Ida stepped into the room to see a young woman sitting on the floor, her face white and tearstreaked, looking at Holmes with startled fear.

'Miss Hertford,' said Holmes, much more gently, 'don't be afraid,'

She shuffled backwards on the floor, away from him,

'Miss Hertford, please give me that…'

Ida saw that she had a small glass bottle in her hand.

'Miss Hertford…' Holmes' voice was desperate. Ida slipped past him

'Emily,' she said, softly, 'it's alright… Whatever he's done, whatever he said, it's alright now. Your mother's on her way…'

'…my…mother?' Emily spoke at last,

'Yes, she's coming, everything's going to be alright now…'

Ida crouched down beside her. Emily twitched slightly but did not move away.

'Everything,' said Ida, still in the same low tone, 'is going to be fine...'

She removed the bottle from Emily's unresisting fingers…

'Emily…'

Mrs Hertford stood in the doorway, trembling

'Oh…my darling girl…'

Ida stood up and moved away as Mrs Hertford entered the room and embraced her daughter.

'Come on,' said Holmes, softly, and they slipped out of the door and shut it behind them.

……………

Standing in the corridor outside the bedroom, Ida heard a sudden commotion downstairs. She hurried to the banister rail to look down.

'Oh no you don't!' Clarence was shouting, as he hung on to Trelawney's arm in an attempt to stop him mounting the staircase. The older man aimed a sharp punch which caught him in the eye. Ida winced in sympathy, and made as if to go and help, but she felt a restraining hand on her shoulder

'Stay back, Miss Greene,' said Holmes

'But…'

'…I can handle Trelawney…'

There was a crash, as of a body hitting the floor,

'Clarence!' cried Ida, in sudden fear, turning back… to see that Clarence was, miraculously, still standing, looking down at Trelawney's prone form in bewilderment.

'He's out cold!' exclaimed Holmes, 'How in the world…?'

Clarence looked up to see Ida leaning over the banister rail, and grinned in a slightly dazed fashion,

'I'd better not have fractured my drawing hand,' he said.

………..

It was five minutes later - after she had helped Clarence to tie the still unconscious Trelawney to a dining room chair, then despatched him to take the bewildered housemaid to stay the night at a friend's house - that Ida noticed that Holmes had disappeared.

She found him standing in the small garden at the front of the house, staring out into what was now a moonless city night.

'So,' she said, 'are you going to tell me the whole story now?'

Holmes started, and turned to her with a faraway expression on his face.

'What happened all those years ago?'

'Do you not have an idea already, Miss Greene?'

Ida paused, and let her thoughts settle for once. She re lived certain key conversations in her head, and an idea began to take shape…

'Morris…' she began, 'Morris was Edwina's fiancé. And Morris died. Daniel Trelawney was in love with Edwina...'

Holmes gave no hint of whether this was leading in the right direction.

'Did…did Trelawney murder Morris Hertford?'

'He did.' Holmes swallowed, then continued quickly 'He also murdered his great aunt, but I couldn't have expected you to work that out...'

'….but he was imprisoned for the murder of his cousin' interrupted Ida.

Holmes said nothing.

'And he said that she…committed suicide…'

Holmes leant heavily on the railing and inhaled deeply from his pipe.

'Is that true?' Ida persisted, 'did she?'

'Ida…sometimes the facts can be an obstacle to justice….'

'…you mean….?'

'Daniel Trelawney committed murder and went to prison.'

'For the wrong crime! Found guilty of killing the woman that he loved, Holmes, for pity's sake!'

'Pity? Pity? I have felt a lot of things relating to my actions those years ago, but pity for Daniel Trelawney has not been one of them.' Holmes bit his lip suddenly at this outburst,

'At…' Ida repeated, 'your actions all those years ago? What are you saying?'

Holmes made no reply, and for the first time since she had known him he did not meet her eye.

'Did you….did you frame him?' the words were out of her mouth as the very thought occurred to her, and she willed him to deny it, but he didn't.

'You framed him?' she said, bewildered horror creeping into her voice, 'you framed him, how in the world can you call that justice?'

'Miss Greene, you do not know the details…'

'….no, but I know the difference between right and wrong and…and look where this has led! He's practically insane! And I mean, Emily might have…she might have…'

'…I know.' Holmes sighed heavily. 'I know. And I have to live with that.'

'So…' said Ida, slowly, 'he has no idea, does he? Of the real reason why he went to prison…?'

'….he committed murder, he is well aware of that. But no, I see your point, if there was anyone he might justifiably seek revenge on it should be me. '

Ida said nothing.

'Miss Greene…' his voice sounded strangely tighter than usual, 'not a day has gone by when I haven't wished that I could have gone about it differently…'

'…gone about it differently?'

'Proved, incontrovertibly, his guilt, his real guilt of his actual crime, but…'

'…but you're Sherlock Holmes!' cried Ida, almost involuntarily, 'that's what you do…'

'It's what I endeavour to do.' he said, barely audibly. 'And I pray that I will never again make a mistake of that magnitude…'

'…so you admit it was a mistake…'

'… it is probably the single biggest regret of my life.'

A large black coach drew into the mouth of the cul de sac

'Lestrade's here,' commented Holmes, emotionlessly.

…..

The policeman gave Ida a curious glance as he arrived at the front gate, but made no comment bar,

'I owe you a favour after the Norwood affair, Holmes, but really, did you have to send that street urchin? I was having a meeting with the chief constable…'

'Come inside,' said Holmes, tersely, and headed back into the house. Ida gave the inspector an apologetic half smile.

……………

When Ida led the two men into the dining room, they found Trelawney seated in the chair still but awake, and incandescent with rage. The scene was made all the more frightening, however, by the fact that he wasn't struggling. The fury was encapsulated in his eyes alone, and in the icy force with which he spoke,

'I am beginning to see a common thread to my misfortunes, Holmes…'

'Trelawney,' said Holmes, 'this gentleman is Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard…'

'Scotland Yard! Oh, how very convenient! As you can see, Inspector, these criminals have imprisoned me, in my own home would you believe, and now…'

'…Holmes,' said Lestrade, 'I'm assuming you want me to arrest this fellow, but I'm not a mind reader. What has he done?'

'I have done nothing!'

'We'll see about that!' grinned Lestrade, 'come on Holmes, spill the beans…'

'Oh,' said Trelawney, 'he knows. He knows that I have committed no crime here. If the lady happened to…'

'The lady,' said Holmes, through clenched teeth, 'is alive.'

Trelawney's face contorted for an instant, but he quickly regained composure…

'I see,' he said, softly. 'Well. You have even less of a case. I would appreciate it if you would release me….'

'I could get the inspector to arrest you for the murder of Morris Hertford,' said Holmes. Trelawney looked momentarily confused

'Oh!' he said, suddenly, 'you were touchingly convinced of that, weren't you? It's all coming back to me…Well… Perhaps if things had been different then I would have killed him. But trust me, if I had, I would have thought of something a lot more painful…'

Ida looked at Holmes in confusion. His face was white, but whether with rage or shock she could not tell.

'Lestrade,' he said, eventually, 'may I have a word with you outside?'

Oh, great thought Ida to herself, leave me alone with the madman why don't you?

'Miss Greene can take care of herself,' said Holmes to the inspector, who had been looking doubtful, and they left the room.

Trelawney looked down the bridge of his nose at Ida, and remarked

'Holmes I remember. And Mrs Hertford…that's understandable. But… you…?'

Ida ignored the question, but posed one of her own.

'Why?'

'I beg your pardon?'

'Before, in the drawing room, you were telling us why. But you never finished… Why did you want to hurt Emily of all people, she was a mere child when you were sent to prison, she…'

'Morris Hertford took from me the one person on earth that mattered to me. I couldn't exactly repay him in kind, but …'

'…but Morris is dead! The only people that were going to suffer were his family!'

'Morris never loved Edwina. I could see it in his eyes, in his face, in everything about him. But she killed herself for love of him nonetheless. And I promised her, I swore to her that some day, someone would pay for that…'

'…but…'

The door opened suddenly, and Ida stopped mid sentence, unsure of what it was she had been about to say anyway. Lestrade entered the room, accompanied by a uniformed policeman.

'Right,' said the inspector, 'Mr Trelawney, I am taking you into custody…'

'…what!'

'It will go better for you if you do not struggle, sir…'

Ida slipped out into the corridor, where Holmes was sitting on the stairs.

'What did you tell Lestrade?' she asked.

'It doesn't matter.'

'Yes it does! Whatever you may think of people, you can't simply have them arrested for things they haven't done, and how are you going to prove…'

'…I'm not going to prove anything.'

'I don't understand.'

'He is a danger to himself and to others. I've asked Lestrade to have a police doctor consider whether he should be institutionalised.'

'Institutionalised…'

'…placed in an establishment for the…'

'I know what it means!'

'Miss Greene… I wish this could have turned out differently.'

'So do I.'

Ida walked towards the front door, suddenly finding that she was having to fight back tears.

Not in front of him, she willed herself, not in front of him…

'Miss Greene…' Holmes called after her, 'I'm sorry if I've…disappointed you.'

She didn't turn round.