The New Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes by Martin Edwards

Author:Martin Edwards [Edwards, Martin]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2014-08-02T22:00:00+00:00

***

‘Well, Watson, what do you make of that little tale?’ Holmes asked later as we each drank a cup of tea prepared by the landlady. Our visitor had left to attend a board meeting at the administrative offices of Stubbings’ Sauce hard by Russell Square, but my friend had agreed to accept his instructions to look into the matter, and proposed that we should meet again later that evening. Holmes at once suggested a rendez-vous at Alicia Stubbings’ house, and it was agreed that we would meet again at six o’clock that evening.

‘It is most perplexing,’ I confessed. ‘Do you believe that Stubbings is telling us the truth?’

‘Why should he lie?’

‘Perhaps he is more dismayed that he inherited nothing under the will than he is willing to concede.’

My friend permitted himself a wry smile. ‘Mr Stubbings is disinclined to courtesy towards lawyers and medical men, but that should not prejudice you against his veracity, Watson. For my part, I am prepared to accept his story at face value.’

‘Then you believe that the man who brought Stubbings to his sister’s bedside was no lawyer?’

‘I am afraid that I share my client’s scepticism. How often does a lawyer who charges by the word reduce the last will and testament of a client with some money to a single sheet of paper? Let alone need to be persuaded to render an invoice?’

When Stubbings consulted his own solicitor with regard to the distribution of the late Miss Alica Stubbings’ estate, the lawyer happened to question the draftsmanship of the will. Stubbings presumed at first that any infelicities of wording were attributable to the fact that English was not Mueller’s first language. Nevertheless, his curiosity was aroused. He took a cab to Bedford Row and pay a call upon the offices of Messrs Mueller and Trott, obtaining an audience with the senior partner upon a pretext.

To his astonishment, he discovered that Peter Mueller was a thin and ascetic individual who spoke perfect English and bore no resemblance to the man he had met on the night of Alicia’s passing. The real Peter Mueller had been born in St Albans, although his grandfather came from Heidelberg. He found Stubbings’ story both alarming and extraordinary, but could cast no light on the identity of the man who had impersonated him. He confirmed that the wording of the will lacked what he described as legal elegance, but also that its provisions were, in principle, valid. Whether the position would be affected if it proved that one of the witnesses to the will had given a false name was, in his opinion, a nice point. He would need to study the precedents in detail before he could commit himself to a definitive view.

Unwilling to wait while legal research pursued its ponderous course, Stubbings proceeded to consult Dr Burr, but that gentleman professed himself to be equally baffled. Until the day of Alice Stubbings’ death, he had never encountered the man who called himself Mueller, although he readily confirmed that his patient was apt to change her lawyer as frequently as to adjust the terms of her will.

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