect me to believe your little parlor trick affords insight into another man's inner thoughts home scoffed to that i say allowed abrupt homes sure holmes let me detail my observations for you perhaps you will begin to understand first i noticed you reading the featured article in my military history magazine in which lord huffington sings the praises of general lee's martial prowess holmes nodded that this much was correct you then ran to the bookshelf and picked up a volume of poetry by stephen crane the newspaper correspondent who turned to apocalyptic poetry when he was sent to report on the war it may be the darkest verse the hand of man has ever put to paper and i wish you wouldn't read it for i fear it gives you ideas it does watson oh it does after you had read enough poems to turn your mind from generalship to demonics you suddenly gasped and stared in amazement at the portrait of robert e lee which hangs above our bookshelf for reasons i still do not understand his was the picture that came in the frame when i purchased it watson ah mystery solved after staring for some time with your mouth hanging wide you ran to the desk and began sketching another version of the same portrait wherein the general has horns fangs a tail and slitted snake eyes you then gave a cry of triumph and threw down your pencil as if you had proven a great truth at which point i chose to inform you that robert e lee was not a demon now do you see how observation led me to that deduction but it looks just like him of course it does you drew it to look just like him this does not prove the ringing of our bell cut me off yes i asked from behind our closed front door mrs hudson's voice said a gentleman to see mr holmes judging by her breathy tone i imagined it must be an attractive gentleman indeed perhaps worthy of inclusion in one of her smutty novels enter said i warlock gave me an angry glance and flew back to his desk he flung a book over his devilish sketch still certain he had discovered a secret that must be guarded from the eyes of common man the door swung open to reveal mrs hudson hanging from our guests left arm in a half swoon she might have fallen in love on the strength of his facial hair alone for our visitor wore a dashing moustache such as one might find in the circus or on certain cavalry offices he held himself with a feminine reserve and a demure almost subservient heir yet his upper body bulged with musculature as he stepped forward i noted he had the trace of a limp and that his left foot turned in slightly mr percy trevelyan mrs hudson announced dreamily at your service our guest added then asked me you are mr warlock holmes i indicated my companion with a wave and sat back to watch yes i am warlock holmes said he rising to shake trevelyan's hand how may i be of service it is a matter of some delicacy trevelyan said then held his silence until mrs hudson realized that he was waiting for her to leave she favored mr trevelyan with the gaze that promised well everything then fired a hateful sneer at homes in me and departed ah that's better said holmes now tell me all well i'm the founder of trevellian's aerial ballet and the dancer holmes declared i perceived it at once trapeze i think you'll find i said observe his calloused hands muscular upper body in the clubfoot which would certainly preclude a career as a dancer oh damn mumbled holmes i saw from trevelyan's glance that i'd wounded him somewhat but he agreed it is just as your colleague says i'm sorry you must be dr john watson at your service oh well i am very pleased to meet you trevelyan said then in a lower voice added very glad to find you here indeed i did not like his inference i'd observe the marks of shall we say a gentleman's gentleman about mr trevelyan i suppose he assumed himself to be in like company and thought my relationship with holmes was a romantic one holmes and i are merely fellow lodgers it helps to share expenses i explained even for a doctor trevelyan asked raising a mischievous eyebrow well i yes for this doctor i'm not currently in practice so ah said trevellian raising a finger i am here to ask mr holmes's advice over just such an arrangement i think a different arrangement i said but he ignored me continued last spring i was approached by a gentleman after one of my shows name of blessington i cringed hoping the story was not to be too lured he found me at the cafe majestique taking dessert with a few of my admirers still in my costume he walked straight up to us declared an interest in trapeze and offered to pay for the entire table if he might be allowed to join well we were delighted and i admitted him at once yet he proved to be so crude i found myself amazed that a mind like that could have any interest in the arts at all as the evening wore on and the people began to excuse themselves it became clear that he was waiting to be the last man at the table with me when he had me alone he made a very strange proposition i shifted an easel in my chair which drew a look of annoyance from trevelyan holmes was yet to give any indication that he understood the situation our guest was describing blessington told me he wished to become a patron of the arts but knew nobody in london's creative circles that very night point blank he offered to support me he promised me room board spending money and financial support from a trapeze show all i had to do was come and live with him and offer a share of my profits here holmes brightened and asked i say do you make a lot of money at trapeze no i don't nobody does i imagine that did not concern mr blessington said i it did not i chided him for his forwardness but told him i might be interested he offered to show me the place that very night and i will confess i agreed imagine my surprise when he had me installed in a separate room from his own why should that surprise you holmes asked gave homes a sly look i attempted to explain well holmes mr trevelyan enjoys the company of other men as do i holmes agreed no i mean instead of women well that is understandable said holmes much as i would like to say i'm beloved of the ladies i find i never know quite what to say to them so i suppose i must also state that i find myself more comfortable in the company of men i sighed and said you misunderstand mr trevelyan is a confirmed bachelor holmes threw up his hands well if anybody asked you or me to confirm our marital status would we not have to proclaim ourselves bachelors also homes when a gentleman agrees to move into another gentleman's house and allows that man to pay his way through life here holmes interrupted to say just as you and i do no homes this is a different arrangement entirely it sounds exactly the same finally trevelyan nodded to me that he would take over he leaned close to homes and whispered a few words in his ear oh holm said yes that is different i have heard of such things of course but mr blessington was not offering such an arrangement no said trevelyan in exasperation once he had me installed independent he ignored me entirely still does we rarely speak more than a few words to one another i have the whole top floor to myself he keeps the lower one in payment i gave him four fifths of my box office takings whenever i mound to show eighty percent i coughed but trevelyan waved me down it is a pittance what is 80 of nothing doctor he squandered a fortune on me yet never complains of the loss the only way i can upset him is by staying out too late he is insistent that i spend every night in my rooms he seems to want me there during all hours of darkness curious mumbled homes i agreed this arrangement held until yesterday evening earlier this week an actress friend of mine brought me a card it bore the name gerard midora a confederate of the great father of trapeze jules leotard she told me that monsieur madore wished to meet with me and my consent to instruct me on a few of leotard's techniques well i was ecstatic i agreed to meet him at my house yesterday evening blessington spends his early evenings at his club so i knew we would not disturb him monsieur madura arrived in the company of another gentleman quite the specimen he was nearly 50 i should think but muscular very short and with reddish hair monsieur maduro introduced him as a colleague but said that his companion unlike myself was unworthy to learn the secrets of the great leotard he made the man wait in the hall while we spoke if i had hoped he would open the floodgates of knowledge i was much mistaken monsieur maduro first insisted that i tell him all i know of trapeze in order that he wastes no time instructing me in that which i already understood we spoke for almost an hour but all i had from him were questions it was i who shed my knowledge just as it seemed he might be ready to favor me with his own wisdom his companion burst in upon us and announced that it was time to go as monsieur maduro had theater commitments later that evening he bustled the old man out without another word i was frustrated by the meeting and still hopeful that i might arrange another when blessington came home i heard his footsteps in the hall and then a few moments later a great cry in the twinkling he was up the stairs and crashed through my door demanding to know if i'd been in his rooms you hadn't of course i interjected but you must now realize that the old gentleman was merely keeping you busy while his accomplice rifled blessington's rooms i fear that is so said trevelyan in which case the old man probably had no knowledge of trapeze to impart that is why he endeavored to keep you speaking of what you knew as soon as he was forced to demonstrate his knowledge his sham would have been revealed likely side trevellian alas for a heartily crave contact with the master of my art and his secrets just as i crave a heart attack on the part of mrs hudson said i yet here we both sit disappointed tell me did you recount any of this encounter to blessington no i merely said i'd not been in his rooms at which he grew pale and agitated i think he was up very late when i awoke this morning i crept out hoping to shield myself from further interrogation i returned just before lunch to find him erecting a barricade across the top of the stairs i had no idea what to do i could not account for his strange behavior and he refused to answer my questions one of my friends suggested you mr holmes as a man who understands the bizarre better than he understands the commonplace i had to laugh at that but trevelyan ignored me and asked what do you think mr holmes can you make any sense of the matter hmm let me see holmes said and tapped his lips thoughtfully with his finger for a few seconds before deciding no i can't how about you watson i had a few notions but most of the story was a mystery still so i asked did blessington tell you nothing he gave no further clue well i did hear him talking to himself last night he was piercing back and forth in the bedroom below me and several times heard him swear he shall not have it by god moran shall not have it in a trice holmes was on his feet watson get your coat upon our arrival at trevelyan's residence holmes stepped cautiously from the cab observing the streets in both directions before approaching the door trevelyan and i followed uncertain we were just behind homes and a little off to his left when he reached the door and knocked no sooner had his hand touched the wood then a series of loud reports rang out from behind the door shattered wood erupted towards us as a series of holes traced itself across both the door and adjacent wall dust and flying splinters filled the air i can hardly describe the familiarity and horror a battle-wounded soldier feels when he realizes he is once again coming under enemy fire i must have cried out holmes calmly stepped to one side a look of irritation on his face trevellian froze the wrong instinct but one i could well understand for i had done so myself at the battle of maywand turning from the door i flung myself upon trevellian and pulled him down into the gutter holmes get down i cried but he disregarded me and stood his ground just to one side of the door calm yourself watson he said he's nowhere near me the shots are all off to my left so they were but not by more than two feet one round struck the top hinge from the door then the cascade of bullets began to travel in holmes's direction warlock huffed his annoyance and took a few steps to his right as the stream of bullets came closer tracing a line of destruction a round or two must have struck the latch for there was a shower of brass and iron lock parts at last the firing ceased the door sagged on its one damaged hinge then slowly fell outwards into the street from within i heard a voice call don't come any closer i have a gun so it would appear home shouted back i don't suppose you would stop firing it long enough to speak with my friends and me who is that moran my name is warlock holmes i am here with mr trevelyan what does he want to return to his quarters without being blown to scraps said holmes raising my head i could just see past the ruined door into the hallway and up the stairs to a curious fort it was constructed as if by a child on a rainy afternoon several cushions had been propped up with empty suitcases becoming makeshift walls half of them were draped with blankets to form a cozy little hiding place if the armor afforded by this emplacement was sparse it was more than recompensed for by its armament a six-barrel gatling gun protruded from between two cushions venting smoke an instant later a fat flushed face which i assumed belonged to blessington appeared over a cushion no you can't come in it's my fault blessington holmes remonstrated i am coming up there no i may be your last chance to set this right blessington i don't care go away i am going to count to three then i am coming in i won't let you one home said slowly as he spoke he gestured for me to get to safety i propped myself up out of the mud somewhat and said holmes you mustn't with one hand i indicated first travelling and then the rest of the world meaning that the former should not see homes perform any unnatural feats and the latter should not be overrun with demons i think he understood vague as my warning was but he tutted away my protests and again gestured for me to get clear two damn him i cursed then grabbed trevelyan by the sleeve and dragged him to safety further down the street three said holmes and stepped in through the door blessing to open fire i heard three more shots ring out then a strangled scream and a series of thuds as if someone were kicking the walls inside the house a lone sofa cushion bounced down the stairs out the ruined door and into the streets come on i told trevelyan let's go see what he's done in there there were two possible outcomes i wasn't sure i liked either of them either blessington had triumphed and i was about to behold holmes's earthly remains or holmes had triumphed and i was about to behold well it might be anything i hoped it wouldn't be too bad that i wouldn't find the upstairs crawling with chittering imps or every wall dripping with shreds of blessington when i peeped around the remains of the doorway i beheld homes standing on the landing at the top of the stairs looking down at blessington's bulk all seemed well enough until i crested the stairs and got a proper look at blessington he layer thwart the wreckage of his pillow fort flat on his back with his limbs contorted his eyes were opened wide and rolled back and forth in a paroxysm of fear from his mouth issued tendrils of black oily smoke these spilled down upon the floor and splayed outwards moving with an undulating regularity so cohesive were the strands that it looked as if an octopus made of smoke had just set up home in blessington's mouth and was now feeling about the floor with all its tentacles searching for the wallet it had dropped on its way in just as disturbing was the impression that blessington was pinned to the floor by a great weight situated at the back of his mouth his limbs would convulse and strain from time to time yanking his torso this way and that yet try as he might he could not make the back of his head budge from its spot by god cried travalian from the stairs behind me what has happened to him holmes whirled around and in wide-eyed guilty stems explained oh um he was he fell down you see i raised a finger stepped in front of holmes and told trevelyan holmes has employed the ancient art of karate a sacred fighting style from far japan yes but that's that's just kicking and punching isn't it trevellian asked it is i said then where did all that smoke come from you have seen blessington take a cigarette from time to time have you not i asked home struck him in such a way as to release all the residual smoke that was trapped within him after all those years of tobacco it should be quite cleansing for him remarkable said trevelyan thank you said holmes with a sigh of relief and here we have a chance to practice some deduction i continued now mr trevelyan did you not tell as you keep the upstairs rooms while blessington here has the lower floor i did trevellian said then why do you think he has constructed the barricade across mr trevelyan's door homes are not his own home shrugged it might have just been a better place to build a fort it might i conceded but perhaps there is a more logical deduction perhaps he has stashed something precious in trevelyan's quarters mr trevelyan would you come with me please i should like to search your rooms if you find anything that does not belong to you or anything that does but which is out of place you must point it out to me immediately he agreed with an earnest nod holmes and i tossed aside the cushions and stepped through but there was nothing to find trevelyan kept his quarters neat and had decorated them with circus and trapeze paraphernalia the best of his pieces was an ingenious clockwork tableau only wind the key press the lever on the front and the whole thing came to life as the clockwork ringmaster raised his hat the cannon behind him elevated and fired a thrashing clown towards a solid brick wall just before he hit a man on a trapeze swooped down caught him by the hands and swung him to safety i found the story highly unlikely yet i could not help but marvel at the hundreds of minute brass gears and levers that turned a simple swing of a pendulum into such perfect mimicry of life my fascination with this clockwork wonder notwithstanding we found nothing of interest in trevellian's rooms he was able to answer for every item down to each plate and spoon nor did he think that anything had been disturbed lost for further inspiration i suggested shall we journey downstairs gentlemen and see what blessington was so keen to protect he keeps a great deal of money in the house trevelyan suggested i thought that must be the source of his fear is it well hidden i asked not at all he keeps a cash box on his desk well secured no not even locked strange i pondered given the amount of time you spent with our monsieur midori i would have thought his accomplice must have discovered such an obvious hall if so they would already have taken it wouldn't they blessington would be furious at the loss but what would be left for him to protect either this cash box was overlooked or the thief was after something else i'm sure i don't know what trevelyan shrugged well show us the box to begin with i said perhaps we shall find another treasure in the hall we passed blessington still pinned to the floor gasping for help he'll be all right home said then gave blessington a little kick and reminded him i did warn you if you recall blessington's rooms were what should i say like a kingly hovel at first i thought the thief had ransacked the place yet i soon realized that no man but blessington had wrought this destruction the mess was too personal and too established dirty clothes lay in every corner the wreckage of meals in every nook yet even in this filthy den the man's wealth was evident i kicked aside a discarded dinner jacket its extreme size testified that it did belong to blessings but only when it was in the air did i realize it was one of savile rows finest fit for any duke hanging from a doorknob nearby was the shirt to match it and in the cuffs were a pair of platinum links emblazoned with a pure gold monogram h m the workmanship was extraordinary and the cost must have been vast clearly blessington was accustomed to the finer things but not to treating them finely for a moment i despaired of ever finding a clue amidst the clutter until trevelyan said ah there's his cash box holmes gave a sudden gasp and stood frozen in the doorway to blessington's study peering around him i beheld the plainest wooden box i think i have ever seen it was constructed of some kind of dark well-worn wood it had hinges of heavy bronze and a latch of the same apart from that it was all but featureless i could not name the artistic style it was constructed in nor even guess at the country of origin all i could say for certain was that it was old very old indeed i tried to push past holmes to examine it but he thrust me back crying do not touch it watson what is it i asked but he ignored me and turned instead to mr trevelyan have you ever seen blessington open that box many times what does it contain well money obviously nothing more homes demanded not that i have seen homes edged into the room eyeing the box with deep distrust taking up a silver fountain pen he inched closer to the box and gingerly pried back the hatch then with his eyes squeezed almost shut he tipped the lid up ever so slightly nothing happened holmes breathed a thankful sigh and casually flipped the lid open the rest of the way i could just see a disorganized wad of one and five pound notes which rested on an equally disorganized wad of 10 and 20 pound notes only money holmes laughed then snatched up the box and swept past trevelyan and me into the hall and up the stairs when he reached the top landing he crouched over the recumbent bulk of mr blessington and reached inside the fallen man's mouth holmes plucked out an object that looked like a fuzzy cold-colored cotton ball from which the tendrils of dark smoke emitted and flicked it into a nearby corner where is the other box holmes demanded freed from his smokey bonds blessington hauled himself into a sitting position and shuffled backwards coughing and wheezing until his back bumped against the far wall holmes had no consideration for the man's recent plight but urged the other box blessington it's a matter of some urgency as i think you must realize yet when our rotund host found his voice again it was only to say no other box you mean to say you have never owned another box just like this one no never why should a man want more than one cash box for that matter why should a man keep so much money in one then leave it unlocked and unguarded there's a perfectly good bank just around the corner said holmes blessington scoffed never trust a bank mr holmes no i shall never trust a bank you of all people wouldn't would you i will ask you one more time mr blessington and then i am leaving where is the other box there is no other speak the truth speak the truth to me blessington or i cannot help you yet he did not get out get out of my house he shouted at homes then turned on trevellian and shouted and you you mincing fairy get back in your rooms do you hear you get back in there don't you dare leave before i say home shook his head stood up and turned to trevelyan saying don't that is very poor advice in fact i think you'd better only set foot in there once more go and gather those things that are most precious to you and only as much as you can carry make haste you are moving out today ask rebellion this instant but but what shall i do i have nowhere to go we shall just have to make sure you possess the means to render such concerns moot home shrugged he flipped open blessington's cash box extended it towards trevelyan and said how much do you think you'll need keep in mind that it should be enough to start anew somewhere far from here if you are wise stop that you blessington shouted holmes turned back to him with disgust and said unless it is the truth about the other box that is crossing your lips i do not wish to hear more from you you can't give away another man's property this is not your property homes countered then turned to us and said he stole it so don't feel so bad mr trevelyan take what you need and forget this place to start anew trevelyan reflected in comfortable style said holmes well that might take perhaps 500 pounds don't you think 500 pounds indeed i don't know how much jules leotard earned in his storied career on the trapeze but i will wager it was less than that kingly sum holmes just smiled and said it's best to be sure though don't you think so seven then trevellian asked hopefully that sounds apt holmes agreed blessings and gave a cry of protest but was silenced by a harsh look from holmes now go to your rooms holmes ordered trevelyan as soon as the latter had selected his handful of banknotes and gather what is precious to you watson and i will wait take a few minutes only this place is not safe i shan't need much trevellian said why keep those old rags now why indeed said holmes trevelyan disappeared into his quarters and i hissed to homes i can stand it no more what in the world is that box this box merely a portal to what another box don't be vague holmes i said if you keep secrets from me how can i be expected to deduce the truth home softened somewhat but said i will not speak of it in front of blessington he may yet have some chance to work mischief before you and i prepared to deal with the second box we must return on the morrow gert for battle all i will tell you now is that you have heard of this item before or at least its first unfortunate owner have i pandora as with all myths the story has diverted from the truth but the we call that a terrible beast lives within a simple box is correct that was enough to quiet me trevelyan returned dragging a laden trunk as i assisted him down the stairs holmes turned to blessington who still sat on the landing clutching a pillow across his breast and staring pastors at the front door with an expression all of fear devoid of hope last chance home said tell me the truth and i may yet save you cling to your promises your lies and your misbegotten treasure and they shall devour you blessington said nothing home shrugged i thought as much well i wish you luck of it perhaps we shall meet again holmes chuck the cash box and remaining bills into blessings lap and turned for the door we hailed two cabs trevelyan drove away in the first still in ore of his newfound fortune once we were settled in the second holmes asked what do you make of blessington to begin with blessington is not his true name said i home sat up in surprise and fixed me with a look of admiration i say well done watson how did you know i noticed a pair of cufflinks in his rooms they were monogrammed hm well that solves one little mystery then said holmes he must be henry moffatt the name struck me as familiar but though i racked my memory i could not say why holmes watched me puzzle a moment then prompted i think you must have heard of the worthingdon bank gang ah the worthington imploders yes it was all in the papers i recall the trial they caught the gang hang the leader send the rest to jail the one who informed on them got a shorter sentence that would be henry moffatt i assume if i recall scotland yard never did find out how the gang smashed open the bank vaults did they i think i know watson holmes mused they used ancient and terrible magics the box we saw today as i told you is a portal to another box whatever is placed in one box can be withdrawn from the other no matter how far away the boxes may be the contents effectively exist in two places there is one notable exception in the dangerous box the true pandora's box there lives a terrible beast it can only enter and exit through the true box what is this to do with the bank robbery i asked it is quite elementary suppose blessington or one of his confederates is in possession of both boxes he goes to a bank and deposits the true box it sits in the vault dormant and harmless until one night the owner of the boxes pricks his finger and drop some blood into the second box remember whatever is present in one is also in the other so now the beast has a taste of blood hungry for a complete sacrifice the monster abandons its home in the first box and seeks prey at night there is nobody in the bank maybe a night watchman but he would be outside the vault that is important for the beast would have to go to get him and everything it touched on the way would corrode i remember it from the papers i said at each bank they hit the vault doors had rusted away and the walls had crumbled to dust after eating the night watchman or whoever else it could find the beast probably slung back to its home happy and docile as a well-fed cat then the robbers needed only to walk into the ruined vault and stuff any surviving monies into the dangerous box knowing they could be removed from the saved box at any convenient moment a few days later the owner could go withdraw the dangerous box on the wreckage of the bank and deposit it in the next one they decided to rob i shook my head and said such things are foreign to my understanding homes yet if it works as you say it is an ingenious method moriarty was clever said holmes the statement piqued my interest for i knew moriarty only as the demonic voice that he should from homes from time to time his prognostications had always proved true and highly useful yet i knew homes to harbor extreme distaste for him i chose my next words delicately how does moriarty enter into this homes who exactly is he nobody now said holmes he is gone forever i knew that to be untrue but i held my tongue until holmes added he used to be a criminal mastermind oh he was a spider watson ever at the center of a vast invisible web he never got his hands dirty and his name was unknown to most of his victims yet make no mistake he was responsible for almost every crime of a magical nature committed on this continent much of america and asia too i think through these crimes he amassed a collection of magical artifacts unmatched by any other man in history and how did he use them for further crime he armed his gangs with an arcane arsenal sufficient to render his men unstoppable and their methods inscrutable to the common investigator how do you know all this i asked i knew moriarty i knew him very well holmes said in fact i have seen the boxes before i knew them to be a prized possession of moriartys though i failed to guess the true nature of the thing that lived therein my first inkling came when trevelyan mentioned that blessington was trying to protect the box from a man named moran sebastian moran was a trusted lieutenant of moriarty's a most dangerous fellow in his own right i might add once i learned maran was involved saw the box saw blessington's wealth and heard his low regard for banks i surmised the rest well that is it holmes that is deduction well done i cried but exactly what is it holmes the thing that lives in the box i mean time i think i must have sat a gap for a moment until holmes took pity on me and leaned forward to disclose one of the greatest secrets of this world i have told you before that our realm is a virtual paradise to the beings of other realities that is not to say we have no demons of our own the greater ones are so dominant that they are perceived by mortal men not as monsters but as fundamental qualities of reality they are gone beyond entities they are physics time exists in every realm i know of but in many of them it is not a poison in other realms age is more likely to improve a thing than to wear it down thus very ancient things are amongst the most powerful here every man and bird and rock and tree must know that time will eventually corrode and destroy it that is what lives in the box the ability or no let us say the onus of time to destroy all things let me tell you if outside entities understood exactly how deadly time is in our realm they might be less eager to join us i gave a slow whistle and asked if that is so if that is our nemesis how are we to combat the killing power of time that is the question of the day isn't it holmes returned his gaze to the world outside the carriage window he had a particular love of windows and always seemed fascinated with what lay beyond them he could stare for hours at the world presented by the pain wondering if the things he saw were true or only a projection upon the glass offered to deceive him i hardly saw holmes for the rest of the day upon our return to 221b baker street he flew from the cab up the steps and into his room there he busied himself with a number of his books and his strange alchemical laboratory he spent the remainder of the afternoon tink tink tinking at tiny scraps of metal with a minute hammer staring down at them from time to time with that magnifying glass of his gradually the metal scraps and the bubbling beakers of foul smelling fluid he occasionally dipped them into became too much for his tiny desk to accommodate at this point he emerged from his room and begged the use of the sitting room in joining me to find some outside entertainment for the evening i made homes a steaming pile of toast and a pot of soup then wild the evening away at the local second run theater i returned home at just about ten to find home still puttering he looked worn but rebuffed my attempts to get him to rest i myself went to bed less than half an hour later i did not see him again until the dead of night as i lay in slumber a shadow fell across my face and the sudden change in light induced me to wakefulness there was homes leaning gleefully over my bed watson i have a gift for you warlock piped up then immediately his expression fell to one of deepest dismay and he cursed no damn i can't say that can i i rolled over and stared at him blinking the sleep for my eyes what are you talking about homes what gift what time is it gift there is no gift damn you see now i can't give it to you i promised you a gift and it wouldn't work if this was the gift would it ownership is damnably important in magical matters i have no idea what you are speaking of i ask again what time is it two or so homes had roused me from almost the exact middle of my slumber to announce that he had chosen this moment to give me something or not to the revelation was not a welcome one i think i yelled holmes merely raised a finger and said just a moment please i shall be back presently he leapt through my doorway and into the sitting room he returned not 15 seconds later with his shirt sleeves flapping freely about and declared there as i said a gift for you in my hands he deposited a pair of cheap tin cufflinks why have you given me your cufflinks homes no they are your cufflinks i got them for you then why are they inscribed with an h ah well because your middle name is heindal true holmes but this is something i prefer to conceal an undertaking which would not be aided by having to explain it over and over to everyone i met from this day on as evidence that i'm not wearing another man's cufflinks you have much to learn about gratitude watson holmes huffed again i ask why have you given me your cufflinks look the important thing is that i have i promised you a gift now i have delivered one he beamed at his own cleverness and reached into his pocket it must therefore be a completely separate transaction when i mention that i have made you something oh damn well that won't work either will it if i've made it for you that's as good as giving it to you isn't it i'm going back to sleep homes no you aren't wait a moment i'll figure this out with that he scurried into the pantry i could hear him banging about in there occasionally calling you aren't asleep are you really don't make me fetch the accordion john you know i will in less than five minutes he returned announcing there i have made you something this plate of toast i don't want it watson don't be difficult take it eat some at least one bite it is a matter of some importance with a sigh i reached over and snatched a slice of unbuttered toast from the plate he offered and bit into it with exactly no eagerness at all there he said over my dry reluctant crunching that's better now as a separate matter for we must admit that both previous issues have been brought to conclusion i would like to inform you that i have made this from his pocket he drew a sort of amulet an irregular yellow disc hanging from an ornate chain it is not for you he continued it is mine and mine alone the magical protections bound within this amulet were granted to me in my possessions not to any other man therefore i do not give you permission to touch it much less where it always but i do admit that it would be greatly beneficial to you if you did it may even protect you from the foremost evils of this world though such punishment would wear it out quickly and now i will leave it undefended in your room you needn't bother i snorted i have no desire to wear such a thing damn it watson yes you do it looks horrid what is it anyway the rent he replied raising his eyebrows as if he had just done a hideously clever thing so though it is from you it is a thing you owed me which makes it very much mine remember i am not giving this to you you gave it to me such matters can be of great magical importance why is it all yellow and lumpy the dangling abomination was indeed roughly the same shape and size as one sovereign coin but was encased in a rubbery coating that hid its true nature entirely so hideous was the medallion that it took me a moment to recognize the beauty and intricate workmanship on the chain warlock had not deigned to answer my question so i asked another i say that is a singular chain what is it made of ah he said that was no small trick some links are copper some are bronze some iron i had a devil of a time shaping such fine pieces much less getting them to fit together you made this i marveled staring at the links they were minute irregular shapes joined together with such cunning that i'm sure i could not describe the process even if i understood it three shapes were repeated over and over in the three metals they were familiar to me but i could not say from where a book i realized i'd seen them in a book somewhere on numerous occasions a medical book good lord homes are those ear bones well spotted watson the hammer the anvil and the stirrup the tiny calcius marvels that allow hearing but why it has often been said watson that the air is the gateway to the soul the eye what the eye homes the eye is the gateway to the soul egad watson don't be disgusting anyway it is the ear i assure you whenever magics must be bound to a particular individual the bond is always strongest if they are bound to the ear or hair or ear hair the ear well then oh god holmes this is ear wax you have coated the sovereign i gave you an ear wax of course i did and you expect me to wear it you wish me to clothe myself in another man's ear wax well said holmes with a shrug not another man's by god do you mean to tell me that you are holding in your hand a sovereign coated in roughly two tablespoons of my own ear wax just so well you are lying said i or you are jesting with me there is no possibility i ever had that much wax in my ears not all at once holmes conceded but you must realize that i was concerned for you before you even took up residence here i must take some care to shelter all my living companions from harm thus i began my harvest on the night you moved in you've been stealing my earwax stealing is not a term worthy of a gentleman since the day we met if you've been feeling a bit dry you now know the course damn it holmes he gave me a hurt look and sat at the foot of my bed watson please understand we are hunting dangerous prey i have no idea where the true box may be hidden but i know the thing inside has become used to regular human sacrifice it might sally forth at any time it considers itself slighted or hungry or even bored it would surely devour the first man it finds i am not sure i could defend myself from such a beast and i know that i could not defend you i only wish for you to be as safe as possible watson my thoughts were sleepy and troubled i did not know whether to yell at homes or thank him as i struggled to decide holmes's words closed a link for me i made a sudden connection i know where the box is how think holmes blessington had no interest in trevellian as a lover did he he doesn't seem to have then why did he want him why would he open his home to another man support him and keep him i don't follow said holmes the box i cried if blessington or moffat or whatever his name is if he knew the beast might erupt at any moment and slay the first man it found wouldn't he take care not to be that man that's why he wanted trevelyan always to spend his evenings at home he wished gervellian's bed to be always occupied that's why his gatling emplacement was set across trevellian's door and not his own don't you see the box is built into the underside of trevelyan's bed blessington kept him not as a lover but as a sort of resident sacrifice always on hand in case the beast got hungry by jove i think you've got it warlock cried come watson let us go and put a stop to it right now how could you sleep at a moment like this but it's cold outside how would we ever find a cab at this hour tosh it is less than an hour's walk homes we are engaged in a race watson if moran is indeed seeking to reclaim that box i am loathe to surrender even a minute to him if he finds it before we do the box will disappear into moriarty's criminal empire and who can say how many innocents will be sacrificed to it here we have another chance to get our hands on it i grumbled of course but he was right besides i was firmly awake by that time and faced only an empty sleepless night if i stayed though i bundled myself up tightly the coal crept in at every seam as we walked the streets betwixt baker street and travelling my muffler continuously slipped down revealing my nose moist from my breath to the mercy of the cold i sniffled and snorted piteously as we approached our goal home's urge to hurry proved prophetic as we rounded the corner onto moffat street we beheld a trio of shapes emerging from the bullet-riddled ruins of his door stay close by me watson said holmes stepping out into the middle of the street through the patchy clouds enough moonlight shone down that the intruders could not help but notice him he threw open his overcoat and let it flap around his shanks as he advanced slowly down the street this holmes did to show himself unarmed but his steely gaze declared that he had no need of pistol or blade he himself was the weapon i scurried from the shadows behind him wary of danger and longing for the warm bed i had left behind the first of the three figures instantly beheld holmes and turned his steps to intercept our own behind him the others followed though with less zeal as he neared us i got my first look at an adversary who would horn several of my future adventures his hair was chestnut shot with grey at the temples he wore it in a short martial cut indeed everything about the man was short and marshall though he stood no more than five foot three he had the bearing of a soldier his gaze was cold and unwavering devoid of all fear he did not walk he marched something in his stride gave the impression that you might shoot him two or three times in the chest and not arrest his progress i couldn't recommend shooting him a fourth time he might be very cross with you indeed he wore a grey bowler at what would have been a rakish tilt if it were not for the fact that rakishness happiness hope and humor all withered away within a 20-yard radius of the man as he drew up before us warlock announced him sebastian moran warlock holmes moran replied a shudder passed through his two companions and they exchanged glances they must have recognized holmes's name i realized they must have feared it one of moran's companions was commonplace in the extreme an old man with a bushy white beard over one shoulder he carried a short stepladder and in the other hand a box of tools judging by trevellian's descriptions i supposed this to have been the man who passed himself off as monsieur maduro with moran himself as the unworthy accomplice moran's other companion was horrific he was shorter even than moran a fact accentuated by his deformed spine which hunched him forwards and well off to the right his hair hung in greasy black strands and his skin even in the moonlight gave the impression of a greenish tint in his right hand he held a dagger his left hand walked nervous fingers up and down the blade the knife was clean but his right trouser leg was not with horror i noted the dark stripe where he had wiped the blade upon his trousers i was sure it must be blood he smiled at me a goblin's grin nodding his head towards moran's empty grasp holmes noted i see you failed to find the box hey i do not answer to the unworthy vessel moran said but and this still to homes it is good to see you master suddenly moran his confederates and the street behind them lit with a green glow though i was behind him i could tell that holmes was the source of this illumination so i knew the voice that would come next a deep slow laugh escaped holmes's lips and in the creeping tone i had heard just three times before moriarty spoke faithful one you please me you are well master you are sheltered moriarty did not answer instead holmes slumped forward then staggered to one side it was common for him to be weak when moriarty departed even for him to be rendered entirely insensible yet this time homes did not fall all the way to the ground even as he stumbled he slapped aside moran's outstretched hands and declared i'm not sheltering him moran i'm digesting him time shall choose a victor said moran then turned his eye on me and asked and who is this new face tell him nothing watson warlock urged struggling to reclaim his balance and for god's sake john don't let him learn your name moran smiled i sighed and shook my head then since it seemed i had nothing to lose by it i extended my hand and said dr john watson at your service this surprised moran who stared at me as if trying to decide whether it was madness or boldness that lay behind the gesture he crept slowly forward and took my hand in his the grip was firm but more remarkable was the steadiness of his hand i had thought that only a surgeon could cultivate such absolute stability only later did it occur to me that a sniper might as well as we shook he leaned in and stared unblinkingly into my eyes taking the measure of me after a time he said you call yourself a doctor but i think you're a brother of mine are you not a son of mars dr watson it took me a moment to fathom his meaning mars the planet no the roman god of war very astute said i i was a soldier for a brief time how many of you slain i was taken aback well i prescribed morphine to a sunstroke victim once that did the trick you jest with me but i perceive that this hand has sent many to the grave either it has or one day shall i pulled back my hand and cried no sir it does not and it shall not i am a doctor i took an oath yes i have seen battle but i did not revel in it i have no love of war that is on gentlemanly sir and unkind he loves you for just a moment moran's inexpressive facade cracked and he fixed me with the look most people would reserve for someone who had just called the queen a common street harlot it took him only a moment to recover his composure he stared coldly up at me and added perhaps one day you and i shall meet upon the bloody field to see whom he favors more i stared at him a moment then whispered you i expect i expect so too said moran turning to warlock i noted really holmes the quality of people you associate with leaves much to be desired home snorted and said who moran think nothing of him watson i'd say he's merely a lap dog but surely a dog would have been able to sniff out the box before now no need to worry holmes i expect the box shall soon make itself known said moran turning to smile at the smaller of his two companions the stunted man raised his dagger and tapped it twice against his own chest i turned back towards holmes to ask what the little creep meant but found he had gone holmes was no longer by my side but pelting down the street in the direction of trevelyan's house for the lack of a better plan i took to my heels as well one cannot run with a walking stick so i was forced to waddle after homes as best as my wounded and wasted frame allowed i'm sure my progress must have been more amusing to moran than frightening over my shoulder i could just hear him call until next time doctor my first instinct would have been to run up the stairs and search trevellian's rooms for the missing box but as i entered by the shattered front door i heard warlock cry out from within moffatt's rooms downstairs bustling in after him i beheld a horrible sight i had not had the time to guess what purpose moran had for the ladder and toolbox his elderly heiling carried now i saw his reason and even as a doctor accustomed to blood and viscera it turned my stomach moran and company had taken their time with moffat four sturdy anchors had been affixed to the ceiling in the bedroom from these hunger iron chains tangled within them was moffat himself he had been stripped to his undergarments and hung spread-eagled over his precious cash box he was soaked in blood his face was pale he had been stabbed in several places on the inside of his thighs the base of his neck and the inside of his arms just below the armpit though the wounds were small they told a clear tail to my doctor's eye moran's little knifeman had nicked both moffatt's jugular veins as well as his femorals and axils it must have taken him some time to bleed out indeed he may still have been alive but the wounds were mortal compounding this cruelty the cashbox had been opened and placed directly beneath moffatt the chains were arranged such that he could pull himself to one side while he had the strength causing the blood to drip beside the box rather than into it as most of the blood soaked the carpet i could see that moffat must have struggled as long as he could to see that no blood touched the tussled wads of banknotes within the box yet as his blood had drained the strength left him he must have slumped into unconsciousness even as we entered for the thin red stream that dripped from his vast belly had only just begun to paint its crimson upon the money from the floor above us there came a terrible rumble the house creaked and squealed as if all the boards of her frame had warped pulling at the nails that bound them oh damn warlock cried quick watson the stairs we rushed upstairs to trevelyan's bed chamber with a reluctant grimace holmes opened the door and peered inside how can i describe what i saw i am familiar with height width and depth but i think there must be four or five spatial dimensions for the creature defied physics as i understood it its horrid appendages seemed disjointed appearing in several different places at once though through their movement i began to perceive how they must come together into a hole it had no color or no color i could understand its shape was defined to me as the area i could not see the space where human perception failed it pulled itself up out of the center of trevelyan's bed which wasted and fell in upon itself even as we watched only when home shut the door did i realize that i had been screaming i clutched at the sides of my aching head and felt my pulse pound against my hands with terrible force oh dear said holmes it's even worse than i expected what what do we do i stammered hmm that all depends upon you i think watson did you or did you not steal my protective amulet my hand went to my chest i flushed understand i was not embarrassed that i had stolen the thing holmes had made it abundantly clear that such was his wish no i was merely ashamed to be wearing such a monstrosity horrified by the feel of the ever warming earwax of holmes's horrid trinket against my skin though i said nothing holmes must have comprehended my expression for he said good now understand watson that thing is looking for a human sacrifice moffatt is gone trivellion is gone there's only one thing for it good luck with one hand holm swept open the door with the other he thrusts me inside the wave of sickness that washed over me made it impossible even to protest i heard the door slam shut behind me and turn to face my destroyer one of the creatures unspeakable upper limb thing shot towards me and impaled my chest it passed straight through me i felt no pain indeed i felt nothing touch me at all for the beast and i did not share an equal number of dimensions instead i saw a flash no i saw the flash the fundamental big bright start to everything all the matter that ever was or would be spun across an expanding cosmos in a luminous cloud gravity began to work upon it drawing the sea of chaos into swirling spheres which grew into stars and planets plasmas cooled to burning gas then liquid and finally stone water rained down upon one such planet slimy things began to crawl with legs upon the slimy sea these creeping forms became ever larger and more distinct fishes insects slugs and snails they grew legs and traversed the cooling continents as planets sprang up all around in an instant so small i could barely perceive it man came i saw the pyramids rise and the winds begin to corrode them i saw great armies march fight and fall i saw my parents younger than i had ever known them i saw myself but even to me i was a thing of no value what a small part i was of the hole what an insignificant jot was the span of my existence it was already over i realized if ever i had truly been if that tiny period of time was enough for anything to be said to exist at all such a thing as might live in that inconsequential blink of time was of no account i was gone as soon as i began yet as this revelation struck me even as i ceased to be the tentacle that probed my chest happened across the amulet there was a whoosh a great rush as all of time fell in upon me drawn into my chest and up into my body suddenly everything but the room around me was gone there were no more planets in my mind no more stars something must have been holding me up in the air for i fell almost from the ceiling down to the floor my head crashed into the floorboards and my left ear flared with burning pain i had a moment of panic for in my time as all things i had forgotten how to be only one thing i had no recollection of how to be an animal and no longer knew how to breathe old habits began to recall themselves to me and at last i drew a gulping breath i curled up on the floor and stayed there letting the air fall into my chest and out again reacclimating myself to the strange sensation of owning arms and legs behind me a door creaked open ahead interrupted the light outside and poked in to intrude itself upon my bedroom realm so said holmes how did that go we stayed in trevelyan's room well into the day as the sun slowly warmed the room around me i became more and more myself again holmes set trevellian's clockwork tableau before me over and again he wounded and i beheld the clown flung through the air to his shore demise saved at the last second each time by the man on the flying trapeze i marveled to see the tiny figures they moved and existed in a way that so resembled free will yet i knew the action and outcome every time it began the little clown had no way to prevent his ordeal the shining brass trapeze artist no alternative but to save him did they believe themselves masters of their own choices if so they were deceived in that notion i cannot say why but this was comforting to me you might as well keep it home said nobody owns it now dumb i nodded after a time i asked is it gone the thing in the box to answer my question holmes drew two plain wooden boxes from the folds of his overcoat one was from the ruins of trevelyan's bed the other from moffett's study downstairs he flipped open both lids and showed me the contents see nothing so what does that mean i asked have we changed the world can time no longer waste us oh no home scoffed the beast still lives upon this plane watson we have merely bounded understand that the power of time to wither all is not anything the beast does on purpose merely a side effect of its existence oh so it will still kill us all i see it just won't lunge out and kill us all well that's something i suppose against such a faux watson yes it is it is indeed i think i'll leave the boxes here maran must be skulking close by waiting for the house to fall in and reveal where the dangerous box was hidden let him have it he'll find it disappointing i think i rose and wandered about the rooms were familiar to me but they seemed a distant memory still i began to recover enough of my senses to recall that i had things i wanted to accomplish both great and small i drifted downstairs and finished one of the smaller errands here i left holmes was waiting for me upon the bullet riddled front step ready to go home watson holmes did you know the amulet would save my life i asked or did you mean to sacrifice me he smiled i knew that either the amulet would save you or you would be doomed anyway i hate it well you don't have to wear it anymore i'm sure that after such a strain it is useless now good i dug down beneath my clothing and began pulling melted refused chunks of earwax out of my chest hair a charred and twisted sovereign fell from my shirt holmes swept it up and regarded it with a jolly smile the chain i kept i prize it still holmes waited patiently as i divested myself of the ruins of his gift after a time i said oh holmes i got a present for you did you yes here in his hand i deposited a pair of platinum cufflinks emblazoned with holmes's initials in 24 karat gold wonderful watson wonderful you shouldn't have he proclaimed tracing the w and h with his fingertip though he had the means holmes was not in the habit of purchasing luxuries for himself still he could appreciate the fine things when they were presented to him he seemed to like the cufflinks i often saw him wearing them and occasionally smiling at them we stepped into the street and directed our steps homewoods to baker street i don't know if it ever occurred to him to wonder what i had been doing in the house that day while he waited on the front step i laughed to think that in all the time we spent together he probably never realized how henry muffet's fine platinum cufflinks would appear if one wore them upside down the case of the cardboard case to the brilliant mind the true enemy is inactivity at least that's what i tell myself because i like to pretend i'm an intellectual and because i know how badly i cope with idleness i still cringe when i recall how much i hated the pause that came between holmes and my first two adventures and our third our study in brimstone took place over two days in early november just one week after that we handled the adventure of the resident sacrifice i prided myself on how well my medical knowledge had prepared me to solve crimes and i was eager to prove my mettle on our next adventure yet the remainder of november passed without any call to action december followed each telegram each piece of post each visitor to our door would i prayed reveal our next challenge but each of them failed me i hardly knew what to do with myself i formed the habit of taking long walks about the city if only to fill the time returning from one such walkabout at around 10 on new year's morning i found holmes slouched in his armchair before the fire honking away with his accordion and singing old lang syne at the top of his lungs i waved a greeting and he nodded back but any verbal exchange would have been lost in his cacophonous song upon finishing the final verse he paused tilting his head to one side he listened intently for a few moments and then complained nothing nothing when will you answer oh being from another world what being is that holmes oddlingsing last night and this morning it seemed every revlon passerby i saw was calling upon the same entity all london is bent on summoning him yet he will not appear so strange not strange homes i said that is not a name it is a scottish phrase oh i think i know a demon's name when i hear one watson old lang sein for the sake of old times oh a nostalgia demon he must be potent indeed no not a demon at all i am telling you wait what is this my eye had fallen across a white envelope that lay upon the side table beside holmes's armchair oh a letter said he from whom well i don't know honestly watson would you put aside the chase for a reluctant demon just to read an everyday letter yes well do so then i have other matters to attend he launched back into the first verse of his supposed summoning ritual i stepped to the table unfolded the letter and read i must have made quite a face for when he observed my expression holmes at last lay aside his accordion and asked what does it say watson message was short it read to the esteemed consulting detective warlock holmes and his colleague dr john watson help lestrade when i read it to him warlock sucked air through clenched teeth and declared ouch sounds like a bad one what say you watson ready for an adventure i don't know do i i replied he gives us no hint of what we might expect at the bottom of the letter lestrade had included an address but nowhere was there any indication of what was wrong or how we should prepare ourselves in the delay between adventures my frustration with vladislav lestrade had only grown at first i had sought to raise his spirits whenever i caught him moping holmes had given me to understand that this was a useless gesture as lestrade was an annihilaist at first i thought he meant a nihilist a person who believed in nothing but no he was an annihilus a person who believed there should be nothing thus anything that was is would be or might possibly be offended the little romanian by dint of its very existence every man woman and child every object and every idea was a slap in the face to vladislav lestrade who was convinced that the only way to avoid tragedy and suffering was simply not to exist he many times commented that if only he had the ability he would cheerfully annihilate himself me and all of creation without commenting on the philosophical validity of this position let me just say vladislav lestrade did not have many friends of course he hasn't given us a clue holmes beamed the little fiend is playing on my curiosity as well as my duty to help my comrades let us chide him for it when we get there so in only the time it took for us to gather our hats coats gloves and homes his shoes we found ourselves bouncing along in a handsome bound on a new adventure the address was not in an area of london i often frequented but the streets were familiar to me and became more so as we drew nearer our destination as we made our final turn i realized why wait this is grogson street are we going to grogson's house very nearly in fact our destination was just next door as we approached i could see inspector lestrade pacing the pavement in front of the house i knew he must be perturbed indeed to suffer daylight just to wait for us holmes must have thought so too for the moment the handsome pulled to a stop he sprang from the cab calling lestrade what is the matter lestrade made no answer except to tilt his head and raise his eyebrows as if to say it's bad he turned and walked inside leaving holmes and me to follow the first piece of bad news greeted us with a smile in the hall stood a smirking man boy i call him such because his face looked to be no older than twelve in spite of his seeming youth he wore a badge that declared him to be a detective inspector of scotland yard of equal rank to grogson and lestrade this is inspector lanner said lestrade i winced on his many visits over the past few weeks i had heard lestrade complain of him often of all the things lestrade hoped would cease to exist he rather hoped inspector lana would go first though lana had solved less than half the number of cases that lestrade had solved in the last year and less than a third as many as grogson he was considered a rising star of scotland yard he therefore enjoyed the support of his peers and superiors when he had declared he would at last discover the true nature of the two supernatural detectives it seems grogson and lestrade's success bred more resentment than esteem uh holmes lana said as we marched in i am so glad you could be here to see this and what is it you intend to show me your little group is going to shrink today holmes one of your freakish cardra is bound for jail perhaps the gallows come see what that oaf grogson has left for miss susan cushing he led us into the sitting room on a sofas at a young lady in her late twenties she was haggard and pale her eyes flushed from a morning of crying but i caught my breath when i saw her nonetheless she was strikingly pretty yet it was not her beauty alone that caught my attention it was her kindness she wore it in her eyes understanding began to dawn upon me i knew grogson to be a lonely fellow and easily fascinated by any person who possessed grace or beauty yet beyond that if miss cushing displayed any kindness to him she must be the only lady who ever did so this would be invitation enough for grogson to hope that she might one day look beyond his monstrous form and begin to care for him she also lived just next door and was likely seen by him every day and in an instant i understood that he must be wretchedly in love with her gentlemen this is miss susan cushing lana announced and this is what she found on her doorstep this morning on the table in front of the lady lay a package clumsily wrapped in brown paper it had been tied with targe string bent into a knot so convoluted and crude that she had been forced to forgo untying it and simply snip the string with scissors writing was just visible on the inside of the paper but as the box hid most of the characters i could not decipher it within the paper lay a battered cardboard case the kind used to hold inexpensive cigars within that case on a bed of coarse salt lay two disembodied human ears two left ears the token of his esteem no doubt lana declared like the cat who brings a mouse to the foot of your bed grogson has surrendered his trophies holmes's features sank lestrade gave an almost imperceptible nod to indicate that he concurred with lana's interpretation of events with a deep sigh holmes asked where is grogson fled lana smiled he's not so great a fool is to stay miss cushing confronted him this morning and he ran off hasn't been seen since it won't take us long to find him i think that a few places in this city where the beast like that can hide i think our friend will soon be returned to us lanner has issued a warrant for his arrest said lestrade either the police will find grogson and arrest him or they will find him and he will slay as many as he can before they bring him down however it goes homes i think things are not looking good for torg holmes brightening to the role of great detective a role in which i had been tirelessly instructing him declared we shall see vladislav we shall see appearances can often deceive but careful observation will reveal the underlying truth isn't that right watson it is and i said it correctly i clapped my hand over my brow he'd been doing so well with a deep sigh i said yes just as we rehearsed lana laughed your charade is unraveling homes soon the light of truth will shine upon you and your confederates we shall know who you really are perhaps lanner distraught ground but in the meantime holmes and i will investigate holmes won't you come upstairs and help me examine the rest of the house what do we expect to find up there asked holmes expression led me to believe he was wondering the same vladislav gave holmes a pointed look and holmes quickly amended his statement the truth the undisclosed truth that is what to the stairs gentlemen i excused myself with a bow towards miss cushing and an angry glance atlanta by the time i reached the top of the stairs holmes and lestrade were already deep in conference what do you suppose vladislav can he be bribed i don't know raner hates us homes he has for some time if he will accept money to overlook this little incident i'm sure it would be a tidy sum ah well to allow grogson to come home though that's worth a lot to us isn't it the strad nodded and i will admit i was touched by the camaraderie they showed for their fallen brother i had to remind myself that in all likelihood grogson had just killed or maimed two men yet i fear the situation has moved beyond the point where bribery is an option lestrade signed though the warrant lacks a second signature forces have been dispatched to arrest krogson the hunt has begun if lanner will suddenly to call it off he would lose face surely the chief inspector would want to know why he had mobilized such a large portion of the force then changed his mind well then holmes suggested in a conspiratorial whisper perhaps we must consult my friend as as hell concerning what should be done with inspect alanna eh holmes i whisper yelled you can't kill him you can't murder an inspector of scotland yard oh i'm fairly sure i could manage it watson and anyway i know azazel could gads he'd be practically gagging too holmes i forbid it lestrade later calming a hand on holmes's arm and said what would it accomplish warlock it might put you and me under threat for lana's murder and it would do nothing to clear grogson's name even if lanner were gone the rest of scotland yard would still hunt torg down true holmes conceded and the fiendish green glare that had just begun to kindle in his eyes died out what do you propose then i think our friend is finally done for the straw side either we try to talk groggson into surrendering peaceably or we help him flee the country but where would he go said holmes his home is here he knows no other language no other land no other custom how could we expect him to establish himself in a strange country i gave a derisive haromf and lestrade shook his head saying i thought perhaps some place savage siberia australia at this point i was forced to interject gentlemen a moment please it seems to me there is no specific evidence against torg llano is happy to assume grogson's guilt but do we presume to damn our friend on such circumstantial scraps holmes and lestrade both rolled their eyes at me doctor please don't be naive lestrade complained he's right watson warlock said i've known grogson a long time and well tearing off men's ears and presenting them as a token of his valor to a pretty girl i can hardly think of a more grogson-like act i suspect we already know the truth of what happened we don't need the truth we don't even want the truth i told him scarce believing the words had poured from my own lips all we need is doubt i have no doubt lestrade said with a sullen shrug then i shall go find you some i huffed you two are welcome to sulk up here i'm going downstairs to save grogson i turned on my heel and blustered down the stairs in truth i had not taken my third step before i began to suspect i would be unable to back my promise with deeds nevertheless i was determined not to abandon the chase until i had to i set my jaw and strode back into the sitting room lana greeted me with a satisfied sneer and suggested the investigation upstairs fails to yield fruit patience inspector as i am merely an amateur and you are handily outperformed by lestrade it seems premature to doubt his methods don't you think he frowned turning my attention to miss cushing i felt an immediate swell of sympathy it was strange but i often felt towards victims of crime as i felt towards my patients i had the same urge to correct what ailed them and now i found myself using much the same bedside manner i noticed there was nothing on the table before her save the gruesome package miss cushing i am so sorry for your trouble i said i wonder if i might make so bold as to offer you a cup of your own tea oh she said with a sudden start oh i hadn't thought forgive me you must be i shall make a pot straight away nonsense i cried clasping her hands and guiding her back down to the sofa i am sure i can manage it you've had a hard enough morning i warrant i doubt this cat has stopped his gloating long enough to lend you a single kind word has he miss cushing was too much the gentle woman to answer such a question but lana spluttered in protest i say how dare you she's in no danger doctor as a medical men such as yourself must know that does not mean she is devoid of feeling inspector how long have you left her sitting here with nothing before her but that grisly box for shame let me clear this away won't you miss cushing i'm sure you've seen enough of it oh i have she agreed i closed the box and bundled it back into its paper wrapper even pulling the string back over it much as it must have lain when it was tied i winced when i beheld the rough words scrawled on the outside of the wrapper two ms s cushing the handwriting was crude large and almost certainly torg's i despaired at this but refused to abandon all hope i began my campaign by discrediting lana how well do you know grogson miss cushing not too well she said he seemed shy yet he's always been kind do you know his occupation i do not it may surprise you to learn as it certainly surprised me that he like lana there is a detective inspector of scotland yard she gave a gasp that made me laugh in spite of myself hard to believe it isn't it i said she nodded and smiled at the silliness of it would it surprise you to know then that he is much better at the job than lanner is last year he solved more cases than lana did by a factor of three if i recall lana seemed rather annoyed that i knew that particular statistic he protested that is untrue the numbers don't lie i reminded him but they do he always uses that consultant holmes whereas all inspector lana uses i told miss cushing is his own bent wit that is why he has been too pleased over torg's seeming crime to consider your feelings i apologize that this petty workplace rivalry has worsened an already terrible day for you this is the kitchen i strode out leaving lana to craft a slew of impotent apologies i was heartened by susan cushing's coolness towards him despite the box of ears it seemed miss cushing still found torg's company preferable to lana's despite the box of ears upon reaching the kitchen i threw the case of ears down upon the table and busied myself finding the kettle and a box of matches once the fire in the stove was lit i turned my attention to the horrible package unwrapping the box i smoothed the paper out across the table and examined the writing i had seen on the inside of the wrapping the piece of paper had been torn from a larger hole so most of the writing was missing what was left of it consisted of two headings and nantucket under each of these was a list of names followed by a simple figure for example e potter one pound six shillings nine pence dancer ten to one i took it to be a betting sheet as i knew only sailors to use tarred string i supposed this entry must mean that mr e potter from the sailing ship traversa had placed one pound six shillings and nine pence on dancer to win some sort of contest with a whistle i realized how stilted the odds were in favor of this dancer bets for two such contests were scrawled on the inside of the paper in the first a 100 pound bet on dancer would pay back only the original bet plus 10 extra pounds a 100 pound bet on his competitor a man named o'keefe would yield 900 pounds in the second contest the odds were even longer seeing only a three pound payback on dancer and 3 000 on his competitor handsome given the nature of the trophies within the box combined with the fact that the competitors had men's names rather than animals i took the betting sheet to reflect the sums that had been issued for an illegal boxing match the docks were famous for them i supposed dancer to be a mocking sobriquet for grogson someone must have found out about his fondness for ballet nearly every bet was against grogson here was evidence that human nature can always overrule human intellect though i myself could not imagine laying money against him in a contest of strength i could understand why so many of the sailors had after a few drinks where is the lure in winning a three percent payout wouldn't it be more tempting to chase the luscious payout to be had if grogson actually lost the chief nemesis of reason is hope though the betting sheet did not record the winner of either contest the two savadeers testified that perhaps things had not gone well for mr hansen and mr o'keefe it seemed grogson must have won both fights and taken the ears as trophies with so many bets placed against dancer whoever was running this fight must have been making a positive fortune on grogson i shook my head sadly the water for the t had not yet boiled and here was proof of my friend's guilt if one needed further evidence one need only examine the ears themselves they had not been severed cleanly as by a sharp blade or skilled hand they had been yanked just yanked from their victims with such extremity of force that i found myself wincing was there nothing here to save my friend as i stepped back into the hall i practically bumped into a picture-laden curio cabinet miss cushing had not one but two such assemblies in her hallway bedecked in photographs of absent friends and family i think she must have been a lonely person indeed to have kept two such shrines to her isolation my eye fell across a photograph of three ladies dressed in holiday frocks the oldest was perhaps 25 the youngest still in her teens the family resemblance was palpable i called out miss cushing do you live here by yourself i do she called back mama has passed on my sisters used to live here but they are both wed now is this the three of you i asked leaning into the sitting room and waving the picture she blushed and answered yes sarah is the eldest mary in the middle and i am the child sarah the sister's name was sarah it was my first faint glimmer of hope i fished for more look at you i said you were all so beautiful all so carefree yes those were happier times oh what happened the kettle was boiling now so i headed back to the kitchen and dropped the steeping ball into the teapot then poured the water in atop it you don't care to hear it miss cushing said it is of no matter to the case family drama you know at this i leaned through the doorway again to shake her finger at my host declaring nothing is unimportant miss cushing the truth can hide in any detail tell me all oh and where might i find the sugar in the leftmost cabinet on the top shelf she said then added it's just that my sisters and i fought mary where dr armstrong who i rather thought might have had eyes for me after a little scrambling i found a picture of the middle sister and her groom to my surprise i recognized him i'd attended one of his lectures once he'd presented himself as a perfect quack i was a foolish girl susan chided herself then sarah married that jim browner oh we all told her not to but sarah was always the willful one i located a picture of sarah cushing standing next to a gruff looking man in a battered pea coat my chest swelled with sudden hope i leaned into the sitting room again to ask is this him it is he looks like a sailor sometimes a sailor often a porter or a deckhand she said usually on board ship and it's better for everybody when he is not the best husband i hazarded well look at him he's a brute how your sister must suffer oh she is far from blameless let me assure you the way she carries on the moment jim is on board a ship the very moment his watchful eye is removed oh it is scandalous the way she behaves this was something this was good with raw material such as this i was sure i could craft a narrative where someone else anyone else was guilty my hand shook as i picked up the teapot and called out so the marriage is troubled ha at the very least she scoffed has she ever left him she's been back here a few times but they always make up then they're off again to some port or other i have no idea where they are now i only see her when she needs a place to stay i carried the tea tree into the sitting room and set it on the table before her how do you take your tea i asked sugar please one lump and a dash of milk just as i do inspector blick two sugars he groused i delivered the teacups with quaking hands only one line of questioning remained to me and on it rested grogson's fate i waited until susan had enjoyed a few sips of her tea then said i must ask miss cushing lana here says the package was found on your doorstep do you have any certain knowledge that mr grogson delivered it or are you merely assuming so she thought about that for a moment then answered well i suppose he never confirmed it had come from him but he did not deny it strange said i he didn't have much of a chance you see i oh this is awkward dr watson very awkward but i supposed he might be courting me with them it sounds grotesque i know but that is what i supposed when i found what lay within the package i ran next door and confronted him i told him that such thoughts were disgusting and that he was a monster and then he left almost without a word here she stopped and stared guilty at her teacup for a moment as if she had a secret and was wondering whether to tell it i knew that in these moments silence is the greatest prompt i waited i think he may have been crying she muttered i smiled miss cushing on the second day i knew grogson i saw him shot twice in the chest point-blank he shed not a single tear do you suppose you did what the pistol could not she stared down a moment more finally she whispered yes as do i miss cushing as do i i placed my cup and saucer on the table and rose to leave adding yet do not fret my dear a lady has the right to rebuff any suitor she will we would live in a savage land indeed if that were not the case england would be reviled the world over as a living hell for her entire female population and the only bright aspect that i can think of would be this i would be married to a duchess well i think i'd better check on holmes and lestrade thank you for the tea i found the two of them just outside the door they had removed miss cushing's upstairs shower rod and sharpened one end i sighed out of the way watson holmes declared it must look like an accident it must appear as if lana has carelessly slipped and impaled himself while showering in the living room fully clothed in front of a witness i hissed homes nobody will ever believe such an act to be accidental no they won't lastrade agreed with a snarl but i just need to stab that little bastard right in the face no holmes insisted straight through the heart i thought we agreed face heart holmes and lestrade stood staring angrily at one another for a moment until holmes at last blinked and suggested throat i suppose yes lestrade decided because you have always been kind to me i will settle for stabbing him through the throat we have a gentleman's accord home said starting for the sitting room i left betwixt them in the door and declared wait we have had a dark day surely but i think i can see some light you might not know it holmes but you have just solved this case come let me tell you what you figured out when we entered the sitting room a few moments later lana was holding forth on how the arrest would go and how he would be sure to keep miss cushing safe from any further advances by her brutish neighbor he smiled when he saw us and called out welcome back gentlemen if you are quite done upstairs i wonder if i might borrow inspector lestrade for a moment i need a second detective signature on this arrest warrant you see and i thought he might at last be willing to do his deotay i might lestrade said but holmes has formed his own theory he always does i added clapping homes on the back we thought you might like to hear it lestrade finished then he and i propelled homes forward into the sitting room miss cushing stared expectantly up at him lana gave a derisive snort holmes licked his lips nervously we really had given him too many lines and far too much coaching to expect him to remember it all nevertheless he began miss cushing i will thank you to surrender that package to inspector lestrade it does not belong to you it will be entered into evidence when the time is right lana protested until then you have now right to demand it i do warlock said it should never have come into her possession it was not intended for her it is addressed to her you before excuse me it is not it is addressed to miss s cushing what you failed to notice lana probably because you failed to inquire is that she might not be the only miss s cushing in residence who she is but she might not be her sister sarah cushing has been known to take up residence here on more than one occasion lana looked deeply annoyed by this yet still managed his keenest insight of the day stating even so sarah cushing is married and packages to her would be addressed to mrs sarah browner and yet it would be correct to address her as miss cushing if her marriage had been dissolved which ms cushing and here holmes addressed miss susan cushing i believe it has been i am sorry i am not so sorry miss susan scoffed not if you are correct i am said holmes the sender is in a unique position to know that the marriage is no more just as he is privileged with the information that sarah is likely to return here you see the sender is none other than sarah's ex-husband jim browner ludicrous lana declared you know just as well as i do who's to blame for this crime don't pretend it is any other man careful learner said lestrade in his icious tone i know you very much wish for grogson to be found guilty of this crime do you think your eagerness to see him hang has clouded your judgment lana went red with fury and i saw my chance to play devil's advocate go easy lestrade i said i'm sure inspector lana has ample reasons for suspecting grogson else he would never have summoned half the force to his pursuit i then turned to lana and asked what are they hmm your reasons for suspecting grogson what are they will he as much admitted it he fled ah i see i said raising a finger you think he might have fled because he felt guilt obviously so he might i conceded yet we have no compelling evidence that he is guilty on the other hand he may have fled because the object of his affections rebuffed him said he was a monster and that she would never love him might that have caused him to flee because we know for certain that such an exchange did occur don't we what do you think lana would the grogson you know have stood gamely by and allowed somebody to see him cry or would he have fled lana's face so recently flushed began to lose its color upon his features i began to read two words what if what if he were wrong what if personal vendetta had just led him to mobilize four dozen constables in pursuit of their own innocent superior yes but she told me he had done it he said leveling an accusatory finger at miss cushing and i can certainly see how she might think so i said with an understanding nod to her yet it is not her job to know such things lestrade grind it is yours inspector if you are lucky it may still be yours tomorrow now lana insisted no there is no evidence that this phantom of yours this jim browner is in any way connected with warlock did not let him finish he loomed forward and pointed a long bony finger towards the kitchen tell me lana what is that parcel tied up with string what kind of string i don't know just string string do you know why string is treated with tar lana did not answer so holmes leaned in further and fixed him with a predatory smile he could look terrible when he smiled like that to prevent salt air and salt water from corroding it now answer me this do detective inspectors spend a great deal of time at sea no do sailors of course is grogson a sailor you know he isn't is jim browner lana was positively pale now warlock closed in upon him grinning practically shouting sarah browner had an army of lovers everybody knows it jim browner knows it he caught her at it don't you see he'd left her sent her back to her sister or at least assumed she'd wind up here again but he wasn't done yet he found two of her lovers two of them he did his deed he worked his murders he took the ears and he sent them to his wife so that she could tell her very next lover tell him that the cost of touching her would be his life that his would be the next ear in the box but but now the writing on the package it looks like grogson's hand he's spilling lana stammered miss cushing is that your brother-in-law's handwriting miss cushing glad for an excuse to leave the fray ran to the kitchen to examine it calling back it doesn't look like his i wonder miss cushing holmes laughed have you ever seen his handwriting when he is drunk when the fury is on him when he is knee-deep in the gore of two men he has just murdered i well no i haven't she said then a moment later asked what is all this written on the inside of the paper a betting sheet said holmes it is the record of sailors betting on a fight do you see the names of the ships they were on is that is that nantucket and the traversa are those ships names they are has jim browner ever served on one of those ships i don't know came miss susan's doubtful voice from the kitchen he's been on so many ships i think he has said holmes and i know that inspector lana here being a skilled observer will have noted that the wrapping paper is only one part torn from a larger hole he now suspects that if i were to find that sheet browner's name would be on it he knows that i will find that sheet since susan was in the other room holmes allowed some of the terrible green fire into his gaze and he closed on the gap between him and lanner adding because he knows me and he knows how strangely apt i am at finding such things the look on lana's face was most satisfactory and i think lestrade and i did not mind that holmes was betraying a hint of his true nature until he slipped too far suddenly he rose from the ground to hover a few inches from the floor all the shadows in the room bent in towards him and his deep voice boomed for i am the seer of hidden truths the finder of lost things and my name shall be known across the land for i am come to but he did not finish for lestrade jumped onto the tails of his overcoat and pulled him back to earth lestrade hushed him and stroked his brow why i nervously proclaimed yes well i think that's enough for now don't you holmes i suppose the only thing to do is to wait for them to bring grogson in unless of course lana wishes to forswear his warrant he can't he needs a second detective signature to cancel the arrest lestrade smiled but i think i could sign my name to that five minutes later we were in a carriage bound away from the shaken lana and miss s cushing phew i am glad that's over with said holmes dabbing his forehead with a handkerchief it isn't i said most of the force won't know the warrant is cancelled they may still find him even if he comes quietly it won't take them long to realize he's guilty wait cried holmes he is after all those facts after making me recite that venomous rebuttal grogson actually did do it by god holmes i shouted were you not in that house how could you go there and not realize yes he is guilty lestrade shook his head and muttered so guilty we must find him i said we must coach him before he speaks to the police remember grogson never lies i think perhaps we can persuade him to remain silent though lestrade suggested that is my hope said i yes but where will we go holmes asked he isn't at home he might be anywhere he might i admitted but at least we have a starting point he left a clue my gaze fell upon the grisly package which bounced on the seat beside homes our first stop was saint catherine docks the light was already fading and we sped from birth to birth asking after the nantucket and traversa we had no sign of them until at last the wizard old dock master told us not here says but i know the traversa was doing at tilbury oh two three days ago i was dismayed the journey to tilbury was more than 20 miles there were no trains until the morning so we were forced to hire a coach by the time we reached our goal the night was well on and it was a cold biting one lestrade did not mind at all he was quite at home in the frigid dark holmes pulled his overcoat tight around him and began to hum snatches of random tunes from time to time a wisp of stinting smoke would escape his collar i realized he must have called upon the fires of some distant hell dimension to warm the lining of his coat which infuriated me i hated it when he did that for my part i shook with cold i led my two companions on a quick search of the neighborhood until i found what i was looking for darkseid doctors keep their signs always alight they must rise and tender sick and stricken whose ship might dock at any hour espying one such sign i pounded upon the door until the sleepy-eyed doctor opened it last night you attended two sailors hansen and o'keefe that had their ears torn off the surprised look in the doctor's eye told me he knew of no such cases but the second doctor we found proved to know more i could tell because upon hearing my description he slammed his door shut declaring i don't know a thing about that it's none of my business go away dark side fights are illegal i reminded him through the closed door a man could lose his practice if it came to light he'd been patching up the brawlers after a moment of silence a voice behind the door asked what do you want where is dancer i asked where is tonight's fight we could hear him scratching about behind the door for a few seconds then a scrap of paper slipped out through his letterbox we had an address a squalid little warehouse two streets down from the waterfront by the time we arrived i was breathless and so cold i could not feel my feet each gasp sent the burning frost deeper into my lungs so it came as a magnificent relief when the warehouse doors parted to allow us entry to a steaming sweating crowd of sailors clustered around a makeshift ring pallets and boxes had been stacked along the walls of the warehouse leaving the center of the space bare lanterns hung from every post and beam to light the scene there in the center of the ring quite alone stood grogson he was stripped to the waist and his fists were wrapped in tattered bandages stained with dried blood of the previous night's competitors he had been crying he still was a little but his red and puffy face was contorted with rage as well as pain mcculloch will not fight cried a barker from the side of the ring he wore a garish jacket and a green bowler mcculloch will not fight who will step inside the ring who will face the dancer it didn't appear that many were eager for that particular honor cowards as if he was trying to convince anybody to take the risk he was doing a poor job of it the crowd began to mutter and sway but none stepped forward any weapon grogs and offered do you hear that friends the ring master called any weapon you like the dancer will face you with only his fists the house will pay ten to one odds against the dancer and the challenger will receive a quarter share of all bets rendered win or lose you must like those numbers eh who will ever fight who's good with a knife who's good with a pistol have you got a rifle friend have you got a cannon step forward nobody did grogson screamed his frustration and threw his fists against his chest and his swollen eyes three men any weapon three men the ring master cried three armed however they will at five to one odds for centuries now england has huddled behind her wooden walls kept safe by ships and sailors are there not three men left are there not three sailors in all england to answer this call apparently there were not you can win grogson howled lashing out to the fist against one of the beams that held the warehouse's roof i heard it crack the entire building shook with the blow and the 200 or so sailors within ducked and scuffled fearing the roof might come down around their ears i heard shingles clatter to the ground outside dog will let you win grogson promised but still the crowd was too terrified to face him i knew better or i knew grogson he held honor as the most sacred virtue far more important than life itself i knew he was not lying was he seeking to be punished for his misdeeds was he seeking death i began to push my way through the crowd tawg i cried tawg but he did not look up i had to climb inside the ring right inside with him before he spied me a cheer went up from the assembled crowd and the ring master declared he's a um likely lad money was already flying from finger to palm when i called out no no bets no fight talk talk please you have to come with me watson man he asked peeping up at me talk come home this suggestion cast him once more into grief-fueled fury he smote to the ground and bellowed torg has no home talk can never go home no it's all right tawg it's all right scotland yard is not hunting you anymore he wrinkled his brow at me as if that was a very queer thing to say and i realized he had no idea the yard had ever been seeking him come on let's go home no can't she will see me watson she called me ogre from the side of the ring i heard lestrade cokes dorg listen to watson can't go home grogson insisted come to my house then i urged him he paused to consider that oh i don't know said holmes by happy chance there are three of us holmes lestrade watson we could just fight him grogson cut loose with a racking sob but there was laughter behind it come stay with holmes and me i said grogson cast his eyes down stood still for a moment and finally gave a resigned nod the four of us made our way out into the cold how does our friend fare warlock asked me as i strode into our sitting room february was proving just as miserable as it ever does in the great grey city and i had just finished the long walk back from grogson's not well i answered yet i will confess my own spirits were high whatever grogsan might be feeling my month of misery was over he was now installed in his own house once again and i no longer had a giant moping in my sitting room eating all my crumpets yes but you do think he will recover don't you i shrugged i'm not so sure holmes i think our friend may have suffered some permanent damage i had to close every curtain on the west side of his house lest he look out the window and spy her well home side we did the best we could did we honestly i think he might have preferred exile to siberia you just watson not at all think about it holmes there is no law there but brute force there are no societal mores to violate no beauties to break his heart he'd have all the tundra wolves he could punch and to top it all the russians are famous for ballet i did jest but there was some truth to my words i have never since that day been to grogson's home and found his west facing windows uncovered he cannot look upon susan cushing the shame and the hurt are too much for him to bear in late years i found out that the phrase i faced the dancer was a common dockside boast i have never heard of any that have claimed to have beaten him only that they climbed into that ring faced him and survived of course most of the sailors who make that boast are lying they do not understand the depth of that claim but i do because i did i climbed into that ring i faced the dancer and i pitted him the adventure of the yellow bastard as i sit to place the history of my adventures with warlock homes on paper it necessarily follows that i must pause to reflect upon my actions i am generally proud of them yet when the light of retrospection shines down upon any man's past it is bound to cast one or two unsightly shadows this is one such case ever since the conclusion of our first mystery i'd labored under the resolution to teach homes the process of deduction he had used it but not well to explain away his demonic insights on the first day i met him i had seen him make the same attempt to other fellows though holmes had a good facility for lying he had never bothered to learn the tricks of observation inference and deduction that he claimed mastery of therefore several men had seen through his lies and this caused holmes to fear his true nature might one day be discovered by the wider world an event likely to be followed by torch waving pitchfork brandishing lynch mobbery such as would be remembered for all ages thus i took every opportunity to demonstrate observation and inference to him i may have taken it too far on occasion i remember we had just returned from regents park to find mrs hudson standing outside the door to our rooms brandishing a battered tobacco pipettors and complaining he wouldn't stay i told him wait and he said he would and then a second later he up and walks out again leaving this still smoking on the side table almost burned my curtains he did who did i asked man with the pipe she said eyeing me as if i were an imbecilic child that is not helpful mrs hudson go easy watson said holmes you can hardly have expected more eh you don't think so with a huff i snatch the pipe from our stunted landlady and turned it over once or twice in my hands examining it the man who owns this pipe is left-handed just as you are homes he has a strong grip and good teeth he is not wealthy but comfortable enough not to have to worry about extra expenses he is a man who prizes old comforts but not enough to take care to preserve them i can do better than that home scoffed hand it to me as he stepped forward to take the pipe his coat began billowing about his frame in a manner that foretold a fairly impressive demonic consultation was about to begin i placed a hand against his chest held the pipe away from him and said i do not doubt holmes that you could find a way to tell me the man's name his hair color his favorite tie and what he ate for dinner last wednesday that is not the point the point is to learn as much as you can from the clues presented to you that is the hard way he complained besides which i can do better you can't i won't let you listen holmes see how the pipe is singed down its right side no simple match does that he likely lights it from a burner or since that is liable to sear the hand a gas lamp so see how the burns are all on one side that means he must have held it on the other observe how my hand covers them if i use my right he must therefore regularly hold this pipe with his left he has gnawed all down the amber of the stem to leave such marks he must possess a strong bite and good teeth i don't care about such things watson well you ought to or you will be caught caught at what asked mrs hudson nothing holmes and i said together mrs hudson frowned even harder and made her way out at least she had a good sense of when she was intruding a pity it did not stop her doing so whenever the chance presented i tried a different tank here homes hold the pipe in your left hand and see if you can tell me why i suppose the owner has a strong grip he gave a huff to indicate that he was only doing so to humor me then took the pipe from my hand at first he seemed uninterested but as he turned it from side to side i could see his curiosity getting the better of him your thumb is on it right now i prompted yes it's this silver band i suppose it seems a touch jagged and irregular what is it well done holmes it is a repair with only the strength of his thumb our man has accidentally snapped off the stem of his pipe then had it repaired with silver such a repair would cost more than the pipe had originally also it would take more time than simply purchasing a new pipe but he was willing to go to the expense and also to stand the weight why because he loves old familiar things but not enough to keep him from thrusting them into gas lamps precisely holmes by jove we shall make a detective of you yet i clapped him on the shoulder and he beamed proudly at me but our reverie was cut short before either of us could utter another word a tall man in his late thirties or early forties came up the stairs and swept past us he marched into our sitting room flung himself upon one of the armchairs by the fire heaved a sigh of annoyance and began patting down his pockets who is that inquired homes what is he doing i don't know i said but i would suppose he is searching for his lost pipe holmes and i followed our strange visitor into our chamber i held his pipe out towards him and asked were you looking for this sir i was he said at first delighted then his expression returned to one of annoyance and he asked how did you get it who are you i am dr john watson and this is warlock homes we live here capital you are just the fellows i came to see i must hang on a moment did i knock you did not our guest threw up his hands and cried ah i am sorry gentlemen heartily sorry the truth is i am so put out that i cannot concentrate i hardly know where i am and i'll be dashed if i know what to do with myself perhaps we can help mr monroe i orphaned yes i my god how did you know my name it is written inside the brim of your hat which has turned towards us i fixed homes with a look that said he ought to remember this trick and endeavor to repeat it whenever possible ah yes so it is said our guest with a nervous laugh mr grant monroe pleased to make your acquaintance likewise said i i came because i have seen mr holmes's name in the paper i will confess i previously made sports of you sir but my wife seems to think you one of only a few in london who possesses a true understanding of the world at large she sounds like a wonderful lady holmes beamed he joined monroe by the fire sinking into the remaining armchair i took a seat on the sofa she is and as it is she whom i wish to consult you about i chose to follow her advice and seek your help above all others i shall do my utmost to justify her confidence in me said holmes now tell all what has upset you so my wife now i understand that the fashion is for a man to care for his wife but also maintain a certain aloofness ask most men and they will tell you how they love their wives but they will also speak of how they are handpecked they may accuse women of pettiness or smile at the failings of what they call the weaker sex but i will not i love my wife gentlemen and i tell you that i never did anything to deserve so fine a companion she dotes upon me she sees to my every women care she cooks my meals brings my tea and slippers she rubs my shoulders when i'm distraught and listens to my every gripe though i know my problems are often petty all the while she treats me as if i am the best most noble creature that ever walked the earth well i protest that i am not but she very well may be we have known one another three years now and spent them each declaring the other to be our better we live in a state of mutual worship it sounds like the ideal match i smiled why if man could design himself the perfect companion it sounds as if your wife could be the result it does said holmes though some thought made him crease his brow as he said it but now she has become distant monroe wailed something which i do not understand has come between us and oh god what shall i do i cannot bear the thought of losing her gentleman i do not understand what has happened and i do not know what to do and i dread the consequences calm yourself mr munroe i urged you must tell us exactly what has upset you so when did it begin well the first thing the first strange thing i can think of occurred about six weeks ago she came to me and asked if she might have some money she asked if she might have a hundred pounds what for i wondered that is what i wanted to know said monroe understand that if she had wished to purchase the world's most expensive biscuit i should not have protested the money is hers by right she was a widow when we met just recently arrived from america she'd been left well monied by her previous husband and when we wed she insisted on transferring all this wealth to me it and all she owned belonged to me just as she belonged to me she said of course i protested that it was not her money that captured my interest she said she knew it was not but that i must take it anyway for i was master now i shook my head and declared i have read of such things in cheap romances but i never thought a real flesh and blood woman might do such a thing what do you think holmes he was lost in thought distant and worried i do not suppose a real woman would watson but the important thing monroe continued is that she didn't tell me why she needed 100 pounds we had never kept secrets before i tried to put it out to my mind but over the following weeks a thought would return and vex me what could she be keeping from me but then the day before yesterday i had another shock that almost chased it from my mind my home is in norbury on our lane is a little cottage which had been vacant since we moved in but which had just begun to show signs of life as i passed the cottage that night i cast my eyes up at it wondering who my new neighbors might be and when i should call upon them just then i saw the thing here he stopped and wrung his hands for a few moments with no trace of judgment or humor holmes asked what kind of thing silly so silly to say it was only a face a man's face i think but there was something about it mr holmes it seemed false somehow it was rigid and well i cannot describe just what was wrong with it but as i beheld it i had the feeling that it had come for me from a long long way away and i would never be free of it well i ran right home to tell effy about it f e holmes interjected yes my wife effie you married a final edition cad sorcerer anthromancer get away from him watson at this holmes rolled out of his armchair crashing to the floor his left hand groped towards the fireplace until it chanced across the coal scuttle which homes snatched up and flung at our guests scattering bouncing pieces of coal across half the sitting room holmes oi i don't understand cried monroe have i said something wrong effie is only a name my wife's name not a particularly uncommon one i think you'll find i added raising a warning eyebrow homes would not be soothed but think of the creature he describes watson she is totally devoted to her mate devoid of free will she dedicates all her effort all she owns and all she is to her husband without reserve you yourself doubted that a real woman would do such a thing watson you are right you asked whether given the chance to design their ideal mate men would not create exactly such a creature don't you see they did holmes is possessed of a magnificent imagination i told monroe anthromancers holmes continued contorting his hands into disgusted claws lonely malefactors twisted creators of the saddest creatures that live no woman would touch such a dark practitioner watson so they turn their forbidden arts to the creation of one that would the first generation was easy to spot they had rubber skin the nexus twos were halting automatons with immobile smiles that had no power to change the nexus fours were simple pleasure models but the sixes were an impressive achievement just before their cabal broke up the anthromancers produced a few final edition nexus 6s capable of giving them their deepest most chilling desire heirs i apologize for my friend he's a wicked sorcerer watson but i am not monroe protested i am a simple hop merchant hops homes roared what are those are they vile they are plants sir used in the brewing of beer huh is that all said holmes visibly confused well beer is slightly vile i suppose you are sure you're not a sorcerer preposterous said monroe i could have sworn mumbled holmes returning to his chair realizing the time was ripe for me to regain control i said regardless of my friend's wild theories i am curious to know how effie reacted to the news about this rigid face she told me i was being silly i must not be worried about such things yet she was much disturbed by the news she seemed near tears all through dinner but i could not draw the cause of this anxiety from her when we went to bed that night she did not sleep eventually i nodded off but i am sure effie lay still awake i was unsettled and slept lightly i awoke around three in the morning to find effie just removing her cloak she smelled of cold night air and i could tell in an instant she had been outside wherever have you gone i asked her only to take a walk along the lane said she then paused and added grant i may need more money well i was very interested to know why she had suddenly begun the habit of walking the lane at night and what had occurred there to convince her she needed funds she would not tell me she said she could not that she was bound by promises that predated the one she had made to me and which she had no power to break she enjoined me not to worry and said that if i did as she said our happiness need not be interrupted well that set me in a highly worried state and i pleaded with her until the dawn to tell me what was happening she would not be moved and so as the sun began to rise i climbed from our bed to begin my work day you must have been exhausted said holmes oh he was but more than that i was distracted as i passed the cottage i noticed lights in the downstairs window and a shadow upon the curtain i had the feeling that whatever was bothering effie might have to do with the new occupants since they were up i resolved to meet them i went up to the door and knocked in a moment there was a bustling then the door opened to reveal her how shall i describe her a tough old batlax of a woman she looked to be in her mid-50s stern and with little time for interruptions but what stood out about her were her injuries injuries said i yes she had a tremendous bruise on her neck that ran down under her collar one arm hung limp and seemingly useless and her face she had the most magnificently scratched face as if she had just lost an argument with a jaguar she stared at me but said nothing hello i said i am your neighbor mr grant monroe i just wanted to stop by and welcome you to the neighborhood if there's anything you require while you are settling in but she cut me off she said we'll call if we need ya in the most horrible american drawl and shut the door right in my face as i trudged back down the path to the lane i turned back and saw the man again at the upstairs window i was closer this time so i just made out a pencil thin moustache and slick black hair but again it seemed rigid and immobile to me could you tell the age of this man i asked no said munro i only remember dwelling on how unnaturally white and shining his skin seemed he was at the window only a moment then disappeared i don't mind telling you gentlemen i was distraught i did not go to work but instead to the local inn where i took a little food in an early draft i sat and pondered what i should do soon it was almost lunch time and i had no stratagem i elected to simply head back and ask effie what she knew of the cottage's occupants i made my way back home but when i got there effie was gone the maid looker frighted to see me when i asked her where every was she said her mistress was taking the air and would be back presently she then got me settled in my chair with a warm cup of tea and asked me to wait i found myself too anxious to comply so i stood up and began to pace when i passed the window what should i see but our maid hastily running down the lane towards the cottage i realized effie must have gone there and set the maid to warn her if i returned home i set out after her but by the time i had my shoes and coat on she had already reached the cottage when i got there i did not knock or wait for entry i flung open the door and stepped inside resolved to confront my wife my maid the scratched up crone and the strange man in the upstairs room did you asked holmes leaning forward as the tail quickened he was practically at the edge of his seat no there was nobody there no one i ran to the upstairs room and found it empty it was in a terrible state and i could hardly believe anybody would be living there but on the windowsill i found a photograph in a silver frame it was a portrait of effie which i had commissioned only three months before sorcery witchcraft cried homes no it isn't i said think holmes if effie does indeed have dealings with the strange new neighbors might she not have taken the picture over herself oh i hadn't thought of that well you should have the fact is far from supernatural but it does prove two things first mr monroe is right and his wife's recent disturbance is tied to the appearance of the new neighbors second asked mr monroe eager for any relief of his anxiety that whoever resides in the upstairs room knows effie well enough to desire a picture of her i have begun to form a theory but i would like to hear the rest of mr monroe's tale before i speak of it pray continue well i suspected they must have escaped out the back door as i approached the front said monroe so i ran out after them towards the woods as i neared who should emerge but effie herself grant you must not go in there said she if you do all our happiness is ruined pleased just a little more time and more money and we can live untroubled i tried to push past her but she blocked my path and threw me back i tried again but she threw me bodily threw me away from the woods we were both in tears at that point and i stumbled clear i did not know what to do mr holmes i wondered eventually i found my way here i have not seen my home or my wife since yesterday afternoon and i cannot guess as to their state guessing will not be necessary mr monroe the light of reason shall reveal all i said now i wonder if you could tell me more about effie's past you said she was a widow when you met her yes she had a husband back in america and a daughter too sadly sad i say because they both died of yellow fever i see and this husband what do you know of him well his name was hebron octavius hebron an unusual name i noted perfect for an anthem answer holmes shut up please continue mr monroe well effie always speaks well of him but every time a conversation turns his way she spends half her time making excuses for his behavior it embarrasses me to speak ill of him for i still enjoy the fruits of his investments but i think he treated effie quite badly and if i had a chance to meet him i would like to bloody his nose have you ever seen proof of this husband i asked either his life his death or his marriage to effie i have multiple stocks with his name and signature a copy of the marriage certificate by which right f he claims the funds of his investments as well as a birth certificate for their child and a death certificate for hebron himself and do you believe these documents to be genuine i asked well there is one discrepancy said monroe rubbing his chin though hebron's death certificate lists yellow fever as the cause effie says it is not correct she once told me that that diagnosis was only arrived at because of the yellowed color of his body but that he had actually died in childbirth he i asked yes he hebron and what aspect of childbirth mr munroe do you suppose might be fatal to the father monroe shrugged and said well i don't know do i you are the doctor i know nothing of what goes on in the birthing room and let me tell you now that i know what became of octavius hebron i am even less likely to wander into one to find out in that you show wisdom sir said i as a medical doctor i can tell you that the birthing room is no place for a husband having the father present destroys marriages he who can walk out of a birthing room with any shred of desire left for his wife is the same man who can walk out of a slaughterhouse hungry for a steak many of my medical contemporaries lament that elizabeth blackwell or any of her sex were ever granted a medical degree but i am firmly of the opinion that we need more lady doctors as fast as they can be trained let the schools be filled with them let them take over the job of birthing and let us mail doctors wash our hands of it and we would wash them thoroughly indeed we would scrub and scrub we would heave a collective sigh of relief heard round the world and thank our gods that the women folk were now left in sole possession of their own secrets those sticky stinking screaming bleeding pushing howling juicy secrets which i became aware of holmes and monroe staring at me um well i have digressed gentlemen but the fact is clear as a medical doctor i can confidently state that no danger to the life of the father is posed by the act of childbirth octavius hebron's cause of death is false his death certificate is false and i feel sufficiently sure to say his death itself is false mr monroe i believe him to be alive and seeking to reclaim his fortune from your wife by god monroe shouted that would explain it all would it said holmes i just don't see it watson holmes how can you not we know from the photograph that the person in that cottage has a personal relationship with effie we know that mr hebron's death certificate is patently false a thought occurs what if octavius hebron conferred his own name on a stillborn child thus the child's death would result in a death certificate in hebron's name let us also remember the sometimes fatal condition of jaundice which is common in newborns and results in a marked yellowing of the skin effie says she's bound to her mysterious antagonist by promises older than those she made to mr monroe suggesting her previous vows of fidelity to a first husband we know that she tried to throw money at this person in the hope that they would go away and she has hinted to mr munroe that she intends to do it again this jibes well with the notion that her tormentor is indeed octavius hebron since she is in possession of his thousands he is unlikely to settle for such a paltry sum as effie first delivered the situation obviously causes her some distress as she has twice expressed that she wishes this episode resolved so that she and mr monroe may be happy together and thank god for that mr munroe interjected if the worst comes to pass he can take his money and go i don't care so long as i keep effie you really are quite attached to her aren't you asked holmes with a sympathetic smile i told you i was said munroe and it will be a relief indeed if she still favors me oh i hope it is exactly as you say dr watson i shall return home at want and confront them both let me keep her love and i will chance whatever else may come have a care mr monroe i advised my case is incomplete even if the situation is as i think there are many questions still unanswered why did hebron fake his death is there some hidden advantage he has gained by his obfuscation what is his final goal we assume it to be the recovery of his funds but have no proof of it no if you are going to confront him i suggest you do not go alone into his den go in company go in force what should i raise a militia monroe laughed no need said holmes i can tell from his zeal that watson is volunteering our services isn't that so watson there is a train for norbury that leaves within the hour i propose we board it gentlemen and see this mystery through to its conclusion bravo cried homes i will now confess a certain lack of empathy on my part my eagerness to see the case through had nothing to do with mr and mrs monroe's happiness i merely wish to teach homes a lesson in the train we were all excited but i had the special glee of one who was about to prove a point as we neared norbury mr monroe became ever more nervous so did holmes i wonder if we have prepared as much as we ought home said i have my pistol if it comes to that i reminded him yes but if he is an anthem answer he may have made one or two modifications to himself which holmes stop this nonsense here in a public place in front of a man you have only just met you spout the very hocus pocus you fear people will associate with your name well if they do you have only yourself to blame you must learn the lessons of occam's razor entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity in other words the simplest explanation is usually the correct one this tale has no need of demons or hobgoblins to make it whole it makes perfect sense without them this seemed to cause him discomfort he shifted in his seat for a few moments with a knitted brow after a while he said well you make a good case watson and i will admit that i've learned much from you in only a short time perhaps my peculiar history has rendered me incapable of understanding the mundane do you think it is a flaw in my perspective that leads me to imagine that wicked supernatural phenomena underlie our daily strife yes i do think that oh as we neared the mysterious cottage my mind was set my heart was true and my resolve unshakeable the same could not be said of my companions a lighting from the trap we had hired monroe and i spotted a woman sitting on the cottage front step looking down the lane towards us she is waiting for me he gasped and suddenly he began to trail guiltily behind warlock and me occasionally muttering something like to abort strangers whatever will she think i strode straight up the lane with warlock by my side effie monroe i asked yes she replied she was a tall woman lithe and athletic with nary a wrinkle upon her face nor a trace of gray in her hair despite the troubles that assailed her stand aside i said on behalf of your husband we mean to search this house until the truth is known to us intruders will not be tolerated effie monroe said in an even factual tone this had a strange effect on holmes he left my side and slunk back to join monroe though my companions will had failed mine held approaching her i declared i say again stand aside i laid a gentle but forceful hand upon her shoulder to guide her out of my path to the door suddenly i had the sensation of one hand on my coat collar and another on my belt almost too fast for the eye to follow her dainty foot kicked my right leg out from under me then returned to reprise the deed against my left i had no chance to fall she yanked me bodily towards the very door i had sought to reach but swung me back away from it in a wide arc and flung me off the front step over the fence and into a cow pasture i remember my thoughts as i flew surprise and dismay but not for the reasons one might assume it took only an instant to recognize that the amount of force that had just been applied to me was far in excess of that which is commanded by any normal woman for that matter any normal man and i think most gorillas this i took in my stride no the thing that bothered me most was being wrong i had been so methodical and let me admit i thought myself awfully clever until just a few milliseconds before how was it that holmes was right again how was it that his flawed ridiculous anti-logic should prove superior to my deductions this self-piteous line of reasoning lasted exactly as long as it takes an airborne londoner to travel 30 feet or so into a muddy field it was finally arrested by the ground which also stopped my physical form with a bone jarring crunch i have never been so glad to find myself hurled into the mud if the field had been rocky i'm sure my spine would have been dashed to powder i rolled over a few times and slid to a halt accompanied by the sound of applause this latter emanated from warlock homes who clapped like a six-year-old lad at the circus shouting oh marvellous i had heard the final editions were impressive but i hadn't realized intruders will not be tolerated f e munro repeated i warve me effie grant monroe cried what of the husband you say you love so well will you fling me aside too probably not said holmes she says she is still bound by old loyalties but when she promised herself to you she was effectively transferring ownership if you order her to stand aside she may is that true effie if i ordered you aside what would you do the automaton stood for a moment then said my first husband once told me that to love unconditionally and obey unconditionally was the basis of a woman's nature chauvinistic and untrue holmes noted but then it is the basis of a romantically purposed homunculus nature so do continue so i knew how much i would love you the day we met i knew what i never expected was to be loved in return it is so nice grand it's wonderful i do not know how long i would survive if i were forced to return to a life of loving without being loved in turn i do not know how i should go on without you yet if you walk through this door i feel that will come to pass what can it be inside effie what is it you feel is strong enough to break our bond oh i cannot tell you oh grant go away please come live with me on our house down the lane let loose with some of the money from time to time and let me come here in the evenings for an hour or so do that and never think of the cottage it is the only hope for us i think i gasped aloud such had been the last few months of my existence that i almost expected to see demons but to see a grown woman ask her husband straight to his face ask him for permission to give her body to her hated ex-husband once a night so that her new marriage might be uninterrupted well that is a thing i thought never to see yet the impropriety of the thing seemed not to matter to grant monroe at least not as much as the fact that the secret would still lie between him and his beloved no he cried stand aside effie i will discover this secret and i will love you in spite of it oh if only that could be true you could not hide such a thing from me let me pass i say effie hung her head which began to bob with the rhythmic jerks she stepped to one side go then she said it has been good being loved by you grand so good with tears in his eyes grant monroe stepped past his wife into the cottage holmes moved to follow but stopped here he crossed the threshold to ask just to be clear f e what should happen if watson or i try to go inside intruders will be tolerated she whispered capital come along watson my first impression of the cottage was that it was so still so lacking in the fundamental heat and movement of life it must be uninhabited i saw no sign of the much abused american woman nor of the mysterious pale man but grant monroe knew better with fierce resolve he mounted the steps moving inexorably towards the room at the top of the stairs and the strange face that had haunted him so i had not yet caught up to him when he reached out and turned the doorknob so i could not see what lay inside but i heard the terrible shriek that issued forth from the room grant monroe recoiled in terror bounding to the top of the stairs holmes and i at once looked in to behold fe's secret the beast stood barely more than three feet tall it had a more or less human form though it was bulbous and possessed of elbows and knees that seemed to flex in both directions its skin was bright yellow it hissed at us revealing a more of irregular fangs it turned and bolted for the windowsill where it kept its secret identity a battered guy fawkes mask with white skin black lacquered hair and a pencil thin moustache this it thrust on to cover the shame of its monstrous face then turned back towards us seemingly unsure whether it was wisest to hide or to attack from behind me came a voice that was at once calm yet despairing i had not heard f e climb the stairs behind me not until she announced gentlemen this is my daughter [Music] oh said holmes amiably now i get it so octavius hebron really did die in childbirth he was not the only one fe confirmed for years i believed i was the only one in the room to have survived but my midwife unbeknownst to me was a witch she used her skills to preserve not only her life but also the life of my child who was raised in the coven these past three years only recently did they manage to track me down to england and deliver the news that my daughter yet lived midwife eleanor whom you met grant promised to bring her if i paid their fare across the ocean which i did i installed them here hoping to be near enough to split my affections between the two people i owed them to my daughter and my husband knowing that if the two ever met i should lose all now eleanor has fled my secret is revealed and it's all coming down grand all is ruined as she spoke grant monroe's gaze drifted between her and the hissing yellow beast that crouched in the corner i can hardly describe the stress that played across his face he blinked he sweated when fe was done he said well he looked at holmes and then me but we had no answer for him in fact we both decided to communicate with helpless shrugs well he said again and suddenly his voice was filled with a shaken confidence he stood to his full height straightened his shirt and walked towards the hideous half-breed three-year-old it seems you and i are at an impasse he told it the love between a mother and child is nature's closest bond by such measures you have a stronger claim on f affections and i yet despite that right i can tell you that i adore her far too much to surrender her to you i refuse to let you steal my wife from me i can think of only one course of action he paused to straighten his already straightened shirt held out his arms and said i am your father my name is grant warlock smiled effie burst into tears the child huddled in the corner unsure of what to do it would not approach monroe until he held one hand back towards the doorway and beckoned effie to join them once its mother was present the child had no further fear the three of them then embraced what do you call her effie what is her name she has none but a father was to have named her but well i am her father now and i think grant monroe smiled down at the yellowed girl i think we shall call her amber a tap on my shoulder compelled me to turn my attention to holmes who softly said our work is done i nodded and turned back towards the stairs outside raindrops were falling a glance skyward told me of more and heavier soon to follow our carriage is gone it must be at least an hour's walk back to the train station i complained look on the bright side watson said holmes perhaps the rain will wash some of that mud off you i would have laughed but it was not joking in the least i pulled my half-crushed bowler down low turned my mudded collar up against the rain and set off into the gathering downpour warlock followed halfway down the path i muttered you were right holmes yes well never mind that though that is kind of you said i and yet if forever i should become overzealous or place too much confidence in the power of my reason i hope you will lean close and whisper norbury in my ear i would be indebted to you holmes we walked in silence and in rain the adventure of their echoed and hello odds uh called warlock from the sofa i stopped hat still in my hand my eyes narrowed i presumed him to mean hi-ho watson a greeting he often employed when his mood was good yet his mood was terrible in fact i was just returning from wondering about the city all day in the express attempt to avoid being caught up in his sulk it now being over a month since our last case warlock was bored inconsolable and insufferable my hand moved slowly as i placed my hat on its hook and ventured a tentative hello warlock i must say you seem to be in good spirits this evening he agreed what might be the cause of this sudden reversal i though my messer medicine he said jovially he gave me a silly smile and sank back onto the sofa with a relaxation so profound that he seemed almost boneless his head lolled forward just beyond the arm of the sofa then suddenly fell his brow smashed down onto our side table with a sickening thunk but this drew no protest except for a grunt of self-recrimination followed by a childish giggle let me tell you there are few sure ways of attracting a doctor's interest i sprang across the room to learn what medicine holmes had dosed himself with on the table next to his head stood a wooden goblet a few sips of silvery liquid remained in the bottom with fatty white chunks floating lazily in it the odor it gave forth burned the nose but had a familiar scent almost like almonds since there was no apparent source of this medicine in the sitting room i ran to the door of holmes's bedroom and peered inside on the desk where he kept his alchemical kit lay a paper parcel from a local dispensary the largest jar of mercury i have ever seen lay open and half empty in the middle surrounded by a vial of cyanide an open packet of strychnine and a half-used cake of mrs hudson's cleaning lie holmes i cried what have you done you'll be dead in minutes there he's scoffed why holmes why did you do it once uh calm down it has no of hell or me no effect no affair if that is so lift your head off the table he gave a few feeble flops his arms and legs seem not to respond to his will in the least but his torso could still bend back and forth he looked like a salmon that had been caught and flung in the bottom of a boat holmes endeavoured three or four of these contortions managing only to raise his head half an inch or so from the table before letting it plonk down once again besides his deadly goblet there he said i don't what do i do i stood helplessly racking my mind for a way to save him lie i could deal with though even if life was preserved terrible and lasting damage was a certainty mercury is a comparatively slow killer but even if i could void it from his belly some quantity must already have been absorbed into his tissues and could never be purged even if he survived the day madness blindness organ failure and death might follow i could give him tannic acid for the strychnine yet there was little hope in that but cyanide the body absorbed it so quickly that death was certain within minutes and little could be done as i panicked my eye was drawn to the deadly silver semicircles his goblet had left upon the surface of our side table they looked to me like four crescent moons unfeeling unforgiving and unstoppable one might as well try to halt the nightly waxing or waning of the moon above as to save the man that had partaken of these four crescents deadly brew but wait four even if holmes had spilled some of his terrible medicine down the side of his glass on his first drink he would have then had to put down the goblet and pick it up four more times to have left those marks probably there was a fifth hiding below the base of the glass lie is even more notable for its level of pain than for its efficacy how could he have sat blithely sipping on it for long enough to leave four marks holmes when did you drink this ludstibe lunchtime a glance at the clock on the mantelpiece confirmed it was now past eight even given holmes's liberal interpretation of when it might be proper to take the midday meal six hours must have passed since his first drink well four hours anyway are you telling me you've been sipping on this poison for half the day yeah but don't worry what's that it had no affair he said he gave me a broad friendly smile and lapsed into unconsciousness his pulse was weak his breathing shallow and interrupted by stricken spasms and periods of apnea which lasted sometimes four or five minutes i can hardly describe the mixture of hopefulness and helplessness i felt as i sat by him that night wishing that all the medical knowledge i had spent so long mastering would prove false it did i do not recall dropping off to sleep but i must have done shortly before dawn i had no sense that i'd slept at all only the sensation of jarring back to wakefulness when i heard home say watson get the door won't you i am indisposed huh warlock you're alive so very alive i tell you watson i am renewed i am rejuvenated are you i asked carefully appraising his physique because you seem to be still unable to move your limbs pish posh such pursuits are overrated i tell you i am relieved at last none of the little buggers are whispering to me this morning not even moriarty i can't hear him at all is that why you drank poison of course don't you remember me telling you i had a poncho for poisons on the day we met well yes but you didn't mention that you intended to poison yourself i haven't what i have done is poisoned a thousand demons who clamor for my attention at all hours of every day yes sir i have clobbered them all into comas and i intend to enjoy each instant while they are knocked out i myself am quite unaffected by such mortal drafts so you keep saying look here are you going to be argumentative all morning or are you going to answer the door what i started to ask but was interrupted by a rapping at the door and mrs hudson's shrill voice calling didn't want to knock you gentlemen up but she insisted wouldn't go away would she i am sorry i'm sure said a second lady's voice but the matter cannot wait and besides it is nearly ten o'clock the response of any well-bred englishman to the realization that he has left visitors standing unattended on his doorstep is one of pure horror i leapt across the room and swung the door wide i was beginning to form some word of welcome or apology or both but before i had quite decided on the phrase to use mrs hudson got a look at me and said oh dear dr watson i was still in my shirt sleeves from the night before my collar had come undone and i found a patch of slick sticky drool stretching from my shoulder all the way down to the waist of my trousers as for those trousers i must have unfastened them at some point in the evening for they were loose and headed down towards my ankles at a rapid rate with a gasp i caught them and pulled them back into place for a moment i had the horrid realization that this must have been an occurrence straight out of one of mrs hudson's shameful novels i was mortified to have stumbled into such a position sure that she would gain indecent delight from having caught me so yet her expression betrayed no intimate desires whatsoever in fact her raised eyebrow seemed only to say i've seen better oh dear she said again yes um good morning i i fear we are not prepared to receive visitors i stammered do come in though do mrs hudson did not come in instead she indicated her companion with a jerk of her thumb announced miss helen stoner and shuffled off down the stairs i could think of no way to explain my situation so i only said welcome miss turner please come in may i offer you some tea how generous said she i would love a cup it struck me as odd that she seemed in earnest when she called the offer generous in this the era of victoria a cup of tea is not a kindness when hosting it is a necessity i'm not sure which would be more shocking to enter a stranger's home and discover their house at no floor or to enter and not be offered tea i deduced that our guest was a person unused to kindness or even civility her appearance did not disappoint that assessment though she was yet within her early twenties her hair was shot through with grey and she wore a worried air she dressed in the style of the country gentry but there was a threadbare quality to her clothes her dress was dark and dower suited more to an elderly spinster than a young one i thought she had a fair face and given her age and station she might have been quite the tempting marriage prospect were it not for the overall haggard and harried look of her miss stoner i am dr john watson the gentleman on the sofa is my friend and colleague mr warlock holmes ah it is him i came to see i thought as much i shall attend to the tea may i first take your coat thank you i settled our guest in one of the armchairs across from homes he smiled at her and said good morning miss dono i hope you won't mind if i don't get up of course i absolutely could though if i wanted to uh yes mr holmes i'm sure that must be the case i'll be a few moments with the tea i said miss stoner why don't you tell holmes what is wrong she shook her head and averted her gaze to her hands which lay upon her lap each fretting with the lace of the other's cuff i'm not sure anything is wrong she said yet i'm in fear for my very life hmm mysterious already said holmes do tell us all well i live with my stepfather in surrey until two years ago my sister lived with us but she is gone now gone ask tomes dead murdered i fear and oh it is silly but i have it in my mind that i am next julia was my twin you see sisters are always close and twins they say are even closer julia and i shared the further bond of growing up together without a father what happened to him ask tones he died when we were only two we grew up with my mother we were comfortable enough mama had some family money and my father's army pension when we were eight she married dr grimsby royalette that's my stepfather god forgive me but i do not know what she saw in the men i suspended my tea making long enough to ask he has a temper i presume oh have you heard of him yes his rages are famous throughout surrey they joke of him in the taverns i know it only when he is not there i am sure when he is present none would dare to laugh dr roy it is well i will not speak ill of him but i hate to think of what he would do if he knew i'd come here today there was something particularly dark about the way she said it and i had to ask this is off the topic i know miss stoner but has your family ever been troubled by scurvy ricketts or polio no nothing like that neither your mother your sister nor yourself certainly not oh well i apologize for the interruption how did your mother get along with dr roilet miss stoner barked out an angry laugh and said seven years ago she was killed in a railway accident and let me tell you dr watson it must have come as a great relief to her i could not account for her attraction to the man or why she would want to go live in his dreadful little house now she is gone just like papaya is gone and julia is gone and oh why should i even try to preserve myself we're all going don't you see chance is picking us off one by one and maybe the living are not so fortunate as the dead she was entirely hysterical at this point abandoning mighty i rushed to a side and took a hand there there miss stoner i said all is well you have come to homes and me now we will put things to rights you will see yes she agreed yes of course i wonder is there a place where i might just this way miss stoner i said taking her by the arm and leading her to the bathroom take your time holmes and i are perfectly comfortable out here i ought to have left her and gone back to the sitting room indeed i gave her every impression as the door closed that i was doing just that but as soon as the latch clicked i hastened back to it as quietly as i could what are you doing whispered homes unwilling to make a noise i carefully mouthed listening so holmes might read my lips he nodded his understanding then screwed up his face and a moment later said watson i'm surprised at you listening at the door while a lady uses the lavatory it just isn't like you holmes damn it i i rushed back to the sitting room i am not listening to hear her use the lavatory that is no she is hysterical and she's wearing a whalebone corset did you see her she can barely breathe in that thing i'm listening for the sound of her falling to the floor the floor yes you may be unaware of this homes but proper english ladies will often ask for a quiet place to compose themselves once installed the constriction of their undergarments often causes them to faint i did not know that well it would be of little concern but if she happens to fall in a posture that makes breathing even more difficult that whalebone corset may prove to be the end of her ha that is a silly way to die don't you think loft holmes is it then why do you suppose it is so very popular i strained to hear if our guest was still on her feet but presently she ran some water in the basin and i knew her still to be conscious warlock gestured me over to him to make a confession i don't even know why she's here watson she needs help can't you see but our help said warlock i told you of the brimstone thread once do you remember how it moves through the tapestry of life crossing one strand then the next yes yes like cloth reality moves in distinct patterns watson as such threads that cross the brimstone must bear some proximity to one another i myself how shall i say i run parallel to the brimstone thread and right along it thus the people who come to me for help usually do so because they like me have encountered the brimstone thread more than once their problems tend to be ones that can only be addressed by those who have become accustomed to the mystic and the weird what is your point holmes as yet miss stoner has given no indication that her troubles are unusual there seems to be no particular reason she has been brought to me as opposed to say scotland yard should we ask her to leave certainly not did you see her left arm holmes she's wearing a long sleeve dress yes and even so it is clear that her left forearm curves notably away from her body did you observe her shoes um they're black immaterial what is important is that the souls are of different thicknesses one of her legs is shorter than the other yet she claims to have suffered none of the bone deforming illnesses that haunt our age so so at some point her left arm has been broken and she received no medical care for it likewise her left leg i'm guessing her left femur at the distal epiphyseal plate was broken in her youth severely enough that it never grew to its proper length from the little she's told us so far i have to presume that this stepfather of hers is to blame the man is a monster holmes ah well she'd better stay then quite said i and walked back towards our bathroom door to check on our guests i'd taken no more than two steps before i recalled to whom i'd been speaking and turned back to say not a proper monster no said holmes he looked disappointed it's only a figure of speech i mean that i presume him to be a normal man whose behavior is abominable i say this to you now because i don't want you to sulk if it turns out he isn't a minotaur or something holmes gave me a sour look but nodded his agreement soon the click of the bathroom lock gave me to believe our guest was returning she stepped back into the sitting room calmer and more collected than she'd been i'm sorry said she i'm not even sure why i came here i know neither am i said holmes it's funny isn't it perhaps i should just return home to stoke moran and forget this she didn't finish i'm sure if he could have made it to his feet holmes would have been on them he shouted stoke what moran i said yes stoke moran that is our home it was one of the great houses of surrey once but now it's gone to rack and ruin and one may presume the house is named for the family that established it i asked it is ms stoner said the royal side of the family has had it for a generation or two but the house was traditionally held by the morans that's why she's here warlock declared i knew there must be a reason do you know if any of these relatives might be named sebastian moran i asked a few i think sebastian is a common name out our way may one also presume that dr roilet is far from the only member of the family with a sour reputation one may indeed miss stoner agreed though i think few of the locals would put it so delicately the morans have been hated for generations if your stepfather is anything like the marana i know he is a formidable gentleman indeed said warlock perhaps i've never met any of them apart from dr roilet miss stoner said shrugging pray let it continue to be so i muttered but let us return to your unfinished tale miss toner you have not yet spoken of the reason behind your fear why do you suppose yourself to be in mortal danger the timing of my sister's death and the strangeness of it you see she had just become engaged when she died i thought my stepfather's famous temper would have been woken for the existence of what little remains of stoke moran is reliant upon my sisters and my inheritance so as long as we live with dr roilet he is steward of those funds in the event of marriage the inheritance would of course have followed julia and her groom yet dr roilet was not troubled by her engagement i asked no in fact he took pains to make himself cordial to both julia and her fiance we have fancied he had undertaken a campaign to ingratiate himself to them and was intending to cajole them from the fund he needed to maintain the house julia and i were speaking of it on the night she died here miss stoner paused to collect herself for the tears had come again presently she told us we were in my bedroom the night was early the sun had only just set she complained about her own room it was stuffy she said the window could not open far because of the bars and the vent brought no comfort no fresh air but only the stench of dr roilet's cigars and his horrid animals animals i asked yes roilett had his practice in india so did i almost he was forced to leave it when in an altercation over some stolen silverware he beat his native butler to death you know watson warlock noted he does sound an awful lot like sebastian moran mistona continued when he came back he brought a monkey a cheetah and a box of trained cobras the snakes are confined to his room but the monkey and the cheetah have their freedom to wander the grounds so julie and i had bars upon our windows and we locked our doors at night julia made such complaints of her room that night that i offered to share my bed with her as we used to when we were little but she said no she would sleep in her own bed and stop being silly but she asked me if i ever heard noises coming from my vent sometimes did you i interjected not but wind and rain as you would expect yet julia said she often heard a rasping a sort of metallic bang and the sound of soft chanting deep in the darkest hours of night i thought it only fancy but it seemed to disturb her well finally she took a leave of me and went back to her room i don't know what time it was it must have been some time after nine maybe ten in the evening i only saw her one more time after that at two o'clock she came back to your room yes i was woken by the rattle of my doorknob and a scratching on my door at first i was afraid it was a monkey but in the confused noises i recognized julia's voice what did she say nothing that could be understood she sounded frantic at first but by the time i'd risen and opened the door she seemed quite calm she stood in my doorway staring straight ahead tilting on her heels as if dizzy or drunk she didn't even look at me then she said the echoed and and then and then what happened miss stoner her eyes they shrank shrank yes back inside her head like two rotten grapes then all her skin fell off what yes all upon the rug in a great heap she was only muscle and bone she stood there for a moment trying to say something it sounded like the echoed and again and then her muscles fell away and her skeleton collapsed down on the whole pile of it all that was the end of her that is how she died disgusting warlock declared though his tone of admiration was unmistakable and gentlemen i fear i shall end the same way miss stoner continued for now through fortune i scarce dared to hope for my neighbor mr grey malkin has asked my hand the wording of mother's will is such that if i do wed not only my share of the inheritance will follow me but julia's share as well without those monies to support them stoke moran and dr roilet must fall into abject poverty yet he did not protest my stepfather only offered his congratulations and immediately began work on stoke moran what sort of work i asked stonework of some sort i'm not sure the exact nature of it but it has made my room uninhabitable dr roilott insists i stay in julia's chamber that very chamber where she was stricken to death or so i suppose i didn't want to go of course but dr royalties possessed of a most convincing character and i must admit that i spent last night sleeping in my dead twins bed even more palpable than my sympathy for helen stoner was the swell of hatred i felt for grimsby roilet if any chance remained that i might forgive him miss stoner removed it when she burst into fresh tears and said and what should i hear last night in the depths of darkness i heard the metallic grasp i heard the banging i heard the chance oh i could not stay gentlemen i fled to the pantry and hid until first light then made my way here but i am to return don't you see he expects me to sleep there tonight i don't know if i can face it again what should i do oh what should i do holmes digested the question for a few moments then said in slow thoughtful tones well i can't put my finger on exactly why but i don't know it just seems inadvisable to sleep there what do you think watson holmes of course she shall not sleep there she will not play meekly into this villain's hands shame on you for considering it no miss stoner here is what i propose you go back to stoke moran and pretend that nothing unusual has occurred this afternoon holmes and i will but my eye fell across the immovable carcass of my friend and i amended my statement to well at least one of us will come there to examine the room and formulate a strategy to save you from this mischief here here holmes proclaimed could you oh could you miss stoner cried a light with new hope we have not discussed payment yet and my stepfather controls the finances but once i am wed let us just consider it an early wedding gift shall we i said expect me by train this afternoon i presume the house is set back from the road she nodded there is a long drive up to the house do watch out for the cheetah and the monkey i gulped try to watch the main road to intercept me and keep my arrival a secret from dr roilet i shall see you in a few hours miss toner until then be of good cheer this world yet contains justice and the hearts of men are not so hard as to turn away from a lady in need you will be safe i swear it i ushered her out bid her farewell and went back upstairs to dress for the country and check my pistol i just set about clearing away our teacups when mrs hudson's voice rang out from the door below us screaming in protest a moment later i heard heavy steps on the stairs then our front door fell in with a sudden crash the hinges bent and failed the lock splintered the door frame as it was forced into our sitting room in the doorway stood an angry red-faced giant of a man with mrs hudson dangling from his left knee still trying to arrest his rampage i was sure her collection of illicit novels must have offered no end of tips on how to wrestle men to the ground also certain was that she had been eagerly awaiting the chance to put these ideas into practice she didn't look pleased with the way things were going however our monstrous guest paid no heed whatsoever to the struggling septuagenarian clinging to his arm warlock arms the trespasser cried which of you is warlock holmes warlock began to screech out terrified high-pitched whales contorting his body as violently as he could in an attempt to either stand or simply to wiggle under the sofa i stood my ground and assessed the invader his shoulders were impossibly broad compared to his vast torso his legs were small and bowed outwards from the strain of supporting so heavy a load he wore a red frock coat a pale yellow scarf and a top hat his right eye clutched a monocle with such force i thought the glass would shatter he had cultivated a magnificent ginger moustache the tips of which quivered as he raged the overall effect was one of a furious steroid-riddled circus ring master yet the family resemblance was obvious he was certainly related to sebastian moran in fact i think if moran and grogson could somehow be made to have a child together the resultant monstrosity would exactly resemble dr grimsby royalette what a quaint method of knocking our country cousins have i said no wonder they find themselves impoverished they must spend a fortune on doors what are you doing home squeaked in truth i was baiting dr roilet he was a frightening specimen and i might have lacked the courage if it were not for the fact that i had my hand resting on the handle of my service revolver some men find courage in a bottle but i keep mine in my coat pocket where is my step-daughter roilet roared i know she has been here has she been here has she how should i know we have not been properly introduced i said don't play the fool with me where is she she's no business with you and you've no business with her do you hear i smirked and noted look at that silly little top hat holmes don't you hate it when country folk put on airs don't antagonize him watson yet roy lot was not antagonized he was thrilled though most people shy from conflict grimsby royalette seemed to draw a fierce glee from it striding into our sitting room he looked around for a moment then walked to the hearth he drew our poker from its stand at first i thought he meant to use it as a weapon but instead he placed one hand at either end and twisted the iron rod into a perfect circle holmes squealed not content with this show of force roilot thrust the center of the new made ring into his mouth and bit down until the two halves separated and fell clanging to the floor he smiled at us then turned to spit the section of iron rod that remained in his mouth into the fire and said if you come to stalk moran if you come to my house i shall certainly endeavor to treat your possessions with more respect than you have shown mine i interjected you will not escape alive we in my family do not tolerate interlopers is that clear he shook his fist at me it was a monstrously large thing with bulging veins and knotted knuckles his hide was spattered with grotesque freckles from which drew tufts of curling red hair quite clear said i now is there something we may help you with or will that be all he turned on his heel threw mrs hudson onto our dinner table and strode out through the door a moment later we heard the door to baker street bang open and i knew he had gone mrs hudson was not injured at least not as much as i secretly hoped she might be but holmes seemed quite unhinged holmes cease that screaming if you please you're giving me a headache i don't like him watson neither do i you cannot go to stoke moran holmes insisted not alone he'll kill you watson can't you see he isn't he's not normal i wanted to protest that all would be well but the seven halves of our poker argued that holmes might indeed have a point if i were caught alone by roilet without witnesses and unprotected in his house what hope would i have still i must go i decided perhaps we will discuss it further when mrs hudson has gone home suggested a moment later he suggested again louder this time when mrs hudson has gone she gave him a bitter glance brushed a few pieces of rubble off her dressing gown then mumbled something rude about the quality of our guests as it compared with the state of her doors and totted out really watson you mustn't go alone holmes insisted i don't know what sort of medicine he has been studying but he has the marks of a man who has made one or two mystical modifications to himself such treatments often result in less than beneficial effects to the psyche if you wish for a second opinion go to charing cross hospital and consult with my friend dr jekyll on the matter he can tell you no i believe you holmes yet what choice is there miss stoner will be in immediate danger in only a few hours and you are in no state to accompany me there's no way we'll have you fit for an adventure in the time we have he thought for a moment then said but try won't you you're a doctor after all i attempted to explain that there was no known procedure for rehabilitating victims of this sort of poisoning since none had previously survived it yet holmes would not listen and insisted that i endeavor to cure him i began by flexing the affected limbs so all of them he had no strength and no voluntary control it was too late for a picac so i gave him great quantities of water to flush the toxins from his tissues as best i could there was no sign of progress whatsoever this isn't working holmes no it is said he why by the boon that is owed to me by cacathar goon i can feel my strength returning outside the wind rose to howling force and the horses on the street screamed out all at once you just cast a spell i said what me no no no there's no such thing as spells you said so yourself why it is through the merit of your medical skill that i can now move my fingers again and no other reason holmes i have asked you not to use your powers you yourself have told me how detrimental it is to our world every time you do yes but my sudden improvement is due to your powers watson not mine it's not as if i pledge my trough to the fires of mexican greg deck for greater life that is not why i'm suddenly able to stand it is because you are such a fine doctor shall we go the outside grew as black as night the streets filled with the panicked cries of those who rather wondered where the sun had gone off to all of a sudden by the light of our fire which first fled blue then green i could see homes standing by the sofa looking at me expectantly holmes damn it think nothing of it watson i have the feeling that compared to any mischief roy let me work such transgressions are slight my protests continued of course but there was no sense in going without him as we stepped out into baker street the light of day was meekly returning as crowds of frantic londoners ran this way and that stoke moran was not quite a castle dating from the period of the english civil war it was one of a particular breed of country homes that were constructed by people with guilty consciences or those who had reason to feel that if the war went one way rather than the other they could expect a fairly large contingent of armed soldiers to come knocking at any hour thus though it lacked an actual barracks it did sport a high stone wall of some thickness crenellated turrets and was positioned atop a high hill with a commanding view on all sides it was a home but it was a defensible one thus it did not surprise me that as holmes and i approached helen stoner came out to meet us anybody watching the road from one of the turret rooms could see visitors more than a mile off don't worry she called as she neared my stepfather has gone to the city this morning and has not returned if he was not on your train he could not possibly return before the next we have some time we shan't need much i warrant said i chiefly i wish to examine julia's room and that of dr roilet or i mean holmes wishes to examine them i could have told her that holmes and i knew perfectly well that dr roylette had been in london but chose not to alarm her holmes gave her a tired smile despite the invocations he had applied in our sitting room he was still weak and unstable i had allowed him to lean on my arm on the walk from the train station but i practically had to drag him up the hill on the final approach to stoke moran helens julia's and roilett's rooms were all on the second floor overlooking the road roylat had the corner suite next to him was julia stoner's old room where miss helen stoner was supposed to now be lodging and finally miss stoner's own room which did not look as if it were undergoing nearly enough work to render it uninhabitable it was furnished in a manner that bespoke a country estate in decline but we found no clue of worth julia stoner's room was a different story even holmes lacking as he was an observational prowess noted the difference immediately it's a lot nicer than your room he said holmes how rude i chided miss stoner waved me down and said julia's room was redecorated just after her engagement was announced we suppose dr roilet did it to curry her favor that is not what i suppose i mumbled casting an eye over the room there were a number of peculiarities apparent at the most cursory examination miss stoner i think you said that your sister complained of the smell of dr royal at cigars can you see why she might not off hand holmes can you she didn't like cigars look at the vent it is of newer construction than the walls of the room newer by far it runs along the ceiling as vents often will but do you note the peculiarity do i ever it does not lead outside it runs through the internal wall towards dr roilett's room why would you vent one room into the next it is quite unaccountable not only that but observe the vent ends just touching this bell pull rope which in turn hangs down onto the bed just beside the pillow a strange proximity i think i gave the bell pull an experimental tug but was rewarded with not but silence for my effort oh that ms stoner said with a blush that is merely for show show yes dr roilett said we lacked the funds for a bell but he did not wish us to live with the indignity of seeming unable to afford one he therefore purchased the bell pull with the intent of purchasing a bell at a later date i can see why he may have told you so i harmfd but i refuse to believe that such was his true motive if it were so he would not have gone to such extravagant measures to ensure this bed is never moved from below the bell pool what could is a bell pull that cannot be reached from one's bed ms stoner asked i could not think of a reason one would want to move the bed away and yet if you ever did encounter a reason it still would not furnish you with the ability did you note that this bed has been bolted to the floor odd said holmes why would roilett do that i suspect he wishes to ensure that whoever sleeps in this bed is forced to do so directly under that vent with this bell pull coming down almost onto their pillow why what does it mean asked miss dona it means you are absolutely not to spend another night in this bed until this situation is understood and defused i replied i do not wish to be crude miss stoner but i think holmes and i would very much like to rifle dr roylett's room now if you please that may present some difficulty ms stoner said fretting with the cuffs again my stepfather is intensely secretive he maintains that room himself and allows nobody inside i've never had so much as a peep through that door he keeps it always locked and wears the key on a chain about his neck at all times it seemed we were stuck but holmes who had taken the opportunity to move down the hallway a few paces and examine the lock on his own initiative reported luck is with us the door is unlocked but that is impossible miss stoner protested he always what is that smell i tested the air and replied that misstoner is the smell of and here i pause to regard holmes with an accusatory glare sulfur and burning iron by god miss stoner cried what is dripping from the lock i suspect it is the inner workings of the lock itself i said unable to think of a suitable lie oh no oh dear me said holmes it seems as if this lock has been fiendishly booby-trapped to melt itself if someone should tamper with it i've only just avoided being burned nefarious ingenious misstonic declared i'm surprised to hear you think so i said rolling my eyes at homes in a manner meant to convey that he had just been extremely lucky in any case we are in let us see what secrets dr roilett keeps these secrets were of such quantity and clarity that even the unobservant home spotted some the moment he pushed open the door before i had even the chance to look in he asked i say watson what do you suppose that pile of skulls is for pushing past him i entered into the lair of a mad fiend dr roilett did seem to have a poncho for bone-based decor the walls being decked in shrines and ritualistic pictograms formed principally out of human bones several skulls had been set down into pelvises so that they looked as if they wore upturned collars of bone the whole affair was decked in pale yellow bunting that draped the room from corner to corner along all four walls connecting this with the yellow scarf i had seen roilet wearing and the fact he had held a medical practice in india i made a connection he is a thuggy i said hello i know those chaps said holmes from the hallway miss stoner said thuggy what are you speaking of i don't she did not finish for she rounded the doorway and encountered her stepfather's true nature she gasped and fell back against the wall it took her some moments to control her breathing that dashed whale bone corset again i think at which point she muttered all those bones do you suppose julia oh no no i'm sure not no man can offer such disrespect to the bones of his own family member i said though in my heart i knew i was almost certainly lying i further suspected that if helen stoner had not decided to hide in the pantry last night her bones might now be here as well i say watson look over here holmes was bent over a table on which lay a number of instruments and concoctions that reminded me of his own alchemical work station at two to one b though his was more extravagant and possessed of a distinctly evil character curved knives and gleaming silver-plated hypodermic needles lay in neat rows though this laboratory was of interest to me there were two other matters of greater concern the first was the cobras i found them in a glass terrarium by the window they were sluggish in the cold but gazed at me with all the malevolence their breed is known for the second was the vent which ended just above dr roy lot's alchemical workstation though it featured a curved downspout i could just discern light at the end where it opened above the late julia stoner's bed some dozen feet away it was certainly wide enough for a cobra in fact i think all three could have slithered through a breast if they wished turning to my compatriots i said i have seen enough i do not know exactly how roy lot has worked these crimes but i am certain he is to blame this is what i suggest miss stoner you are to give dr roilet no indication that you have spoken with holmes or me or that you know his secret i understand this may be difficult but it is of critical importance can you do it hi i think so good you are to agree to sleep in julia's bedroom again tonight when doctor roilet has retired to his room for the evening you are to signal holmes and me with a lantern placed in julia's window homes and i will be stationed nearby make sure the front door is unlocked then return to your own bedroom and wait there when we see a signal holmes and i will sneak into julia's room and endeavour to catch the good doctor at his mischief agreed are you sure asked miss dona do you think the two of you are enough to face such a monster as my stepfather has proved to be oh said holmes with a sideways smile in my direction i imagine we'll be all right but isn't he what did you say a thug thuggy i said but you are correct in that we derive our english word thug from their sect they are an indian murder cult dedicated to khali the goddess of destruction and i had to choose my next words carefully marital relations external to the formality of wedlock well if you are certain you can confront him miss stoner said you could wait at the local inn it's just at the base of the hill if you arrive early and ask for a seat to buy the window you will have a clear view of stoke moran capital we must hurry i think holmes and i took some time walking here and the next train must be arriving soon miss stoner you may want to splash some water on your face and take a moment to compose yourself she nodded her agreement and bustled down the hall whereupon i turned to homes and whispered and as for you dr roilett must have no idea that his sanctum has been violated this means his lock must be intact and fastened oh well you should have thought of that before you melted it now put it back with as little magic as you can manage i will say our farewells to miss stoner i soon discovered the chief floor in my plan it lay in homes as my weariness combined with the sheer amount of time we needed to bide while waiting for the occupants of stoke moran to settle into slumber the most felicitous remedy was to hire a room at the very inn where we were supposed to wait and sleep through the afternoon and early evening i woke much refreshed homes looked better too there were certain clumsiness remained in his limbs which told me they were not answering to his will as they should i thought some food might affect a partial cure so we went down into the tavern to sit by the window eat and wait in a country dominated by sheep and shepherds mutton is not considered a delicacy yet when it is fresh and delivered hot from the oven baked into a hearty country pie it is difficult to best i married mine with a pint of stout and rejoiced holmes pouted until the innkeeper agreed to make him a plate of toast once this was joined by a cup of their runniest vegetable soup he settled in happy as a cat as we ate he asked me so what do you make of this case watson gazing around to be sure we were not overheard i replied i feel sure that dr roilet murdered his stepdaughter i am unsure as to his exact modus operandi but i have a theory suppose he has trained his cobras to slither through the vent down the bell pole and attack whatever sleeping unfortunately lies upon the bed below holmes gave me a squinty look as if he found this highly unlikely no think about it holmes remember the cobras remember their mottled scales can't you imagine a woman surprised and bitten in the dead of night crying out about the horrifying speckled band that had just worked her ill that's what i think julia stoner was trying to say as she died the speckled band all right i see your point watson holmes said but then again might she not just say help a snake it's got fewer syllables and the benefit of clarity too don't you think but what else could she have been trying to say i don't know home shrugged go through the alphabet and is a word so is banned canned also dan and ian are not but fanned is yes but how many words end in eccles i said well i have been too much a gentleman to bring up the other floor in your conjecture watson have you ever heard of a snake whose bite causes one's skin and musculature to fall off no i admitted but then i've never known of anything else that could either i fell silent to ponder that i made no headway on the problem but i did notice we had another our supper was finished and the dishes cleared away yet as i stared at the windows of stoke moran on the hill above i realized it might be hours yet before our signal showed you know holmes i said we may need to order a drink from time to time else the innkeeper will take it amiss that we hold this table all night as you say watson just be careful we must be at our best tonight and you know how drink affects you people you people yes well you know everybody who isn't me alas i shall never know the comfort of alcoholic torpor since such drafts have no effect on my person no effect said i just as poison has no effect on you i suppose just so watson except that i have seen its effect on you homes just last night you were completely overcome with it preposterous when miss stoner came this morning you were unable to stand or i chose not to in order to make her feel unthreatened though she was entering the domicile of two unknown gentlemen a fine explanation holmes but we both know you could not stand watson i am surprised at you just because i am immune to alcohol and other poisons and you are not that is no reason to engage in envy and lies lies how dare you i am sorry watson but you wear your envy as a texan wears a hat though it is a monstrous thing that would uglify any man you seem almost proud of it i'm sure i could have argued in circles with him for hours but i had a more wicked expedient for proving my point i cast about the room until i found the man i needed he was at once the fellow who looked like he could at least afford a drink while also being the fellow who looked like he most often did i beckoned the barmaid over to us and asked i say miss what is that slop-shirted shepherd in the corner drinking tonight same thing as he does every night sir i wonder if you would be so good as to bring a bottle for my friend and me she hesitated then said i'm not sure you'd want any of that sir most nights i'm sure you would be correct but tonight is special she shrugged and moved off to fetch our bottle of destruction bring four glasses i called after her you gentlemen expecting company no i then turned to holmes and asked him so you think you could drink more than any man in this tavern any man he scoffed any ten men any ten men and the horses that bore them here very admirable let's just set the bar at three shall we i will drink a glass of whatever it is i just ordered you will then drink three and we shall see which of us begs off first the bottle arrived at our table with a heavy thunk its mottled brown glass was covered in a slick of grease i could not read the label as it was cheaply printed and had not profited by storage by the looks of it it had spent a century or so in the belly of a sunken pirate's sloop nevertheless the cork slid free with a joyous pop i can only assume it was pleased to end its association with the foul bottle and roll off into the comparative cleanliness of the nearest pile of rat droppings the smell that issued forth from the bottle was strangely familiar to me yet at first i could not place it at last the dim recesses of my memory brought it forth as a youth i'd spent one summer at the home of my uncle while living he had been a maker of stringed instruments ah yes cello varnish i poured a glass for myself and three for homes to good health said i raising the glass to my lips and draining it in a single gulp my eyes burned my throat swelled my stomach spasmed still it was worth it to see it the look on holmes's face your turn i coughed ah yes so it is i suppose he said he grew visibly sick as he raised the glass even before it touched his lips he drank it down just as quickly as i had he placed his glass back down and paused to let forth a high pitched scream of distress all eyes turned to our table the slovenly shepherd in the corner raised his glass and salute i imagine it was rare for him to meet someone who understood what he was going through i stared at homes a smile on my lips daring him to touch his second glass he looked horrified at the notion of repeating his ordeal but reached down with a trembling hand and grasped it he held his nose while he swallowed and then cried out hi why why is it like that i smiled and asked well holmes are you ready to admit but he held up a hand to silence me and then to my horror drank down the third glass this time he managed to avoid crying out though only by clenching his mouth shut with both hands he nodded that it was my turn and settled back in his chair writhing slightly i must have grown quite pale i really hadn't thought it would come to a second round then again i did not wish to return to baker street and spend the rest of my days being forced to admit that holmes was immune to both poison and alcohol given the difficulty he'd had with his first three drinks i thought it unlikely he could manage even one more thus with doubtful hand and faulty courage i reached down to refill my cup some hours went by i'm not sure how i only remember laughing quite a bit we must have invited the shepherd over for he joined us in finishing two more bottles and i never did manage to get the smell of him out of my clothes i think we must have engaged in a series of dares and forfeits i cannot recall them precisely but i do remember our best penalty he who had heard had to reach down under the table with his knife and carve a chip from one of the table legs he then had to eat it without attracting the attention of the innkeeper i do not remember who won or lost but between the three of us we ate one of the table's sturdy oak and legs and made pretty good progress on the second i continually reminded holmes that we must be ready when helen stoner signaled for us but after a time it seemed as if he didn't know what i was talking about holmes we have to stop stop what will happen when the signal comes i protested sometime after midnight what is this damn signal you keep talking off watson it sounds like something you made up no i didn't it's it's a lantern there are plenty of lanterns no in the window plenty of lanterns in the windows not our window the house the house on the hill like that lantern said holmes pointing to the light in the late julia stoner's window but that's been there for hours i was out of the door in a flash with homes close behind the shepherd wanted to come too but we eventually shouted him away we staggered up the hill along the muddy road shekels holmes declared what the money of post roman judea don't you see watson if someone was rich he'd be well shackled he'd be the shackled man that's a bit of a stretch don't you think ah but when a fellow is strangled or hanged could he not be said to have been kneckled nope oh public speakers sometimes get heckled though that's true they do i admitted but keep quiet homes we're almost there i think we must have made more noise than we ought sneaking into stoke moran and up the winding stairs luckily for us our quarry was too distracted to note our approach from behind roilett's closed door we could hear muffled chanting he started it i hissed quick homes into julia's room the room was in half darkness lit only by the lantern helen stoner had obscured behind the curtain to signal us i don't see anything whispered holmes watch the vent i told him that is where danger shall approach even as i said it there was a dull metallic bang from the vent followed by the sound of an unknown fleshy body sliding through the duct here comes the cobra i said but when our antagonist emerged from the vent it was no snake a human hand protruded itself from the edge of the vent and began groping about for the bell pull it spotted complexion and profusion of curly ginger hair proclaimed this to be the hand of dr roilet it used only two fingers to feel about the others clutch something that gleamed metallic in the lantern's failing light i recognized it to be one of his hypodermic needles the wayward human hand found the bell pull and started down as i had suspected it seemed the pull was there as a guide to reach the pillow below as unsettling as the hand was what followed was even more horrifying the hand was not disembodied a long pre-hensile forearm flowed out of the vent and began coiling down the rope certainly there could be no bones within for it was rubbery and capable of bending in any direction at any point along its length disgusting proclaimed holmes he was a light with admiration in his shock and inebriation holmes quite forgot to keep his voice down the creeping hand recoiled in surprise then struck out in homes and my direction with the hypodermic poised we tried to get out of the way but as i fled the needle caught the flapping tail of my overcoat and pierced it the back of my coat instantly disintegrated into a putrid brown liquid home saw this better than i could and the fright of it caused him to cry out again the hand turned towards him and pursued him about the room striking randomly with the deadly needle as holmes pelted back and forth screaming ah watson help the freckled hand the freckled hand in the further of its attack the hand struck the pillow the mattress and the easy chair with its murderous needle all three melted into puddles of stinking slop holmes had the misfortune of placing his foot in one of these as he ran he slipped and went down heavily his trademark hat fell from his head and the content of his pockets fairly exploded forth his magnifying glass slid across the room towards me but what caught my attention most was the metallic device that fell upon the carpet as he began to rise and renew his flight his handcuffs as homes ran off i dived in to recover them i fastened one side to the stout lower rail of the bed then waited the next time roilot's viperous arm passed i lunged out and snapped the other cuff around it in my panic i fastened it cruelly tight roilot must not have been expecting that for the arm jerked back and forth arrhythmically a few times before it turned on me and tried to end my life with its bewitched poison i flung myself into the far corner of the room and sat breathless against the wall holmes joined me and clapped a hand on my shoulder crying bravely done watson i think we have him now the hand recoiled all the way up to the silver handcuff and feverishly attempted to pull itself through i feared roilot would manage to yank it free and resume his murder attempts but the cuffs held fast i breathed a sigh of relief and asked what is it holmes what has roilet done one more trick he picked up in india watson i think he must be a faker i had heard of these mystics and recalled that they were famous for methods of manipulating their own bodies that seemed quite beyond the capabilities of mortal man that makes some sense i agreed in fact said holmes he is a master of their art i must say i am impressed such transmutations are difficult to perform and even harder to maintain do you hear how much louder and more strained his chanting has become i listened and agreed that i could note the change in a few moments his spell will fail said holmes he will find himself returned to his normal shape exhausted and unable to defend himself he'll be helpless watson i nodded that this was good but held that opinion only for a fraction of a second soon the full ramifications of the situation occurred to me and i found myself shouting keys hey said holmes where are the keys what keys for what the chanting reached a fever pitch then began to fail i could hear roilet gasping for breath in the next room over the handcuffs homes quick he patted his pockets fruitlessly and decided i must have dropped them when i fell look around watson but it was too late roilett's voice gave way to a fit of coughing followed by a ragged scream his spell failed his body began to resume its normal shape and as his hand was attached to the bed in our room his body was drawn inextricably towards it from his room came the shriek of tortured metal as the vent deformed an instant later the duct within our room began to bulge and shift a number of rivets popped free and a second later the vent over the bed became a spout several gallons of chunky gore erupted forth all over julia stoner's vacant bed another case closed another success we thought true i had slain a man which offended my sensibilities and violated my hippocratic oath yet this had been the result of an accident and the personality of the victim was such that nobody ever said to me that they missed his company more to our satisfaction miss helen stoner was preserved from harm despite the sudden strange death of dr roilet her fiance zeal to marry held and the couple moved away to begin their life together they could have stayed at stoke moran i suppose but helen stoner was never happier than the day she packed her bags and left it forever in the adventure of the freckled hand we see one of my greatest failures i allowed myself to be distracted our survival our seeming victory and helen stoner's happy ending brought me saturation that i failed to consider the greater consequences of the case i happily moved on to the next adventure and thought no more of stoke moran how many men would have paused to ask themselves what will become of that house now would a wiser fellow have worried that perhaps the next dare might be none other than sebastian moran would he have realized that should moran succeed in reconstituting his fallen master moriarty would now have a sturdy stone house with defensible walls and an evil magical workstation already in place a better man might have i did not i apologize to you all charles augustus milverton soul binder that lady eva blackwell's engagement was threatened did not bother me in the slightest i suppose it should have she had after all come to holmes and me in the express attempt to save it yet as she spoke with dread about the prospect of becoming unattached it occurred to me more and more that she was just the sort of girl i would like to marry someday if the worst should come to pass if she should lose the affections of the earl of dover court how should she replace him with the doctor perhaps doctors are not so well regarded as earls i will admit but they are a good deal more practical what if someone were to become injured or sick having a doctor in the house saves a carriage ride and really what does an earl do can you gentlemen help me do you think lady either side holmes clucked his tongue indicating that this was a matter of dread severity and asked what do you think watson oh eh i said rousing myself for my dream well i suppose we might look into it a blackmailer you say yes a horrible blackmailer she agreed nodding her chestnut curls he says i must supply him with seven thousand pounds by friday else he shall cross my match and see that nigel and i never wed seven thousand pounds i'm used the sum is extraordinary she cried why you could buy a palace for that i would buy you a mansion in dover i said near the sea a white one with a yard full of ponies i became aware that lady eva was staring at me so was holmes how would that help matters holmes wondered what oh it wouldn't i just ahem lady blackwell i do not mean to be indelicate but i must ask what does this blackmailer have against you nothing sir but you must have something i insisted else how does he think he could foil your marriage how does he intend to turn your fiance against you he does not say in fact he writes that the particulars of my downfall will be forever unknown to me of course i was inclined to throw the ridiculous letter into the fire but he included these two lists you see she waved two pieces of paper at homes in me both were lists of names but there the similarities ended one was written in a gilded hand upon stationary worthy of the queen the other was done in filth brown ink upon parchment so poor that a street urchin looking for something to scrawl his begging sign upon would have passed it by saying meh i could do better she flourished a finer paper at us and said this first is a list of those previous victims who succumbed and agreed to pay him i was shocked by some of these names gentlemen i called on some of them and asked if this document was true awkward as the matter is they did confirm it the blackmailer says that part of the price of his forbearance is that they tell their tale to the next poor soul to bear his letter else he will work mischief upon them cad i declared i spoke with four of the people on this list and they all admitted that they paid him some said they felt foolish for it yet that was the worst complaint any of them could make their lives and fortunes are all quite intact this list on the other hand here she waved the brown feculent list at us this is a litany of shattered dreams there is not a soul on this list who is happy today broken marriages lost careers great artists whose work suddenly fell from public favor it is unaccountable the sudden trials and failures suffered by the people upon this list and all of them whom i spoke to trace their misfortune back to the same man all of them cursed the day they refused to pay this blackmailer and encouraged me to do whatever i could to save myself from his fury an odd story said i scratching my chin i have never heard of a blackmailer who operates without having some sort of leverage on his victims one wonders if it is not a ruse a ruse holmes reflected how might he pull such a thing off watson i can imagine two methods off hand either he has compiled these lists from people who had nothing to do with him but whose fortunes were especially good or ill yes but that does not account for them telling lady eva that this villain's interference or forbearance made their fortunes or ruin them holmes said keep in mind that they all verified his story did they suppose a man comes to you and says you must give him a pound or you will explode you do give him a pound you do not explode does it necessarily follow that your lack of unexplained detonation is due to the fact you paid him off is it not possible that you were never in any such danger and have just been conned out of a pound is it also not possible that you might blithely tell his next victim of your supposed escape and encourage them to pay as well it is possible holmes admitted in fact some might say it is the basis of all religion uh yes well the other possibility is that these witnesses are all in league with the blackmailer and stand to receive a portion of the funds i do not think that could be the case said lady eva in a manner that all other ladies should study and endeavor to repeat in order to render themselves irresistible to the mortal men look at the names doctor they are well known public figures a good point lady eva i only mention it because i must consider all possibilities even if they seem remote eliminate the impossible and whatever remains however improbable must be the truth holmes rolled his eyes at me as if this were an extraordinarily naive thing to say i refuse to be cowed and continued i think our next course of action must be to investigate the blackmailer himself and determine the true nature of his relationships with these supposed victims did he leave any clue as to his identity oh yes said lady eva who would likely have made a fine mother to my children caring and doting yet stern when the occasion demanded he signed it his name is charles augustus milverton i laughed out loud it was too good to hope that the man might be fool enough to begin such a criminal enterprise by signing his true name to a blackmail note yet my enthusiasm was dampened somewhat by holmes who said milverton in the most disappointed way he slumped into his chair and shrank like a beaten dog fixing lady eva with the look of both pity and apology for his own impotence he mumbled pay the man holmes i am sorry watson and i am yet more sorry for you lady eva but his name is known to me and i have reason to suspect that he is more than capable of rendering the destruction he has threatened if you wish to be happy in your marriage pay him but i can't lady eva protested don't you see my family has a title yes but that is no guarantee of means it is not wealth that has allowed me to enter london society it is only she trailed off for modesty does not allow a true lady to extol her own virtues it is only your perfect grace i said it is only your charm it is only that in you the london aristocracy sees what it is they aspire to become they see they're better and yet the tutor is so winning that they cannot bring themselves to resent the lesson not to mention your cheekbones look at them lady eva blushed holmes only watched me waiting for me to make my point i recoiled and mumbled oh i say have you ever had one of those days where you find yourself thinking a thing and then and you have no idea how it happened you find that you've been saying it as well i'm having just such a day and i apologize no no that was kind of you doctor said lady eva fixing me with a smile that crushed my mind and my heart and made me wish beyond all hoping that i'd been born an earl yet my trouble remains even by calling upon the support of my family and friends even by putting myself deeply in debt to those who might wish me ill i'm sure i can raise nowhere near the sun i think i can manage two thousand maybe a little more but only very little oh if you cannot save me from this man could you at least negotiate with him on my behalf tell him to take two thousand take it and leave me alone home side i can try lady eva if you ask me to i will yet i warn you that more harm than good may come from my involvement milverton knows me well and i think he is not favorably disposed what choice have i asked lady eva with a sad shrug i could not raise his fee and idleness dooms me say you will help won't you say you will try i shall do my utmost said holmes i'm sure watson will as well i only hope some good may come of it leave me his letter won't you watson and i shall be in touch when we have news in the meantime it might be wise to begin raising the 2000 there was nothing left to do but say our farewells and see lady eva out as i helped her down the stairs she rested her hand in my palm and let me place my other hand beneath her elbow to guide her down i drifted down the steps and dazed happiness then let go of her perfect hand and turned back to remount the stairs to our rooms to homes and to the life i'd built myself i was suddenly overcome with the feeling that i'd let it all go wrong somehow this feeling was only reinforced when holmes flung open the window above me and shouted wiggles wiggles i need you such that all the street might hear holmes threated over his reply for almost half an hour despite the fact that it was only three lines long wiggles and i waited by the hearth at first i was uncomfortable in the company of the young weir rat but boredom eventually conquered fear soon i sat suppressing my laughter as i watched him sniff the air having apparently forgotten he was in his human form in another ten minutes i was tearing little hunks of bread and throwing them this way and that watching him scuttle about to retrieve them finally holmes approached he handed wiggles a letter a shilling and a slab of beef that was just beginning to display that rainbow sheen which says you ought to have eaten me yesterday find the soul binder charles augustus milverton home said give him this letter and wait for his reply i am sure he will wish to set an appointment with me do not fail to bring his response or we may all find ourselves in some trouble soul binder i wondered yes soul binder said holmes come on watson let's go for a walk or something i don't care i just don't want to sit here thinking of him i shall tell you more in the park he didn't shortly after reaching the park he was accosted by a squirrel it ran up his trouser leg and snatched a crust of toast from his hand holmes seemed quite content to chase the little blighter up and down the path sometimes cajoling sometimes threatening always emanating the special joy of one who has made himself a grand new friend for my part i was happy to let homes go it left me to think of lady eva and psy and sigh as midnight neared holmes became ever more anxious he paced the sitting room of 221b baker street casting his eyes this way and that but nowhere found relief time and again his gaze was drawn to the clock on the mantelpiece though i could not tell if he was impatient for the midnight hour to arrive or a feared of it warlock sit down won't you you are making me nervous you ought to be nervous he replied our guest is a dangerous man and you are sure he will come he will come [Music] but his note said to expect him at seven in the evening i reminded holmes waving the return letter we'd received from milverton it was written on lavender stationery and scented with a perfume that reminded one of muskox and honey i told you that note is a lie he's playing with me he shall come at midnight he always does home ceased his pacing turn to me and muttered you really ought to go watson i told you holmes i am not going anywhere our client has engaged our services to save her from ruin and i will not meekly fall by the wayside and allow myself to fail her what you mean is that you do not trust me to conduct this negotiation there was more than a little truth to that but it was not my only motivation in fact i was worried for homes well you know warlock we've met a number of dangerous characters but this is the first time i have seen you so unsettled i can't help but wonder why you're so frightened of the man i could tell i had wounded him but after a moment's reflection he said i suppose i am frightened you know me watson you've seen what i like to do with poisons and so you know i am a gentleman who is somewhat difficult to harm milverton though milverton could hurt me how do you mean holmes yet he did not answer he would not answer he resumed his pacing how do you know him i asked attempting to start again on a different tack his victims are highly placed in the london aristocracy yet i have never heard of the men oh our paths have crossed before watson holmes said then paused as if considering how much he ought to tell me he must have deemed me worthy of further trust free added milverton was often a pawn of moriarty's moriarty yes my great enemy i thought a moment worrying over one or two points until finally deciding that the only way to know was to ask i said and yet you display more fear of this supposed pawn than you ever did of sebastian moran whom you claim was moriarty's trusted lieutenant it is not his rank within moriarty's gang that i fear said holmes it is his ability yes maran is a nasty fellow but he has no leverage upon me milverton does was going to ask what that leverage might be but it was interrupted by the chiming of our clock even before the first bellard faded it was drowned out by a wrapping on our sitting room door warlock wilted i rose to admit our guest if i had been hoping to find a looming specter clothed all in smoke and i will confess i rather was i was disappointed milverton was one of those men who took every care that his dress and appearance shouted businessman yet every other aspect of his body faith and bearing declared wheezy little bastard he was in his early fifties yet doing his utmost to appear in his late twenties he wore a grey suit tailored better than almost any other i had encountered his teeth were straight and shining white his skin which i at first assumed to be deeply tanned was revealed to be orange as he stepped into the light the color was so unnatural that i wondered for an instant if he might be a demon the thought was quickly chased away by the realization that it was more likely he'd been tempted by the tubes of orange skin tinting goo that one may purchase for tuppence at any of the less reputable pharmacies he swept off his grey silk top hat and threw his pale gloves within he hung this on a hook and deposited his silver cane into our elephant's foot umbrella stand his dark hair was slicked with some form of thick pungent grease into long strands which failed to cover his balding dome despite the expert care with which they had been combed over it not dating even to look at as he could so sorry chaps i know i'm behind my hour i know i am and yet what is a fellow to do hey london don't you know traffic don't you know i do hope you haven't been waiting long oh i do hope not he turned to me fixed me with a false smile and said you must be the estimable dr watson unless i am much mistaken oh yes doctor i know quite a few unnatural fellows who would like to know more about you yes i do quite a few indeed they always get nervous if this one here he inclined his head in warlock's direction spends more than three weeks in any one man's company behind milverton the wall discolored silently it began to bleed the spots joined together to form the word wretch and warlock holmes milverton continued how long has it been a very long time i think such a pleasant surprise to get your note i must say i was a bit put out for i had warned lady eva not to seek any outside aid a man might be tempted to increase his fee in the face of such events but seeing as it is you warlock seeing as it is you i think i can overlook this one indiscretion on her part only this one though no since she has brought me back into contact with my old friend her balance remains unchanged at 7 000 pounds i trust you have it i don't have it milverton holmes ground she doesn't have it you know that is why i wrote oh oh dear well i only assumed she might have reconsidered by now it is not a question of her consideration she does not have the money milverton shook his head and tutted well she really ought to find it you know such a judicious investment on her part why her bow makes that in less than a year and a half can you imagine losing her love losing her position in society losing all that money for all of those years over the concern of less than a year and a half's income she's cleverer than that i know she is above him the word betrayer added itself to the wall she hasn't caught it i say holmes repeated take 2 000 milverton and do no mischief oh my oh dear me now you see i told her not to bargain i told her the price was not subject to debate now that is two indiscretions on her part i cannot let that pass holmes i really can't i regret to inform you that lady eva's account now stands at eight thousand pounds holmes's anger and frustration burst forth in visual style his eyes lit up milverton bathed in their terrible green glare took a step backwards holmes took two towards our unwelcome guest a grim smile spread across his features but before holmes could work any mischief milverton held up one hand to beg a moment's pardon and affected a terrific yawn i say such an hour i think a cup of coffee is in order don't you gentlemen yes coffee don't you think holmes stood staring at milverton with his fingers opening and closing slowly as if he wished to grab something wish to squeeze milverton stood his ground but seemed to find a sudden interest in our furnishings he regarded our bookcase for a moment then stared at the picture of general lee he seemed content to examine almost anything as long as it was not holmes's burning glare i smiled much has been said of mutual benefit as the ideal foundation for bargaining good mention is also made of charity civility and moral concerns but to the student of history these are laughable he who has read of the mongol hordes of the south sea pirates or the might of rome knows the ideal bargaining tool fear i stepped in saying yes coffee sounds splendid i'll just make a pot shall i holmes why don't you take a seat on the sofa leave your armchair for mr milverton won't you he is our guest after all and the night is cold he will appreciate being close to the fire i moved to our small pantry to get the coffee grounds milverton took holmes's armchair though he seemed ill at ease in it holmes cocked his head to one side until his ear was nearly upon his shoulder and sat down on the sofa smiling at milverton hungrily with his eyes still alight i took my time fetching the coffee sure that each passing moment strengthened our bargaining position rather than weakened it as i returned and set some water to warm above the fire i said so what exactly is it you do mr milverton holmes described you as a soul binder did he asked milverton well that is a misfortune i have asked him not to you see i have asked him never to use that title and yet he disregards my wishes well i am sorry to say that lady eva's account now stands at nine thousand [Music] you're not a soul binder then is there such a thing as a soul doctor he's scoffed you have been through and through the human body have you not have you ever encountered one have you ever slept with your scalpel and nicked somebody's soul i should think not is there a part of us that lives on after we are gone why should we assume so no i do not deal with such speculative fictions my art lies in more tangible concerns we each of us have a destiny dr watson as we grow and interact these human destinies intertwine with one another i am one who sees these threads i am one who can knock them closer together or if i wish i am one who can pull them apart if lady eva is such a fool as to doubt my art she may find her fiance's destiny takes a very separate path from her own she would not be the first i fear i had decided i could make more progress with friendship than with threat let milverton fear homes in me he would find a helpful voice i've never heard of such a thing i said it must be a rare gift indeed can you change your own destiny i wonder every man can dr watson how very dro can no one resist your tampering mr milverton even a fellow such as holmes could you work upon him ha let me tell you something about your friend dr watson the man is a mess his destiny his soul as you would call it is one big knot he's tangled himself with countless others in loops more intricate and more intimate than ever he should have he is bound and bound again and has no power to unwind himself from some of his less welcome company no matter how he might struggle oh yes i can work upon holmes's destiny dr watson i may be the only man who can holmes himself is quite helpless to disentangle himself as i could do he said it with a zeal so severe that i knew him to be attempting to comfort himself with it i decided to hurry even less with the coffee and let him enjoy homes his green gays a little longer yet this was not to be for suddenly a deep terrible voice burst from home shouting i nearly dropped the coffee pot in the fire i could hear milverton cry out in surprise i spun round towards homes to hear what moriarty would say he that holds a hammer and will not strike away my chains he is as good as my jailer charles's august has been long he sows and sows yet never reaps now his harvest is nearing that which he has grown shall be brought into him at last the crop is bitter he will not taste it long rash holmes fell silent and slumped to one side for a moment i thought milverton was going to fall over as well in a dead faint his lips moved ineffectually at first then he gasped nance that's him isn't it him i said feigning innocence oh moriarty yes that's him i'd quite forgotten you knew him yes now i recall holmes said you used to be one of his minions i think never milverton cried no 11 000 for saying such a thing lady eva's account stands at 11 000. you didn't work for moriarty i asked well then how do you know him i worked for him i mean i performed some work for him but he came to me and hired me you know i was never one of his dogs let it be remembered he came to me because i could do what he could not even he the great moriarty and he gave me gold in recognition of my skills well that is high praise i said the moriarty i know never seems to give anything but ill news yes he is greatly changed from when i knew him milverton said then broke out in a nervous laugh but then i suppose is what he was known for step before moriarty and you never knew exactly what sort of creature you'd be facing as one body wore out he'll find another change was his hallmark the only constants were intelligent and malevolent milverton had grown visibly pale even through his orange skin treatment i took the opportunity to say of course you must know that my sympathy lies with holmes and lady eva so you will no doubt take my advice with a grain of salt still i must say these seem to be deep and dangerous waters do they're not might it be wiser to close lady eva's account and leave this matter behind you no i cannot be seen to falter i cannot let it be known that my net was ever escaped or my future clients will know there is hope yet what do you gain by hurting her if nothing else take the 2000 and let her go two thousand pounds in exchange for doing nothing they are high wages don't you think it's worth 2 000 to me to see her fall let everybody see it the more that is known of her fate the more my next client will fear me what a thing to say mr milverton she has done nothing to deserve such treatment has she she has she has made bold to walk in circles high above her station she was full enough to hire a maid who sold me a lock of her hair for a mere five pounds she who aims so high should have more caution don't you think 12 000 pounds now 12 for her folly really mr milverton if you go on like this for much longer the queen herself would be unable to raise your fee and yet we know homes don't we milverton asked we know he has ways of making money at this milverton stood up and fished around in his pocket for a moment he withdrew a bar of lead cast it upon our side table and muttered he knows my mind i've plenty more of these when he's ready if holmes wants to free his pretty little debutant he can call on me whenever he's willing to be reasonable now good night sir are you not staying for coffee i asked i made it just for you i won't i'm leaving i tutted at him any man who does business in london knows there are certain crimes that are unforgivable amongst them is asking for a refreshment and leaving before it is ready milverton turned back to me saying take a hundred then for your undrunk coffee that's something eh eleven thousand nine hundred and lady eva can thank you however she will for selling a cup of coffee so dear he slammed our door scurried down the stairs and was gone holmes lay half conscious on the sofa and resisted my attempts to move him as the hour was late i simply threw a blanket over him and went to bed myself i awoke just after seven the next morning to the sound of homes puttering about the fireplace good morning i said walking into our sitting room hmm said he and went back to organizing his toaster acts a few minutes later he muttered i'm not very clear on the events of last night i barely heard him he said it as if reflecting to himself but i realized he was awaiting an answer well moriarty had a few thoughts to add to the debate and after that you were somewhat insensible that explains it was milverton as glad to see his old master as moran was rather not i laughed he practically fled the place i tell you holmes i cannot fathom why you are so afraid of milverton i don't know if you realize it but he is perfectly terrified of you it makes sense home shrugged i nearly killed him once he knows i could end him in an instant i know he has taken precautions that's why we're so afraid of one another the little bugger has bound his soul to me can you imagine watson i have every reason to believe that when milverton's soul flees or his destiny comes to an end as he would say it will tug on some aspect of my own air it flies i shall lose some very important connections and it wouldn't surprise me if i gain a few unsavory ones as well even if he should die of old age i will suffer for it oh i fear the day he walks into the street without looking both ways but enough of such concerns what is the state of our negotiation watson did you manage to out think him i fear not in fact miss blackwell's account now stands at eleven thousand nine hundred pounds hey what happened he was once defied once or frighted twice offended and then purchased an overpriced coffee i'm sure we must treat with him again before the matter is brought to a conclusion if we achieved anything last night it was only to weaken his resolve and introduce greater elements of fear and doubt into his thinking ah holmes grunted i would rather be done with the man he went back to his toaster acts and died to find the morning paper but a sudden remembrance from the night before caused me to tarry you know there was one small thing what was that i found out how he gained his influence over eva blackwell in an instant holmes was upon me he clasped me by the front of my dressing gown and shook me demanding how how does he do it watson he has a lock of her hair i told him struggling ineffectually to free my collar from his grasp he bribed her maid holmes released me and began to pace now we have something watson now we have something so he needs a token then is he making an effigy does he need the materials as ingredients for his spell or by the gods does he cast the spell upon the hair itself are these tokens of his victims the medium that holds his enchantment are they like some form of phylactery oh let it be so watson let it be sown why i asked holmes turn to me and in the tone a philosopher might use to address a because if i could destroy his phylactery i could break his spell don't you see if i find out what he's done with lady blackwell's hair and burn it his power over her is gone more to the point watson if i find he has a phylactery for me oh you could free yourself of his influence i could unwind that little blighter from my soul i could live free of fear of what would happen to me if he should come to harm what a relief that would be watan gods it would be hard to keep from killing him on the spot just to celebrate holmes oh i wouldn't of course i'm just saying watson oh what i wouldn't give bless you john this is the first ray of hope i've had in a long time i have so much to do now so much to do he ran to his bedroom and visit himself clattering around with his poisons and shifting noisily through his closet i made myself breakfast and settled in with the times i just decided on a second cup of tea when he re-emerged he was dressed exactly as a music hall comedian might portray a he wore an oversized coat of a garish colour patched and re-patched with theatrical abandon one trouser leg was shorter than the other he had attached a grand moustache that cleared his face by a good six inches on either side he grinned at his own artfulness and showed me three gaps where his teeth were missing behold he cried what what am i beholding i asked a clever disguise of course dressed as a common irish working man i shall seek employment in milverton's household infiltrate and find where the villain keeps his phylacteries no you won't i laughed why not because you look like a clown homes you will be spotted in an instant i worked very hard on this disguise well i can see that i said there are elements which are quite ingenious how did you do the teeth ha the simplest delusion watson i merely knock them out with an ink plotter you what they're on my desk i'll put them back when i'm done really this is a foolproof plan watson you shall see don't go out like that holmes i will no you're going to be caught let me help you but holmes was too proud and too sure of his plan to let me interfere with it he cast one hand towards the ground shouting escape gas there was a muffled boom and our sitting room filled with dense black and purple smoke i coughed and spluttered groped about for the window latch that i might vent the foul stuff by the time i'd cleared the air enough to see holmes was gone it was dark here i saw him again i had gone to the library and withdrawn the only two books i could find that concerned file actress in any context other than as a jewish prayer box the first book was useless the second was interesting yet they both laughed such creations offers quaint tribal superstitions i was two-thirds of the way through the better volume when the apartment door swung open and home stumbled in he was spattered with mud half his moustache had been burned away and he stared about in utter confusion finally he announced hello i live here you do i confirmed how did the plan go homes ah an unqualified success yes it exceeded my every expectation so you know what charles milverton is doing with his ill-gotten hair samples oh no better than that i am engaged to be married to his housekeeper what how did that happen we are in love i looked him up and down even for holmes the most easily distracted man i ever met this was quite an unexpected departure from his plan i asked who is this girl had you even met her before today i have not met her at all holmes said yet the importance of such trifles is greatly overestimated i know all i need to know her name is agatha and she is venerable venerable that just means old ye gods watson it means so much more than that it means that she has persevered in the face of nine murderous decades though time has robbed her of one leg and the vast majority of her teeth she still refuses to surrender like a treasured heirloom she has been passed from one generation of milvertons to the next and why not on any given day one can find her down on her one remaining knee scrubbing milverton's floor turning in an honest day's work for an honest day's pay that's all very admirable homes but you still have not provided me with an explanation as to why you should be so smitten with her sight unseen as to seek a betrothal well i'm not the only one he said with a defensive sniff the court of popular opinion has already ruled on the subject and agreed with me entirely she has seven husbands and three wives already and i failed to see how all ten of them could be wrong eh now we have hit on something i think said i tell me did you run into charles augustus milverton today uh yes he intercepted me shortly after i got to his house he says he's worked some fitting punishment for me but the joke is on him for i made my escape free and clear and became engaged his housekeeper i folded the book in my lap and took a deep breath i knew my next words might fall heavily on my love struck friends do you think it might be possible that when milverton wants revenge on some fellow who has inconvenienced him he binds that person's soul to the soul of his aged housekeeper might that not have happened before ten times before might you be the eleventh such person to be caught and treated thus holmes blinked a few times and cocked his head to one side searching for a retort well this the thing is what and can't you see he fell silent for a few moments then moaned well i can't break it off now what will become of poor agatha don't feel bad homes 10 spouses are considered more than adequate i'm sure she will survive though from what you tell me i'm sure she cannot survive very much longer oh said warlock shaking his head to clear away the remaining confusion so then actually my plan did not go so very well i concluded yet do not despair you've seen his house and have some idea of the lay of the land i propose we seek a simpler expedient let's burgle him watson i'm surprised at you well i said we are running out of time tomorrow night will be a last chance as negotiation and covert operation have now failed we must turn to less legal strategies besides the man is a colossal ass i really don't mind burgling him oh no i quite agree said holmes i didn't mean to imply that i was unpleasantly surprised we are agreed then i told him oh and holmes don't forget to put your teeth back in hmm oh yes i shall thank you watson i spent the next day teaching myself the trade of burglary the public is possessed of a morbid love of crime stories so it was not hard to come across several happening pamphlets that detailed the sort of cloak and dagger business i needed though it can be problematic to obtain the tools of such a trade i was in the position to solve that difficulty with only twelve words lestrade please steal me the best thieves tool scotland yard has confiscated he didn't appreciate being given errands to run in the light of day but he did come through two hours later i found myself the proud owner of a dark lantern a diamond tipped glass cutter a nickel jemmy and a set of skeleton keys i was also privileged with access to medical supplies thus one cab ride later i had an assortment of anesthetics courtesy of stamford that would make fine knockout drops on the way home i stopped by a butcher shop and gave him tuppence for a bag of grizzly scraps these i dosed with my homemade sleeping sauce in case we ran into any dogs i packed my new tools and anti-canine meatballs into a dark leather satchel with my pistol all that remained was to cut a few masks from black dressmakers felt and wait an hour before nightfall holmes and i set out for milverton's house in hampstead to begin our career of crime i was never much afraid of being burgled until i tried it myself and discovered how impossibly easy it is i will confess i was afraid of guard dogs i need not have been all dogs love a good bite of fatty meat followed by a nap i was happy to provide both milverton had only one dog and he was down and snoring happily in under a minute the only response from his household to the dog's warning barks was one groom who shouted at the mutt to stop his noise holmes and i made a quick half circuit of the house planning our best point of ingress as some of the windows did not have their curtains drawn completely we had a good many chances to look in at our targets fortune was with us we found milverton's ground floor study unoccupied unguarded and with curtains open wide enough for us to view our goal look at that safe warlock hist it's as big as a wardrobe no man has that many papers to guard in a home study eh oh no milverton i think i know what you've got in there how are we to crack a safe like that holmes well i'll have to take a look at it i suppose for now let's just worry about getting to it eh i didn't even have to make a noise shattering the window the back of my glass cutter had a sharp hook whose use i soon guessed it happened to be the perfect shape to work into the corner of the window and slice away the glazing that held the pain in the wood frame i withdrew the entire sheet of glass intact i then turned to the next window over whose pain was the exact same size and placed the pain i had removed up against its twin i wedged its corners with sticks to keep it in place since glass is barely discernible from an empty pane anybody who looked at the house would see no cut window no broken glass and no pain leaning against the side of the house to hint that there were intruders about only the lack of glare upon the empty window frame would give us away for my cuda grass i plan to simply replace the pain on the way out and let them puzzle over how we'd ever gotten in in the first place as we crept over the windowsill and across the study i hissed i imagine you are planning on turning the door of that safe into a duck or some such oh what marvelous fun i hadn't thought of that but i really think we ought to try cracking it without resorting to magic then by all means watson you attempt it first if you succeed all the better if not i will make short work of it i promise fair sport i said quack said holmes i stifled a laugh and said you watched the door the room was not entirely dark the remains of a fire slowly burned itself out in the great i could see the safe well enough it was an older model with three parallel dials which spun towards the operator displaying only one number at a time the dials went from one to thirty despite its age the mechanism turned smoothly and i could discern no click or pause when one of the dials was turned to any number i shifted my attention from the dials to the safe itself searching for any way to force the door the top or the back soon i had to admit that my only hope lay in guessing the combination i racked my mind but could think of no combination that might be meaningful to milverton i barely knew him after all holmes was beginning to get impatient at last i struck upon a realization assuming milverton did not bother to turn the dials away from their orientation while the safe was unlocked the only proper numbers would be exposed i could therefore guess the correct combination by carefully noting which numbers were the most faded by the sun i was about to call homes over with the lantern when he scuttled over of his own accord and whispered someone's coming quick douse that lantern get behind the curtains i said stand up on the windowsill or they'll see your feet holmes and i had scary reached our perch before the door handle turned the door opened but no challenge was shouted nor did any sound of a search come to my ears whoever had come in walked about with lazy strides he threw a few fresh logs on the fire paced over to the desk lit a cigar and then judging by the creaking of the wooden chair legs came to rest himself in the armchair by the hearth as i knew the occupants back must be towards us i ventured a peep around the curtain with horror i recognized milverton himself no other man would wear such a blatant comb over lest he perish of shame my relief that he was not searching for us was tempered by despair that he seemed to have no intention of leaving soon he sat in the fireside chair enjoying the occasional puff of his cigar perusing a long legal document as the minute slid agonizingly by the awkward nature of my stance upon the windowsill began to work upon my back i began to cramp i began to squirm i feared i would slip off and be discovered i am sure i would have failed if it were not for homes i could see him by the moonlight that filtered through the window behind us though his features were concealed by darkness and the mask that covered him nose to chin still his focus shocked me he was not normally a patient man nor a cautious one yet he waited still as a gargoyle and twice as stern he made no sound and betrayed no fear but stood with his face frozen in a purposeful resolve staring hawk-like at milverton safe through the crack in the curtain i nearly jumped out of my skin when i heard a sudden footstep on the gravel path behind our window whoever trod there must have been no more than seven feet from us and i could not imagine how they had failed to see holmes and me framed in the window nevertheless this unexpected interloper's footfalls moved away and around the corner of the house in a moment i heard a knock upon the veranda door that led into the study at last milverton mumbled he stood and as he did i recoiled in horror to see what he was wearing he had a claret coloured silk smoking jacket with a broad black collar and military style epaulettes fixed upon the shoulders it was open to the waist revealing a proud expanse of greying chest hair on his legs he wore only grey silk shorts of a disgustingly sheer cut i nearly gasped out loud when i realized what kind of appointment he might have arranged at this hour i heard him unfasten the door and grumble you are late i've been waiting half an hour a woman's voice replied picking your pardon good sir it was all i could do to get away ha yes i have heard the countess dal bear keeps a strict household lord knows she has reason to guard her secrets yet here you are eh come inside but but sir i am unescorted and the hour is lit i fear come inside i say you would bork for the sake of petty propriety do you not realize the scope of this endeavor what you propose to me is criminal if i wished i could have met you here with a detective at my side we'd have had your pretty little neck in a noose before the week was out as it happens i am intrigued by your offer come inside and let us be partners eh i am sure you will find it worth your while i heard her hesitate upon the threshold but at last with the soft swish of cloth she stepped inside she wore a long traveling cloak of dark green wool which failed to conceal the burst of red curls that must have been either her pride or her bane her hair and her accent were enough to suggest her entire person to me she was a shy freckled irish girl employed as a domestic she must be a basically good person but struggling in the face of some difficulty probably poverty if she was forced into an alliance with milverton this was easy to imagine but i blush now as i realize how much of my assessment was just that imagined milverton announced now you have these letters of the countesses you wish to sell if they are as good as you say i wish to buy all that is left is to discuss price and terms he reached out towards her shoulder to guide her to a seat but she shied from his touch i didn't blame her it could have been a friendly gesture but from a man in shorts like those how could anything but lecturing lie beneath she took a chair and huddled in it milverton launched into a clumsily prepared speech on the subject of morality and how they were now partners outside it i was sure the evening's rendezvous would end with the promise of a substantial sum of money and an indecent proposition of another sort but there was one surprise left a laugh a woman's laugh it was deep and rich and merry it rang forth into the room as if its owner could no longer resist some perfect jest it must have been half an octave deeper than the scared little irish girl's voice had been and possessed of a confidence the trembling domestic could never dream of i feared a second unexpected woman had sneaked past my notice into the room yet when i peeped out around the curtain i could see the woman in the traveling cloak shoulders bobbing with rhythmic regularity indeed it was from her that the laugh issued and she said charles do you still not know me i am wounded sir milverton who had just been turning back with the brandy he no doubt meant to play her with froze in his tracks the color drained from behind his orange face treatment you he said even i how did you escape that noose you put my pretty little neck in hangmen are easily fooled charles they're nearly as gullible as you well milverton said endeavoring to regain the friendly persona he used in all his dirty dealings so glad to see you came clear of it i really am felt just terrible you know you know what a bad business bad business indeed charlie i told you not to cross me but you couldn't resist could you the first chance you got you sold me out for a shilling just to prove you could i say that's not fair no the woman agreed it wasn't but this is the room brightened with a sudden flash and my ears rang at the report from a gunshot i had not seen her hand reached down within the fold of her cloak nor did i spot the revolver yet the tunga flame that leapt from it was unmistakable milverton reeled stricken the lady's cloak slipped back just enough for me to see the slope of her jaw pale and delicate i would have said beautiful except that in the moment of murder it was drawn up into a smile to gain pleasure at such a time that is a thing only a monster can do yet a thing can be horrible and beautiful at the same time i have often wondered what would cross my mind if i was slain by a tiger fear of course pain despair and yet i think there would be an element of worship too have you ever seen one seen how its muscles move beneath the striped magnificence of its hide it is a miracle beyond account that nature's framed such a perfect predator married a thing's formed so exactly with its wicked function it would be a mark of pride to be slain thus i would want it remembered that it was no mere fever that would remove john heimdall watson from the earth no cancer nor the slow rhythmic ticking of a clock no the agent of my dispatch had been a creature whose beauty was as irresistible as its force the exquisite slayer i think i saw the shadow of such thoughts play upon milverton's face too she fired again and again milverton staggered back trying to arrest his fall by grasping first at his chair then his desk it could not avail him he fell the air filled with screams it took me a moment to realize that these issued not from milverton but holmes he sprang forth from our hiding place crying no what have you done you can't kill him ye gods watson watson save him if our murderess was surprised she didn't show it she pivoted at the waist and her outstretched pistol hand sought another target training itself upon the running figure of warlock homes it was then that my cowardice came in handy i am humbled and amazed by how often this happens by the way in order to make myself feel less endangered i had been fidgeting with the handle of my own pistol which lay tucked into the bottom of my thieving bag thus even as she spun to gun homes down i thrashed free of my concealing curtains i leveled the web leader and shouted don't without a pause she changed targets again her pistol hand arched through the air ceasing only when it pointed directly at my face now i was staring down her barrel just as she stared down mine don't i said again the hood of a cloak was down over her face still but reflected in the firelight i made out two features her eyes they were nearly as green as holmes's and a light with at least as much mischief the second was her smile it was not only confident but also pitying as if she found me cute we might seem to be on equal footing she and i yet i came to realize that only one factor was even our armaments the weapons might be alike but the warriors were not look at you her smile seemed to say look at your wide eyes and your trembling hand you sir are not a predator yes you remember to bring a gun to our gunfight but you also brought a scrawny sickly human to our tiger fight how sad even as i recognized my terrible mistake even as i realized i was about to die charles augustus milverton's chest gave its final capitulatory heave homes cried out in anguish and the room filled with souls destinies thousands of delicate purple lines began to trace themselves upon the air like strands of hair like wisps of seaweed floating upon an unseen current these destinies i realized had always been present but invisible to all but the man who lay expiring on the ground before me the murderess and i both stood a gap as the purple threads traced themselves around and between us they crawled through the air like violet vines growing even as we watched they emanated from my heart and homeses and hers even milvertons but whereas the vines that grew from the living hearts moved and stretched towards one another milverton's only fled from him i could see the purple lines of my fate reach towards the murderouses and tangle themselves with hers and why not it is a powerful thing to come so near to killing another person or to dying by their hand i was sure i would never forget her after that yet the thing that most impressed itself upon my memory was the glimpse of warlock holmes's soul i got that day he was a mess as milverton had promised warlock homes was a magnificent tangled knot the number of threads within him was vast even given the speed i'd seen them grow between the murderous and me it was hard to imagine anybody cultivating so many yet holmes's threads had bound themselves within him in sickly tangles they could not flow as they ought and in the tension of their arrested movements one could not help but notice the mark of pain their torment was perpetual and unrelieved it was so strange to say it but it was obscene so repugnant was the vast violet tangle of holmes's soul that i recoiled with horror when i saw how many of those strands reached out to intertwine with my own i reached out to try and swat them away but my hand passed right through them if she had been less distracted than i the murderess might have gunned me down with impunity i was not concentrating on covering her nor fortunately was she paying much attention to me our eyes were fixed upon the same thing the flame trapped within the tangled morass of holmes's soul there was an angry blue fire it bolted this way and that striving to be free of him but it could not escape its ropey prison as we watched it became excited it moved with an increased almost gleeful energy soon the reason for its joy became apparent as the purple lines of milverton's destiny that were intertwined with homes is faded they began to release some of his tangles milverton it seemed had used certain threads of his own destiny to bind some of holmes's into specific patterns now that milverton's influence was gone the bonds were struck away the flame within homes bounded back and forth within its cage of tortured violet strands and at last burst free it hovered in the air before him for a moment changing in shape it was a picture i realized or a word yes in some language it must be a name the burning name hovered a moment longer then flew at homes and struck him on the forehead he howled with pain and fury as the name branded itself upon his brow then he crumpled to the floor the threats faded i could tell they were still present but as invisible to follow prone man as they had ever been only phylite remained firelight and four humans two upon the ground and two upon their feet wondering if they ought to shoot one another for an instant it seemed as if only one of us would be walking out of that violet study until i turned to my murderess and said go just get out i'll i don't know i'll cover for us somehow she stared at me as if she expected some trick i could see her weighing the wisdom and the risk inherent in my offer eventually she gave a little shrug turned and sped off into the night out through the door she'd come in that was the first time i met the woman if only it had been the last even as she fled i realized my present difficulties were not done the gunshots and our voices had raised the household even now cries of alarm rang out in the hallway beyond holmes was still insensible yet his pain seemed to have passed he was slumped on the floor limp and languid laughing to himself i did not see the burning name that had rested upon his brow nor did it seem to have left any injury still he didn't look as if he intended to be very helpful i leapt to the study door and locked it i threw a chair beneath the handle to wedge it too but in a room with so many windows and an outside door how could i secure us my eyes flew about the room the safe no time to crack it now but then the damage to homes was done and milverton's threat to our clients had likely died with him the windows most of the curtains were drawn so i could not tell if some of the households were already out on the lawn closing in on us the fire yes the fire i swept up the pinters from the stand of tools and with them grabbed the uppermost log off the fire this i flung still burning against the curtains on the far side of the room i followed it with another and then another the long bolts of cloth did not disappoint me but burst immediately into violent flames that would give them something else to think about come on holmes we're leaving from outside the study door i could hear the excited yelling the doorknob rattled i reached down to slip my arm beneath holmes's shoulder to help him up he regained his feet but moved irregularly as if he were unaccustomed to the length and function of his own limbs he looked at me and laughed merrily he attempted a few words which ended in muttered gulps as if his tongue would not answer to his command and finally said yes doctor let us depart we staggered through the veranda door and out onto the lawn i could just see the murderous dark green cloak disappearing over the wall to our right i made for the wall to our left holmes moved uncertainly and tripped several times i had to drag him along it could not have been more than 25 yards to the wall but it took us an age fortunately the fire i'd started did seem to be distracting most of the people who spilled from the house unfortunately it also illuminated holmes and me one of the men shouted and pointed at us he and two others charged i cursed and hauled homes to the wall he climbed like a drunkard and i had to pause to shove him over before leaping up myself one of the men reached us his hand closed on my ankle and he began to pull me down he was larger than me and fitter as well for a moment i feared he would have me then i had a happy remembrance i was holding a pistol this i brought to his attention by firing a few rounds into the air his zeal diminished somewhat and i made it over the wall to join homes a few heads peeped over to watch us go but one or two more shots just above the wall convinced them all to duck we made it across the street through a hedge on the other side across a neighbor's lawn two more hedges and a back garden here i encountered a large ornamental pond which was welcome indeed i stripped off my mask and homes which i deposited in my satchel with the dark lantern and thieves tools i added two large rocks and flung the thing into the center of the pond to sink out of sight my pistol i kept this may have been inadvisable yet i knew that so long as we remained presentable holmes and i looked enough like gentry and little enough like the criminal class as to avoid most scrutiny on our journey home in fact all the scrutiny we would suffer came in one dose waiting upon the step of 221b baker street as we neared i could see inspector lestrade leaning against a wall staring with frustration and dread into the gathering dawn when he saw us he made directly towards us good evening holmes he said then added doctor good evening vladislav i answered holmes nodded i hate to inconvenience you at such an hour lestrade said with a sniffle but it seems we've had a spot of bother out in hampstead nasty business murder arson the whole thing reeks of witchcraft there were two suspects spotted as they fled the scene oh well that is unfortunate i admitted let's see said lestrade two masked men age indeterminate one wearing a dark brown suit and bowler hat much like yours i think dr watson there are so many you know and the tall gentleman with striking green eyes and the queer cap that folds down at the front and the back yes but that might be anybody i said why that might even describe holmes here it might said lestrade it very well might so i suppose my question to you two is this might this be a case we do not wish to be solved perhaps something that might be left on lana's desk following a brisk evidence destroying sweep i heaved a sign mumbled my god that sounds wonderful lestrade of all the friends i ever had i think you may be the most useful of the lot he smiled sort of he was not accustomed to compliments mine made him uneasy i could tell i saw him struggle weighing his internal desire to obliterate anything and everything against the warm yet unwelcome glow he felt whenever anybody addressed him as friend i think that is all i needed to know said lestrade so sorry holmes but i don't think scotland yard will feel the need to consult you on this particular case good night gentlemen well good day with that the stunted romanian turned and left measuring each of his steps against the burgeoning pink glow upon the eastern horizon holmes and i went inside we were both exhausted i stumped up the stairs homes i noted needed to drag himself up leaning heavily on the banister with his right hands when we reached the landing i suggested t this had a visible effect on holmes who brightened and said yes doctor thank you he had trouble getting his coat off once we were inside as if buttons were suddenly unfamiliar to him once it was off he seemed momentarily unsure which hook to place his coat upon i deposited him in one of the armchairs and set about making the tea i purposely put him in the one that faced the fireplace hoping he would not notice that i took a moment to rifle his room as i bustled back and forth i didn't need long i knew just what i was looking for the big brown package from our local dispensary i found it i took it to the table with me when i went to brew the tea i returned to find home sitting in the chair opening and closing his hands as if practicing with them on his face was an expression of pure triumph quite a night i said it was indeed doctor your tea thank you he reached out to take it with his right hand then cradled it beneath his nose treasuring the scent as if it were a long forgotten familiarity which i suppose it was i waited until he savored a long slow sip then asked who are you his green eyes flicked up to meet mine i'm sorry doctor holmes calls me watson or john never doctor nor does he drink tea even if he did he wouldn't drink tea in the same manner as you do because the man who normally inhabits that body is left-handed an easy detail to overlook i suppose yet all these things together lead me to deduce that the man who got up off charles augustus milverton's floor was not the same man who fell down upon it i shall ask you again who are you well spotted doctor he smiled at me took a long drink of tea shrugged it makes no difference i suppose another sip i am professor james moriarty at your service he smiled at me again the smile of a man who is about to take your bishop and declare checkmate he held one of his hands palm up just in front of his face with a sudden wash the gas lamps winked out the fire in the hearth winked out all their flames coalesced into a tight orange ball a miniature inferno hovering just an inch above his extended palm his grin shone diabolically in the strange swimming light and he chuckled or if we are to be honest it must be said you dr john watson now find yourself in my service the end we hope you've enjoyed this production of warlock homes a study in brimstone by g s denning narrated by robert garson recorded books offers a wide selection of bestsellers mysteries classics histories and more so look for us at your public library or on download sites online and thank you for being a recorded books reader

Channel: AudioBooks & Beyond!

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Id: IkbzhEwphvY

Length: 594min 37sec (35677 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 04 2021