Further Encounters of Sherlock Holmes by George Mann

Author:George Mann [Mann, George]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781781160114
Publisher: Titan
Published: 2013-11-26T20:21:00+00:00

* * *

A short time later, passengers and crew alike were gathered together on deck just as we had after Charlie the porter had sounded the dread cry of “Man overboard!”

Holmes was a bundle of barely restrained energy as he nervously paced around the cold and miserable group, hands clasped firmly behind his back and mouth clenched tight around his unlit pipe.

“This case is really quite a simple one, although cleverly disguised by the murderer to divert suspicion elsewhere.”

I watched as the eyes of all the passengers followed Holmes closely as he circled them. All except for dear old Mrs Mendelssohn, who appeared to be contentedly lost in the gardens of yesteryear.

“It was of course presumed that possession of an exceedingly rare coin of considerable value was behind Milton Tyler’s murder and, in a sense, it was, but under very different circumstances than all but one of us would have imagined. The truth behind the murder of Milton Tyler was made evident by Charlie the porter’s dying words. What were they again, Watson?”

I paused for a moment, aware that I was suddenly the centre of attention. I was unsure how the Chinaman’s words implicated Whittingham and Mr Blither for there was little doubt in my mind they were the guilty party.

“The porter stated that he saw no one. The man was murdered for a crime that he did not even witness.”

Holmes shook his head.

“No, Watson. I made the mistake initially of accepting your paraphrasing Charlie’s pidgin English. The truth became evident once I realised that what Charlie said to you and what you heard were two very different things.”

I was flabbergasted. My mouth hung open as I recalled answering the door of my cabin and watching the poor Chinaman collapse in my arms.

“He said, ‘I saw no one.’ That is it, Holmes. Nothing more. I could not have been mistaken.”

“Ah, but Charlie was not likely to use the phrase, “’I saw no one’” in his limited command of the King’s English.”

My mind raced feverishly. Again I recalled the knock upon my door and the shock of seeing the Chinaman there. I heard his words in my head once more.

“He said… ‘I saw no man.’”

Holmes smiled. “That, of course, was what you heard. Charlie’s dying words were in fact anything but a denial, he was making an accusation. ‘I saw woman’ was the phrase you misheard.”

“‘I saw woman.’”

I repeated the words aloud.

“Yes! Yes! By Jove, Holmes, you are correct. He said he saw a woman, but how? How could a woman have stabbed a man to death and thrown his body overboard? It scarcely seems plausible.”

“No, Watson. Charlie was no liar. He heard the splash of the water and saw a body disappear under the waves. He did not see the murderer struggle to throw the body over the rail, but what he did see earlier stayed in his mind. It was the sight of a woman where she did not belong. A woman alone in Milton Tyler’s cabin frantically searching among his belongings.

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