“It still does not explain the price he accepted for the ring,” said Holmes in a clipped tone.
“But it does, Holmes. Don’t you see? He must get rid of the incriminating ring as soon as possible. He would have taken any price for it.”
“Then why not simply throw it in the Thames?”
I was vexed for a reply to that, and then I had another thought.
“Perhaps he needed the money from the pawnbroker to get out of the country and to the continent,” I said brightly.
“It is a poorly planned robbery that needs the sale of the stolen object to make good an escape. There must be a reason for the sale.”
It was obvious that Holmes would not come off this point. I saw the futility of arguing with him so I let the matter drop. Hopkins seemed much more sympathetic to my theory. I saw him nodding as I spoke. Holmes could be quite stubborn, and I greatly admired his intellect, but I felt that he was stuck on what was surely a side issue. Holmes was thoughtful for a few minutes and then slapped his hands together sharply.
“With this new knowledge, I suggest we seek an interview with Captain Keeler,” he said. “I have tracked him to a tavern he stays at when in London.”
“What could the captain of the steamship tell us, Mr. Holmes?” asked Hopkins.
“I cannot tell you until I speak to the man,” said Holmes, “but I believe it is necessary.”
“Mr. Holmes, I tell you frankly that I believe that Martinez is our man. We will surely track him now that we know he was in London just this morning. That is our path now.”
“Very well, Hopkins. I will not insist, but I ask one more thing of you.”
“Anything, Mr. Holmes.”
“Speak with Mr. Bloomfield’s solicitors. I wish to know who benefits from the death of Arthur Bloomfield and his wife.”
“Why surely it is the son. Is there any question of that?”
“Hopkins, I remind you that Mr. Bloomberg was reportedly so upset by his son’s new wife that he barred him from entry to the home. It is possible he made a new will.”
“There is something to that, sir,” mused the Inspector. “Perhaps out of an abundance of caution I should see to that. I will call upon the solicitors in the morning and report back my findings.”
“That is all that I could ask,” said Holmes.
The great detective saw Inspector Hopkins to the door and upon his exit turned to me.
“Well, Doctor, are you up for an evening visit to a seedy riverfront tavern? There may be danger.”
“Then you will certainly not go alone, Holmes.”
CHAPTER NINE
Before we left, Holmes dashed off a quick telegram and rang for the boy. The lad was quickly off with the note in hand. Once we were alone again, Holmes suggested that I take my old service revolver with me. I agreed and slipped my Eley’s No. 2 in my jacket pocket. On our trip, Holmes explained his plan for the evening.
“Perhaps it is for the best that Hopkins did not accompany us this evening,” said he. “I had a programme in mind, but circumstances have changed. It may be necessary to have more freedom of action than Scotland Yard would allow.”
“Is this Captain Keeler a dangerous fellow?” I asked.
“He is known to be a handy man with a blade when he is in his cups. By this hour he is certain to have been indulging for some time.”
As we neared the river, I was already a man lost. The dizzying array of streets in the gloom of night had me completely fogged, but Holmes, of course, knew precisely where we were. He began calling out the cross streets as we passed.
“We will be there soon, Watson.”
A bare minute after that announcement we came to a halt in front of a dingy tavern. We alighted from the cab and walked towards the dully-lit entrance. A ragged pack of street urchins were begging coins on the sidewalk. Holmes tossed several coins their way. An older boy snared one of them and tipped his hat towards Holmes. My friend called to him and waved him over.
“My lad,” said Holmes to the boy, “would you like to earn a shilling?”
The boy nodded eagerly.
“What should I have to do, guv’nor?”
“Do you know Captain Keeler?”
“I should hope so, sir,” replied the lad. “He has a room here at the tavern.”
“Just so. I take it you know him by sight.”
The boy nodded an affirmative.
“In that case, all you need to do is to go inside with us and point him out to me.”
The lad fell in with Holmes’s plan quickly. We entered the tavern together. The inside of the business was no better than the outside. A bar spanned one wall with a row of benches across another. A score of crude tables were laid out haphazardly. Nearly all the tables were occupied by two or more men. Many of the men had a nautical appearance. The atmosphere of the room was laden with smoke, sweat, and ale. The boy scanned the room and soon tugged on Holmes’s sleeve, pointing to a solitary figure in a dark corner.
“That’s him, sir.”
Holmes gave the lad his shilling and he disappeared from sight, back out the door.
The figure he identified as Keeler was a very large man. He wore a dark pea coat and held a pint in his fist. He had a full black beard. As we approached I noticed his nose was thickly veined, which I knew to be the mark of a hard drinker.
The man looked up as we neared the table. His eyes were glassy, doubtless because of the effect of strong drink. Holmes sat down without speaking and I followed his lead.
“What do you want of me?” croaked the man, with a deep bass.
“Only some of your time and conversation,” replied Holmes. “I am Sherlock Holmes and this is Dr. Watson. Perhaps you have heard of me.”
“I haven’t,” grunted the man.
“I am a detective working with Scotland Yard.”
At the mention of Scotland Yard, Keeler suddenly looked more alert and wary.
“There is some concern,” continued Holmes, “that someone on your ship has been working in concert with a well-known jewel thief.”
“I have heard of no jewel thefts aboard my ships.”
“These thefts also concern your friend M. Rousseau.”
“I know no one named Rousseau,” said the captain a bit too quickly.
“Come now, Captain, I know he has sailed with you on several occasions.”
“All right. It is true he has sailed on my ship, but nothing else. We are not friends.”
“But he has dined at your table on every occasion upon which he has sailed with you.”
“That’s a lie,” said Keeler hotly. “I’ll cut the throat of any man that says it’s true.”
Keeler’s hand slid beneath the table as he spoke.
“Really, Captain, I would advise that you not pull that knife out of your left boot,” said Holmes. “My friend may be a medical man, but he is also a former soldier and he has a revolver at the ready should this turn violent.”
Keeler straightened up in his chair and put both hands on the table.
“What do you want of me?”
“Why, just what I said when we sat down,” said Holmes. “I want to have a talk about you and M. Rousseau. In fact, I have asked him to join us tonight and, ah, there he is now.”
I turned my head towards the door and spotted the dapper figure of M. Rousseau. He saw us at once, and made his way through the crowd. Once seated, he smiled at Holmes
“I was surprised to receive your telegram tonight, Mr. Holmes,” said the small man suavely.
“A happy surprise I hope,” said Holmes.
“Of course,” said Rousseau, as if speaking to an old friend.
“I would like to tell the both of you a little story,” said Holmes. He looked to both men and saw no argument from them. “It is about a sea captain and a jewel thief. They hatch a scheme by which the captain will allow the thief into the cabins of selected wealthy passengers. The object, of course, is that certain objects will be stolen. Once sold, the
profits from this enterprise are divided between the two.”
“But, Holmes, wouldn’t the pattern become obvious quite quickly?” I asked. “Surely people would notice they were being robbed on the same ship, with the same captain.”
“An excellent point, Doctor,” said Holmes. “But the jewel thief is a clever man. The objects he is stealing are known to him in advance. High society women are fond of showing off their jewelry. The stones and the settings are known to anyone paying attention. This thief has a counterfeit of the object, say a diamond ring, made in advance.”
“I see, Holmes,” said I. “The ring was not simply stolen, but an exchange of sorts was made. You suggested as much to M. Rousseau before.”
“Indeed I did, Doctor, but then I was merely speculating. Now I know. When the objects are found to be counterfeit, if they ever are, no one would be able to precisely date the exchange. Our sea captain and our jewel thief are in the clear.”
As Holmes had been speaking M. Rousseau had daintily lit a cigarette. He was blowing small clouds of smoke in the air, while seemingly paying little attention to Holmes. Captain Keeler, on the other hand, had paled noticeably as he listened to my companion.
“What do you think of my little tale, M. Rousseau?” asked Holmes.
“Quite entertaining, but it seems a bit fantastic. Do such things actually happen?”
“Indeed they do and this scheme might have gone on indefinitely, but then something terrible happened. The pair targeted the American wife of a wealthy Englishman. The exchange is made in transit as usual, but then a tragedy occurs. The husband and wife are murdered soon after their arrival in England and the ring is stolen. This thief is not as well versed in stones as the original thief and he sells it to a pawnbroker for a pittance. Once the police discover the switch, they will uncover the entire criminal enterprise. Both the sea captain and the thief may even be implicated in a double murder.”
“A double murder?” scoffed Rousseau. “I think not, Mr. Holmes.”
“Your partner seems very blasé about this idea,” said Holmes. “Captain Keeler, are you of the same mind?”
Keeler’s hands were shaking ever so slightly. I saw him exchange a look with the Frenchman. Rousseau gave him a small shake of the head.
“The thefts would, of course, carry a prison term,” continued Holmes, “but a double murder would send you to the gallows.”
The captain had seemed to shrink as Holmes spoke. He wiped his hand across his sweaty brow.
“Rousseau, you said it would never come to this. I should -”
“Shut up,” said the Frenchman, in interruption. “Can’t you see that he has nothing?”
Both men were now glaring at each other from opposite sides of the table.
“I will tell you what the captain sees,” said Holmes. “He can see that even if the case is unproven, his days as a ship’s captain are over. And perhaps you do not see, M. Rousseau, that you will be evicted from the high society in which you travel when this scandal is splashed across the front page of every newspaper in London and Paris.”
Both Rousseau and Captain Keeler remained silent for some minutes. Rousseau puffed away on his cigarette serenely and the captain quaffed the remains of his drink. Finally the Frenchman stubbed out his cigarette and spoke to Holmes.
“I too can tell a tale,” he said. “Perhaps this thief could give an outside agent, such as yourself, his word that neither he nor any of his companions had anything to do with the deaths of the couple. It is possible that this unnamed thief had been considering retirement. The case you describe would be difficult to prove. If you accepted the word of this thief, would that be enough to keep the police out of this affair?”
“We must now speak plainly, sir,” said Holmes grimly. “Do you give me such assurance?”
“I do,” said Rousseau. “It happened just as you said. I switched the ring for the actual ring the last night before we docked. I was horrified when I read of the killings and the theft. I knew it had the potential to expose the ring as a counterfeit. I had hoped that no one would make the connection, but I did not plan to grapple with you, Mr. Holmes.”
“I accept that, but the ring must be returned, as well,” said Holmes.
“But, monsieur, that will expose me. The police, they will ask questions.”
“You will return it to me. I will make the switch before it is discovered. Do you have it on your person?”
“No, but I will retrieve it in the morning.”
“Very well. Have it delivered by messenger to 221B Baker Street as early as possible. I will manage the rest,” said Holmes. “M. Rousseau, I will hold you to your word to retire. Should information come to me that you have returned to the fray I will set all my energies upon sending you to prison.”
“You have my word, monsieur,” said Rousseau.
“And, Keeler,” said Holmes, “you must never captain a ship again. You have broken the trust that was granted you.”
“Aye, sir,” said the bearded man. “I will send in my papers on the morrow. If you gentlemen will excuse me, I will go to my bunk. I feel very tired.”
The hulking sailor arose wearily and trudged to a staircase. He walked up it until he disappeared from sight. Rousseau too arose, gave Holmes a short bow, and made a wordless exit. Once we were alone, I thought that we would also take our leave. I noticed Holmes drumming his fingers on the table with a slight smile on his face. Presently he looked over to me.
“Well, Doctor, shall we return to Baker Street? I believe our work here is finished.”
CHAPTER TEN
Once in the cab, I began to feel a bit uneasy with the actions of my friend.
“Holmes, I congratulate you, of course, on unraveling the mystery of the counterfeit diamond ring. However, I do wonder if it was wise to allow those two miscreants to escape justice.”
“I am sorry, Doctor, if you feel that I have been less than ethical in this matter, but I have my reasons.”
“What reasons, Holmes?”
“Simply this, Watson,” he began, “we really had very little hard evidence to lead to a successful conviction. Rousseau saw that at once, of course. He is a very clever man. It is true, that had I devoted the next several months to the matter, I believe I would have been able to produce evidence of his guilt, but it is possible he would have slipped from my grasp.”
“Surely not, Holmes,” I cried. “That villain could never have bested you. You would never have rested until the irons were on his wrists.”
“I do thank you, Doctor, for your high praise,” said Holmes. “The fact remains, that it was a side issue to the real crime we are confronted with. I think that we acted in the public interests. We have removed a captain who did not deserve that honor and we have pushed one of the Continent’s most elusive criminals into retirement.”
“Do you believe that you can trust the word of such a man?”
“Remember, it is not simply his word that will compel him to keep his oath, but the threat of my bringing him to justice should he not.”
“I am surprised that he even came to the meeting,” said I. “A telegram from you instructing him to come might have sent him running in the other direction.”
“Oh, I knew he would come. He could not afford to let me question Captain Keeler alone. In fact, that is why I sent the telegram just before we left. That kept him from beating us to the Captain, who is not nearly so intelligent as Rousseau.”
“But surely they have been in communication since our visit with Rousseau. You certainly put the Frenchman on notice that you suspected him.”
“Yes, and communicating with Captain Keeler would have been evidence of their collusion with one another. No, Doctor, Rousseau and Keeler were keeping their distance from one another for certain.”
“But what if Rousseau had simply sold the ring to someone like Goldberg?”
“The same reasoning applies, my friend,” said Holmes. “For all he knew, I was having his movements traced
. After our meeting, selling the ring was the last thing on his mind. There was the bare chance that he had already sold the diamond, of course, but I believe he always meant to sell it in his native France where he must have many more contacts than London.”
Holmes’s logic was always compelling once he laid out his reasoning, and this was no exception. Suddenly something occurred to me.
“Holmes, how is it that if the ring Martinez stole was counterfeit, the pawnbroker Goldberg did not realize it?” I asked. “He is not a novice where jewelry is concerned.”
“The simple explanation, Doctor, is that Goldberg is a greedy man and his greed led him astray,” said he.
“I do not quite follow you, Holmes.”
“Goldberg saw the notices about the stolen ring, of course, as the Inspector said. When he was presented with the ring he recognized it at once. When he heard the ridiculously low asking price, any scruples he might have at buying stolen merchandise evaporated.”
“Still, I wonder why he did not notice later.”
“He was convinced, Doctor, and likely saw no need to check the ring’s bona fides once he purchased it. Also remember that he was caught with it rather quickly. If I know Scotland Yard procedure, they were making spot checks at all such establishments and caught Goldberg with the goods before he recognized his mistake.”
We made our way back to Baker Street and the rest of the evening passed uneventfully, save for a telegram Holmes sent out. He did not tell me the contents of the message and I did not force a confidence, as is my custom. The next morning found Holmes and myself in our sitting room following a fine breakfast. I was having a midmorning cup of coffee and Holmes was busy perusing the agony columns of the various London dallies.
Soon after breakfast our page-boy brought up a package that had been delivered. Holmes waited until the lad had left before opening the package. As we were expecting Berta Bloomfield’s diamond ring, I was on the edge of my seat as Holmes cut through the ties and opened the small box.
The Spanish Butler (A Sherlock Holmes Uncovered Tale Book 8) Page 6
