Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson-The Early Adventures I by David Marcum (ed)

Author:David Marcum (ed) [Marcum, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: anthology, detective, mystery, Sherlock Holmes, victoriana
Amazon: B081V29MFD
Publisher: Belanger Books
Published: 2019-11-21T07:00:00+00:00

The Adventure of the Villainous Victim

by Chris Chan

I have lost count of all of the occasions where my friend solved a baffling mystery where the official police failed, only to allow the legal authorities to accept all of the credit for the resolution of the case. In contrast, I believe that there is only one instance of a case where my friend desired public recognition for catching a killer, but he was denied it due to a fluke of chance.

In June of 1881, shortly after our initial meeting, Holmes and I took a day trip to Brighton to make some purchases at a new tobacconist’s shop that had rapidly gained a reputation for having a special house blend of fire-cured pipe tobacco that had smokers all over London raving about its quality. After making some purchases that severely strained both of our monthly budgets, we walked back towards the Preston Park Station to take a late lunch at a nearby café before catching the three o’clock train back to London.

Our plans for lunch were interrupted when we heard a man’s screams coming from the station. We sprinted in the direction of the shrieks, and soon discovered that they were coming from a ticket collector. I am the first to admit that I lack my friend’s observational skills, but it did not take a pair of eagle eyes to determine what was causing the poor man’s distress. Sitting on the ground five feet away from the ticket collector was another man, whose entire body was covered in blood.

While Holmes delivered a firm yet gentle slap across the hysterical ticket collector’s face in order to silence his ear-piercing cries, I examined the blood-covered man. After a minute’s study, it became apparent that the blood was not his own. It was a disturbing realization. I shook his shoulder until he finally turned his head and met my eyes. “Look here, my good fellow, do you know what’s happened to you?”

He stared at me with glassy eyes until finally he responded to my question. “I . . . don’t remember. Not everything, anyway. After they attacked me . . . .”

His voice trailed off and I snapped my fingers in front of his face to keep his attention. “Listen, sir, please try to stay with me. I’m a medical doctor and I need to find out what’s happened to you. You say you were attacked. Who did this to you? What did they do?”

“I don’t know. After they struck me, everything’s a blank.”

My friend’s voice made me jump. I hadn’t expected him to join in on the questioning. “Perhaps you can start by telling us your name. If, of course, you can recall it.”

I couldn’t be sure because of all the blood, but I thought I observed a small flash of indignation in the bloodstained man’s face. “I most certainly do know my own name.”

“And that name is?”

“My name is Percy Lefroy. Two men attacked me as the train started travelling through the Merstham tunnels.

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