The Curious Case of the Tricolour
One of the strangest cases that my companion and I were involved in did not occur in England, it occurred in France. It was the spring of 1895 when Holmes was relaxing and I, were relaxing in our comfortable lodgings in Baker Street. He was smoking his pipe while sitting in his arm chair while he lectured me on how to identify different brands of cigar ash. As we were speaking a sharp knock came upon the door and a tall lanky man walked in. In his left hand he was holding an umbrella to protect him from the downpour outside. He had a thin carefully trimmed black mustache that went across his thick upper lip. He did not look to be remarkably muscular; he was dressed in a black business suit. Under his right arm was a large satchel.
"You must be Monsieur Sherlock Holmes, Doctor John Watson, and good day to you. My name is Anton Roux-"
"Do not go any further," Holmes held up his hand, "I shall figure it out. Now from your name you're a French man, also your suit was manufactured in France judging by the material. You arrived in a great rush as I can tell from the bags under your eyes and how ruffled your hair is. You are very tired and are constantly blinking; you are in great need and were sent by the French Government. For I have seen on the headlines of the paper that French Senate Member Pierre Petit was murdered. I do not know the exact circumstances and I trust that you Mister Roux shall fill me in on the details."
The man stood in shock; he evidently had never met a man like my companion.
"My god Monsieur Holmes I was told you had remarkable powers and this is why I have been instructed to receive you, but I had no clue that they were this excellent."
"It is elementary; I am a connoisseur in my field of deduction. Now what are the circumstances of the murder?"
"I am a Secretary of State and work directly under the President of the Council of France. Last night the body of Senate member Petit was found in the Parliament building. The interesting thing is the body was wrapped in the tricolour with a bullet wound to the heart."
"What time was the corpse discovered?"
"Around one at night."
"By whom?"
"The watchman."
"He was in the building in the dead of the night."
"Inspecting the building is part of his duty Monsieur."
"I see. Well than, tomorrow Doctor Watson and I shall accompany you on your ferry back to Pairs. Have the Sûreté Nationale investigated the scene?"
"Yes, the body lies the way it was when found."
"My dear, Watson we shall get some sleep, the game is afoot. Monsieur Roux you can occupy the third room."
"Much to be obliged."
The next day at dawn Holmes, Roux, and I all departed to the ferry and arrived at the Parliament building by seven. When we arrived an Inspector from the Sûreté Nationale was waiting for our arrival. He was a portly fellow, and around the height of six meters. He had a red beard upon his face which was ruffled, not a hair lay upon his large head.
"Inspector Depual, would you like to hear the evidence we have come up with."
He had a light voice but it was raspy in the tone of a serpent.
"Sherlock Holmes."
"Doctor John Watson," I remarked to the Inspector.
"Now tell me about this evidence you have acquired Inspector," said Holmes.
The Inspector led the three of us inside to see the corpse. As described by Roux, the man was wrapped around in the tricolour. He was a little man possibly around five meters, he was skeletal looking and his suit seemed somewhat large. He was recumbent, with a bullet wound in the heart.
The Inspector began to speak,
"I have figured out the killer had done this murder outside, for according to the watchman the tricolour was still damp than, meaning that it was slipped in when the watchman was still here. Also, there is a back door, so the watchman must have been outside. He has agreed with this theory Monsieur Holmes. Along with this, there is gunpowder upon his shirt meaning the gun was fired at close range. According to Petit's wife he was fond of midnight strolls. We presume it was a political assassination."
"Well some of your facts make sense Inspector, but I think I have a bit more for you."
"How so?" He questioned.
"First off as you can see from his head and the size of his suit, he has been under an increased amount of stress lately. Which is common in a government job, yet his hair is thinning and from what Monsieur Roux has told me he is only thirty five. Hair thinning at that age is very remarkable and according to Roux he had a full head of hair two months prior; also he is very slim and skeletal. From the information I acquired from Monsieur Roux he was a plump man a couple of months ago as well. No man will go from being portly gentlemen to a skeletal one. The immense amount of stress has caused this. It is not the job but an outside one, to Roux's knowledge his marriage is fine and he and his wife are very close. So it must be a political problem, but not the job itself but with another member. He is most likely being blackmailed."
"Dear God, you did a fine job."
"Elementary."
"Come, Watson we have, work to do."
Holmes and I boarded a cab and drove off to the address of Petit. We knocked upon the door and we were greeted by a young maid. She called upon Missus Petit and she sat us down with a cup of tea each as we prepared to interrogate her.
"When did your husband reach his position?" Holmes questioned.
"Three years ago, he was a lawyer before then."
"A lawyer you say, what was his first government position?"
"He was nominated and won the election for Senator."
"When was this?"
"Around ten years ago."
"Well nice speaking to you, Doctor Watson and I shall be going now."
We finished drinking our tea and left the premise. When Holmes and I were outside and back in the cab we started speaking again.
"Where are we going now Holmes?"
"The bank, my dear Watson."
"What business do we have there?"
"I presume, there is something financial involved in this case."
When we arrived at the bank Holmes came up to the teller and spoke to him. In French, after a brief conversation he recapitulated what just had occurred.
"Apparently his bank account had increased by fifty thousand francs ten years ago. And know on monthly basis deposits one hundred francs. Which is quite a large sum for a government job, meaning he makes money through another mean. The first great amount must be him taking the bribe. Yet the question is when a bribe is taken it is do a favor, what is the favor? Watson, our next stop is the post office."
We took another cab to the post office where Holmes spoke to the clerk.
"Now it is all coming full circle. Watson, we shall now go to the police station."
"Why, my dear Holmes?
"We must speak to the Inspector."
Holmes and I arrived at the police station about half an hour later where we requested to see Inspector Depual. He arrived about ten minutes later.
"What is Monsieur Holmes?"
"I have cracked the case, tonight we go to the Parliament building, bring Roux too. The trap is closed."
"Holmes-"
"Trust him, he has solved countless of cases," I remarked.
"Let us go, at what hour."
"When does the watchman arrive upon duty?"
"Ten."
"Then that is the hour."
At the time the clock struck ten Holmes, Roux, the Inspector and I were all at the Parliament building. Roux was the only unarmed man, Holmes being armed with his cane and revolver, and the Inspector and I with our service revolvers. The watchman arrived upon duty. He was a tall burly man, his hair was jet black and cropped closely to his head, he carried a lantern in his right hand, and his revolver was in his holster.
"Yield!" Holmes exclaimed.
The man quickly turned to face Holmes with revolver in hand, he cocked it.
"There is your killer Inspector."
"He is only a watchman."
"That is what he wants you to think. He is really a spy for the Germans."
The man drew his gun, Holmes nudged me and the two of us fired. We hit him in the leg and he landed flat upon his back.
"As I was saying, the watchman said the body was wet when it arrived. The rain stopped at midnight, and the corpse was discovered around midnight. You make your patrol around the whole building and certainly would have noticed the body before then. I inquired his bank account increased by quite a bit that was his payment. Petit was paid to run, and the vote was rigged, he was paid by our watchman whom I now hold at gun point. Being a German spy he needed information and chose a lawyer with financial problems. His financial problems I inquired with the bank. The monthly income of one hundred francs is for the information he discloses. The French Government has had a mole for ten years that is how the German's know your every step. At the post office Petit receives letters from Germany the name signed as Hans Bergman. Our watchman, Jean Mineur. Hans is the German version of the English name John, in German Hans. Bergman is German for miner which in French translates to Mineur. I also recognized from the bullet wound and the powder that the bullet was of German manufacture, a German firearm is carried by the watchman from what Roux had told me prior. I deduce that Pipet was murdered for trying to double cross Bergman. Am I correct my dear Hans?"
"Y-y-ou, are."
"Now, Roux tell the government but request to not hold public scandal. Watson you treat the man, while Inspector you arrest him and send him to the embassy. The rest is in the hands of God."
And that is the peculiar case of the tricolour, of espionage which Holmes seems to be able to figure out the entanglement of.