"I think, my dear Watson, that one of your most extraordinary gifts is that of silence," Holmes commented several hours later, when he finally roused himself and unclasped his hands.
I looked to him, having long ago set aside the volume that I had picked up. "Have you the facts firmly in hand?" I asked, although I was aware that if he did not, he would not have moved a single muscle from his previous posture.
"What of them there are," Holmes replied lightly. I knew from that one comment that he had not as many facts as he would like.
"And have you managed to reach a conclusion?" I inquired regardless, interested as to whether he had been able to deduce anything, sparse though were some of the facts.
"I make it a point never to conclude without having all the facts," Holmes reminded me "although I have determined that I shall have to make some further inquiries into a few matters of importance."
"I believe that it is rather too presumptuous for me to say anything," said Mrs Kendrick, turning her gaze upon Sherlock Holmes, "but still I think I should like remind you that that naval offices will not likely take kindly to inquiries, even from someone with so high a reputation as yourself, Mr Holmes."
"The naval offices?" I repeated.
"I was not planning to inquire directly at the offices," Holmes told her nonchalantly. "I have other recourses, for I have not found the Admiralty willing to release information through any but the official channels, and even that is hard enough to procure. However, there are men, even within the upstanding tradition of our Royal Navy, that are not so close with what they know."
"Are you planning to make inquiries into Doctor Kendrick's anticipated return?" inquired I, quite unable to think of another reason why Holmes should need information from the naval authorities.
"I may," said Holmes to me, "but it was not my first thought."
"Although I have only the passing familiarity with naval assignments, I should think that it may be beneficial to determine which vessels have been into port for repairs," Mrs Kendrick said to Holmes, bypassing me completely. "Midshipmen are not generally allowed so free of a reign as these men appear to have unless the vessel is not expected to sail."
"I should think that given the nature of the first man's infirmity, for I shall consider Watson's man the second, that he should not be in active service," replied Holmes, "although I may be much mistaken, for I am more familiar with the Army than with the Royal Navy." Knowing Holmes as I did, I knew that when he stated a 'lack of familiarity' lesser men should often have been considered well-read on the subjects, at the least.
"I should doubt that he has been invalided out of the service entirely," countered Mrs Kendrick, "for he has not yet abandoned his uniform, and the shuffling of his steps could be taken to indicate that he has been recently a-sea."
The two of them were discussing quite over my head and I should not have even needed to be in the room. "How have you managed to determine that the men are Navy men?" I asked.
"My apologies, Watson," said Holmes, turning slightly so to as include me in the circle of conversation, "I have an unfortunate tendency to forget that you are not privy to quite so much information as I am."
I thought the comment rather strange, for I had heard every word that Holmes had. I had seen the same things that he had, for he had passed the second note over to me when he had satisfied himself with it. I knew that I was not nearly so adept with his methods as I might have been, but I had surely had access to the information at the very least. "What information have I missed?" I was forced to inquire after a moment.
"Your information has rather come to you out of order, I should think," Holmes stated soothingly. "If rather than beginning with Mrs Kendrick's narrative, you begin with the first note and then proceed to consider the descriptions of the two men, you might get on slightly better. The second note is irrelevant for this deduction."
He paused to allow me time to reconsider the problem from what he considered a fresh angle. I could make no more of it from that approach than I could from the previous one. "I must admit that I am still quite in the dark," I sighed.
"You are familiar with my methods, Watson," said Holmes encouragingly. "Start with what you have seen and move onward from there."
"The first note was penned on paper from the cover of a ship's log," I recalled, "and while that indicates a maritime involvement, the Royal Navy is by no means indicated, save for the connection of Mrs Kendrick and her husband."
"And what else?" prompted Holmes.
"I have no idea," I replied.
"The hats," said Mrs Kendrick when Holmes offered up nothing further. "What reason could they have for removing them if they were not of a shape and style that would be instantly recognized? And further to that, of a type that would not only be recognized, but would also allow them to be identified."
"The heavy material of the jackets also provides a better indication than the coincidental matter of the hats," corrected Holmes. "A sailor's pea coat is made of exceptionally thick and heavy material and the placement of the buttons does not allow much movement in the wind, for otherwise it would be likely to have it catch in the rigging of the sailing ships of old. Although that merely adds to a balance of probability and in itself proves nothing beyond the maritime element."
I thought Holmes's correction rather weak, for I thought that it proved nothing beyond what could be inferred from the note, but I refrained from saying anything. I had no intention of wounding my friend's pride, should that have been the case. But I placed far more faith on the assumption that his cases merely sounded weak because he was leaving out some piece of vital information.
"The second note was also penned on a map, was it not?" I remembered. "Would that not also have been a strong indication?"
"Taken with the rest of the evidence, but not alone," replied Holmes. "Maps may be found more widely, and there was nothing to indicate that the map was a naval one as opposed to any other type."
"But I have wasted quite enough time sitting here," my friend stated, glancing at the clock and starting up. "I have several inquires to make, but I shall return before dinnertime and I will share my findings after we have dined."
"I had thought to return Mrs Kendrick to her home," said I. "I believe that she is well enough to stand the journey and she should be more comfortable there."
"You must not do that," declared Holmes instantly and firmly. "She may be more comfortable, but her very life may be in danger. We know nothing of the character of these men or of their motivation in watching her. I am quite glad that circumstances prevented her from returning home last night, for it was providential considering what you have just revealed."
I could not argue with that, although I was sorely tempted to. "Is there no friend that you could stay with?" I asked, turning to the lady.
"They must not be connected in any way with the Navy," cautioned Holmes, winding his cravat around his neck to guard against the wind.
"Then I have no one," Mrs Kendrick answered with a sigh. "I am not from the city and know only those friends who I had nursed alongside and those naval families that I have met through my husband's introduction."
I thought to suggest that she come to stay with me, but realized that was hardly a better solution, for although I could justify leaving my practice with my neighbour while I was not at home, I should have to take it up again when I returned. My wife was away, and our maid was very young and quite new to her duties. Rather, I had to settle for a deep sigh as Holmes darted from the room.
"I should be back before long," he called back over his shoulder. "You may order what you like for our dinner, Watson."
"Do I concern you, Doctor Watson?" Mrs Kendrick asked after Holmes had gone, quite surprising me for I was not expecting her to speak to the matter so directly.
"There are many things that concern me," said I. "The first among which is what I should have Mrs Hudson make up for our dinner." I had no intention of revealing my thoughts to her. Should she have been Sherlock Holmes, she might have been able to divine them, but, astute as she was, she was not Holmes and I saw no reason to tell her more than she could deduce for herself.
Holmes inquiries must have taken longer than he had originally anticipated for he was back not in time for dinner, as he had said he would be, but rather he was just in time for an early supper. Mrs Hudson, long-suffering lady as she was, had anticipated Holmes's potential late return and had proposed not to bring up anything until after she had heard his tread on the stairs. Knowing well Holmes's habits, I had agreed, promising to call her should the lady and I decide to dine earlier.
"Have you not eaten?" Holmes inquired, noting the empty table as he unwrapped his cravat and removed his coat.
"We were waiting for your return so that we could dine together," said I, turning away from the fire and lowering the book I had been reading so that I could face my friend.
"Well," said Holmes, "I must admit that I am grateful. The wind is enough to chill one to the very bone, and a warm supper will go a long way to remedy that."
"Come and take a place by the fire," urged Mrs Kendrick, laying aside her own book and standing to offer him her place.
Holmes did take the seat by the fire, stretching out his long, thin legs toward its warmth. The knees of his trousers were quite caked with mud, and I could see that his shoes were damp through. Obviously Mrs Kendrick noted this as well, for she hastened to fetch Holmes's slippers, which she had earlier seen kicked carelessly in a corner and placed to air near the fire.
She handed the warmed slippers to Holmes, and for a moment I thought that she would lightly chastise him for soaking his shoes and muddying his trousers, as my own wife would do when I returned home wet and with mud on my trousers. But she did nothing of the sort, rather reaching out to pluck a leaf that I had not even noticed from Holmes's hair.
"I hope that last night's footprints were not washed away or trampled over before you could satisfy yourself about their maker," she noted, laying the small piece of greenery on the table beside Holmes's chair.
"Round toes and heels," said Holmes, "and of rather an average size. No signs of favouritism or unsteadiness of the legs. Unworn on the whole with no distinctive features, so the boots must themselves be quite new and not yet broken in."
I should almost have sworn that the two were making a deliberate parody of a typical domestic scene if I had not known better. Holmes was sprawled out in his chair, staring at the slippers in his hand as though they were something utterly foreign to him. It was quite obvious that he was unused to such attentions. Mrs Kendrick stood before him, her hands pressed into the small of her back, inquiring not into the details of his day, as an average housewife might do, but rather into the particulars of a stranger's boot prints!
I might have betrayed my amusement and laughed aloud but for Mrs Hudson's timely knock at the door. I sprang to my feet to answer it, motioning earnestly for Mrs Kendrick to take a seat so that Mrs Hudson should not be made aware of the true nature of things. She moved to obey, but I still looked to her before opening the door to the landlady. As I looked back, I caught a glimpse of Holmes, still staring down at his slippers.
