The Casebook of Sir Sherlock Holmes

by King Roman

  Okay, I will stay with you today, said Holmes. It is likely you have a car nearby, or that you live in the vicinity.

  I don’t know, she said, with a tear in her eye.

  Let’s go to Casuarina Square, said Holmes. It’s nearly lunchtime, we can have a bite to eat, and speak to a locksmith about the keys. He may be able to help. What kind of movie do you like?

  She looked Holmes, puzzled by his last question, and answered Comedies mostly.

  See, you’re beginning to remember things already, said Holmes. It’s just in case you need more relaxation, he explained.

  *******

  A pleasant chat about generalities accompanied their Red Rooster lunch, followed by a small ice cream cone from McDonald’s.

  Still she had not said anything which might reveal something about her life or home.

  The next stop was the locksmith, who was able to tell them that one key was to a Ford Fiesta which, from a streak of green paint on the key, Holmes deduced was green.

  Another key was to a house in Nightcliff.

  After thanking the locksmith, they returned to Holmes office, discovered a green Fiesta parked nearby to which the car key fitted, and Holmes drove the amnesiac cutie to the house which was presumably her home.

  There were photos of his little client, taken with a variety of other people, including one in which a handsome Indian gentleman was holding a ruby out to her in his open palm.

  A token of impending marriage? Holmes suggested.

  After a few seconds, she uncertainly replied Yes.

  What about the other photos, said Holmes, do you recognize anyone in them?

  This happy photo of you and the brunette? asked Holmes.

  That’s my sister... Kate... and I am Eve, she said with relief.

  She went to a drawer from which she extracted various forms of identity.

  These indicated that her name was Eve Rakauskas.

  I suggest that you ask your sister to come and stay with you tonight, so you can catch up and she look after you until everything comes back, said Holmes.

  By the way, Holmes asked, is your father Lithuanian, and does he speak Lithuanian?

  Yes to both questions, she replied.

  *******

  That evening, Holmes rang Eve, and her sister Kate answered.

  Eve’s memory is back, she said. Thank you so much for helping her yesterday. She would like to reward you with a gift.

  It was my pleasure, and if she wishes to give me a token of appreciation I will be happy to accept, said Holmes.

  Eve truly proved her gratitude. The next morning a courier delivered to Holmes’ office a neat little package. Inside was what Eve described to him as the Rajah’s Ruby.

  *******

  Two weeks later, Eve rang him and said You are going to think me an Indian giver, but I need to have the ruby back. The prince is coming to see me tomorrow, and if I do not have the ruby it may spoil our engagement.

  Eve visited Holmes within the hour and handed him an envelope with a big THANK YOU written on it in return for the ruby.

  I was not sure he would come back, she said, but he seems to be sincere.

  When she left, Holmes opened the envelope. Inside were 10 crisp new $100 notes straight from the bank.

  That’ll do fine, Holmes thought.

  *******

  7 The Mystery of History

  I cannot agree with those who rank modesty among the virtues. To the logician all things should be seen exactly as they are, and to underestimate oneself is as much a departure from truth as to exaggerate one’s own powers - The Greek Interpreter - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

  *******

  King Roman visited Holmes at his office on a cool Dry Season day, well actually a warm and sunny day but without the humidity of the Wet, and very pleasantly cool by comparison.

  He confessed to Holmes that he could not remember whether he had been given the date 1569 as that of letters given to Prince Gedroyc by King Zygmunt II, or whether he had assumed that was the date.

  My memory is not what it used to be, Roman said.

  You told me before, said Holmes, that the genealogist advised you.

  Well that must be it, said Roman. I have tried to obtain these letters without success, and the history around that date seems to be a bit fuzzy.

  Historians tend to make history, said Holmes. It is not so often as cut and dried as schools would have us believe.

  Dr Hudson had entered the office in time to hear what Holmes said, and he joined in with Historians have their own biases, so it would be surprising if history were all it was cracked up to be. The Japanese have quite a different view of the last world war from that of the Americans, I am sure.

  And, said Roman, I know that Christian historians have their own view of history and that it is quite one-sided. So much is seen by them as fact, when indeed it is mythology. There is no actual historical record of the birth of Jesus, his life, or his crucifixion, for a start.

  Is that right? said Holmes.

  Actually, it is, said Dr Hudson. Many people see things as facts because the Bible says so, yet no one apparently thought it worth recording Jesus when he was alive or when he died. It was not until long afterwards that hearsay stories about him began to be written.

  And, said Roman, the earliest extant gospel scriptures date from the 4th century, although the Nag Hammadi gospels discovered in 1945 are earlier.

  When I was in Israel on the Jesus Project, said Dr Hudson, I came across an old manuscript in Aramaic, and I asked a professor to translate it. I have just received the translation.

  *******

  The translation which Dr Hudson had removed from his pocket read:

  From Joshua son of Joseph and Miriam.

  I was born in March 3767 at Bethlehem in Judaea and the Romans crucified me in ‘91 on the hill of Golgotha because they supposed I was a threat to them. I survived with the help of Joseph of Arimathea and came to Egypt. I am writing this to you from the Temple.

  My father was supposedly from the line of King David. So when Caesar Augustus decreed, at the time Quirinius was governor of Syria, that all citizens should be taxed, my father and mother went to Bethlehem, the town of David, and I was born there.

  Then my father took my mother and me to Egypt, where we stayed for about two years. They got married in Egypt, and after King Herod died we returned to Galilee, where I grew strong, and well versed in scripture. Like my father I lived from woodworking as a carpenter.

  We worked hard and did quite well. I became quite popular and known for my wisdom, and the local girls liked me and I liked them. I particularly liked Miriam.

  She came from Magdala and was pretty and modest and well-behaved. I wanted to marry her when I came of age, but my mother asked me to wait.

  Miriam and I and John used to play together, and we attended celebrations and gatherings with my younger brothers. My mother was especially kind to us all, and she was like a servant in all she did.

  It was very difficult for Miriam and me, because she loved me as much as I loved her. Eventually, we knew each other, and she became pregnant. I have loved her ever since.

  To avoid retributions Miriam moved away. It was a sad day for both of us, yet it seemed best at the time.

  I taught in the synagogues, and I was a dutiful son to my parents. In later years Miriam and I met again and it was a very joyful time. She left our child to be looked after by a good couple, and when my mission began much later she followed me.

  It was the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate was governor, and King Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene. Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests of the Temple at Jerusalem.

 
When my father died, I gave up carpentry and let myself be cleansed by John in the Jordan River. John was a good man if rather strict, and it was very sad when the king had him beheaded on the whim of Salome.

  After being cleansed by John, I went into the desert to consider my life and what God wanted me to do, and I stayed there for a long time.

  At one stage in the desert I thought I would die, but I always believed God had work for me to do.

  It was so good to come home to my mother and brothers, to have a normal life and to eat properly again.

  I gathered together some companions to help me confirm and spread God’s word among the people.

  In the beginning the Romans did not interfere with us, and we did nothing to provoke them either.

  My companions were Simon and Andrew, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Patriot, Judas son of James and Judas Iscariot.

  I took them with me, as well as women to look after us including my Miriam and Joanna, Susanna, and Miriam mother of James.

  Then I sent my companions out in pairs to preach and to minister to the poor and to those in need of blessing. I told them not to stop others from doing these things either, because whoever is for you is not against you.

  As time went by I chose many more good people, and I sent them all to speak of God’s will and to minister to those in need of hearing God’s word I taught them to pray to God our Father, may your name be respected, your kingdom come, give us each day the food we need, forgive our sins as we forgive others, and do not test us beyond our strength.

  I told them to teach God’s commands not to be adulterers or murderers, or thieves or liars, and to respect their parents.

  Those who were able should sell what they had and give to the poor, and go out to preach and minister.

  Many found what I said hard, and some plotted against me although I wished them no harm and did not join with the Zealots.

  It was very hard for me to endure what followed, but I was happy that my mother and my Miriam and their friends supported me through it all. I was disappointed that the men I had chosen showed less courage.

  Many people including the Romans thought I was dead, and I was able to meet with my friends and ministers quietly for some time until someone became suspicious.

  My mother advised me to go to Egypt and to stay with friends there. I took her advice, and my Miriam came with me.

  At first my mother, my brothers and our friends met together regularly with my companions in Jerusalem to pray and eat and sing, before the Romans started to become suspicious again.

  They met in the temple every day and sold what they could and shared everything with one another, eating together in their homes and praising God, and increasing in number as more and more wanted to please God.

  The Romans became suspicious again, and jealousies and persecutions arose.

  When James was killed, it greatly worried my mother and brothers, friends and companions, and so they moved north to settle in Syria, where they preached and ministered.

  As with my parents, Miriam and I married at last in Egypt, and we have had a happy normal life and more children.

  I do not know if I will return to Galilee. We have good friends here, and the Temple built by Onias.

  I have asked that this letter be placed in the casket with my bones when I die, so that whoever finds it may know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

  Pray together and help the poor. Respect God and love one another. Always trust in God.

  *******

  The question is whether this can be believed, said Holmes.

  It is interesting, said Roman, but is it history or myth? Did Jesus write this or was it concocted... and when?

  I don’t know, said Hudson. Does this square with what we know from our Moon trip?

  I don’t think this is quite what we were told by Sowe and Mari on the Moon, said Roman.

  Perhaps we should give this translation to them, and get their opinion, said Holmes.

  *******

  8 The Case of Sir Sherlock Holmes

  Sherlock Holmes was threatened with a prosecution for burglary, but when an object is good and a client is sufficiently illustrious, even the rigid British law becomes human and elastic - The Illustrious Client - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

  Did you know, Holmes said to Dr Hudson, that many of the artefacts in museums are the works of very clever forgers?

  You mean they are fakes? said Hudson incredulously.

  Exactly, said Holmes, but so apparently authentic that they fool the experts and cannot generally be revealed because of the scandal which would ensue.

  Actually, said Hudson, I think I read somewhere about this sort of thing going on in the Middle East.

  Not only in the Middle East, but everywhere, said Holmes. A chap from Bolton in England called Shaun Greenhalgh fooled the experts with so many and varied fake artefacts that even when he confessed no one believed him!

  Unbelievable, said Hudson, and quite amusing.

  He created and aged these artefacts in the family’s garden shed, said Holmes. Oil paintings, sculptures, all sorts, including one known as the Amarna Princess, a statue of Tutankhamun’s sister, which the British Museum believed dated to 1350 BCE and valued at $1,000,000.

  Amazing, said Dr Hudson.

  Greenhalgh was able to sell his artefacts for large amounts of money, said Holmes, and eventually spent less than five years in gaol. One cannot but be awed by the presence of such genius, even when it is fraudulent.

  So when we go to museums, said Hudson, we can never be sure whether what we are admiring is real or a forgery?

  That’s right, said Holmes. In fact another brilliant talent springs to mind. Tom Keating.

  Never heard of him, said Dr Hudson.

  An artistic genius, said Holmes, who imitated 2000 paintings originally created by more than 130 different artists as diverse as Rembrandt, Titian, Constable, Cezanne, Modigliani, Gainsborough, Renoir, Degas, and Turner, even to ageing and other techniques.

  Phenomenal, said Hudson. It is indeed humbling to learn of such a prodigious genius.

  When a painting of Palmer was eventually Keating’s undoing, said Holmes, his trial was dropped because of his ill health.

  Holmes continued In fact, it is doubtful whether he would have been able to be convicted of fraud, because in all his works he admitted a flaw to allow expert discovery.

  He even painted the word FAKE in lead white on his works before painting them, so that an investigative X-ray would reveal the reality.

  Wonderful, said Hudson, that he could escape detection for so long.

  Indeed so, said Holmes. Some forgeries are just too good for the experts to distinguish from the real thing.

  *******

  You know, said King Roman, I think I am about to concede the Lithuanian Throne as a lost cause.

  Why is that, asked Holmes. I thought you were determined to see it through.

  I was, said Roman, but the odds are stacked against success. One lawyer advised me that to take the matter of my heredity and succession through the European Court will likely take many years and a great deal of money, which I don’t have.

  There is no guarantee of success, and my father died at 67, which I have now passed.

  Keep going, said Dr Hudson, you never know, a miracle might happen.

  He’s right, you know, said Holmes, you never know what is just around the corner.

  These are things that I would normally say, said Roman. You’re right, of course. However my experience of courts in Darwin, for example, in various cases, is that I have received nothing but injustice at their hands, and that goes for the Ombudsman and the Department of so-called Justice as well. So I have no fai
th in our legal system whatsoever.

  It’s sad, isn’t it, said Holmes, that those we rely on for justice are often purveyors of the opposite.

  You know, every time I have been to court, said Roman, the result has been nothing but injustice. Even when one newspaper conceded, and forked out $15,000 in my defamation action, I never saw the money because it was garnisheed by Justice Angle in favour of another newspaper which should never have won, but did.