Unknown (13 page)

Never having received attention
like this at Scotland Yard, it crossed my mind that Holmes and I
should travel abroad more often. But the sergeant, whose name proved
to be Dienstag, was not finished. Obviously, he felt that a
heaven-sent opportunity for criminal research had presented itself
and was loath to let the great moment slip away.

"Doctor Vatson," he
continued, "in your masterly ac
count
of the case of 'The Speckled Band' . . ."

"Another of those overly
melodramatic titles," inter
jected
Holmes with disdain.

"Der speckled band vas from
India und a swamp adder. But der is no svamp adders in India,
vich has puzzled me greatly, Herr Doctor."

Since Sergeant Dienstag was, to my
delight, directing
his
question in my direction, I hastened to clear the
matter
up. "Your confusion is understandable, Ser
geant.
However, when I first made that adventure avail
able
to the reading public . . ."

Alas, my explanation could not be
completed since Wolfgang Von Shalloway appeared and advanced upon
Holmes with his
hands outstretched.

"Ach, Holmes! And Doctor
Watson? Such a happy
surprise.
Come . . . come, my office is yours."

Murmuring greetings, we were
escorted to the lift
with
much pomp and Sergeant Dienstag remained con
fused
since more important matters had to be dealt
with.*

* The loathsome serpent in
The
Adventure of the Speckled Band
was,
by most herpetologists' judgment, the Russell's
viper.

In but a short time we were in the
office of the chief
of
the Berlin police. Von Shalloway shooed out mem
bers
of his staff and ordered a cessation of all other
business
during the visit of his illustrious friend.

Holmes protested that he did not
wish to intrude on
official
matters but Von Shalloway waved his objections
aside.
I did not take my friend's disclaimers at face
value
and was quite certain that the sleuth was secretly
delighted
at the furor that his appearance had caused.
Now
Von Shalloway exhibited the sagacity that had
made
him one of the most famous man-hunters in
the
world.

"To see you out of your
beloved London, Holmes— that is rare indeed. So something has
taken the British lion from his lair and it could only be a case."

"We are involved in a
trifling matter," admitted
Baker
Street's most famous resident. "A theft which
did
not occur within the borders of Germany. In con
nection
with the matter, I had reasons for coming here to Berlin and, in the
process, seem to have acquired
some
unwelcome company."

Von Shalloway regarded him blankly
and then his
large
head shifted to me. "Surely, not the good Doctor Watson?"
he said, attempting a joke.

"We are being shadowed by a
couple of Chinamen,"
I
said instinctively and, perhaps, defensively, then won
dered
if I had said too much.

"You are now leaving Berlin?"
questioned the police chief. When Holmes nodded, Von Shalloway
smiled, like a Cheshire cat. "Well, we shall arrange for some
difficulties with these Orientals' passports."

"No! No!" protested
Holmes. "Actually, we have no proof about the two Chinamen.
However, they do know
we
are staying at the Bristol Kempinsky. Doctor Watson
and
I wish to proceed with all possible speed to Con
stantinople
and, as a precaution, would prefer to leave
the
Chinese in the dark as to our plans and destina
tion."

"Ah, Holmes, it is so simple.
You give me no prob
lem
whatsoever. I will have some of my men remove
your
baggage from the hotel. The Chinamen will be
awaiting
you and Watson and will be sadly disap
pointed.
Now, let us consider your fastest route to Tur
key."

Von Shalloway took railway
schedules from his desk
and,
with them in hand, consulted a large-scale wall
map.

"Fortunately, there is a fast
train to Stuttgart which
leaves
in an hour. There, you can board the Orient Express. Sometimes,
the Stuttgart Special is a little late but
I
shall make sure that the Express does not leave until
you
are aboard. Now let us see—we can get you to the
Friedrichstrasse
Station . . . No. Let us put you on
the
Special at the Zoological Gardens."

Holmes, whose knowledge of trains
was positively
uncanny,
interrupted his friend's precise planning.

"The Stuttgart train does not
stop at the Zoological Gardens station."

"It will this trip,"
said Von Shalloway, significantly. "But a moment, my friends,"
he added, crossing to the
door
of his well-appointed office. Opening it, he barked
some
staccato orders, which I could not decipher at all.

"Wolfie believes in quick
action," said Holmes, la
conically.
"Our luggage will be retrieved from the Bris
tol
Kempinsky in short order. This is being carried off
in
such a grand manner that I begin to feel like the King
of
Bohemia incognito."

"And enjoying it to the
hilt," I muttered, drily.

"What was that?" said
Holmes, sharply.

"Don't deny the good man his
delight in exhibiting
German
efficiency. You have made him most happy."

While Holmes was considering this
thought, Von
Shalloway's
short legs returned him to the wall map.
"The
Orient Express is by far your most rapid connec
tion,
gentlemen. But let us see. There are two possible
routes
available. One section runs to Friedrichshafen,
crosses
Austria and, with stops at Zagreb, Belgrade, Nis,
then
Sofia, Bulgaria and then into Constantinople. The
other
route goes to Vienna and on to Constanza, Ro
mania
where a boat train takes you to Constantinople.
You
have a choice."

It crossed my mind that the Orient
Express had be
come
most prestigious since its first trip from Paris to
Vienna
in 1883.

"By all means, let us go by
land," I said, firmly, remembering our stormy
channel-crossing to Calais with
regrets.

"It is the fastest route,"
admitted the German police
man.
Since Holmes made no comment, Von Shalloway
continued.
"So it shall be. Your tickets will be available
at
the stations."

Holmes was extracting his
billfold, a gesture which
provoked
an expression of horror on Von Shalloway's
face.

"Old friend, surely you would
not insult me. Your
hotel
accommodations and transportation comes courtesy of the German
government as a mere gesture of
services
past rendered." Sensing that Holmes would
protest
further, Von Shalloway overrode him. "From long experience we
both know that sometimes crime
does
pay. Those of us dedicated to curtail it must stick together,
nicht
war
?" A sly
smile crept across his face.
"Besides,
I have not forgotten that Bessinger affair.
You
showed me a few tricks there.*
* Refer to
The
Secret Files of Sherlock Holmes

Holmes had said we wished to
proceed to Constanti
nople
with all possible speed and Von Shalloway had
taken
him at his word. With hurried farewells, we were ushered downstairs
and into the private carriage of the
police
chief which whisked us to the Zoological Gardens
Station.
Our luggage was on the platform along with
two
of Von Shalloway's taciturn mechanical men who
made
themselves known to Holmes, handed him our
tickets,
arid saw that we had a compartment to our
selves
when the Stuttgart Special came to a brief stop.
As
soon as we were aboard, the train puffed into mo
tion
after its unscheduled stop. High, dirty red chimneys
ambled
past the windows to be replaced soon by great
houses
and gay gardens as we departed from greater
Berlin.

As we passed through Luckenwald,
Holmes and I felt
in
need of sustenance and made our way to the dining
car,
where I did quite well with the menu, washing the
rich
food down with most excellent German beer. Evi
dently,
our travels plus a substantial meal made sleep
easy
for Holmes informed me that we were beyond
Wurzburg
when I awakened in our compartment,
slightly
fuzzy-headed. The situation was agreeable to
me
since our journey through Anhalt and into Hesse
provided
no sights that I wished to view.

Things did get more interesting at
this point since the
Special
progressed westerly to stop at Heidelberg.
Though
darkness was falling, I was able to view the
beautiful
approach of the "Jewel of the Nekar" and
caught
a glimpse of the spectacular fourteenth-century
castle
on the hill of this famous university city. From
there,
it was but a short run to Stuttgart, where again
we
were met by emissaries of the German police and
escorted
aboard the famed Orient Express.

I noted, when we were comfortably
ensconced in a
lavish
compartment, that the attendant on our car was
observant
of our every wish. I later learned that this
most
posh of European trains had been delayed for fifteen minutes in
its departure from Stuttgart to await our
arrival.
The French attendant, must have thought we
were
Krupp munitions tycoons or possibly members of
the
Hohenzollern family!

Neither Holmes nor myself felt
hungry and I made
haste
to take advantage of our most comfortable berths.

The rattle and click of the rails,
the gentle sway of the
great
train as it hurtled through the night, made sleep easy. I remember
thinking that sharing the adventures
of
the supreme sleuth did lead to hectic situations, precipitous
departures, and a series of events far removed
from
the normal existence of a general practitioner.
However,
apart from the matchless experiences, there
was
certainly the advantage of traveling in style when
travel
we did. And it all began with those famous
words:
"You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive."
That
was my last thought before the coming of day.