by CP Haus
True to his word, Holmes emerged from Professor Wright’s office in a scant few minutes, with a smile on his face.
“Now to our tour of this facility, if you please, Professor Wright. “I hope it will be most illuminating!” extolled Holmes.
Chapter VIII: The Mystery Revealed
Our tour of the Linear Accelerator was fascinating yet completely over my head; I understood the basic principles involved but once Professor Wright got into the details of his work, I was at a loss. Holmes, on the other hand, had a profound knowledge of the area and was able to ask several relevant questions.
“Gentlemen, where shall we go to lunch today?” asked Wright as we exited the building. “The admirable Dutch Goose? The Oasis? Or, perhaps we should do things properly and toast today’s dramatic breakthrough at Zot’s?” Clearly, Wright was in a happy state of mind.
“Indeed, a celebration is completely in order,” said Holmes. “Zot’s it is!”
We drove to the charming Zot’s in Wright’s car since my Morgan would hold but two people with comfort. Once ensconced at an outdoor table, pints of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and the famous Zot’s hamburgers at hand, Wright continued to wax on the day’s discovery.
“Do you realize that the experiment concluded today represents a possible Nobel Prize in Physics for me?” enthused Wright. “It is a major breakthrough!”
Holmes seemed preoccupied and remained silent.
“Holmes, why so dreary?” asked Wright.
“I’m sorry, Professor. I should be celebrating with you for both your discovery today and, well,” here he glanced at his wristwatch, “the resolution of your mystery.”
“Good heavens, Holmes!” cried I, “how can you be so certain that you have solved the mystery?”
“My dear Watson, it is back to basics for me, and with a slight twist.”
Wright and I leaned more closely towards Holmes as he continued to explain.
“I believe all will become clear when we return to Professor Wright’s office. Suffice it to say, Professor, that you have seen the last of your doctoral student.”
“Do you mean Miss Forth?” asked Wright.
“Indeed. Some unexpected and unfortunate incident will no doubt have happened which will require her to leave immediately. A sickness or death in the family seems the most likely event, I should think,” mused Holmes.
Holmes refused to give any more clarification to his astonishing news, so Professor Wright and I accelerated our eating pace as to finish lunch as quickly as possible.
Upon returning to Wright’s office, two things struck me simultaneously: first, there was indeed a letter in the center of his desk, and second, the hard drive containing the day’s work--the proof of the Jigg-Figg particle’s existence--was gone from the credenza.
Wright hastened to his desk and tore open the letter. Scanning it quickly, he turned quite pale.
“Holmes, you are gifted with the abilities of a seer!” he exclaimed. Handing the note to me, he continued “just as you suspected, her mother has taken ill and she has had to dash off to London.” Glancing at his wristwatch, he said, “I suspect she’s already en-route to Heathrow.”
“Professor Wright, I don’t quite know how to say this, but today’s hard drive is missing,” I said in a quiet voice, pointing at the empty place on the credenza.
“My God!” exclaimed Wright. “Someone has stolen it! All of my work....all of my efforts...gone!” Wright sank into his desk chair, distraught.
“Now then, Professor, there is no need to be so worried. I think I can explain everything if you will permit me,” said Holmes.
“You noticed, I am sure, that Miss Forth was aware of the results of today’s experiment? She also has ready access to this office.
“However, did you also notice that, besides the generally disheveled garments she was wearing today, her blouse was buttoned one row off? This suggested to me that she is a rather disorganized person, liable to not remember exactly where she might have taken the drive from before she took it to make a copy.
“This clue helped me to establish her as the most likely person who would be responsible for the mysterious movement of the hard drives. Also, she is conversant in the methods of mounting the drives and no doubt copying them.
“For what reason I know not. Perhaps it is money, perhaps she is in the employ of a foreign government or agency...”
“Good heavens, Holmes, do you realize what you are saying?” cried Wright. “She had had access to my research all along. Why didn’t you stop her before we left for lunch?”
“Because it did not matter. I took steps to foil her efforts. As to her guilt, the final clue was my question related to Dr. Mendlebaum. There actually is a Dr. Mendlebaum, or, I should say, there was a Dr. Mendlebaum. He died last fall under most mysterious circumstances. I was called in to investigate the case and helped the police resolve the situation. His family requested that his murder not be made public until they felt comfortable doing so.”
“But the hard drive...it’s gone,” said Wright with anguish.
“Do not count your hard drives before they are stolen,” said Holmes with a smile. He proceeded to Wright’s desk, and pulling open the bottom drawer, produced a hard drive.
“This is the hard drive from today. Notice that the paper label, with today’s date is no longer here. While you and Dr. Watson were out of the office, I took the liberty of taking one of your spare drives and labeling it with today’s date. I then placed this drive in your desk and we went to lunch.
“If indeed Miss Forth was innocent, no damage would have been done. However, permitting her to complete the crime has thus labeled her as the true criminal in this situation.
“Imagine the chagrin she and her employers will have when they discover the hard drive with the purported final evidence of the Jigg-Figg particle is but old data from a previous experiment. The consequences for such a failure are frequently catastrophic....and much worse a punishment than that which could be meted out by a court in the United States.”
Wright slowly rose from his desk, his hand extended.
“I and the scientific world owe you a debt of gratitude, Holmes,” he said as he shook Holmes’s hand. “How can I ever repay you?”
“By boning up on your world history, Professor,” said Holmes with some heat. “Last Tuesday’s quiz night was not your best performance. I should have thought you would recall that Hildegard of Vinzgouw was Charlemagne’s first wife....tut tut...you really must do better!”
