Golem's Shadow by Petr Macek

Author:Petr Macek
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sherlock Holmes, mystery, crime, british crime, sherlock holmes novels, sherlock holmes fiction
ISBN: 9781780927275
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited 2015
Published: 2015-06-08T00:00:00+00:00

IX. Mimicry

In addition to sending the chubby inspector to meet us at the station, the Prague chief of police had kindly arranged accommodation for us at the Adria Hotel. An hour after arriving at the station our heads were already nestled in the hotel’s soap-scented pillows.

I was grateful for this small kindness and believed that Holmes secretly was too. His increasingly poorly concealed annoyance and the paroxysm that had afflicted him the night before in Paris were warnings that everything was still far from all right with him.

But a peaceful eight-hour sleep visibly restored to him a measure of strength. That morning at breakfast Holmes appeared completely normal, and my only concern was the return of his occasional lack of appetite. We were soon joined in the dining room by the Countess. I did not want to discuss Holmes’s health in front of her, and so I had to satisfy myself with mere observation.

“Where shall we begin our investigation?” the Countess asked as soon as she had taken her seat.

Evidently her vengeful spirits of the day before and her resolve to hunt down her former fiancé were as strong as ever.

Holmes stopped sipping his tea and looked at her with gentle amusement.

“You waste no time!”

“At my age I can’t afford to,” she joked, pouring herself a cup of coffee. “I must dispose of one man before I can pursue another.”

“Paris must be full of men who would be happy to oblige.”

“True,” said the Countess drily. “Except that half of them look like your prime minister. No, the choice is not easy.”

Holmes passed over the slight to Mr Balfour *. I for my part continued with my breakfast, which was a pleasant change to what we usually have in Britain. The bread in particular was delectable. On the other hand, the coffee was horrid and the tea weak and without milk.

“The investigation must begin with a reconnaissance of the terrain,” said Holmes after we had eaten. “I propose that we spend the day touring the city.”

“Is that not pointless?” said the Countess.

“Not at all, my dear,” said the detective. “Thorough familiarity with the environment in which our investigation will be conducted is a basic key to success. We must blend into the surroundings so that our enemy does not notice the net being cast around him. Only then will we have a chance to succeed.”

“In that case let us meet in the lobby in twenty minutes,” said the Countess.

As soon as she had run off to get changed I leaned over to Holmes. I wanted to determine whether he was indeed feeling better than the night before, but he dismissed me brusquely.

“Don’t be a nanny, Watson,” he retorted irritably.

I was ready to be offended, but then his voice softened.

“Of course I appreciate your concern. But I want to forget my problems and you keep trying to remind me of them.”

His behaviour surprised me, but I decided not to quarrel with him. Perhaps he was right and he only needed a distraction. A walk through the city seemed ideal for this purpose.

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