III

Sherlock Holmes was away until late at night, which gave me a relief. The fact that the address Desailles had given was a real one, had baffled me at first; but then I reached the conclusion that it was all for the best, since this meant that Holmes was to waste the least possible time before he found out there was no Frank Stanley, having the rest of the day to find Lord Greenstone's son.

As I said, Holmes was out until late at night, and it was only in the morning that I got to exchange a few words with him.

"I'm going to see Lord Greenstone now!" he said as he left once more.

His mood had become very rude, but he was healthy again, which was all I cared about in those days.

Shortly after lunch, Mrs Hudson ushered a visitor into our lodgings. It was no one else than Lord Greenstone, who came in asking about Holmes.

"He left in the morning," I explained, "have you not seen him yet?"

"No. I sent a telegram at the first hour yesterday but I haven't received any reply from him."

"Well," said I with notorious embarrassment, "he has been engaged in a most remarkable case, which requires his full attention. But I'm absolutely sure he's been trying to get in touch with you."

"It's quite possible," explained Lord Greenstone. "I have been constantly moving from place to place trying to find my boy. I've gone to see most of his friends and they don't know anything about where he might be now. Would you please urge Mr Holmes to contact me when you see him?" he asked. "I'm absolutely certain that this time his disappearance is for real," he added not without betraying his grief.

After his lordship had left, my sense of guilt was as high as it had been for the last days. Holmes had not yet seen him, and it was all my fault. I could only hope that the boy was found without further delay, or else…

Holmes got home just as late as the day before, and I had already gone to bed. However, this time I woke up and rushed to the main room, finding him sitting on the settee with another envelope in his hands.

"Holmes!" I said, "you have to see Lord Greenstone at once!"

Holmes' expression was grave when he replied.

"I come from his very house."

"Oh! And have you found his son?"

"Yes – he's dead."

"Dead!" I screamed, my knees trembling. "But, Holmes…"

"What?" he asked defiantly. "It was not my fault; the boy was dead when I got there."

I could hardly believe my ears. There was the man who wouldn't miss the tiniest clue when fighting crime, excusing himself after having waited a whole day before putting his hands in the case of young Greenstone's disappearance. Of course I had only myself to blame; I should have had explained to him that the other case was a plant. Still, I couldn't see how he had not contacted his lordship in the remainder of the day; unless, he had been unable to do so, due to Lord Greenstone's travels, in which case his visit to Skyway Manor would have been most unfortunate.

He seemed to read the worry in my face, for his tone smoothed when again he spoke.

"Have you written a letter to a friend recently?" he asked.

"Yes! How did you know?" I replied without even daring to meet his glance.

"Here. Returned to sender," he said as he handed me the very letter I had written to Desailles, the envelope still sealed. "Your friend must have moved."

"What?"

"He probably doesn't live there any more."

"Oh!" I exclaimed with my eyes fixed on the letter. "But…but…"

"But, but?" said Holmes, now smiling.

"But yesterday you went to investigate that other case!"

"What other case?"

"Why, the one with the blooded room!"

"Ah, of course. Well it happened that the blood in the room was young Greenstone's, you see?" he explained. "So it was all just one case."

My heart grew lighter after learning that it was not fault of any of us that the young boy had been killed. I can't forgive myself for feeling relief when someone has died, but I had been living in hell for the last hours.

"And did you find the murderer?" I asked.

"Yes," said Holmes lighting his pipe and leaning back on the settee. "When Mr Stanley showed me to the room I knew at once that whoever had lost so much blood had to be dead; and when I saw the golden watch, I recognised it as that of young Greenstone's; so I thought there was no rush to meet his lordship then, for I was already working on his case. The murderer has already confessed his crime, but I'm still to hear his story. However, the events as I gather were as follows. Stanley hosts a party for some fifty guests, young Greenstone and the murderer being two of them. After a while, they decide to play poker, for which they find a disengaged room to get some quietness. At some point during the game, a quarrel between them takes place. Young Greenstone takes off his watch, preparing himself for what he thought would be a fist fight; however, he doesn't count on his opponent having carried a knife in one his pockets, and he gets stabbed to death, twice in his heart and once in his neck. Shocked by what he's done, the killer must make up his mind quickly about what to do. He can't escape leaving his victim behind, for he has been seen with him in the party and he would become the main suspect. Instead, he can afford to take the body with him, knowing that young Greenstone has been reported missing before, without him having anything to do with it. This plan would give him a couple of days to vanish before the police suspects him. Now he has to think of how to take the dead body out of the house without anyone noticing. The main door is discarded; there are fifty witnesses waiting in the ground floor. The window would mean having to drop young Greenstone from a great high, with an inevitable thud that would bring everyone to see. And there's the chimney, which represents an impossible challenge… unless he had a rope ladder. He knows just where to find one and he decides to go for it; and again he has to think of how to exit the room. To go out the door would mean to leave the room unlocked, which represents a risk he cannot afford to run; the chimney can't be climbed without the ladder; and the window is the only way out. Making his way to the ground by means of the water pipe must have been a difficult task, but – determined as he is – he makes it unnoticed, but not without leaving his footmarks on the gravel. Once he gets the rope ladder and a plastic bag, he finds his way up to the roof of the house; he fastens the ladder to a couple of tubes and drops it down the chimney to the room of the murder. By this time, his victim has lost most of his blood, leaving a big red pool on the floor. He probably wipes some of it against the walls before putting the body inside the bag. Then he climbs the rope with his burden on his shoulder, without forgetting to take with him the deck of cards they have been playing with. As for the ace of spades, I'm inclined to believe that it didn't belong to the original deck, and that it was the cause of the quarrel. It being an ace supports this theory, and also the fact that it was found in the fireplace; it must have fallen from one of young Greenstone's sleeves as he was being carried up the chimney."

"And what about the watch?" I asked.

"He never noticed it."

"Well, how did you catch the murderer?"

"I didn't. Lord Greenstone did. Of course I helped by finding a couple of hairs in the fireplace. So we were looking for a man with curly blonde hair, and strong enough to climb a ladder with a dead man on his shoulder. And we also had his footmarks. When I finally reached his lordship and gave him my report, he knew right away who our man was. In a container in the yard of his house we found the corpse in the bag, and the ladder. What he intended to do with them I can only guess."

"Well, my friend," said I, "it's great to have you back."

"Thank you, Watson. And I'm not forgetting my promise, you see? I got us both tickets to 'King Lear' tomorrow."

THE END