Return to the Solution
"Watson do you remember The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton?"
We had settled into our familiar chairs in front of the hearth as Holmes began his no doubt fascinating narrative.
"The one in which you became engaged to a maid to become privy to information? Yes, I remember Holmes" I did not approve of this method of receiving information, perhaps to my friend woman we're nothing more then a means of gathering data and study, but I had found that with the proper amount of time and attention they could be truly delightful.
"Watson there is no need for you to hide your distaste at my actions, but pray keep your distaste to yourself for until after you hear what I have to say."
Did Sherlock Holmes just give me an order? My, this had been an interesting day. And yet I obeyed as the obedient Boswell that I am and listened to my friend speak.
"Yes, well, that case was not a singular incident; in fact, I have used that particular form of investigation on three separate occasions. The first being two years before I met you, to a woman of high social satire who was the niece of a shipping manager suspected of shipping more then tea."
"Opium?" Ventured Watson.
"No, children Watson, though I'm sure there was opium also involved. This man was a devil of a fellow though relatively easy to apprehend once caught off guard directly before he devolved into his daily practice of chasing the family maid into the broom closet precisely at 5 every evening. A vital piece of information that would have been impossible to collect without the help of that young woman.
"I think Watson, that if I we're to ever be married it would have been to Annabelle, when she discovered that I was not a simple hat vendor but a detective she threw far less of a fit than I would have assumed."
I repressed a sigh at my friend's ability to simply throw away such cherished emotions with the simple excuse of information.
"The second I'd assume was the case of Mr. Milverton?"
"No, contrary to the relative low maintenance engagement I held during that particular case, the second incident was probably the most in-depth persona I've ever had to take upon myself.
It was due to the sheer amount of time I spent investigating that led to the unavoidable continuous rise of the relationship, before I knew it, she was no longer a fiancée but a wife."
It was all I could do to not to rise in protest. To lie while taking vows in a church was simply unacceptable, information or not!
"Holmes!"
"Yes Watson, I have never said I was a good man. Infact, it is becoming more and more common for me to utterly loath myself, perhaps more than the criminals I chase."
Taken slightly aback I took a moment for me to compose myself enough to announce there was no excuse for such folly.
"She was with child."
As a doctor I often advise my patients who experience panic attacks. A common method of treatment is to simply close your eyes and count to ten as a small child might do.
I was far beyond counting to ten.
"Holmes! You insufferable retched man! How could you do such a horrendous thing to an innocent woman? Not to mention your absolute lack of moral values! What a man does with his fiancée is one thing, apprehensible and ungentlemanly as it may be, but it is another thing entirely when the bond is fake and one is being led on a path of deceit by the other!
Not to mention the fact that you have never said a word about having a child when it is apparent you knew this entire time! You left that poor woman alone, how I'm not entirely sure, to raise a child. A task not easily performed by two but almost impossible for a single woman! And what about her finances? How could she possibly spend the time necessary with her child if she were working trying to find the means to simply keep it in the proper condition?
I've known you to be cold, I've known you to be dense and absolutely immune to the emotions of others despite your deductive abilities, but I have never known you as this."
Holmes had sat with his head tilted downward and chin facing away. It was now that he lifted his face and looked me in the eyes.
"And what is this Watson?" His tone was colder then ice itself.
"A monster Holmes, I realize I am nowhere near your intellectual abilities, but for the life of me I can not deduce when you turned into a monster."
With this, the man who had remained loyal to Sherlock Holmes for numerous years and even more numerous cases stood and walked out of his life.
