Sherlock Holmes and the Molly Boy Murders by Margaret Walsh

Author:Margaret Walsh
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: serial killer, Jack the Ripper, transgender, Mollies, gay, lgbt, Cleveland Street, Diogenes Club, Westminster Bridge, Victoria Embankment, corset, bawd, male prostitutes, New Zealand, womens enfranchisement, womens rights, Strand Magazine, pallbearer, funeral, twins, journal, syphilis, mutton shunter, suicide, Baker Street Irregulars
ISBN: 9781787054752
Publisher: Andrews UK
Published: 2019-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

The next morning found us waiting for Lestrade outside the fire-damaged house in Cleveland Street. He arrived precisely at ten and we walked silently up the steps.

The door hung open, swaying slightly in the morning breeze. Pools of water lay on the floor, and the smell of acrid smoke lay heavily in the air. The damage, however, was relatively minor. Several marble floor tiles were cracked and stained from the heat, scorch marks up a wall, charcoal and ash on the floor where the fire was started, and, everywhere, a pervading layer of soot.

Holmes looked around briefly, a small frown on his face. “I am uncertain that there is much to be learned from this. As you said last night, Lestrade, this was an extremely clumsy attempt to burn the place down. I do wonder if our man even knows how to start a fire, except in a fireplace or stove.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Holmes gestured at the floor. “Look at it, Watson. He has piled small sticks upon the floor as kindling. And, judging by the smell, has used a small plug of paraffin wax as a fire starter.” Holmes snorted his contempt. “He has not realized that for a fire like this to work it needs a flue to create airflow and drive the fire. Opening the door created some airflow, but it was too early. The amount of air coming in could as easily have extinguished the flame as allow it to burn freely. The only reason the fire took was because a spark caught the drapery hanging off that small table against the wall.”

He gestured to where the scorch mark seared up the wall, and where a pile of burned and scorched wood sat jumbled in an untidy heap upon the floor. I realized that the pile of debris had been a small table similar to one which sat in Mrs. Hudson’s hallway.

Holmes frowned. “We know our man is young, given his speed and general athleticism. It appears that he also lives alone. His hours are too erratic for him to be married. Most married men are men of routine. Work, clubs, home. Wives expect it of them. His inability to properly start a fire also suggests that he either lives in fully serviced rooms, or in a room, possibly over his place of business, where he only has a small stove for warmth. I suspect the later. Landladies are quite nearly as inquisitive as wives are, and are often even less understanding.”

“Then we are finished here?” asked Lestrade.

Holmes nodded. “I doubt there is anything else to be learned from this bungled attempt at arson.”

We left the house, and, taking our leave from Lestrade, returned to Baker Street.

I sat down and began to write up my notes on the case, taking care to include Holmes’ observations on the likely domestic arrangements of our killer. The more I thought about it, the more sense it made. The killings had garnered a lot of interest in

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.