"Lestrade," d'Hiver said, nodding slightly. "I have heard the name. You are well thought of."
"Thank you—"
"Which, frankly, I consider astounding: seven corpses and no arrests, barring the idiotic detention of a brace of servants."
"We do our best, my lord, We can't all be Sherlock Holmes," Lestrade said, his face suffusing with the red tint of suppressed anger.
"It seemingly wouldn't be of any great help if you were," d'Hiver commented coldly, fixing his gaze on Holmes. "Well, have you made any progress, Mr. Holmes? Have you found any clues?"
"I have been here only for some thirty minutes, my lord," Holmes said calmly. "The hunt for information — for clues, if you will — is painstaking and time-consuming. Perhaps, if you wish to converse, we had best go out into the entrance 'hall. It is better to disturb the area immediately around the body as little as possible, for fear of destroying possible evidence."
"Destroying evidence?" D'Hiver sniffed. "How can my mere presence in the room destroy any evidence?"
"A hair can be evidence, my lord," Holmes said, rising and stalking into the entrance hall himself, so that d'Hiver was forced to follow. "Or a bit of fluff, or a speck of dirt lying on the carpet. Just by walking over such a minuscule object, you may remove it; or you might inadvertently leave behind a hair or a few grains of dust yourself, thus confusing the real evidence."
D'Hiver stared at Holmes, trying to decide whether the famous consulting detective was serious. "Preposterous," he said uncertainly.
"Not at all, my lord," Holmes assured him. "The smallest trifle can be of the utmost importance, to one trained to observe and practiced in making logical deductions from what he observes. I once cleared up an obscure murder by winding a watch; and another time I descerned a dreadful secret because I noticed the depth to which the parsley had sunk into the butter on a hot day. Then again, I once cleared a man named Estermann of the charge of murdering his wife because of noting something as fragile as a cobweb."
D'Hiver pursed his lips thoughtfully, continuing to glare up at the hawk-nosed consulting detective. "If you can make so much of so little," he said, "why don't you have more on this case? Seven murders so far, Mr. Holmes."
"I am aware of the body count, my lord," Holmes said. "This is only the second opportunity that I have had to arrive in time to try to rescue some of this small detail before it is ground into the dust by hordes of police inspectors, Home Office officials, reporters, curiosity seekers, and cleaning women. I have hopes of developing something from what we find here." Noting Lestrade's frantic signaling from behind. Count d'Hiver's head, Holmes continued, "May I ask how it happens that you are here, my lord?"
"Come now, Holmes, you know of my position and my interest."
"Indeed, my lord," Holmes said. "It is your information that I question. How did you know to come here?"
"Ah!" d'Hiver said. "Now I comprehend. You wonder how I popped up so mysteriously at the opportune moment at the — what do you call it? — scene of the crime. Is that it?"
"Yes, my lord."
"It is not so strange. The commissioner notified the Earl of Arundale when word came in, and Arundale notified me. And here I am. I confess I rather fancied the chance to view the actual site of one of these senseless killings so soon after it happened; but I was not prepared for the appearance of that corpse. It makes death look very unappealing. One would just as soon not see such a thing soon after a meal."
The soft footsteps of Gammidge, the valet, coming down the stairs, interrupted the conversation. He looked startled as three pair of eyes turned to watch him descend. "I could find nothing amiss, Mr. Holmes," he said. "As far as I can tell, no one has been in the master's bedroom since he left it this evening."
"And the hat and shoes?" Holmes asked.
"Not in evidence, Mr. Holmes."
"Come now," Count d'Hiver said, "this sounds interesting. Hat and shoes?"
"Missing, my lord," Lestrade said. "I have sent some men out looking for them."
"The victim's?"
"Yes, my lord," Holmes said. "Evening dress: a black silk hat and black patent-leather shoes."
"Taken by the killer? How very fascinating. Whatever for?"
"Mr. Holmes knows," Lestrade said, "but he's not saying."
"I have a theory, that's all," Holmes said. "The recovery of the shoes will tell whether I am right."
"And if they're not recovered," Lestrade said, "it will show that I'm right: they were taken to replace the killer's own shoes."
"It does seem an odd thing to do," Count d'Hiver said, "taking the victim's shoes and top hat."
The door of the library, down the hall from where they were standing, opened, and a team of two plainclothesmen emerged. "We have checked all around the ground floor, Inspector," the taller of the two told Lestrade. "As far as we can tell, there is no way that the murderer could have entered or left the premises. All windows are securely fastened; the rear egress is double-bolted from the inside; the stairs to the cellar, which emerge in the butler's pantry, have a door which is closed and bolted at the upper end. It is a flimsy bolt, but nonetheless it has not been violated."
Lestrade nodded. "What we expected," he said. "Just on the off chance, MacDonald, check around upstairs, also."
"Yes sir!" MacDonald said, making a perfunctory gesture that somewhat resembled a salute, and the two plainclothesmen turned and headed up the broad stairway.
"If you don't mind, my lord, I would like to go back to my examination of the victim and the murder room," Holmes said.
"If you don't mind, Mr. Holmes," Count d'Hiver replied, "I'd like to watch." He held up a hand to cut off Holmes's retort. "I'll stand in the doorway," he promised, "and I will not disturb you, except, perhaps, with a very occasional question. I know you think me overly critical, but it may be because I do not grasp the complexities of your task. I begin to see that this is so from the conversation we have just had. Perhaps if I am permitted to observe, it will instill in me a proper appreciation for the difficulties of your profession."
"Perhaps, my lord," Holmes said dryly. "At any rate, if you wish to observe, silently, from the doorway, you are welcome to do so."
One of the constables guarding the portals came into the hall. "Beg pardon, sir," he said to Lestrade, "but there's a reporter outside who wants to speak with someone in charge."
"A reporter?" Lestrade swiveled around.
"Morning Chronicle, sir."
"Tell the Morning Chronicle to return in the morning," Holmes said. "We can't be bothered with that now. Tell him we'll have a complete report of the crime available to the press in the morning. Say seven-thirty."
"Beg pardon. Mr. Holmes, but it's a young lady."
Holmes looked irritated. "What's a young lady?"
"The reporter, sir."
"A young lady?" Lestrade was clearly scandalized. "The reporter for the Morning Chronicle?"
"Yes, sir. There is a gentleman with her, a sketch artist. They would like to see the, ah, room, Inspector. Where the victim is, you know. And she says that she is put to bed at three, so she would really like the information now."
"She is put to bed at three?" Count d'Hiver asked, looking vaguely amused. "By whom?"
"No, no," a musically feminine voice said from the front door, and the reporter for the Morning Chronicle, Miss Cecily Perrine, entered the hall. Behind her trailed a small man with a brown bowler hat, a wide walrus mustache, and a sketchpad. "It is the newspaper that is put to bed at three," Cecily Perrine explained, unfastening her wide brown sealskin cape and folding it over her arm. "Which is why I would like some details of the crime now, so that my readers will have the opportunity of learning all about it over their morning kippers."
"Miss Cecily Perrine, isn't it?" Sherlock Holmes said. "I thought you were a valued employee of the American News Service."
"Life is change, Mr. Holmes," Cecily said. "Good morning, Inspector Lestrade. I see you're wondering what I'm doing here
. My editor sent a boy with a carriage around for me and my colleague here when he received word of the murder. He would not allow the late hour, nor the fog, nor the chilling weather to interfere with his reporters' getting a good story."
"And just how, if you don't mind my asking, did he get word of the murder?" Lestrade asked.
"I have no idea," Cecily Perrine said. "I imagine he has a friend at the Yard. You'll have to ask him."
The Count d'Hiver stepped forward and took Cecily's hand. "Allow me to introduce myself," he said, bending forward at the waist with what was almost a parody of a Continental bow. "The Count d'Hiver at your service."
"Charmed," she said. "Miss Cecily Perrine, crime reporter for the Morning Chronicle. And this is Mr. William Doyle, sketch artist for the same paper."
At this moment the outer door slammed, and one of Lestrade's plainclothesmen rushed into the room, past Miss Perrine and Mr. Doyle, and stopped, panting, in front of the inspector. "We've got it, sir!" he declared, brandishing a bundle wrapped in oilcloth. "And a fortunate thing it was, too, us spotting it in this fog. It was all wound up in this piece of scrap oilcloth, just like it is now, and tossed down one of these stairwells that leads to a cellar door around the side of a manor house on Pettigrew Court in the next block."
"Very pleasing work, Thompson," Lestrade said, taking the bundle. "Now we'll see." He turned to Holmes. "Well, Mr. Holmes, would you care to attempt a description of the contents of this oilcloth before I open it?"
"Certainly, Lestrade," Holmes said. "One black silk top hat; one pair of black patent-leather shoes."
"Is that all?"
"I think you'll find that one or both of the shoes have been cut or ripped apart. And you'll certainly find bloodstains on both shoes."
"Bloodstains!" Lestrade ripped open the bundle. "Here's the hat. The shoes — yes, they're inside." He gave the hat a cursory glance, and then put it aside and held the shoes up to the light. "Yes, they do seem to be splattered with some sort of stain. Blood! I believe it is blood. Amazing, Holmes; how ever did you deduce that? But they would seem to be whole." He held the pair of shoes out to Holmes. "No ripping or slicing appears to have been done on either shoe."
Holmes took the shoes and examined them, one at a time. He sniffed, he peered, he pried, he took his magnifying glass to them. "Ah!" he said. "Lestrade, look here! There was no need for the killer to destroy the shoes. The matter is self-evident!" He took the left shoe and, with Lestrade peering over his arm, and the rest of his audience gathered closely behind, sharply twisted the heel. It rotated a half turn, revealing a meticulously cut-out compartment in the leather. "This is what the killer was after," Holmes said. "The contents of this compartment. Which, I note, he now has."
"You expected to find that?" Lestrade asked.
"Something like it," Holmes said. "The killer was searching for something, as he was in each of the other murders, and somehow he discovered that it was concealed in one of the shoes. Probably the victim told him, hoping to be spared a few moments longer. This business is grotesque,"
"Then why did he take the top hat?" Lestrade demanded. "Was there something concealed in it also?"
"Yes, Inspector, there was."
"What?"
"The bloody shoes. The killer didn't want to wait in the victim's house to discover the secret of the shoes. Perhaps he heard the valet descending from upstairs. He also didn't want to be seen on the street carrying a pair of bloody shoes. So he concealed his own hat under his outer garment — probably a collapsible topper — and borrowed the victim's."
"Why not conceal the shoes under his own hat, or his top-coat or cloak or whatever?"
"All that blood, Lestrade. Remember, the blood was a lot fresher when he departed with the shoes."
"That's so," Lestrade admitted.
"Fascinating!" Cecily Perrine said softly, making obscure scratches with her pencil in her small notebook.
"Indeed a remarkable bit of deduction," the Count d'Hiver agreed.
"Elementary," Holmes commented. "The real question is, what was the object which was once concealed in this shallow space?"
Lestrade took the shoe and stared into the hollow heel. "Precious gems?" he suggested.
"That is a possibility," Holmes said. He took out a slender ivory rule and carefully measured the cavity, making a sketch of it in his pocket notebook and jotting down the measurements.
"Well," the Count d'Hiver said, "this has all been very interesting. I thank you for your patience, Mr. Holmes. And you, Inspector. I will not stand in your way any longer. I only hope that the unfortunate demise of Mr., ah, Hope brings us to a solution of these damnable — excuse me, Miss Perrine — murders. I will await with interest your report on this affair." And with that, he nodded abruptly to each of them, carefully adjusted his top hat on his head, and strode through the door.
"Au revoir, Count," Sherlock Holmes murmured, staring after the departing nobleman with a bemused expression on his face.
Once outside, the Count d'Hiver buttoned his topcoat, nodded to the two constables at the door, and hurried down the steps to the sidewalk. He stared up and down the street for his carriage. The fog had settled in, and it was hard to see more than a few feet in any direction. The brougham was not in evidence, but it could have been no more than four of five yards down the block and, still been completely invisible. He could have asked one of the constables where his driver had settled in to wait, but it seemed somehow demeaning not to know where one's own brougham had gone.
He headed off to the left, the direction the vehicle had been heading when they stopped. It would, he realized with a wry internal chuckle, serve him right if his driver had taken the brougham around the block and pulled up a few feet before the Hope mansion. Then the two constables would see him backtracking, the very image of a man who didn't know where his own carriage was. He could always go back into the house for a moment, as though he had forgotten something; then, perhaps, they wouldn't notice. The Count d'Hiver was a man who couldn't stand to be embarrassed, and he found the potential for embarrassment in every trivial act.
There was a carriage ahead. Was it his, or the young lady journalist's? A few more steps and—
An arm, a muscular right arm, appeared from nowhere and hooked around his throat, forcing the chin up, cutting off the windpipe, stifling any attempt to cry out, to breathe. "Greetings, gov'nor," a soft, deep, curiously familiar voice said behind his ear. "Let's go over this way, shall we?" And he was dragged, effortlessly, his heels clattering along the pavement, into a small alley beside the Hope mansion.
"What? — who? — why? — " He forced the words out as the pressure around his windpipe was ever so slightly relaxed.
"Well," the deep voice said, "quite a little journalist we're becoming, isn't it, Count? Who, what, why, when, where; all questions that will shortly cease to concern you."
"My wallet is in the breast pocket of my suit jacket," the Count d'Hiver gasped. "Take it. There are forty or fifty pounds in it. Only for God's sake let me breathe!"
"Your wallet, d'Hiver?" the voice persisted. "Now what would I want with your wallet? Fifty pounds is of no interest to me. It's you I want."
"Me?" The count struggled to turn around in the iron grasp, suddenly realizing the import of his attacker's use of his name. This was not a random street crime; he was not an accidental victim. "Who are you? What do you want with me? What do you think you're doing?"
"You may call me Richard Plantagenet," the voice said. "And I want vengeance." Somehow the mild, soft insistence of that voice was more frightening than a thousand screaming fanatics would have been.
"Vengeance? Vengeance upon whom?" d'Hiver rasped the question out with the little air permitted him. "And what has it to do with me? You cannot get my assistance by choking me to death!"
"Vengeance on you, d'Hiver," the voice said, mildly, calmly, rationally. "And you can't help. You could, however, assuage my curiosity by explaining just why you are killing these
gentlemen off, before I cut your heart out."
"I?" The Count d'Hiver could feel his heart pounding against his rib cage as though it were trying to break through. "I have done nothing! I have killed no one! You are making a horrible mistake! Do not do this thing! Let us reason this out. Plantagenet? I know no one called Plantagenet." And yet he had a horrible feeling that, from somewhere, he knew that voice.
"That is so," the voice admitted, a hot, horrible breath in his ear. "You do not know me by this name. But I know you! I know you by all your various names: the Count d'Hiver; Clubmaster; Hellhound; Master Incarnate of the Ancient and Evil Order of Hellfire. I know you!"
D'Hiver felt a momentary shock almost greater than the physical pain. He had not expected that. He twisted his arm around and thrust his heel backward in a swift kick, making a sudden desperate attempt to break free. He felt the heel connect hard against his captor's leg. But despite his twisting and kicking, and the grunt the kick drew from Plantagenet, the arm never loosened from around his neck.
"You're making some sort of mistake," he insisted, giving up the struggle. "I have no idea what you're talking about!"
"No?" the soft voice of Richard Plantagenet breathed. "Pity. Then you'll die for nothing. For whether or not you tell me why you are killing the others, I shall still certainly kill you. And within the next few minutes, too. I will lift my arm" — he applied just a little upward pressure, and a great knot of pain thrust itself through the back of d'Hiver's neck and up into his brain—"and you will be quite uncomfortable. And then you will be dead."
"Wait, wait; listen," d'Hiver croaked. "Let me talk."
"Talk."
D'Hiver took a few deep breaths, to try to calm himself. There was always a way to turn any situation to your own advantage, if you were smart enough. Even this one.
The pressure increased on his throat. "Waiting for someone to come by and save you? Won't happen; you have my word it won't. Talk."
"I am who you say I am," d'Hiver gasped, squeezing the words through his compressed windpipe.
Professor Moriarty Omnibus Page 45
