The Curse of Cleopatra's Needle: A Sherlock and Lucy Short Story (The Sherlock and Lucy Mystery Series Book 22) by Anna Elliott & Charles Veley

Author:Anna Elliott & Charles Veley [Elliott, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wilton Press
Published: 2020-09-24T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11: BECKY

Flynn kicked Becky’s foot with the toe of his boot. “What are we going to do?” he whispered. “We can’t just sit here.”

They were at the table, playing a half-hearted card game of Old Maid that neither of them was really paying attention to.

“We don’t have any choice.” Becky cast a quick look at Dr. Watson as she said it. He was leaning back in a chair by the fire and his eyes were closed, but that didn’t mean he was fast asleep enough not to hear what they were saying. Dr. Watson might not be Mr. Holmes, but he wasn’t stupid, and he wasn’t careless, either. “We promised.”

Flynn blew out a sigh, and Becky was tempted to join him. She didn’t like being stuck here any better than Flynn did.

The front doorbell rang. Becky jumped, Flynn dropped the card he was holding, and Dr. Watson got up from his chair and went downstairs to answer it. Fast enough that Becky was glad neither of them had tried to sneak past him.

“It’s all right, Mrs. Hudson,” Becky heard Dr. Watson say as he reached the first floor. “You can return to bed, I’ll answer it.”

He sounded calm, but Becky had also seen him pick up his army revolver before he went down the stairs and tuck it into his pocket where he could get to it easily in case of trouble.

She looked at Flynn.

“We promised we’d stay here at 221B,” Flynn said. “Never said anything about not going out onto the landing.”

“Exactly.”

They ran for the sitting-room door, eased it open, and then crouched down before crawling out, so that they wouldn’t be seen as they peeped through the banisters.

Down in the front hall, Dr. Watson was just opening the door, and Becky felt her heart give a jump of surprise when Safiya stumbled in, clutching at Dr. Watson’s hands.

“Please. Please, come very quick, you must help!”

“I pray you, calm yourself, Miss Todros.” Dr. Watson gently detached Safiya’s hands and, after a quick glance outside, shut the door behind her. “I will be happy to help you in any way that I can, but first you must tell me what the trouble is, and how you come to be in London.”

Safiya took a gulp of air. “I came up to London this afternoon, with Miss Blakeslee. She wished to speak to their family solicitor about her brother’s—what is the word?—his defence? And also, there are still the funeral arrangements for poor Mrs. Blakeslee. As for the trouble”—Safiya’s voice shook and she clutched at Dr. Watson’s sleeve again. “That is just it, it is Miss Blakeslee. She ate the dinner the hotel sent up—vegetables and a chicken that had been roasted—but then she became ill, terribly ill.”

Becky sucked in a quick breath, and beside her Flynn whispered. “Sounds like poison.”

“Maybe,” Becky frowned, trying to think her way through the shivery feeling that had just sprouted in the pit of her stomach. She didn’t even know why she was uneasy all of a sudden, but she couldn’t make the feeling go away, either.

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