Authors: Unknown
The morning of the fourth day
brought a sparkle to
Holmes's
eyes. He had been chafing under the strain of
inaction
or, at least, action that was non-productive. As
usual,
this had not improved his sometimes brusque and
preoccupied
manner. But it was the old Holmes that
greeted
me at the breakfast table with a smile of relief.
"I do hope you are free to
take a trip, my good Wat
son."
"I can be."
"Then we are off to Berlin."
He handed me a cablegram, which I
eagerly scanned.
MY DEAR MR. HOLMES
LETTER FROM L1NDQUIST INFORMS ME
OF AR
RANGEMENT
HE MADE WITH YOU. AGREEABLE ON
THIS
END. CAN YOU COME TO BERLIN AS THERE
HAS
BEEN RECENT DEVELOPMENT HERE RELATIVE
TO
THE BIRD. I WILL ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR
EXPENSES
INCURRED BY YOU AND YOUR COLLEAGUE,
OF
COURSE. WILL MAKE MYSELF AVAILABLE AT
ANY
TIME.
VASIL D'ANGLAS.
I experienced a nervous moment.
From time to time, I have been accused of being deficient in
imagination
and,
compared to Holmes, it is possible that I am. What imagination I did
have was now working overtime.
"How embarrassing," I
said, "if this complex matter
is
resolved by the owner of the Golden Bird."
Holmes chimed in with my thoughts.
"Lindquist
gone,
Barker as well, and we have gotten ourselves
deeply
involved to no avail." He indulged in a chuckle.
"It would be bitter tea
indeed, but a reminder, ol' chap,
that
no one is indispensable."
Holmes was a fast packer, rapid
departures being no
stranger
to him, and my experience with the Fifth North
umberland
Fusiliers stood me in good stead in this department. It was only
a short time later, having notified
Mrs.
Hudson that we would be off the premises for a
few
days, that we caught the boat train and were on our
way
to the Continent. Doctor Vernier had readily
agreed
to assume my duties until we returned. It was a
situation
he was very familiar with and I do believe that
he
considered my patients as partially his. In a year's time he
certainly saw as much, or more, of them as I
did.
The channel passage was stormy and
rail connections
were
delayed. As a consequence, we arrived in Berlin in
the
late hours but had no difficulty securing a suite at the Bristol
Kempinsky Hotel, where Holmes stayed
when
in Berlin. The night manager, Klaus, always grew
loquacious
at the sight of my friend.
"Ah, Herr Holmes, you have
returned to make dose clever deductions of yours,
nicht war
?"
Invariably, this was Klaus's
greeting and some time
was
spent reassuring the excitable Bavarian that the fate of Europe did
not hang in the balance. Finally, we were
comfortably
ensconced in most satisfactory quarters and our beds were a welcome
sight to me.
The following morning, I awoke to
find Holmes
gone.
Not a new experience, of course, but at least I
could
assume that he had secured some sleep. Without
his
endless files, chemical apparatus or extensive li
brary,
he had no toys to while away the night hours. My
friend
did have a built-in alarm in his splendid brain
and
on more than one occasion I had known him to fall
into
a deep sleep and will himself to awaken at a certain
hour.
I know of no scientific proof that this is possible but I also knew
that he could do it.
* * *
It was mid-morning, after I had
enjoyed a large
breakfast,
when Holmes returned.
"My dear Watson, I trust you
have recovered from
our
travels."
"Indeed, only to find myself
abandoned."
"Good chap, you were sleeping
so soundly that I had not the heart to awaken you. In any case, some
dry re
search
was called for, so I saved you the searching of
the
Meldwesen files."
I recalled that most effective
tool of the Berlin police
force,
which Holmes had such a hearty respect for. At
the
police headquarters in Alexanderplatz were the one
hundred
and eighty rooms that housed the meticulous
card
catalogue on criminals and crimes.
"Who were you checking on?"
"D'Anglas, naturally. We know
nothing of the man
save
what Lindquist told us. Possibly, our employer has
a
dark past indeed. If he does, it is not known to the
Berlin
police. By the way, Inspector Schmidt sent you
his
cordial good wishes."
I recalled the Inspector well. A
short man with a scar on his right cheek and uncomfortably bright
blue eyes.
Chap had
had the effrontery to laugh at a deduction of
mine
in connection with the "Midas Emerald" affair but his tune
had changed when Holmes upheld the rationale
of
my thinking. I muttered something and then, with a
glance
at my watch, suggested that we'd best leave for
our
appointment with D'Anglas.
6
Our
Singular Client
51
In a carriage directed to the West
End address of our
client,
I recalled again how much Berlin's tree-lined boulevards dotted with
striking street cafes and coffee
houses
reminded me of both London and Paris. The craftsman talents of the
Germans kept their metropolis
ultramodern,
but it was delightfully punctuated with
ancient,
grandiose, and historical buildings with a plentitude
of parks and gardens to say nothing of sophisti
cated
nightclubs and gourmet restaurants.
Driving along the Unter den Liden,
the capital did
seem
on this shiny day to have put its best foot forward
and
adopted its most pleasing face. But there was work
to
be done and this fact was brought to my attention
forcibly
when Holmes, in excellent German, directed
our
carriage to come to a halt at a convenient open
space
by the curb of the busy avenue not far from the Emperor's palace.
"Let us remain calm, ol'
fellow," said the detective as
I
registered surprise and a question formed on my lips. "We shall
discuss, apparently, our route: a soup
ç
on
of make-believe that will allow me to solidify suspicions." As
he spoke, Holmes extracted the golden cigarette case
with
the great amethyst, which had been given to him
by
the king of Bohemia. But the king had had no
knowledge
of the mirror surface inside the case, which
had
served the detective well on a number of occasions.
Offering me a cigarette, he held
the case in such a
manner
that he secured a good view of the area behind
us.
I made as though to refuse his offering and then, with
gestures,
apparently changed my mind. My mummery was designed to give Holmes
additional time to check
our
back trail, of course. Something that Holmes saw
must
have been humorous since be was chuckling.
"It is a covered carriage,
Watson, and the driver is somewhat embarrassed since, halted in the
street, he is
blocking
traffic. However, I catch fleeting glimpses of
two
Oriental gentlemen within who are obviously keeping track of us
and have been doing so since we left the
hotel.
They are ordering the driver to remain where he
is
until we show a disposition to move again."
Holmes consulted his watch and
then regarded me
with
that mischievous expression which overran his fea
tures
much more often than most people realized. "We have a bit of
time to spare, ol' fellow. How about some
sport?
There's a policeman approaching and this is too rich a situation to
miss."
Stealing a glance over my left
shoulder, I saw the
scene
just as Holmes had described it. A member of the
Berlin
police force was addressing the driver of a large
carriage
to our rear. A Chinese face appeared reluc
tantly
from the ulterior of the carriage to remonstrate
with
the officer who in turn looked quizzically at the
driver.
My knowledge of German was extremely
sketchy
while my understanding of Chinese was nonex
istent.
Yet, the exchange of words, even in unknown
tongues,
was crystal clear. The passenger of the covered
carriage
was hoping to confuse the officer with a flow of Chinese and the
upholder of the law was regarding the driver as though he could act
as translator. How
ever,
that worthy, who must have wished he had never
risen
from bed on this day, disclaimed any connection
with
the matter via an expressive shrug of his shoulders. The policeman
had an equally expressive gesture to cli
max
the situation and he pointed down the avenue with
finality.
Gigging his horse into motion, the
driver maneuvered
the
closed carriage past us despite verbal protests from
within.
Now Holmes rapped an order to our man and
we
swung away from the curb and proceeded sedately
in
the wake of the covered carriage. I joined Holmes in
a
hearty laugh. Suddenly, the pursued became the pur
suer
and our merriment increased as two heads ap
peared
in the aperture in the rear of the carriage and
regarded
us balefully. The conveyance increased speed and, at a word from
Holmes, so did ours and both vehi
cles
were soon progressing at a good rate.
Holmes finally tired of the game
and as we came to
one
of those delightful squares that dot the West End,
he
issued another order to our man who, suddenly took
a
turn to the left preserving his horse's fast trot. The
other
carriage was already committed to its course and
we
lost it with no difficulty.
Shortly thereafter, we alighted on
a street corner and
Holmes
presented our driver with his fare and, judging
from
the man's expression, a most generous addition.
No
doubt the driver wished that he could pick up a couple of crazy
Englishmen every day.
I was not surprised when we
completed our trip on
foot,
a matter of several blocks. My friend seldom went
directly
to an address, feeling that information of any
kind
was a commodity to be secured, not given away.
As
we made our way down a tree-lined street, Holmes voiced the thoughts
coursing through his agile mind.