Quite a plot twist in that last one, eh? Here's the next story.
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The Adventure of the Heirloom WatchI have previously referenced this particular case in 'The Adventure of the Five Statuettes', and as I have said before, it is the only other interesting case that summer.
It all began quickly after the arrest of James Moriarty, then and still the most dangerous man in all of Europe, and even possibly, the world. Holmes had theorized that, after the events of 'The Adventure of the Five Statuettes' that it was none other than James Moriarty who had ordered the laudanum, for the simultaneous purpose of ruining Lord Montcalfe's, and the anonymous politician's, lives. With his genius, he was able not only to determine where Lord Montcalfe got his supplies, but a list of all his customers, including a very important member of society. By mimicking his handwriting, he was able to make certain that Lord Montcalfe would produce the order anyway, and promptly burning the supplier to the ground. It was an ingenious plan, though we can only guess as to the vendetta Moriarty had towards Montcalfe that would make him do such a thing. Perhaps it was simply because he was becoming bored, and tried to see how quickly he could ruin two lives at once, by uncovering these facts.
The Montcalfe case was closed, but it turned out that there was another member of the family that had gone missing, as told by Elizabeth Montcalfe, yet again.
The exact train of events was fairly similar to the previous one, in the sense that Holmes had gotten no cases of interest, and had gone back to the pipe. However, something was very wrong, as I noticed while trying to read.
I set my book down and ran out of my room, having detected a rancid burning smell. Opening the door only made it worse, so I pulled my shirt over my nose and demanded to know what this smoke was.
"It is my pipe ash, Watson! Can you not see that?
"Holmes, you have made a mistake! I believe you have grabbed not your ash, but rather hair that the dog left in the slipper.
Holmes paused, and snuffed out his flame. "I could not tell the difference. Perhaps I should change the pharmacy. Watson, open the window, could you?
I gladly did such. As I did, I saw somebody walking towards our door, and realized it was Elizabeth Montcalfe. I hoped dearly that she had a case of great interest for us, as I did not want another cloud of noxious fumes in the apartment.
As I opened it, I noticed somebody in a beautiful blue dress opening the door to our apartment. To my surprise, it was Elizabeth Montcalfe, come again for Holmes' assistance.
"Elizabeth!" I cried. However, she was already in the door at that point, so she did not hear me. I took my head from the window, and Holmes, as if on cue, asked, "Were you referring to Elizabeth Montcalfe?
"Yes, I was. She has returned for some reason I cannot guess.
"It must be more family troubles. Ah! Here she is now.
Elizabeth had opened our door, and was just as stunning as the last time we had seen her.
"What troubles you this time, Elizabeth?" Queried Holmes.
"It is my uncle this time.
"Ah!" I interjected. "I had read about that. Alfred Montcalfe had been murdered in his own house…
"I have already solved a case similar to this. Had he any important government documents?
"No." Said Elizabeth.
"Bank documents?
"Yes, he was an important banker.
"Wonderful! I can solve a case without having large amounts of secrecy involved, and Watson won't have to wait two years before publishing it.
"I am sorry to tell you the stolen documents related directly to the Royal Family.
"Oh." Holmes' burst of joy quickly diminished. "What, exactly, were these documents about?
"Nothing very important. The Queen simply deposited a sum of ten thousand pounds in his bank, and the documents for the transaction were stolen.
"What about the money itself?
"It is still in the bank.
"Interesting.
"There was another item deposited, an heirloom gold watch. It was valued at about five hundred pounds.
"What became of it?
"It is the only thing stolen.
"Most interesting indeed! Watson, can you think of any reason that somebody would steal an old watch and not ten thousand pounds?
"I'm afraid not.
"Neither can I.
"Then why did you ask?
"I was trying to see if you had any possible explanation.
"Why? You have no data yet. You would never hypothesize at this point in time.
"Exactly. I was trying to see what you could come up with given this information. Where is this house?
"It about five kilometers away from here, to the north.
"Excellent. Have you brought a cab?
"Yes, I have.
"Then we shall take that. Come, Watson, the game is once more afoot!
"Fantastic.
Holmes got up from his seat, as did I. Elizabeth, however, stayed in the apartment.
"You are not coming?
"You asked me to stay last time.
"And so you shall stay this time.
"Good. I heard about what happened during the first case, and I don't think my weak constitution could have handled such a thing.
"Indeed." Said Holmes. We exited the room walked down the stairs, and climbed into the cab, immediately giving the driver the instructions Elizabeth had told us.
Not an hour later, we arrived at a large manor, similar to the one belonging to Lord Montcalfe.
"I suppose the Montcalfes have the same general tastes." I noted.
"Indeed."
We exited the cab, Elizabeth having already paid our fare. Upon opening the doors to the manor, we found that the interior was also very similar to the manor we had previously visited.
"Have we come to Lord Montcalfe's manor by mistake?
"I do not believe so. If I am correct, Alfred Montcalfe's room is most likely upstairs, at the end of the hall.
"It seems obvious, what with how similar the rest of the house is.
"Of course. Follow me, Watson.
Holmes started walking, setting a very good pace, and I did as such. Opening the hall door, we found that the corridor was, yet again, almost indistinguishable from the other. As we walked down the corridor, I attempted to start a conversation.
"Perhaps the buildings were designed by the same person?
"That is the most likely explanation. This should be the bedroom.
Holmes opened the door, and was just as surprised as I was to see that the room was completely different from Lord Montcalfe's. Rather than the African design of the first bedroom, its walls were covered with the finest art. The bed was of the utmost construction. As a whole, the room would not have been out of place in Buckingham Palace.
"It would seem Alfred Montcalfe had very good taste!" Exclaimed Holmes. "That window is most likely where the murderer came in from.
"It could be possible that this is another great hoax." I suggested.
"That is also possible." Holmes walked to the window and looked at it. "However, the evidence here would suggest otherwise."
"How so?" I asked.
"Look at the lock. It has been broken. Adding to that, there are footprints here pointing away from the window, and the sill is damaged. Somebody had come through here, without any doubt.
"Then Alfred Montcalfe must really be dead. But why only steal the watch, and not ten thousand pounds?"
"That I still do not know. But I believe a search of this room will give us the answer. I'll look in this desk. Watson, you search through the dressers."
He was directing me to a large, ornate clothe dresser. I opened the top shelf and began rifling through it. Holmes, however, was more methodical in his approach, as he was tapping the legs of the desk to check for hollows. On the third leg, he found what he was looking for.
"Watson, quickly! I believe I have found something of importance in this leg of the desk!"
I immediately walked over, and Holmes broke off the bottom of the leg. A slip of paper, with a large amount of writing on it, fell out.
"Ha! The robber missed one of the transaction forms." Holmes read through it, and gave a start upon reading who it was made out to. "This transaction…it was made by none other than James Moriarty!"
"Of course!" I cried. "He stole the money from his own bank, and hid it by giving it to another bank!"
"But Alfred Montcalfe had figured out that Moriarty was not a member of the royal family, but instead a criminal, and thus, Moriarty had him killed. As for the watch, I believe I can say that it had some sort of instruction on it for his new gang, explaining why it and not the money which was stolen!"
"But if your hypothesis about the laudanum smuggling is correct, that means this is the second time he has targeted a Montcalfe. What personal vendetta could he have?
" I would have to say there is none. It is probably just a great coincidence.
"But this would mean that Moriarty has escaped from the prison.
"Not necessarily, Watson. Remember, Moriarty has a massive amount of connections. There were undoubtedly several I missed. At least one of the prison guards probably works for him. He could have simply given him the message, and thus relay it to an assassin without ever leaving his cell."
"Ingenious!" I cried.
"It would be simplicity itself. Now, we must track down Moriarty and figure out who is working for him."
"Then we shall go to the prison."
"Of course."
We chose to leave the house, having figured out the solution already, and go to the prison where James Moriarty was being held.
We instructed the cab driver to go to the prison as fast as possible, and he did so. However, he went just slightly too fast, and upon arrival, I required a few seconds to get my bearings. I was quickly over it, though, and we continued inside.
To our surprise, a great commotion was going on inside. A number of journalists were running about, asking for questions relating to our quarry.
"Excuse me, what is going on?" I asked a policeman.
"James Moriarty has escaped, and his guard has disappeared."
"Damn it!" Cried Holmes. "True to his word, he has escaped from prison."
"We can track him down." Stated the policeman.
"No, that would be completely impossible. Moriarty has many connections, and is highly intelligent. It would take a miracle to find him."
"What makes you so sure?"
"I am the only person able to prove a worthy match for him. My name is Sherlock Holmes. Perhaps you've read the stories that Dr. John Watson, my colleague, has published?"
"I've heard of them, but I considered them to be pure fiction."
"Considering how embellished they are, that is not far off. May we see the cell."
"I suppose. Come, it is this way." The policeman walked off in the direction of the cell, and we followed as such. The cell he stopped at was surprising, as it was not only ajar, but contained a corpse.
"Good lord!" I cried.
"Most interesting!" Said Holmes, who began investigating the body, tapping it very hard in several places.
After a few minutes, Holmes asked the policeman a single question.
"I assume that Moriarty escaped last night."
The policeman gave a start. "Why, yes, he did. How could you tell?"
"I once made a study on how bruises are produced from a corpse. By the way these bruises were formed, I can safely place the estimate at last night."
"Why would anybody in their right mind study something like that?"
"Clearly, it has some practical application. Now, Watson, can you tell me where this man was injured without moving the body?"
It was a fairly simple exercise, as the bloodstains on the wall could only have been caused by one part of the body. "He was clearly stabbed in the aortic ventricle, as only that would cause such a high pressure burst of fluid."
"Excellent, Watson!"
"But, who is this?"
"I would say some unfortunate guard who discovered their escape. Ah, see here. This lock has been tampered, probably by the guard of this cell. It would seem that Moriarty and his other associate were able to simply walk out of this prison. That is certainly very embarrassing."
"This is ridiculous! One of our men was secretly working for this great criminal mastermind I've never heard of? And they simply walked out of here after murdering another guard? Impossible!"
"Well, can you propose another explanation?"
The policeman paused. "I admit it is the most likely explanation."
"Quite right. Now, the only question that remains is…where is Moriarty?"
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An important question, indeed. The conclusion to this arc will be up eventually. Until then, this is AwkwardVulpix, over and out.
