SOUND EFFECT:DOOR OPENS
HOLMES:I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, Watson, but you may expect a wire from me if my plans require a lengthy stay. Be sure to tell Mrs. Hudson, and take care of yourself, old fellow. Adieu.
SOUND EFFECT:HE WALKS OUT, DOOR CLOSES
WATSON:(NARRATING) A cloud of apprehension hung over me as I sat pondering my next move. Then, after several minutes of thought, I decided what I must do. I called a cab and asked the driver if he knew the pawnshop in question, and he said he’d taken many people there.
MUSIC:FADE INTO...
SOUND EFFECT:BUSY STREET. WATSON STRIDING ALONG, THEN STOPS
WATSON:Ah yes, here it is. “Alderbright and Pennell, Pawnbrokers”.
SOUND EFFECT:SHOP DOOR OPENS, BELL. WATSON STEPS IN, DOOR CLOSES (STREET DOWN)
PENNELL:(OFF, MOVING ON MICROPHONE) Good morning sir. Pawning, buying, or selling this morning?
WATSON:Actually, I’m looking for Mr. Alderbright or Mr. Pennell.
PENNELL:Mr. Alderbright’s not in today. I’m Henry Pennell.
WATSON:How do you do. I’m here to inquire about your clerk, Mr. Wixom.
PENNELL:(ON MICROPHONE) Oh? And what about him?
WATSON:His state of health is my interest. I am Doctor John H. Watson.
PENNELL:Well, Mr. Wixom doesn’t work here anymore, Doctor.
WATSON:Yes, I know. I’m concerned about his cough.
PENNELL:His... cough?
WATSON:You surely must have heard him coughing.
PENNELL:Maybe I did, but I didn’t pay any attention to it. Everybody in London’s got something this time of year. I suppose I’ll be next.
SOUND EFFECT:(OFF) SHOP DOOR OPENS WITH BELL, CLOSES UNDER
PENNELL:Ah, excuse me for a moment. (UP) Good morning, sir. Interested in pawning something this morning?
FOX:(OFF, MOVING ON MICROPHONE) Not me, guv’nor. I’m the locksmith. R.L. Fox is my moniker.
PENNELL:I didn’t order a locksmith.
FOX:No sir, a Mr. Alderbright did. Says he owns the store. He wanted the locks changed right away, but I had to do new locks at several places Saturday and Sunday. I do a lot of lock-changin’ at places where keys has fallen into the wrong hands. I understand one of your employees was let go, but he didn’t give his key back.
PENNELL:I know nothing about that. Mr. Alderbright should have taken it back when he discharged him.
FOX:Then he’s still got it, and could walk right in tonight and do the devil knows what! Lucky for you I’m here to keep that from happening!
PENNELL:Just a minute! What’s it going to cost?
FOX:Depends on how many doors have the same locks.
WATSON:(CLEARS HIS THROAT TO REMIND PENNELL HE’S HERE)
PENNELL:Oh, I’m sorry, Doctor. Will there be anything else I can do for you?
WATSON:Well, there is one other thing: Do you have Mr. Wixom’s address?
PENNELL:You’re his doctor, but you don’t know where he lives?
WATSON:I’ve only seen him at my surgery.
PENNELL:Well, it’s written in my book... (MOVES OFF) Give me a moment... Ah, here it is. (MOVES ON) Number Seven, Loudon Mews, Southwark.
WATSON:Number Seven, Loudon Mews. (UP) Thank you Mr. Pennell.
MUSIC:UNDERCURRENT
WATSON:As I rode a cab to the Southwark district, I experienced a feeling of satisfaction; I was correcting a mistake in Holmes’s judgment: I was assisting an unfortunate man who deserved better than what Holmes had given him, and I was putting my medical experience to use where lack of timely treatment could have serious health consequences.
SOUND EFFECT:CAB DRAWS TO A HALT. STREET NOISE IN BACKGROUND
CABBIE:(EXTERIOR, OFF MICROPHONE) London Mews, sir.
SOUND EFFECT:WATSON EXITS CAB AS HE SAYS:
WATSON:(EXTERIOR) Thank you, driver; and I would like you to wait for me no longer than ten minutes, and if I’m not back by then you’re free to go. And here you are.
SOUND EFFECT:JINGLE OF COINS
CABBIE:Right, sir; thank you. I’ll be right here.
SOUND EFFECT:WATSON WALKING ON PAVING
WATSON:(TO HIMSELF) Number five... Number six... ah, Number seven.
SOUND EFFECT:HE CLIMBS A WOODEN STAIR AND KNOCKS ON DOOR
MRS. WIGGS:(FROM INSIDE DOOR) Who is it?
WATSON:Doctor John H. Watson. To see Mr. Wixom.
SOUND EFFECT:(PAUSE) SHE OPENS THE DOOR
MRS. WIGGS:He’s sick abed. You’re a doctor you say?
WATSON:Yes. I was just coming round to see about his cough.
MRS. WIGGS:Well, it kept me awake half the night. Mind you, my room’s in front and his is in the back, but I could hear him coughin’ all the same.
WATSON:Right. And are you coughing as well?
MRS. WIGGS:Me? No, I can’t afford to get sick. Too much to do, cleanin’ other people’s houses and shops besides keepin’ house here.
WATSON:Oh, of course. Well, tell him I called, will you? And thank you for your help.
SOUND EFFECT:DOOR CLOSES
MUSIC:UNDERCURRENT
WATSON:(NARRATING) Feeling there was nothing more I could do for Wixom to remedy his dual problems of losing his job and his health at the same time, I had the cabbie drive me back to Baker Street, where I took some time sorting and rearranging the meager supply of pharmaceuticals I kept in a closet beside my bed. After that, I was so fatigued and the bed looked so inviting that I lay down, intending only to take a few minutes to soothe the old war wound that was acting up, but I soon drifted off to sleep and slept right through lunchtime. I was awakened when it was dark outside and Mrs. Hudson was at the door, asking about dinner. For once, I had no appetite. The circumstances just before Holmes’s departure still weighed upon my mind. I seemed to have no energy, and I only asked for a pot of tea. The thought struck me that I might have picked up an infection from Albert Wixom. The only sensible thing was to take my own advice and go back to bed after I finished my tea, and before long I was fast asleep again, and quite unaware of the passage of time. And then...
SOUND EFFECT:(OFF) KNOCK ON DOOR
WATSON:(NARRATING) I stumbled into the sitting room. It was just beginning to grow light outside. I’d slept the night.
SOUND EFFECT:ADD CLOCK, DOOR OPENS
WATSON:Inspector Gregson!
GREGSON:(FILTER) Is Mr. Holmes in?
WATSON:No, he’s away. Oh, forgive me, step in.
SOUND EFFECT:DOOR CLOSES
GREGSON:Thank you, you’re the one I need to talk to anyway. What do you know about a fellow named Wixom? Albert Wixom. He says he knows Mr. Holmes and yourself.
WATSON:Why, not very much. Why? Is he all right?
GREGSON:Well, I have him here at the Yard, and he tells me you know something about his whereabouts in the last several hours.
WATSON:Yes, that’s correct. He came here to our rooms yesterday morning and told us he’d been falsely accused of stealing thirty pounds from the place he worked, and he wanted Holmes to help him.
GREGSON:I need to ask you some questions about him.
WATSON:All this over thirty pounds?
GREGSON:No, not any more, Doctor. This is now a case of murder.
MUSIC:STING
SOUND EFFECT:SCOTLAND YARD
GREGSON:Good morning, Doctor. I appreciate your coming here.
WATSON:Who was murdered, Inspector?
GREGSON:Man by the name of Alderbright. Owner of the pawnshop where Wixom had been working.
WATSON:Great heaven! I was in his shop yesterday!
GREGSON:Were you now? Well, his business partner, fellow named Pennell, think
s it was Wixom who did it, but Wixom swears he was at home in bed all night and his landlady confirms it. I have my doubts. Now what can you tell me about him?
WATSON:Very little more than you already know, I’m afraid. He said he’d been discharged for stealing thirty pounds, which he denies, and he came to ask Holmes to clear his name, but Holmes had other plans.
GREGSON:Small wonder he wasn’t interested. Pretty small potatoes for a man with a reputation like Mr. Holmes. But now there’s murder.
WATSON:I’ve talked to Wixom’s landlady. She confirmed Wixom was sick all day with a very bad cough. I told him to consult a doctor for a thorough examination, and I gave him a small amount of medicine. I don’t think he was in any condition to go out and do murder! Incidentally, where was Alderbright killed?
GREGSON:In the pawnshop. You see, Doctor, it all fits together. His motive was revenge and money, plain as porridge. There was no sign of forced entry, so whoever did it must have had a key. And there was a good deal of money missing, according to Pennell.
WATSON:Ah! You’ve just reminded me! While I was in the pawn brokerage, a locksmith came in to change the locks! He said Mr. Alderbright had ordered it! Apparently he’d forgotten to take Wixom’s key when he sacked him.
GREGSON:This gets easier and easier. Wixom had the means to get into the shop, Alderbright lives above the shop, all Wixom had to do was wait until they were closed, let himself in, and take his revenge.
WATSON:So you’ve already decided he did it?
GREGSON:He had the motive and the opportunity.
WATSON:What about the weapon?
GREGSON:It was a very old dagger from a collection they had for sale.
WATSON:What irony! If the locksmith had come round to change the locks just one day earlier, this might not have happened.
GREGSON:Huh! If locks could prevent crime, I’d be out of a job!
MUSIC:UNDERCURRENT
WATSON:(NARRATING) Gregson left me with the feeling that, now that this had become a murder case, Holmes would have been intrigued enough to investigate it himself. I would have been glad to turn it over to him, for the fatigue and weakness I felt the night before returned, and I was more convinced than ever that I had picked up some kind of infection from Wixom. It reminded me of the sickness that claimed so many of us in the Battle of Maiwand sixteen years before. Thanks to the recent work of Pasteur in France and Koch in Germany, I was convinced that germs can live outside the body and be transmitted to another person by coughing and sneezing. I dreaded facing disease and the treatments, knowing all too well what they put a patient through. And that was what was on my mind when the door opened.
MUSIC:OUT
SOUND EFFECT:DOOR OPENS, CLOCK IN BACKGROUND. HOLMES WALKS IN. DOOR CLOSES
WATSON:Good grief! Holmes!
HOLMES:Ah, Watson. (Pause) Hmm. You’ve lost your ruddy complexion. Where’s your customary military stance?
WATSON:I--I didn’t expect you back so soon!
HOLMES:The affair in Manchester was disappointing, a waste of time, and the purse was far out of proportion to the minor efforts required. I should have given part of it back. For heaven’s sake, Watson, sit down before you fall down! What’s the matter with you, old fellow?
WATSON:I may have caught whatever Wixom has.
HOLMES:And what about Wixom? Anything new?
WATSON:He’s in jail, and Gregson seems convinced that he murdered one of the pawnshop owners.
HOLMES:Really! Dear me, I leave town for hours and robbery turns into homicide.
WATSON:But I have every reason to believe he was at home in bed when the killing took place.
HOLMES:Can he prove it?
WATSON:His landlady says he was.
HOLMES:That may not be enough. Mrs. Hudson is bringing up a hot meal. Why don’t you share it with me and tell me all the salient facts.
WATSON:I dare not, Holmes. The way I’ve been feeling these past few hours, I may be contagious.
HOLMES:See how you feel when you’re outside a good slab of beef.
WATSON:That’s generous of you, but if I am broadcasting germs, I should be isolated from contact with anyone until I feel better.
HOLMES:Then you would have no objection to my having a peek into this case of yours while you regain your energy?
WATSON:I’d be grateful if you would!
HOLMES:When it’s done. Go to bed, old friend, and get well!
MUSIC:UNDERCURRENT
WATSON:(NARRATING) I gave him the few notes I had written, and went to bed with an easier mind, for I knew that the wisest course for me would be to give my body a chance to heal itself, and so I closed my eyes and allowed slumber to overtake me once more. In the meantime, as I would later learn, Holmes finished his meal and made straightaway for Scotland Yard, where he accomplished in mere minutes what I had failed to do: He was granted access to Albert Wixom.
SOUND EFFECT:BACKGROUND: ECHOING SOUNDS IN A JAIL
WIXOM:I’m flabbergasted, Mr. Holmes. I thought you wouldn’t be available to me!
HOLMES:But I am, and so we need to make good use of this opportunity. According to Dr. Watson’s notes, Monday after you came to Baker Street, Watson went to your home to check on your cough and you were sleeping, according to your landlady...
WIXOM:Mrs. Wiggs. Right, she told me he’d been there.
HOLMES:And that night, Alderbright was found dead.
WIXOM:So they say, but I knew nothing of it!
HOLMES:Tell me, when did you get over your cough?
WIXOM:Why, it got much better after I took the medicine Dr. Watson gave me. (COUGH)
HOLMES:That would have been Monday? Afternoon or evening?
WIXOM:Why, uh... (COUGH) I really don’t remember the time.
HOLMES:But by Monday night you were no longer coughing?
WIXOM:Well, not quite as much... (COUGH) He didn’t give me very much.
HOLMES:I presume you turned in your key to the pawnshop when you were let go.
WIXOM:They never gave me a key.
HOLMES:I see. (GETS UP) I will have some more questions after I talk with Inspector Gregson. But meantime, my advice to you is to cooperate fully with the police and tell them everything they want to know, but nothing more than they ask. (UP) Guard!
WIXOM:Mr. Holmes! I didn’t take the money, and I didn’t kill Mr. Alderbright! (COUGH)
MUSIC:BRIDGE
SOUND EFFECT:STREET OUTSIDE THE MEWS. HOLMES RAPS ON A DOOR. DOOR OPENS
MRS. WIGGS:(EXTERIOR) Yes?
HOLMES:(EXTERIOR) Pardon the intrusion, madam, but are you Mrs. Wiggs?
MRS. WIGGS:Who’s askin’?
HOLMES:My name is Sherlock Holmes.
MRS. WIGGS:If you’re looking for a room. I’ve got none to rent.
HOLMES:I’m not looking for a room. I’m looking for a bit of information about your roomer, Albert Wixom. He’s in trouble and I’m trying to help him.
MRS. WIGGS:He’s not here, and you’re the fourth bloke who’s been snoopin’ round.
HOLMES:The fourth? Is that so!
MRS. WIGGS:The doctor, the copper, the mechanic, and now you.
HOLMES:And do you know why they were interested in Mr. Wixom?
MRS. WIGGS:How should I know?
HOLMES:The papers have printed stories about him. Perhaps you’ve read them?
MRS. WIGGS:I don’t read, but I’m not stupid. The doctor, he was worried about Albert’s coughin’, the copper asked me a ton o’ questions about his comin’ and goin’, and the mechanic, he wanted to sell him somethin’ I guess--he never said. I sent him packing. What do you want with Albert?
HOLMES:I should like to see his room for a few minutes, that’s
all.
MRS. WIGGS:Well, I can’t let you do that. It’s private.
HOLMES:I appreciate that, but he’s in jail, and he needs my help. He’s about to be charged with murder. Were you aware of that?
MRS. WIGGS:Murder? G’wan! He wouldn’t harm a fly!
HOLMES:Then let me see his room and I may be able to help him. Here’s a sovereign for your trouble.
MRS. WIGGS:(A LONG PAUSE, THEN GLUMLY) Awright. Come on. (FADE OUT)
WATSON:The woman led the way to a small room. Once inside, Holmes searched through the few belongings Wixom had left behind, then he returned to Baker Street and related his experience.
HOLMES:It is quite obvious that Wixom is something more to Mrs. Wiggs than merely her roomer, but there are at least two other characters in this little drama who’ve made an entrance. You’ve seen one of them and Mrs. Wiggs may have seen the other.
WATSON:Who are you talking about?
HOLMES:The locksmith. Alderbright wasted no time in contacting the locksmith after he fired Wixom, apparently because he forgot to retrieve the key from him.
WATSON:He was old, probably forgetful.
HOLMES:And then there’s the “mechanic” who came to “sell something”, according to Mrs. Wiggs. Who could that have been?
WATSON:I don’t know. It could have been anyone.
HOLMES:I think it would be profitable to find out how he fits into this puzzle.
SOUND EFFECT:FADE IN: SAME STREET IN THE MEWS. FRONT DOOR OPENS
MRS. WIGGS:(EXTERIOR) You lot back again?
HOLMES:We’re trying to save Albert Wixom from the gallows.
MRS. WIGGS:Mercy! Don’t even mention such a thing!
WATSON:May we come in for a minute?
MRS. WIGGS:I suppose.
SOUND EFFECT:THEY WALK IN, DOOR CLOSES. (STREET EFFECT OUT)
HOLMES:When I was here earlier today, you mentioned that Mr. Wixom had had three other visitors: A policeman, Dr. Watson here, and a mechanic. I’m interested in the mechanic. What can you tell me about him? Can you describe him?
MRS. WIGGS:Well... he was tall. Not much meat on ’im. Needed a shave.
HOLMES:And why do you think he was a mechanic?
The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories - Part X Page 8