Through a Glass Starkly by Richard T. Ryan

Author:Richard T. Ryan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sherlock Holmes, mystery, murder, British Museum, Whispering Gallery, St Paul's Cathedral, World War I, Eiffel Tower, Paris, assassination, The Hague, peace conference, Irregulars, street Arabs, Southwick Codex, Nowell Codex, Beowulf, GJ Thorkelin, theft, rare books, smuggling, spy, the docks, Chubb locks, safe, Marble Arch, cipher code, German secret service, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Prime Minister
ISBN: 9781787055940
Publisher: Andrews UK
Published: 2020-07-07T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Since time was of the essence, I hailed a cab and told the driver there was an extra sovereign in it for him if he could get me to the British Museum post-haste. We sped along Marylebone Road and then turned onto Gower Street; in less than a quarter hour, I had arrived at the museum.

I asked the guard if he knew if Dr. Smith were in. After a short phone call, he informed me that he was, and I was on my way to his office before the guard had even begun to give me directions.

“Dr. Watson, this is a surprise,” said Smith as I was led into his office. “Is Mr. Holmes not with you?”

“He is quite occupied at the moment, but he wanted me to examine something in the King’s Library.”

“Has he located the Beowulf manuscript?” asked Smith anxiously.

“I believe he has made significant progress,” I replied.

Seeing the crestfallen look on the scholar’s face, I was tempted to tell him the truth, but I steeled myself and did what I could to alleviate his obvious anxiety. “You know that Mr. Holmes promised he would find the manuscript, and in our long association, I have never known him to break a promise.”

A smile returned to his face as we walked towards the rare book room. Smith nodded to the guard as he admitted us, and when we were inside, he asked, “Is there anything that I can assist you with, Dr. Watson?”

“I wonder if I might have a cup of tea while I work.”

As soon as Smith had left to fetch the tea, I set about the task Holmes had assigned me. While I saw any number of volumes that appeared suitable, given the attributes which Holmes had told me the book must possess; ultimately, I followed his directions and settled on an oversized two-volume edition of Dr. Johnson’s Dictionary. Wrestling the second volume, as he had instructed me to do, from the shelf, I placed it on the closest table and had just finished measuring it when I heard Dr. Smith at the door.

He entered carrying a small tray with two cups, which he placed on the table next to the one on which I had placed the Dictionary.

“No point in taking chances,” said Smith. Then looking at the volume, he inquired, “Dr. Johnson’s Dictionary?”

“It may be relevant to the case, and I am afraid that is all I can say for the moment?”

He nodded and then said, “I am familiar with the methods employed by Mr. Holmes.”

As we enjoyed the tea, we chatted about various things. I asked Smith, “Is this the biggest book in this room?”

He replied, “It depends upon how you define ‘biggest.’ If you mean in terms of size, the dictionary is certainly one of the larger items, if not the largest, in the collection. Taken together, the two volumes weigh more than a stone and a half. However, they may seem small when you consider that the first edition of Samuel

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.