Holmes examined the small safe and observed that the combination lock was of a very old pattern and therefore not likely to prove too difficult to manipulate.
‘What are you doing?’ exclaimed Lord Craneford as Holmes lay full length on the carpet in front of the safe.
‘Carpets can often hide more than just dust,’ replied Holmes. He appeared to be scrutinizing closely a barely distinct mark among the elaborate pattern of the carpet. He even sniffed the mark. ‘Our culprit is left-handed, my Lord. Are you aware of any, as it were, sinister members of your immediate staff?’
‘No, Mr Holmes, I cannot say that it is something to which I have paid much attention. My private secretary definitely is because I have long noticed that he always stands to the left of my desk when submitting documents for approval or signature, whereas others stand to the right.’
‘If you will allow, may I have the opportunity of covertly ascertaining the hand preference of your immediate staff, particularly those who know of the existence of the safe?’
‘Certainly, Mr Holmes. Take any steps you consider necessary in order to find a solution.’
Later that day, six secretaries and two ministry porters were asked ostensibly to answer questions put to them by a detective from Scotland Yard investigating the disappearance of a valuable bust from the great staircase of the ministry. The bust had been deliberately removed previously and the detective was, of course, Holmes himself, suitably disguised. The interview of each suspect was brief. Nothing more than asking if they had seen anything and a request to mark off their name on the list placed in front of them.
At our next meeting with Lord Craneford, Holmes reported on three left-handed people who were possible suspects.
‘The first, my Lord, is your own private secretary. As you say, you are absolutely certain of his loyalty. Not only has he been with you throughout your illustrious career he is, as you explained, privy to the cipher book and that it is kept in the safe. There is also the fact that he is your cousin. I am sure you will agree that he can be eliminated from the list. We are left then with two possible suspects. Your other private secretary, I understand, has been with the Foreign Office for over forty years. He is more than financially independent because of the death of his extremely rich father two years ago. Therefore, he is not susceptible to bribery. The other suspect is the young secretary Charles Botomoly, recently returned from your embassy in Russia. Here we find a young man on a modest salary yet his attire bespokes the very best that Savile Row can cut. I have not reached these conclusions without making a further observation. I applied a simple test, and I even included your cousin; I pretended that my pocket watch must have stopped and asked them if they could hear it ticking. Your cousin is deaf in one ear. The older of the two secretaries is very deaf in his right ear. However, Botomoly has very acute hearing.’
‘Mr Holmes, I fail to understand what the ability to hear has to do with all this?’
‘Elementary, my Lord. To listen to the combination lock tumblers of the safe clicking into place requires an acute ear. Therefore, Botomoly has to be a suspect. In the meantime I suggest that no move be made against him. If he is involved in a conspiracy we do not want to alert him and the other members of the conspiracy.’
‘I quite understand. Thank you for taking on this very serious investigation. In the meantime, should you require anything please do not hesitate to communicate with me.’
Part Two
When I came into the sitting room the next morning I found Holmes curled in his favourite chair smoking his old clay pipe. The room was so full of tobacco smoke that Holmes appeared to me as if he were a smouldering bonfire of dead leaves.
I had to remark, ‘Obviously, Holmes, from the state of this room you have not been to bed.’
‘Good morning, Watson. This affair at the Foreign Office has exercised my mind for most of the night. Have you any thoughts on the matter?’
‘I regret to say, very few. However it does remind me of my time in Afghanistan when Russian agents working with the tribesmen would read our heliographed signals. I must confess I am intrigued by the cunning manner in which you determined which of the three had opened the safe. You know, when you were explaining how you eliminated two of the suspects you left something out. How on earth could you know that the safe had been opened by a left-handed person in the first place?’
‘The singular characteristics of a stain on the carpet in front of the safe. As we know, the room had no electric lighting, therefore a lantern had to be carried. I was able to make out on the carpet a circular stain to the left of the safe door, and detect the faint odour of the oil used in the lantern. A left-handed person would carry it in that hand. When he knelt in front of the safe he placed the lantern on the carpet to the left of the safe and applied his right ear to the combination lock and his left hand on the dial of the lock.’
‘A masterful deduction, Holmes.’
‘Thank you. Now we are to meet Superintendent Lestrade in Whitehall at ten. I’ve received a telegram to say that he has been ordered to assist us. I expect such an order may have offended his dignity. The official police often resent the activities of amateurs, such as myself, becoming involved with criminal investigations. They would rather we confined our work to searching for errant husbands, disappearing vestry funds and exposing secret assignations.’
When our cab reached Whitehall, Lestrade of the Yard was waiting for us. Holmes greeted him tactfully. ‘Good morning, Lestrade. I am pleased that Scotland Yard has put you in charge of the case.’
‘Good morning, gentlemen. I’m honoured to have been selected by the commissioner. I understand it involves matters of great importance to the government.’
Holmes spent a few minutes giving Lestrade an outline of the meeting with the Foreign Secretary. Diplomatically he said, ‘I fail to understand why you were not brought into the affair much earlier. Never mind, you are here now. Let us study carefully the roofs of the buildings opposite.’
The crowd of people lingering, pacing or hurrying along Whitehall ignored us as we studied the skyline of the buildings lining the eastern side of the road.
‘Lestrade, I suggest we pay particular attention to the telegraph poles and their wires on top of that building,’ Holmes said, pointing to the one immediately opposite where we were standing. ‘That is the most probable place for attaching an illegal wire. You see the shape of the roof and the attic roof with dormer windows? They are close to the wires.’
‘Yes, Mr Holmes, I suppose someone could just about reach out and attach a wire.’
‘Now, how are we to gain entry without disclosing our purpose? We do not want to look too much like policemen,’ said Holmes.
‘I have arranged for that. See, here are documents I have had prepared, that identify us as being from the town hall and that we are reassessing the rateable value of properties.’
Holmes examined the papers and said, ‘You certainly have some very skilled forgers in the Yard.’
‘Needs sometimes must,’ he replied.
The building, into which we entered through an ornate portico, was mostly given over to the West End Turkish Bath for Gentlemen. I played my part by appearing to be taking down particulars. We made only a perfunctory inspection of the various steam rooms and then we requested to be shown the apartments that made up the upper four storeys. The establishment’s commissionaire led us up the stairs and explained the purpose of the various apartments and rooms, and who occupied them. In the attic room with the dormer window we paid particular attention to the window.
‘Is this set of rooms occupied?’ inquired Lestrade.
‘Well, yes and no. I’ve never been in here until now. I understands the rent is paid but, as you see, there isn’t much furniture.’
‘Who uses the room?’
‘A young feller.’
‘Tall, short, fat, thin?’
‘Difficult to say. The few times I’ve seen him come and go he is always in a long
overcoat. It’s much too big for the likes of him. Mind you, he walks funny.’
When we had finished our examination we repaired to a coffee house and pondered our visit to the house of the Turkish bath. ‘I saw that you examined the window, Mr Holmes,’ said Lestrade. ‘Did you see a wire leading out to the telegraph poles?’
‘No. However, there are marks on the window ledge that suggest a metal object has been pushed across. With the commissionaire hovering around I did not want him to think we were detectives. I was only able to make a cursory inspection. However, I did find this short length of coloured wool. Somewhere in that room is the telegraphic apparatus, I’m certain. However, what is more important to us is the person using the apparatus. Did you see anything strange about the room, or notice any unusual marks on the carpet?’
‘I did not find much of significance,’ replied Lestrade, ‘although I did notice a wire wound round a water pipe. As you saw, I tried the handle of the large cupboard but it was locked. With the commissionaire present I decided not to force the lock. I had better apply for a search warrant which may take time. Mind you, I could be back with some constables and bluff my way in.’
‘My advice is to leave things undisturbed. We don’t want to warn whoever they are that we are on to them.’
The next afternoon I was busy writing up the affair of the fairies at the bottom of the garden. Holmes had retired to his bedroom. Some time later I was aware that he had entered the room. ‘Will this do, Watson?’
I turned to find a clergyman standing by the fire. Holmes rarely lost an opportunity to conduct an investigation in some form of disguise.
‘Most impressive. I assume you are on your way out?’
‘I intend to station myself outside the Turkish baths.’
He returned some time later. I could tell from his expression that all had gone well.
‘You’ve found out something?’
‘Indeed I did. I waited outside the baths. The time was just after five. I chose that time to be there because that was when the Foreign Office telegraph operator usually finished for the day. I assumed that the person in the top room would leave his post soon after. About fifteen minutes later a man wearing a long overcoat a few sizes too big for him came out and stood looking for a cab. A hansom driver, ever alert for a fare, pulled up and called out, “Cab, guvner?” The man waved him away and beckoned to a four-wheeler that had come along. He got in.
‘I hailed the hansom and told the driver to follow the growler. I said there was a sovereign in it if he didn’t lose sight of it. I’m sure that such an award put any thoughts out of the driver’s mind about the propriety of a man of the cloth behaving in such a peculiar way. The trail led to a square in Islington. I paid off the hansom and sat on one of the seats in the square. My customary attention to every detail of a disguise included in this instance a Bible, which I pretended to read while keeping watch on the house into which the young man had gone. A young lady emerged and walked away. Once she had left the square, I went up to the house and rang the doorbell. It was answered by a stout woman who seemed somewhat surprised to be visited by a member of the church.
‘I gave a beatific smile and said: “My dear madam, may I trouble you to help me with a—”’ She interrupted me. “Speak up, I can’t hear proper. Thinks you said trouble. Is it money you’re after? I puts some in the plate every Sunday.…”’
I smiled at Holmes’ mimicry of the woman’s voice.
He continued: ‘“No, no, my call is not about a donation, it concerns a search for a young couple who have eloped recently. The family of the girl have asked me to intercede. You see, they are not married in the eyes of the church. The parents are distraught, worried.”
‘She replied: “Well, I never. Young people these days do do some wicked things. But there’s no couple livin’ here. There’s just a young lady what pays for the top rooms. She’s very quiet. The way she speaks is not like most round here. She’s just gone out.”’
‘I asked her if the lady had any visitors.’
‘Her reply was most rewarding: “Now you mentions it, there’s a young man who I’ve seened a few times who calls of an evening. I did not mind cos he looks like her and I supposed he’s her brother. If I’d thought they was, er, you know, I’d turf her out. This is a respectable neighbourhood. Mind you, cos I can’t hear proper he could ’ave been up and down them stairs a dozen times a day for all I knows.”
‘I left her saying: “My good woman, you have been most helpful. They are certainly not the couple I am looking for. They must be somewhere else. Bless you.”’
Part Three
After listening to Holmes account of his visit to Islington and his impersonation of the woman, I commented, ‘My dear fellow, you should have been on the stage.’
That evening we went to the Café de l’Europe for supper.
Holmes glanced through the menu. ‘I say, Watson, look, they have my favourite steamed marmalade pudding for dessert.’
‘Hold on, old chap. What about what comes before?’
‘Quite right, let us start at the beginning.’
I could not wait to put forward a conclusion I had reached. ‘Is our quarry a woman and not a man?’
‘Indeed, you may be right. Consider the singular happenings I observed outside the baths, Watson. He or rather she took the growler not the hansom. As you know, females do not usually use a hansom unless accompanied. Furthermore, when “he” prepared to enter the cab I observed that, instinctively for a woman, a hand reached down and back in order to gather her skirts up. It was an action of the hand and arm that occurred in a blink of the eye. And, of course, the piece of coloured wool that suggested knitting to pass the time. It was enough to confirm my suspicion that we are dealing with the fair sex. Also I recalled that the postmaster general mentioned that over forty per cent of telegraphists are young girls. Apparently they can learn the Morse code and operate the sending and receiving apparatus more readily than men. Yes, I am sure she is the one who taps the wires and writes down the messages. I have also spoken to one of the post office engineers and, without disclosing the reason for my questions, I learnt that the Morse apparatus is small enough to fit into a cigar box. And I also learnt that a wire needs to be attached to a water pipe. He called it an earth. You recall that Lestrade mentioned a pipe and wire. In addition, a Leclanche cell is needed, and that fact explained the damage to the carpet in the attic room, where some of the acid from the cell had escaped.’
‘Splendid, Holmes. What is the next step in this case?’
‘Well, we have to determine how the messages she has intercepted are passed on, and to whom.’
‘I expect she uses what I have heard you refer to as a “drop”.’
‘More than likely, Watson. The trouble is this is a very big city with thousands, perhaps millions, of places into which the messages could be dropped to await the real villains.’
‘She will be followed then?’
‘Yes, Lestrade is on to it as we speak. I anticipate he will find the drop. Then we have to take up the trail again after the messages have been picked up. Somewhere, somebody awaits them.’
Lestrade came round to report that the lady telegraphist had been followed to one of the embassies. After he had left, Holmes started to prepare an account for Lord Craneford of all that had happened.
The next day we went to see the Foreign Secretary.
‘You and Scotland Yard have certainly made progress with the investigation.’
‘Yes, my Lord, I am pleased to say we have. It appears that every evening the young lady carries her day’s work to the Transylvanian embassy. There could be someone in there who is able to decipher the messages.’
‘Mr Holmes, I am anxious to avoid a diplomatic incident. For the present let us leave out the name of the country involved. What we need to find is some way of identifying the person. I trust the ambassador of that country. However, I believe that someone in the embassy is trying to mar our relat
ions with them. Can you gain access to the embassy?’
‘I believe I can, my lord.’
‘I am relying on you, Mr Holmes, to find that person. You must understand that with cases of this sort, on behalf of the government, you will be on your own. Should you be caught in some devious act in an embassy which is, of course, foreign soil, you will be officially disowned. But, of course, unofficially you will have the full support of Scotland Yard and will be well rewarded.’
Back in our rooms I put the obvious questions to Holmes. ‘An invidious position to be in. How will you proceed? Can I help?’
‘To your first question I have no idea. To the second, my dear friend, your help may be essential. Our first move will have to be a survey of the embassy from outside. Who shall we be? Itinerant singers of ballads? You have a fine voice, Watson. Perhaps two road sweepers?’
The embassy was in an area of large mansions, each with its own grounds. At one time it had been a private residence. Few paid much attention to the two disreputable and inebriated tramps slumped among the bushes at the side of the avenue. There were few people about, even in the other two roads alongside the embassy, to notice us as we went swaying along the pathway.
‘Watson, we have a problem that on first thought seems insurmountable. The embassy is surrounded by a high wall and all the windows on all floors are barred.’
‘Well, as you have remarked in the past, just walk straight in through the front door.’
‘Yes, that might be the answer were it not for the fact that embassies usually have members of their military on duty, who would insist on seeing a plausible invitation or being given a valid reason for entering. I have even considered the trick we employed in the case of a Scandal in Bohemia.
‘Yes, I remember. You used a smoke device, and in the confusion learnt where the incriminating letters were secreted.’
‘Not this time, Watson. The building is far too large and too far back from the road for hurling a smoke device through a window. Even if one were to be open. From my observations that is unlikely. And I cannot see that making smoke and shouting “Fire” will avail us this time.’
Sherlock Holmes at the Breakfast Table Page 21