Sherlock Holmes and the Houdini Birthright

by Val Andrews

  I can hardly say that King's reaction was that of a delighted man. He growled, 'Darn it, as Jesse James he was worth a fortune to the studio and himself, but as Al Jennings he is just a bit part actor who might only get a job on the movie as an advisor for fifty bucks a week!'

  'Then let it remain our secret, Mr King, and let us hope that others will miss this rather obvious detail.'

  King looked relieved, 'You are a straight shooter, Mr Holmes, we'll get him fixed up with a special glove or something. Why, Winkle has three fingers missing but nobody ever notices it.'

  'Winkle?' I asked.

  'Sure, you know, Harold Lloyd!'

  We were introduced to a number of personalities at the studio:s t the st actors, technicians and scene shifters. All seemed to have a common respect for Houdini as a performer but it seemed to me from their responses to Holmes's questions that very few had actually liked him. Yet it seemed to me that none of them would have actually wished him harm, let alone death.

  Later that day Beatrice Houdini took us, at Holmes's request, to the workshop and storehouse where once all of the Houdini properties had been built and housed when not in active use. Gone now were the Chinese Water Torture Cell and the vast cabinet that had accommodated the famous Vanishing Elephant and all the other main attractions that had made Houdini a household name. There remained only a few smaller properties, crates of books, paper (the term which we learned meant posters and other publicity material) and two rather downtrodden-looking middle-aged men who were still retained to oversee the demise of the Houdini theatrical empire. They were both called Jim, Vickery and Collins respectively. Bess addressed both as Jim, but only one of them would respond when the name was called. It was all in the tone of voice: a shrill, insistent calling for Mr Vickery and a rather more gentle but none the less demanding tone for Mr Collins.

  Whilst Bessie was in a small partitioned-off section, attending to some bills and invoices, Holmes questioned the two men who had been Houdini's right and left hands. 'I suppose Houdini was an exacting and demanding employer?'

  'Yes and no, we knew his business inside out, on and off stage. He knew he could trust us so we didn't get the rough edge of his tongue as much as some,' replied Vickery, to which Collins added, 'It was the new or temporary assistants who got all that. He had to be strict, after all in an emergency they had to do what they were told and not argue. Sometimes his life would depend on it.'

  Holmes touched upon the incident of the broken ankle which Hardeen had mentioned. They both looked rather shamefaced. Vickery said, 'My fault, I hired this Hunky who said he had once worked for De Kolta. I thought he knew his business, but...'

  'I don't see why you should blame yourself Jim, the guy was shown exactly what to do, he seemed intelligent, how were you to know that he would jerk the rope like that,' said Collins, 'could have killed the guv'nor, Mr Holmes, because he needed all his health and strength to get out of that water torture cell.'

  'I believe his name was Zoltan. Was that his Christian name?' asked Holmes.

  'Nah, he was called George, with an s on the end of it.'

  Between us Holmes and I drew them out concerning Georges Zoltan. Beyond the fact that he appeared to be of Hungarian ancestry, we learned that he was tall, blue eyed and had a shock of blond hair. Collins said, 'Usually the guv'nor was not keen on tall helpers for obvious reasons but there are times when you can't get all the help you need.'

  'He always wore a kind of gold cross on a chain around his neck, we had to tell him to tuck it inside his shirt when he appeared before an audience. It was unusual, the cross had a kind of snake curled around it,' added Vickery.

  Neither man could think of anything else of significance that had occurred during the countdown to Houdini's dramatic demise. They confirmed all that Bess had related concerning the incident in the dressing room that had led up to that fatal punch in the abdomen. When they wet,'When thre asked if the Hungarian had been present they said that he had been dismissed very shortly after the incident of Houdini's broken ankle.

  Eventually we were joined again by Daisy and Bess, who carried a deed box from the enclosed section. 'This is the famous box that is not supposed to be opened until 1976 but I think you should open it Mr Detective and start detecting! If there is something in there to give a clue to foul play, I feel that ignoring his request is justified.'

  That evening back at the hotel, Holmes placed the deed box upon one of the beds and then threw himself into an easy chair and began attending to his pipe. Far from his normal environment, he was forced to charge it with tobacco from a simple pouch, like any normal being - the Turkish slipper being some three thousand miles away. He was in no hurry to open the box, a fact which began to irritate me after half-an-hour or so. I admit that I was anxious to know if anything lay within which might give some clue to the bizarre circumstances surrounding Houdini's death. The box boasted no lock but was bound with cord and the knots were sealed with red wax. After what seemed an age, Holmes arose from his chair, took out his pocket knife and cut the cords. He threw the lid open and we both peered into the box. There were a few artifacts and keepsakes within, including small framed photographs of Bess and a small white terrier dog. A folder proved to be filled with neatly drawn plans and diagrams with numerous pencilled captions on their borders. On the folder cover itself was written, 'To be delivered to Mr Walter B Gibson should he be still in the land of the living. If he has passed on, please give it to the editor of the leading American magicians' magazine for publication.'

  Holmes grunted. 'Professional secrets, doubtless pertaining to great illusions not yet produced. I must consult Walter Gibson, of course. Naturally I cannot hand him the folder, he must wait until January 1976. Necessity has made us break some ethical rules but that does not mean that we can ride roughshod over Houdini's wishes and instructions.'

  'Is there anything else in the box?' I enquired.

  Holmes explored its depths. 'There is one more interesting item and a few papers.' His hand reappeared, holding delicately what appeared to be a gold chain to which a small gold cross was attached. He placed it carefully upon a bed pillow that we might examine it. The links of the chain were extremely small and the cross no more than an inch high. There was no clasp so obviously the chain loop was intended to be placed over the head. One link was broken, so that the cross had attached to it two separate lengths of chain; one about eighteen inches long and the other perhaps six inches or so. Holmes took his lens to it and studied it most carefully before he spoke.

  'It is of Balkan gold, less valuable than that most usually employed. None the less, the links would be of great strength and to break one would require considerable force.' He lifted the chain by its broken link and studied that particular unit carefully.

  'Has it been cut do you think?' I asked.

  'No, Watson, there is no clean break which would have been left by pliers or a jeweller's saw. This has been broken quite deliberately by sheer force, probably through it being deliberately torn from the neck of its wearer. A chain may be only as strong as its weakest link but even this, the weakest link, would have presented considerable resistance. The wearer would have been left ise been with a very nasty cut or gash on the left hand side of his neck.'

  'How can you know which side of the neck the chain would have damaged?'

  He passed the lens to me and suggested that I examine the links at the end of the longer length of chain. To my surprise I detected what I could see to be blood stains. 'By jove, Holmes, you are right and the struggle for the chain must have been quite prolonged for the blood from such a gash to be deposited on the chain.

  Holmes next turned his attention to the cross itself, saying, A crucifix, but with a difference. You see it has the representation of a snake entwined around it and there is a letter M etched into the very intersection of the cross.'

  I made a wild guess, 'Could this stand for Mary, the blessed Virgin?'

  Holmes shook his head. 'No, my guess - an
d I am not given to guessing so I could be proved wrong - is that it stands for the word Magyar, given the Balkan gold and Houdini's Hungarian background.'

  'Surely if this belonged to Houdini it would take a different form. The Star of David perhaps, given his Jewish faith?'

  'Exactly but it is not Houdini's, although possibly it was he who tore it from the neck of its wearer.' 'Ah, but who?' I pondered.

  Holmes threw me an admonishing glance. 'Really, Watson you have allowed your grey matter to deteriorate through general lack of use during recent years. I believe it was Mr Jim Vickery who told us of one Georges Zoltan, of Hungarian extraction, hired as an assistant to Houdini but dismissed through causing a careless accident which fractured Houdini's ankle. He, or was it his colleague, who told us that Zoltan wore a cross with entwined snake around his neck?'

  I had to admit that my memory and observation had been dulled by lack of use. I changed the direction of the conversation. 'What sort of a religious group do you think the cross represents?'

  'At first I was tempted to think of international freemasonry. But, on reflection, I am more inclined to favour the idea that it is the emblem of a secret society. Perhaps an organization of extreme Magyar Nationalists?'

  Sherlock Holmes took a pad from his pocket and a gold propelling pencil. He laid the cross with its chain carefully back on the pillow and began to sketch it with quick deft strokes. The resulting drawing, whilst it would have found no place in the Royal Academy, was very clear in its observation of detail. Then having returned the pad and pencil to their various pockets he lifted the cross and returned it to the box.

  'Houdini is trying to tell us something, Watson,' he said, 'but this is complicated by the fact that he is expecting to pass his message to the world of fifty years ahead. He may therefore reveal facts that could prove embarrassing to Mrs Houdini. We must tread carefully, my dear fellow, we must tread carefully.'

  This Pandora's Box of Houdini's yielded up to us a final item, which in turn yielded several others, for it was a small portfolio of letters. Holmes pointed to the tape which secured it, saying, 'Tied by Houdini in person Watson, for did you ever see knots like those before?'

  I admitted that I had not, even when tied bf H when ty mariners. Holmes, after some thought, brought forth his pad and pencil again and, turning the page, sketched the knots.

  When I enquired after his purpose he said, 'Remember, Watson, I have to tie them again exactly as they are, so that they will present the same effect on their discoverers in 1976 as they have had upon us.'

  Only after he was completely happy with the sketch and considered that he could duplicate the knots, did Holmes untie the portfolio. The first item taken out was a letter typed upon an eight-by-ten-inch sheet of buff-tinted paper, bearing a head and shoulders likeness of Houdini in its left top corner. It read as follows:

  Alhambra Theatre, Paris, France,

  November 22nd 1913

  My dear brother Dash,

  Received your letter from Boston; you certainly have worked there often enough. Save your money and then you will not care if you go back there or not.

  This is my new letterhead and it is not with gladness that I ordered same. The St Paul Printing Co so I hear 'indirectly' are selling your D C to handcuff experts. But I can't blame them for you have not offered to purchase what they have and I suppose they work on such a small margin that they must have their money.

  Re the birthdays, I shall celebrate mine (?) always April 6th. It hurts me to think I can't talk it over with Darling Mother and as she always wrote me on April 6th that will be my adopted birth date.

  Dash it's tough and I can't seem to get over it. Sometimes I feel all right but when a calm moment arrives I am as bad as ever. Time heals all wounds but a long time will have to pass before it will heal the terrible blow which mother tried to save me from knowing. But to other things or else I can't finish this letter. Am working on a few new things in illusion line and as soon as I accomplish anything will let you know. Have had a wonderful month, business however is dropping off. But am not worrying.

  Hope all is well with you and your family, Bess joins me in sending love. Bess has not been well of late, can't understand it. Maybe she is sick? Do you remember that story? I shall never forget it.

  Let me hear from you whenever convenient.

  As ever your brother

  Ehrich (Harry Houdini)

  Address me in future care of Day's Agency as I shall spend December in London and all my work is in England until we return to America.

  'What do you make of it Watson?' Typical of Holmes that he volunteered nothing, expecting me to put my poor lame military foot straight into the deep end.

  'I think from our experience of the late Harry Houdini that he dictated it to a secretary for it is neatly typed and the grammar is reasonable, for an Ao yle, formerican. It is an old letter, dated all but a year before the outbreak of the Great War, moreover it was sent from Houdini to Hardeen. As it is the original and not a carbon copy one wonders why Houdini regained it and placed it among these mementoes, meant to be read in 1976? Oh yes and I wonder what D C means, in relation to Hardeen and the St Paul Printing Company?'

  Holmes who had been nodding wisely at my comments, broke in, 'The initials I would imagine refer to a die cut which the printers had evidently made expressly for Hardeen but for which they had not received payment. They may have sold it to a collector of such things or even to a rival.

  But the reference to 6 April as an adopted birth date interests me more.'

  Holmes, as he spoke to me, was rapidly writing a copy of the letter into his pocket pad with enormous speed in a shorthand of his own invention.

  'Then the comments concerning his mother who, by our previous information, had died not long before the date of the letter. He expresses the natural grief of the bereaved, yet there seems to be the hint of more than this. One wonders what was this terrible blow which he says that his mother tried to shield him from? Also the reference to Bess and his question as to if she really is sick? Maybe Mrs Houdini is a hypochondriac?'

  I did not have the answers to his questions, but pondered them suitably. He finished writing and extracted another paper from the portfolio. This one was also typed and on eight-by-ten paper but with no date:

  Apartment 63,

  24 Morningside Drive,

  New York City.

  Dear Bess,

  You must remember how our blessed mother would swell with pride when she displayed the worn prayer rug, don't you? I can still hear her boast in her gentle manner that the Kaiserin Josephine had walked on it many times when she visited some orphan asylum directly opposite our home. On these occasions her royal highness looked in on our family to pay respect to our important and intellectual dad. However, the rug was associated with a tragic episode. There was an infant son, Ehrich, of our household at that time.

  This babe, through a fall, died suddenly and broke the hearts of both our parents. Both of them said, if ever another son were to be their blessing his name would be Ehrich. You know Bess, in Jewish families, newborn children are named for the departed. Later, when the family was settled in Appleton, Wisconsin, another son came to bless the home and this child was Ehrich. I am sure you have heard mother tell you all this before.

  Fondest thoughts to you and your dear family. Greetings to Dr Saint.

  from Gladys.

  Again Holmes spoke as he wrote but this time spared me expressing my deductions. 'This letter is even more interesting Watson; evidently it was sent to Mrs Houdini by her husbands sister, Gladys. The mother she refers to is obviously her own and Houdini's. She displays a likeness for social climbing - note the references to the KaiseIFYto the rin Josephine and her intellectual and important father. The letter tells me that this lady is writing to Beatrice Houdini by arrangement so to speak. She tells her those things which, as a member of the Weiss family, even if only by marriage, she must have heard a thousand times. It is as if Beatrice sai
d to her, "Gladys, I want you to write to me to this or that effect, that I may show the letter to..." '

  I perused the letter again and I took his point. 'Maybe, I said, it was for the benefit of the insurance companies?'

  I had to agree that the letter had a false ring to it, for one written by a sister-in-law. Holmes nodded. 'That is possible Watson, for it makes stress upon Houdini's birth being in Appleton, Wisconsin, which has always been claimed by everyone we have spoken to and in all published details about Houdini's life and career that has come our way. The suggestion regarding the birth of an earlier infant Ehrich, and Houdini being named after his late baby brother does not ring true. I know something of Jewish customs and have never heard of such a practice. This encourages me to believe that Houdini was in fact born in Hungary but wished the world to believe him an American by birth. This is rather borne out by the reference in the letter from Houdini to Hardeen regarding the question surrounding his actual birth date.'