The Curse of Sherlock Holmes by Dhanil Ali

Author:Dhanil Ali
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: sherlock holmes, mystery, crime, british crime, sherlock holmes fiction, sherlock holmes play
ISBN: 9781780923789
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited 2018
Published: 2018-01-10T00:00:00+00:00

Act 2

Scene: Private Hospital Room

HOLMES : And therein lays my greatest mistake. I was foolish enough to think that Father Time would best him and our pact - ha - our pact would come to nought. He was beyond middle years even then and of weak constitution.

WATSON : I cannot believe what I am hearing?

HOLMES : [EMOTIONALLY] Please Watson, I beg you not to turn against me; not now. You are all I have.

WATSON : But how could you do such a thing? You had no right to keep something of this magnitude from me for so long.

HOLMES : Perhaps I allowed sentiment to cloud my judgement?

WATSON : Who else knows of this?

HOLMES : Just you and I.

WATSON : [RELIEVED] That is something.

HOLMES : I hear vanity in your voice along with relief.

WATSON : [UPSET] How could you say such a thing?

HOLMES : You should think little of the shadow this may cast over your literary self and be alert to the thunder Moriarty can bring upon an unsuspecting world.

WATSON : [AGGRIEVED] Balderdash! I was simply-

HOLMES : [RAISES A HAND FOR SILENCE] Pay little mind to me for I am spent.

WATSON : Do you know his whereabouts?

HOLMES : [SMILING] I knew you would come round!

WATSON : Forgiveness is streets away! His whereabouts?

HOLMES : Until this very day he awaited trial.

WATSON : Trial?

HOLMES : He had taken it upon himself to masquerade under the name of John Robert Bellman-

WATSON : The diamond smuggler?

HOLMES : The very same; a low criminal of little consequence. His time upon this earth was preordained; the odds were stacked against him reaching his three score and ten. No tears will be shed for so despicable a felon.

WATSON : Where did this meeting take place?

HOLMES : Within the confines of Newgate Prison.

WATSON : Where he still resides?

HOLMES : A moot point.

WATSON : [PERTURBED] Very well! You say he masquerades as Bellman? How did you know to find him there?

HOLMES : I happen to know that the real Bellman has been dead for six months. He was despatched by the Brewer gang.

WATSON : The Brewer gang who were thought to be responsible for the theft of the Montclair diamonds?

HOLMES : An unjust supposition; although they are now in receipt of said stones. [RUNS FINGERS OF RIGHT HAND OVER LEFT WRIST] One further detail; Bellman was discovered sans hands.

WATSON : Positively ghoulish! I’m guessing that Bellman found rich pickings in Brewer territory, and the gang, by way of retribution, carried out that ghastly deed?

HOLMES : With the added fact that the loss of hands also meant the loss of fingerprints, thus making a positive identification almost impossible. Did I also mention [DRAWS OPEN HAND OVER HIS FACE] that his face was splashed with vitriol, further clouding the identification process?

WATSON : It seems that someone went to great pains to make sure that Bellman’s identity remained a mystery.

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