Chronicles of the Lost Years (The Sherlock Holmes Series) by Cooper-Posey Tracy

Author:Cooper-Posey, Tracy [Cooper-Posey, Tracy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance
ISBN: 9781927423356
Publisher: Tracy Cooper-Posey
Published: 2012-11-29T22:00:00+00:00

• Chapter Ten •

_________________________

•ï¡÷¡ï•

MYCROFT WAS SITTING in his usual seat in the private salon of the Diogenes Club, a drink and ashtray on the table beside him and several newspapers folded on the table to his right. He watched us approach across the shining tiles, his face unreadable.

“My cabby found you, then,” he said, as we reached him. He waved to the chairs beside him and I sank into one.

Holmes merely pushed his hands into his pockets. “Come, Mycroft; I have expended nearly the last of my admittedly limited patience on the officials of the British railway system.”

Mycroft closed the book he held in his lap and rested his hand on the cover.

“The case you were investigating was a ruse designed to have you depart from London and leave Elizabeth behind. They’ve taken Elizabeth.”

I watched Holmes’ face for his reaction to this confirmation of his fears. “I should have seen that,” he said after a moment’s silence. His voice was quite flat and emotionless. “Freemasons!” It was a curse. His eyes cut away from us both and he looked toward the window behind us. “The old woman set the bait perfectly.”

“Elizabeth evidently did see it. They had quite a struggle taking her away. Your rooms are in ruins.”

“You have been there?”

Mycroft shrugged. “Mrs. Hudson sent for me. The woman was hysterical. She had been held at gunpoint while they attempted to extract Elizabeth from the rooms.”

I felt the small wave of horror in me swell as the scene played itself out in my mind.

Holmes ran his fingers through his hair, ruffling it. “I have been a fool!” he said to himself. “They invent a tale that sends me racing for one of the furthest points from London, leaving Elizabeth behind…in safety.”

Mycroft said gently: “I suggest you go home and look for any messages Elizabeth may have left. I have looked and found none, but you know her better than I. I will finish here and follow you.”

Holmes turned and walked away. Mycroft looked to me as I stood to follow. “Watch him, Watson. He is straining the limits of his control.”

“Yes. I am aware of that.”

“My decision to bring you here first was the correct one,” Mycroft said, standing up. “The disarray that will greet you at Baker Street would unnerve even the most placid of characters.”

It was a warning that was not lost on me. I nodded a farewell to Mycroft and walked swiftly to catch up with Holmes as he hailed a hansom.

At Baker Street, Mrs. Hudson met us at the street door. Her eyes were red-rimmed and her face had aged several years in the short period we had been gone. “You’ve seen Mr. Mycroft?” she asked Holmes fearfully, half-barring his way to the stairs.

“Yes, Mrs. Hudson, I have,” Holmes replied. He pushed her gently aside and climbed the stairs.

I gave her a reassuring pat and followed him.

The door to his rooms was a splintered skeleton. The lock was still sitting in the frame, the wood impaled by the nails of the key plate.

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