Chapter 10: the secrets behind the woods
It was almost nine when the morning rays shone at my face, waking me up. I expected Holmes to be up and about, busy untangling the strings of the missing boy, but was surprise to see him still snoring slightly beside me. I stared at him for a bit, unsure how I should react with last night event. He mumbled a bit, and then turned facing me with a baby-like expression of peace, which I saw for the first time. I suddenly felt self-conscious how close we were, and scrambled out of bed as fast as I could manage. I quickly dressed and asked for breakfast which was served by the same lady who was in the counter previous night. She slightly blushed at the sight of my naked companion in bed, and I quickly realized how I was not of proper sense to let a young lady in the room of a nude bachelor. I thanked her and asked her out, falling into the chair as soon as the door shut.
"What is just wrong with you, Watson?" I muttered at myself with frustration and annoyance, both of my stupidity and uncertainness.
"Well, my dear Watson, you should just learn to calm down and think realistically. Is it toast and bacon we were served?" I got an unexpected reply, and was shock to see my friend up and dressed in a robe. I was not sure how I should response with the simply question he asked.
"You sure seem to surprise me. Pray do sit and have breakfast with me. Yes, it is bacon with wheat toast, but I could ask for something else if you please." I answered with some degree of formality resulting to my tense and confusion. Holmes just raised a questioning eye brow, and then sat opposite to me.
"We do not have time for breakfast, but I would not mind waiting for you to finish. I had delayed the case enough, and would like to start right away. I got all of the clues in my hand, and I believe our vacation here in Windsor is coming to an end." He said with the same twinkle in his eyes I see every single case. Before ten, I had finished my toast, Holmes dressed, and we found ourselves once again in the house of the Clifton.
I was about to knock on the door when Holmes grabbed me by the arm and shake his head no. He quietly led me to the back of the house, motioning me to not leave any tracks. Once we were directly in front of the window of the boy's room, he stared down at the fading tracks, which were almost unrecognizable to my eyes. Then he followed the track, just like a hound on a scent, to a meadow nearby. The tracks stopped there, impossible to place where it continues. Instead of turning around, we just walked straight ahead, entering a small forest-like area after few hundred yards. Holmes hummed a little song which I was familiar with but cannot remember where I heard it. The walk was a surprisingly peaceful one, with my companion calm and relaxed. It made me wonder what is going through his mind, how he could walk around humming a song so peacefully.
We had walked quite a bit and the meadow was not visible by the time we reached a small wooden house concealed in the woods. He turned around the house once, inspecting every detail, with me waiting nearby. The windows were covered by a curtain, but it was evident that there were people inhabiting the place. After a thorough observation of the place Holmes nodded with satisfaction and eagerly made his way to the door. He gave quick loud knocks, and I heard the rustle inside. Whoever was in the other side was hesitating if he is to open the door or not. After what I presume to be a minute or two, the door finally creaked open, and a man who seems to be no taller than I stood. His light brown locks reflected the soft morning rays and his caramel eyes full of fear and doubt, but glistening from the light. His left arm was heavily bandaged, I could tell that is was pretty swollen.
"Mr. Clifton? What on earth are you doing here in the middle of the woods?" inquired I, surprised to find the boy's father out here, not by the side of his beautiful wife.
"Do I know you?" asked he in confusion as he failed to recognize me. I opened my mouth of protest how it was only yesterday we saw each other, until Holmes cut in and took a polite bow.
"Wonderful morning, Mr. Clifton. I am Sherlock Holmes, and this is my good friend, Dr. Watson. If you could spear some time for us, we would be delighted to have a little conversation with you." Greeted he in such politeness that I frequently see from him when it would do him a favor.
"I would rather not have anyone in my humble home, but if you insist…" trailed off the man as he decided whether to receive us or not.
"I insist." Replied my companion with such firmness that after a few moments of silence, Mr. Clifton nodded and we were inside the small wooden house. Connected right to the entrance was a sitting room, made to welcome no more than three visitors. There was a shut door parallel to the entrance, and a little kitchen was present in one corner. We sat on the arm chairs near the fire place, though it was not lit, as we all each took out a tobacco to smoke. Once we all had settled down, Mr. Clifton cleared his throat and queried us.
"What is that you seek from me?"
"I believe you are Mr. Joseph Clifton, am I right?" answered Holmes.
"Yes, I am. A mere zoologist, who is currently studying the life cycle and behavior of the wolves located in Russia. I am here for as a vacation for I missed my hometown after four long years of absence." He gave short introduction of himself, confusing me just more.
"Was not Mr. Clifton's first name James?" a frown formed as I tried think if my memory served me right.
"James is my twin brother." Answered he.
"Twin brother! That's is a new fact to me!" I gasp as the second Mr. Clifton stared at my companion.
"You are not surprised, my good sir. You seem to quite know a lot of things. May I know please hear how you got the information on where this house was located here? It is very well concealed, and not known by a single person for I highly favor privacy. Also, how much do you know about me and my brother, and for what purpose?" Addressed he to the detective.
"Very well, after all it is my knowledge I came here to test. As I would be frank with you, I wish you to be frank with me. I would give the rough draft of what has happened and I just wish you to fill in details I failed to gasp. I will explain how I acquired my knowledge along the process. I wish you no harm, pray let me remind you. I am here to aid and advice. If the terms are all set, let me start."
"I would like to start by mentioning the fact that the reason I am here in the first place is to solve the interesting case of the missing Jeremiah Clifton. Now, please do not act as if you lack teh knowledge, for I am sure you are aware of your nephew's absence. I was requested by Mrs. Annalisa Clifton to look for him, and that is how I gotten myself all I know now. I was honored by getting the chance to inspect the scene of the crime first hand, and found quite some interesting facts. First of all, as I mentioned to Mr. Standerson, the criminal is not of a great size as he had believe he is. His argument was that one needs to be strong to carry out a boy and a big dog, but we will get to that later. Second, the criminal is a frequent smoker, for little ashes of tobacco were found in the room, but I could not find any clumps. That implies that the smoker had not smoked in the room, but rather had smoke considerably a large amount somewhere else. The little bit of ashes had piled up and stuck to his clothing, leaving some traces behind where ever he went. Third, the person was highly familiar with handling dogs, for when the dog had attack, he had managed to stay calm, and call the dog off. The blood on the sheet was not of the boys but rather the intruders. You could say by the sheer amount shed and the lack of weapon and its traces. The blood was obviously spilled by a violent mean by the way the sheet was stained, but not a knife by the way it had splattered. No gun shots were heard, and the stain was messier than of a blow in the head. Then it was obviously a struggle. By what? The paw prints gave it away. Even though it was all smudged and almost unrecognizable in the animal's effort to bring down whatever he is struggling with if you know what you are looking for, it is highly impossible to miss. There are several more clues that I would be pleased to discuss, but it would not be of interest for you, will it?" asked Holmes after is long narration on jut three clues that the local officers had totally missed. Mr. Clifton was pale and slightly shaking for a reason unknown to me.
"Mr. Holmes, please just say your point." Answered he in a shaking voice, just barely able to produce the sentence.
"I would prefer it that way to. So is all I said until now true, Mr. Clifton?" inquired the London detective with a great twinkle of excitement and delight.
"Yes. I could not add anything more to those three details."
"Very well, let me continue. Jeremiah opened the window himself, as a response to the knock. It took you a while to convince him to open the window, and the dog was barking the whole time. Once you entered, the dog bit you and you had enough sense to stay calm and not pull you arm out, which could had lead to bigger injury, but rather ordered the dog to let go. Being a zoologist you know all is there to know about dog behavior and managed to control the dog. You asked both the dog and the boy to step out of the window, and made the boy to ride the sleigh while you made the dog pull. Jeremiah is noted to be friendly and playful and would have most probably trusted you right off. You being identical to his dad, the young boy did not refuse your companionship and orders, but rather enjoyed them. That is a very wild and dangerous assumption to make by me, but I believe I am not wrong. I was first lost why would anyone kidnap a child, but not harm him or ask for ransom. I found the motive missing. That was until last night. After Watson fell asleep, I headed out right away to the nearest bar, hoping to get some new facts. They were at first unwilling to talk, but after a few mugs as my treat they began opening up. Once inquired about the Clifton's the lady started gossiping none-stop about the rumors five years ago. Apparently, Mr. Clifton has been away to London for four months when Mrs. Clifton announced that she is pregnant. Of course they presumed the baby to be born at the latest half a year later, considering Mr. Clifton has not been around for four months. After hearing the news about their first child, Mister Clifton rushed down within the next two months, finishing hi business as fast as possible. They waited for another four months, expecting the baby to be born, but he never was. Mrs. Clifton's belly was bloated, an obvious sign of pregnancy. And then finally, after four months of delay, their first child was born, and that is Jeremiah. The Doctors could not explain the delay, but the child seemed to be of normal age and size. This caused the neighbors to believe that Mrs. Clifton had been unfaithful to her husband, for it would have mean that she had conceived when he was not around. But as the boy grew, he looked exactly like his father, erasing all doubts and rumors about the said couple. They just believed that this was an extraordinary case, wherein she had been pregnant for four and ten months, instead of the normal ten. Also some are saying that the couple had secretly met up sometime in the past without the neighbors' knowledge. Now all I had to do is to separate the facts and the mere rumors. And this is my conclusion…"
to be continued in Chapter 11