Two for One
Page 17
I was letting my mind go into neutral as I turned over the events of the last few days. What should I have done differently? What might I have done better? How could I have done any of it without the shadowy man at my side? And why was I more and more beginning to feel that there was something in Holmes’s insistence that all of this had happened before in some other time and place that was becoming increasingly real to me? That was a three Jack Daniels problem for another time.
I turned to say so to Holmes and found to my surprise that he looked more ectoplasmic than usual. To be perfectly honest, he was fading before my eyes. Seeing my surprise and concern, he leaned across and would have touched my arm, if he could.
“Old fellow, something tells me that my time here is run. I sense that I am needed elsewhere.” Then, seeing my obvious distress— “But never fear, that same something tells me that neither time nor space shall ever quite separate the old firm. I hope I have been of some help. And as for you, Watson, I never cease to learn from you.
“If you ever need me, Watson, all you have to do is whistle. You know to whistle, don’t you? You put your lips together—and blow.”
“But Holmes,” I cried, “that’s what Bacall says to Bogart in To Have and Have Not. How did you …?”
But I was alone in the Corvette, except for Mike in the shotgun seat, who was baying at the sky.
THE BEGINNING …
About the Author
Barry Day is an author, scholar, and expert on legendary playwright Noël Coward. Born in England, Day was educated at Oxford and made his name writing impeccably researched books on legendary wits Dorothy Parker, Oscar Wilde, and P. G. Wodehouse. In addition to producing a series of mysteries featuring Sherlock Holmes, Day wrote the book considered to be the definitive Holmes biography, Sherlock Holmes: In His Own Words and the Words of Those Who Knew Him. He is also the editor of the essential The Letters of Noël Coward.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 by Barry Day
Cover design by Mauricio Díaz
978-1-5040-4026-6
This 2016 edition published by MysteriousPress.com/Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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