The End of the Road
Watson looked at the large green fields and the sparse tress that led to Pemberley, Nigel Gardner's estate. Holmes seemed to not even notice the surrounding beauty but looked up when the massive house came into view.
"Good, we're here! Watson, please don't feel intimidated by the large house; Mr. Gardner is not a man to be feared," the detective said calmly as the cart shuddered to a stop in front of the large oaken doors.
As if by magic the butler appeared and showed them into the main room which showcased a large statue of the current French prime minister and behind it was a grand staircase. Watson looked at the piece and the surrounding French artwork with an air of interest.
"Well, he certainly loves the French," he observed trying to see what Holmes thought.
"Clearly, Mr. Gardner is the right man to be cultural attaché to France; this man should help tremendously with this case, Watson."
The butler kindly informed that Mr. Gardner was on his way and to wait in his office. The office was just as grand, the walls covered with portraits of the family and himself with the French Prime Minister. Watson sat on the couch while Holmes studied the portraits and pointed to one featuring a slim young man with strawberry blond hair and blue eyes.
"This is our victim, Watson; it would do you good to memorize his features," he said, making his friend stand to study the painting.
The door to the office opened as the two men returned to their previous positions, and revealed a tall, balding man with green eyes who stepped into the room.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen, please sit down. Would either of you like a glass of brandy?"
Watson declined as well as Sherlock and took out his notebook to take notes.
"Mr. Gardner, you must have some idea that your son William has been kidnapped," the detective started, studying the man who was seated behind his desk.
"Yes, his fiancée contacted me as soon as she realized that he was missing," the thin man nodded.
"I have just received word from Miss Steward mentioning that she was once engaged to a Mr. Jim Ellis, can you tell us if that is so?"
The attaché's face grew grim, but he answered the question nonetheless. "Yes, it was true; the man was a former friend of William's. They had both attended Oxford together and were teammates on the school's rowing team. About five years ago, Jim was engaged to marry Gertrude Steward while William was playing for the Royal Theatre orchestra and courting another violin player. Jim started to go bad, began drinking more and gambling away his weekly allowance from his father. I asked William what could have caused this and he confessed that he was seeing Miss Steward behind Ellis's back. Of course he told me that he felt terrible for ruining his friendship with Ellis and his courtship but he loved Miss Steward so much he was willing to make sacrifices."
Watson had to keep his face focused on his note paper to stop himself from mentioning who the lady was and how much damage it had done to her.
"Of course it was only a matter of time until he was found out by Ellis or the other lady; to my surprise the lady found out before Ellis had and exposed the affair. Ellis was furious, and went into a rampage, drinking and gambling like he had nothing to lose. Soon he was stealing from shops to keep up with his gambling debts and ended up kidnapping one of his loaners and killed him in broad daylight."
The man shook his head. "I know all of this from William and what the courts could get from Ellis himself. I'm happy that my son found happiness but when it results in his own kidnapping by his former friend I feel obligated to help."
Holmes looked at the man with his cold eyes, looking for any indication of a lie.
"Mr. Gardner, did you ever meet this Jim Ellis?" he asked, bypassing the questions of his assistant's actions.
"Yes, a few times when William came home for the summer holidays he would bring Jim along. He was a pleasant fellow, came from a good family and had impeccable manners. It just killed me to see a young man like that to go down such a dark path."
He shook his head sadly almost in defeat. The detective nodded and then stood up and began to pace.
"Why did you not stop your son from doing such a thing to a friend? Was his happiness worth it?" He paced, still keeping both eyes on his subject.
"Before he confessed to me about his true actions, I had no idea what was going on; he had been telling me of his performances at the theatre and how much he cared for the lady he was seeing."
Holmes then did something surprising - he asked about the mystery lady.
"Who was this lady your son saw before his love affair with Miss Gertrude?"
The attaché scratched his chin in deep thought.
"It was another violinist by the name of Claire Watson, I believe. I didn't mention her before, because she was so perfect for William that after the affair business she blamed me for withholding information and told me how this could have all been prevented if I had spoken out earlier."
Watson's right hand was now shaking in rage and Holmes could see his dutiful chronicler would punch Mr. Basil Gardner if he did not step in.
"What did you think of her words towards you?" Holmes asked, stepping in between Watson and his future target to prevent any future violence.
"Well, naturally, I felt bad for the lady, she was the one who discovered the affair after all, and I couldn't help but give her some money to give her a comfortable living. It was the least I could do. Mr. Holmes, that woman must have felt so betrayed I'm surprised she had the courage to come forward to me with the information."
Watson couldn't take any more of Mr. Gardner's portrayal of his cousin and stood up and was about to reprimand his friend's client. Holmes thankfully cut of his friend and bowed his head to Mr. Basil Gardner.
"Thank you, Mr. Gardner, for taking the time to give us this enlightening interview. We will let you know as soon as possible when we find your son."
Watson stormed out without a second glance at the client and did not stop walking until he got outside. Holmes caught up to his friend to see him seething in the cart.
"Watson, how dare you treat Mr. Gardner like that? You cannot judge a man just because he doesn't give two bits about how your cousin dealt with the affair!" he stormed, his mood equaling his friend's.
"Well I do, Holmes! He treated Claire's emotions as something to pay off and I for one can't take that in stride!" he shouted as the cart rattled back to the hotel.
"Miss Watson seemed not to be vexed about it to me," Holmes said calmly.
"That's because she's been hiding in emotional armor all this time, Holmes! Don't you see, after her involvement with the professor Claire found a man she loved and who loved her back only to find that he was seeing another woman! Think of what that would do to a person's heart and confidence!" Watson was shouting, not caring who heard his anger.
Holmes stared at his friend to try and stem his anger. "Watson, try and be a rational being - you are acting like a raving maniac. I don't think Miss Watson would be as kind as I am to your behavior, so try and pull yourself together or I'll be forced to lock you in your hotel room!" he said threateningly.
Watson took a deep breath and looked embarrassed, "I'm sorry Holmes, I just overreacted; it won't happen again."
Holmes nodded, "I'll see to it that you keep your temper. Now we have a train to catch tonight, I have all I need – now the only thing remaining is to bring Ellis out into the open."
Holmes rubbed his hands together in excitement, hoping that his assistant was behaving herself.
Claire rubbed her temples as she looked at Inspector Bradstreet.
"For the last time, Inspector, I haven't been talking with William Gardner since his affair four years ago. I can only tell you what he's been up to from the newspapers."
Mycroft Holmes had gone home, leaving her to brood upon the manner of setting up a trap for Ellis. Bradstreet was back at the flat because he had gotten a telegram from Holmes telling him of Claire's history with William.
"Are you absolutely certain, Miss Watson?"
The lady nodded, "For the last time, yes, if you want an updated view of William ask Mr. Mycroft Holmes. They worked in the same building; he might know something about what was going on before the kidnapping," she said, tired of answering questions.
Mrs. Hudson came in with another cable from Holmes, this time for Claire. It read, "Ellis engaged to Miss Steward. Spiraled down a path leading to kidnapping due to fact that his fiancé was with another man. Didn't know who until you came out with it. Will return late tonight. Tell Bradstreet that you have absolute authority until I get there. Holmes."
Claire showed it to Bradstreet, who muttered uncomfortably about not wanting a woman in charge of him, but otherwise didn't say anything else.
"Well, here is a map of the places so far that people have reported seeing men fitting Ellis's description."
The inspector unrolled map of London and pointed to the places with red markers. Claire noticed that the red dots were centered on the dock area, and began to rub her chin.
"We need to find where in the dock Ellis is hiding. I think that is a job for the Baker Street Irregulars, and Bloody Mary," she said, stiffly going outside onto the street to get Wiggins.
Bradstreet watched her talk to the filthy street urchin and after a few moments she returned with Wiggins and a slight smile.
"Bradstreet, you know Wiggins. He's agreed to help us find Ellis and if William is alive."
Wiggins smiled at the Inspector, who found out how many teeth the child was missing.
Claire left the two to wander around the sitting room; Wiggins tried to open the desk only to get a sharp reprimand from Bradstreet and a cup of cocoa from Mrs. Hudson. The young lady emerged from the other room, her hair lighter, and falling out of her bun, her tattered shawl covered the dirty red scarf she had around her left arm and through the dirt on her face, Bradstreet could barely recognize her.
"All right, Wiggins, let's be off! I hope you don't mind waiting for us, Inspector, but we will be some time. Mrs. Hudson will give you a nice sandwich in a bit and please don't drink all the brandy."
The lady bowed to him before coughing slightly and following Wiggins out the door into the street.
Holmes and Watson took a cab to Baker Street, tired from the long journey. Watson was much calmer than before and Holmes was in his thinking-out-the-case mood and did not notice anything until the cab stopped.
The two men climbed out and returned to the flat that held a sleeping Bradstreet and a weary Mrs. Hudson.
"Good to see you both back so soon. Miss Watson left a few hours ago with that Wiggins lad; they should be back very soon," she said, taking their bags up and disappearing.
Holmes shook Bradstreet awake.
"You're under arrest! Anything you say…" The inspector trailed off to see Holmes and Watson standing over him. "What time is it?" He asked, reaching for a small glass of brandy.
"It's half-past midnight, Bradstreet," Holmes said, lighting a pipe in no time.
"She and the boy should have been back by now. I knew that Claire Watson would get into trouble at some point," he grumbled.
Watson was about to glare at him when the door opened wide to reveal Claire in her Bloody Mary disguise and Wiggins next to her looking very tired and very pale.
"Good God, Claire! What happened to you?" Watson asked her urgently, guiding his cousin to the couch where she sat down, still pale and shaking a little.
"We found him," she croaked, not looking at anybody in particular.
Bradstreet smiled and held out a hand to congratulate Claire.
"I didn't say whom I found, did I?" she said sarcastically, reaching for Bradstreet's brandy and returning the color to her face. She motioned Wiggins to come forth, who spoke nervously.
"As the Miss said we went down to the dock, an we looked 'round where the 'nspector told us to look. We found 'er ol gang and they were nice enough to 'elp us out. It was an hour ago we found that William fella you were lookin' for. He's still kickin' but Ellis is starvin' him and we don't have much time to get him out."
Claire nodded, chomping into a piece of bread, offering Wiggins a small cake. She cleared her throat.
"William has three days at the most - he looked like a skeleton when we found him. He's in the Mermaid bar on the third floor locked in the closet. My scarf members say that Ellis should be back in the morning, so if you want to rescue him it has to be now or never," she said before lying down and going to sleep.
Wiggins got paid by Holmes and agreed to lead the detective and Watson to the site. Inspector Bradstreet at once wanted back up but Holmes refused.
"We are just concerned with getting Mr. Gardner out of there alive, and with the three of us it should be easy to get him out of there," Holmes said, removing his revolver from the locked desk drawer.
"Come Watson, the game is afoot! To the docks!" Holmes said, dashing off to a cab and a very weary Watson following him.
Claire rose slowly to redress and waited silently to see the man who had destroyed her heart.