Baker Street Beat by Dan Andriacco

Author:Dan Andriacco
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: conan doyle, sherlock holmes, moriarty, mystery, murder, detective, baker street, 221b, arthur, hound, baskerville, fairies, cottingley, fiction, British, London, Robert Downey, Jude Law, Cumberbatch, Watson, Elementary, English, Detective, Thriller, Overdose, Opium, Drugs
ISBN: 9781780920399
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited 2011
Published: 2011-10-04T00:00:00+00:00

“She wouldn’t have been my fiancé much longer if she’d stayed in England,” Winter said. “I could tell that from the way she wrote about this Herbert fellow in her letters. But I could also that tell her father opposed any possible match between the two. He wanted her to marry well. I felt certain that if I could pull them apart for a few months, the Colonel would prevail and Ophelia and I would be safely wed.”

“So it was an affair of the heart,” the police detective said.

Holmes tutted. “Still the romantic, Hopkins? Ah, well, you are young. An affair of the pocketbook, more likely.”

Stephen Winter nodded affably. “Alas, gentlemen, I wish I could claim a more noble motivation, but once again you have me. The family fortune I inherited was a respectable one, but I am afraid that my penchant for Kentucky horses has taken a devastating toll on my financial position. Even my home is heavily mortgaged, though no one knew it. Marriage to a wealthy woman seemed the only practical solution. Having conducted my affairs discreetly so as to avoid public scandal and maintain my reputation, I was considered a good catch. Ophelia was available and initially willing. Her father, as you know, approved. Then they came to England and disaster loomed. I spent most of my dwindling resources following them here to preserve my marriage hopes. It was one gamble I had to win, for I had risked all. Once here, I became Evelyn Weber, hotel clerk. In that guise, working at this hotel, I could keep track of the Hardens and be in a good position to carry out my schemes for encouraging their departure from England. I had little fear of being recognized by them, for people our sort don’t really notice people of the sort I was made out to be.

“If only Colonel Harden hadn’t been so stubborn it would have worked. Well, what can you expect of a Union man? I reluctantly concluded that nothing short of her father’s death would send Ophelia scurrying back to Whitecrest. Fortunately, Providence blessed me with a public argument between the Colonel and my rival, Paul Herbert. As Evelyn Weber, I would call police attention to the damning event before I mysteriously disappeared. Others saw it happen, too, so even Ophelia couldn’t deny it. If Colonel Harden were murdered, surely that young hothead would be the chief suspect. And if he were hanged, then all my troubles would be over for sure. I would be the reliable suitor rushing to comfort Ophelia in her hour of need, making us all the closer.

“But I had to be sure the case against Herbert was a tight one. So I followed him, learned as much as I could about him. When I saw him using a key of his own to close up the bookshop, I conceived a brilliant idea: Lure the Colonel into the shop with a note promising some dirt about young Herbert, distract his attention, stick a knife in his back and leave the body to be found in the morning.

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