The Adventure of the Time Machine: A Sherlock Holmes and Lucy James Mystery by Anna Elliott & Charles Veley

Author:Anna Elliott & Charles Veley [Elliott, Anna & Veley, Charles]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wilton Press
Published: 2024-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 26

Lucy

“So the dead girl Annie held anti-British sentiments?” Holmes asked.

Becky and I had returned to Baker Street by the evening train to find Holmes doing his best to fill the sitting room with tobacco smoke from his pipe. Outside, the atmosphere was hardly any more clear, since a thick London fog was settling in with drifts of greenish yellow obscuring the windows.

And yet after my visit to the Folkestone prison, London and 221B felt like a breath of fresh air.

“At least according to her fellow maidservant she did.”

“And she met a tall foreign-looking man in Folkestone.”

“Yes, at least once, on her day out. Although that in and of itself proves nothing.”

“It is suggestive, all the same,” Holmes said. His eyes had the unfocused look that meant he was rapidly assimilating everything I had just told him of our journey to Dover, checking the facts against whatever theory he was in the process of developing. “What of your meeting with H. G. Wells? Could he offer any explanation of the letters from Annie that were found in his desk?”

“None. He simply denied having any relationship with Annie beyond that of an employer and his employee,” I said. “And claimed that he’d never seen the letters.”

Holmes wore a dressing gown belted over trousers and shirtsleeves, and had clearly been playing his violin. The instrument and bow now lay across the sofa, evidence that this case was troubling him.

“There were dozens of newspaper reporters at the police station,” Becky put in, “all wanting to ask questions about whether H. G. Wells really is guilty of murder.”

“Yes, the attention of the press is perhaps unfortunate,” Holmes said.

“Only perhaps?”

“Since I am disinclined to attribute the leak of information to the press as mere coincidence or the result of carelessness, I believe it to have been deliberately orchestrated. In both chess and detection, observing your enemy’s playing style is the first step in predicting what future moves he might make.” He paused to apply a fresh match to his pipe, then asked, “And Louise Stryker? You inquired about her?”

“According to Wells, she was a paramour of his who took it badly when he attempted to break things off. She tried to commit suicide in his flat, although when she failed, he seems to have convinced her to back up his story to the police in order to avoid a scandal.”

Holmes put the tips of his fingers together. “I see. Well—”

He broke off as we heard the front door opening, and moments later, Mrs Hudson’s voice. “They’re all upstairs.”

“Thanks, Mrs Hudson.” It was Flynn’s voice. I saw Becky give a sigh of relief.

Then he was with us, beside Becky on the settee.

Flynn gave his report. Holmes listened, eyes half shut, fingertips steepled.

“The parcel from the tailor’s,” Holmes said. “Do you have any thoughts as to what it might contain?”

Flynn shrugged. “Too big for a shirt. Too small for a greatcoat. Maybe a suit.”

“And the ticket. First-class to Elswick?”

“And return.”

“Very well. Before my next question, I might add one item of information.

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