Mammoth Book The Lost Chronicles of Sherlock Holmes (Mammoth Books) by Smith Denis O

Author:Smith, Denis O. [Smith, Denis O.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781472110732
Publisher: C & R Crime
Published: 2014-01-16T00:00:00+00:00

The Adventure of

THE AMETHYST RING

SHERLOCK HOLMES had called at my house in Paddington on a cold and foggy day in January, just as I was finishing my morning surgery. Now, my last patient having departed, he handed me a visiting card he had received in the post that morning. It had scalloped edges, tinted a pale coral-pink, and the brief message upon it stated that Mr and Mrs A. Carter-Smythe would be giving an informal supper party on the evening of the twenty-fifth, to which Holmes was invited.

“I have not heard you mention these people before,” I remarked, looking up from the card.

“That is scarcely surprising,” returned my friend, “considering that I was perfectly unaware of their existence until that card arrived this morning. They have evidently heard or seen my name somewhere, and consider that my presence at their gathering would provide an amusing diversion for their other guests.”

“Will you go?” I asked.

“It is not my taste to act as an adornment at someone else’s supper table,” said he with a shake of the head. “I may say, Watson,” he continued in a tone of reproach, “that there has been a distinct increase in the number of such unwelcome social summonses since the publication of your Study in Scarlet brought my name before the public.”

“I regret any inconvenience I may have caused you,” I responded somewhat tartly. “My intention was simply to gain for you the credit I felt you deserved in the matter.”

“No doubt,” said he. “No doubt also,” he continued after a moment, “Mr and Mrs A. Carter-Smythe would be surprised if they knew where I have spent the last twenty-four hours. They might be somewhat less keen to welcome me to their supper party if they were aware of the company I have been keeping. I have been down in Rotherhithe,” he continued in answer to my query, “by the docks. I have been looking into the disappearance of one Jack Prentice, landlord of The Seven Stars, an old riverside inn there.”

“That does not sound much of a case for you, professionally speaking,” I remarked with a chuckle. “Why, the number of men who supposedly ‘disappear’ in London each year is perfectly phenomenal! I read an article on the subject in one of the monthly magazines not long ago. The author was a retired police officer, who stated that of the many hundreds of people reported as ‘missing’ each year, a sizeable number simply disappear of their own volition, to escape from pressing debts, unbearable spouses and the like.”

Holmes nodded. “I am aware of those facts,” said he, “but there is something about this case that intrigues me, Watson. It possesses certain features that are decidedly uncommon. In contrast to the examples you quote, for instance, it seems that Prentice has managed his life in a very orderly manner in recent years and does not owe anyone a penny; furthermore, his marriage is, by all accounts, an unusually happy one. Everyone I have spoken to avers that he would do anything rather than cause his wife distress.

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