The Chronicles of Sherlock Holmes (3 page)

The room we now entered was indeed considerably smaller than the outer one, though no less impressive for that. A magnificent crystal chandelier cascaded down from the central ceiling rose, and an ornate marble fireplace all but filled the left-hand wall. However, the pièce de résistance was undoubtedly the splendid Louis XIV desk that sat impressively in the centre of the room and even that was dwarfed by its companion chair, or rather, throne. The three armless chairs set before it were low enough to create a grand effect for any visitor. The remainder of the room’s furnishings comprised book-lined walls and a small plain desk and chair positioned at the far end and clearly belonging to Naismith, Mycroft’s assistant.

Therefore, it was all the more surprising to find Naismith’s body slumped over the larger of the two desks and not his own.

I raised this point with Mycroft before commencing my initial examination of the body.

‘A good point, Doctor, for that is precisely what I meant before, when stating that the body’s location was its most singular aspect. The small desk at the end of the room is Naismith’s more usual station; however, yesterday evening he was required to work late in order to read through and précis some particularly large and bulky files. For the sake of expediency I allowed him the use of my desk,’ Mycroft explained.

‘I take it that was the only occasion on which that had occurred?’ Holmes asked and then, following Mycroft’s nodded affirmation: ‘Was there a particular reason for this late-night work?’

‘For the past three weeks Naismith and I have been engaged in a series of very delicate international negotiations. At extremely short notice the Prime Minister convened a Cabinet meeting for this afternoon and this required a summary of our most recent work. It was imperative, therefore, that this work was completed before Naismith went home yesterday evening, to allow the clerks time to make copies before the Cabinet met!’ Mycroft replied, clearly irritated at the memory of the inconvenience the Prime Minister had caused.

‘How many people were aware of the fact that Naismith was working after hours?’ Holmes asked.

‘Not as many as you might think, Sherlock. The Cabinet knew the work would be ready before their meeting, but the manner of its completion was not their concern. The nature of our work precludes discussing it with other occupants of the building. Therefore, unless Naismith got word to a friend or a relation, during the course of the day, the only people who were aware of his occupation of my desk would have been myself, the doorman and Naismith himself.’ Forestalling Holmes’s next question, Mycroft quickly added: ‘The doorman has held his position for ten years or more, and is trustworthy beyond question. It was only necessary to inform him in order to avoid Naismith being locked in the office and so that he could keep Naismith well-fuelled with sandwiches and black coffee.’

‘I am sure, however, that it is not unusual for you to work extended hours from time to time?’

‘Quite so, in fact in recent weeks it has proved to be the norm rather than the exception.’

‘Would all three doors to the room have remained unlocked during Naismith’s labours?’ The tone of this last
question from Holmes indicated to me, at any rate, that he was already constructing one of his theories.

This was clearly not lost on his brother either, for he replied: ‘Ah, I see the direction your mind is moving in even now and, I must say, it is a thought that crossed my mind also. Surely, then, you already know that the only door to my office left unlocked after normal hours is the one immediately behind my desk, because it leads out on to the building’s central corridor. It is also certainly true that, from the back at any rate, Naismith does possess a more than passing resemblance to myself.’

‘Most suggestive, would you not say, eh, Watson?’

I realized, at this juncture that I was clearly out of my depth here, but I nodded my assent none the less, not wishing to appear so. However, my friend was not the world’s premier amateur detective for nothing and he immediately observed my bluff.

‘Oh, Watson, is it not now obvious that it was my brother who was the assassin’s intended victim?’

‘Of course! ‘I snapped, stung that he should have seen through me. ‘Assuming there was nobody else aware of Naismith’s late night vigil, what other reason could there have been for so risky an intrusion? Perhaps it is now best, however, that we ascertain the cause of death, and also the motive behind Mycroft’s intended demise, before we have to suffer Lestrade’s imminent and unhelpful intervention,’ I suggested, before moving over to the body.

‘Well said, sir!’ Mycroft boomed his approval. ‘Although blundering would be a more apt description of his efforts. I must point out that my own brief, amateurish examination of the body has revealed no obvious signs of physical violence.’

‘You think him dead of natural causes, then?’ I asked.

‘That, Doctor, is for you to decide.’ Mycroft offered, gesturing me towards the body.

As I rested my bag upon Mycroft’s monumental desk, I noticed Holmes return to his reverie at the window, where he stood staring into the dark swirling mists outside, as if the answers he was seeking lay within their mysterious silence.

The answers I now sought were not so easily found for, like that of Mycroft, my own examination of the corpse revealed no obvious sign of violence upon it. The discovery that I eventually made, however, sent a shudder throughout my nervous system. At the top of the spinal cord I detected a small bruising in the shape of a fine tight knot. Then, under the folds of the fleshy neck, I discovered a thin red line, probably made by a fine silk cord.

‘Good heavens!’ I exclaimed, despite myself. Then, regaining my composure and in answer to the brothers’ questioning glances, I calmly announced: ‘Gentlemen, they have used a form of garrotting.’

The significance of this type of murder was obviously not lost on my friend, for he knew only too well that one of only two surviving members of Moriarty’s former gang had been Parker, a renowned exponent of the Jew’s Harp, but more relevantly, the most skilled practitioner of garrotting ever recorded in the annals of crime. Clearly showing admirable restraint, Holmes evidently did not wish his brother to share our knowledge and nodded for me to be equally reticent.

‘Confounded Continentals! I knew from the outset that certain governments would attempt to prevent me from completing my work. Only they would employ so despicable
a form of murder. You did well to identify it, Doctor,’ Mycroft said, with the red hue of rage temporarily colouring his cheeks. His brother, on the other hand, appeared to be vexed by an altogether different matter.

‘Your life might yet be in grave danger,’ Holmes observed to his brother, while thoughtfully lighting a cigarette.

‘How so? We have already deduced that I was the object of the garrotter’s murderous intent, and surely he has gone away believing his mission accomplished. My life is probably more secure now than it has been for weeks, although that security has been bought at too high a price for poor Naismith.’ Mycroft spoke these last words quietly.

Evidently Holmes was loath to reveal the involvement of Moriarty to his brother, for fear of angering him still further. He certainly made no mention of it when he extended his argument for Mycroft’s continued security.

‘Nevertheless, I fear my caution is well-founded. Consider this. To risk so perilous an intrusion, our assassin would have made himself most assured of your presence at your desk at such an hour. You yourself have stated that you have been working most extended hours these past few weeks, and evidently you have been under a most rigorous surveillance throughout that time. Unfortunately your daily route is so unchanging: from your home to Whitehall, from Whitehall to your club in Pall Mall and thence to home again, that such a surveillance would have been no hard task even for an amateur. However we are dealing with well-trained and well-led professionals who leave nothing to chance and I am convinced that this building will continue to be watched for several days yet. Therefore, Watson, would you go to Baker Street to collect my make-up box and disguises, from my room, while Mycroft and I
attempt to persuade Inspector Lestrade to co-operate with our little subterfuge upon his imminent arrival.’

Then, in answer to the questioning glares from both myself and Mycroft, Holmes added: ‘Obviously we have to convince the press and, subsequently, the public at large that Mycroft Holmes has indeed been murdered. This fact being known will bestow two beneficial effects. Firstly, it will undoubtedly ensure the security of your life, Mycroft, and secondly, you will be able swiftly to resume your vital international negotiations, for you will cease to be under your enemy’s surveillance. Now you do see that I am right?’ Although Holmes made this last as more of a statement than a question.

‘Lot of tomfoolery if you ask me!’ Mycroft growled, though with an air of resignation in his voice. My own reaction was to close my bag immediately and start upon my mission to Baker Street. Consequently, I almost collided, full on, with Lestrade as he came bustling into the room.

‘Leaving so soon, Dr Watson?’ he asked of me, evidently surprised at my hasty departure. ‘However, with two Holmes brothers in attendance, I am certain of obtaining all the clarification I should require.’ The redoubtable representative of Scotland Yard spat out these words with heavy irony and a malicious grin played on his weaselly features.

‘No doubt, Inspector. So, if you will excuse me …’ With a brief touch on the brim of my hat I continued my hurried departure. My journey to and from our rooms at Baker Street was as expeditious as it was uneventful, save for a chance encounter with Mrs Hudson, the brevity of which clearly left her somewhat put out. I arrived back at Mycroft’s office within the hour, duly laden with Holmes’s accoutrements of disguise.

‘Hah, Watson!’ Before I had even closed the door behind me Holmes had bounded across the room to ensure that nothing had been left behind. ‘Excellent. You know, Watson, you have been as reliable as always. Now, whilst I ready my brother for his incognito journey to Baker Street – I decided it would be safest if he returns with us for the time being – I should be grateful if you would try to occupy the ever industrious Lestrade for the next fifteen minutes or so. Oh, Watson, it has indeed been a most splendid treat. Once he received the merest hint of a significant case coming his way he has been darting frenetically around like a blindfolded whirling dervish!’

‘Surely, Holmes, you might spare a moment or two to relate to me the outcome of his interview with you both?’ I half-heartedly requested.

‘There will be time enough for that later.’ Holmes replied brusquely. ‘For now, however, our priority must be to spirit Mycroft away from the building with all due haste.’

Reluctantly I retired from the room once more, and went off to find the Inspector. He spared me the effort, however, by calling out to me upon his leaving the security office.

‘Well, Doctor,’ he began, ‘I am glad to have run into you. This really is a most puzzling affair, would you not say? I mean, garrotting, well that is a most strange way of committing a murder for a start! As for your friend and his brother, they must be two of the most inscrutable gentlemen I have ever encountered. I am certain that they are withholding important information, although what that might be I really would not care to say. Perhaps you could enlighten me, Doctor?’

‘I doubt that I could add very much to what they have already told you. I am as much in the dark as they surely
are. However, perhaps we could take a turn outside,’ I suggested, gesturing towards the main entrance whilst offering Lestrade a cigarette. This he duly accepted and while we strolled slowly around the building’s extensive perimeter, he clumsily attempted to extricate any clue that I might have been able to furnish him with. In this he was wholly unsuccessful. I was certain that Holmes and Mycroft would have been equally reticent in revealing the nature of Naismith’s recent work, and I could not be certain as to how much of Moriarty’s involvement in it Holmes would have divulged at this time. Therefore, I decided to lament upon my being treated by both Mr Holmes and his brother as a hapless bystander and expressed my concern at the continued threat to Mycroft’s life. This much, I was certain, had already been divulged to Lestrade, for without his cooperation the ruse of feigning Mycroft’s death would have been all but impossible.

By the time we had returned to Mycroft’s office his transformation had been completed. Standing there before us was a somewhat enlarged, duplication of George Naismith himself, with Mycroft Holmes nowhere to be seen. Holmes had eased Mycroft’s facial ageing with some greasepaint, covered his thinning hair with a subtle grey wig, and affixed a small, neatly clipped beard to his chin. Last of all, and to Mycroft’s obvious chagrin, Holmes had thinned down somewhat his brother’s esteemed and well cultivated ‘mutton-chops’.

‘Good gracious, Holmes! I would almost swear to Naismith’s having been raised from the dead!’ I exclaimed, barely able to contain my excitement.

‘The thing is quite remarkable, Mr Holmes,’ said Lestrade, more soberly. ‘Once again you have displayed a
further reason for us at the Yard, to be grateful that you are working on the side of justice. By the way, I have followed your instructions to the letter and to avoid attracting attention to the building, all my officers have now stood down. It is not quite our way of doing things, but past experience has shown to me the benefit in trusting to your instincts. Apprehending Parker would certainly be a feather in my cap,’ Lestrade concluded wistfully.

‘First things first, Lestrade. Is the carriage awaiting us immediately outside?’ Holmes asked anxiously. ‘Despite our theatrics I wish to expose my brother to public gaze only for as brief a time as is necessary.’

‘Indeed it is, Mr Holmes, but I assure you the success of your masquerade has eliminated any risk to your brother. Any lingering observer, even Parker himself, would assume that we were apprehending Naismith, under suspicion of having murdered his superior.’