“Do people come from overseas, as well?”
“Well, we are close to France, the Netherlands and Belgium here – that’s why speaking several languages is useful in this job – so we get people coming from there too.”
“And do all the town’s leading citizens come as well?”
“Oh yes, sir. The mayor or Bürgermeister and most of the leading citizens will be present as well as all the festival sponsors.”
“Oh really?” I said, doing my best to appear casual. “And who may they be?”
“The biggest sponsor is Commonwealth Tobacco. They have a factory near here and are much the largest employer in town. Their leader, John Harden, is an opera lover and comes here every night entertaining guests.”
“Commonwealth Tobacco is a slightly strange name for a tobacco company in Germany,” I commented.
“Indeed, sir. Until a couple of years ago, the sponsor was a local tobacco company – a family firm called Bruckmann. You may have heard of the German Mittelstand – the vast number of small family companies, which are such a feature of German business life compared to the large industrial combinations you have in the United Kingdom? Nevertheless, although these family companies are generally very solid and stable, every family has its price. My understanding is that Commonwealth Tobacco were happy to pay the top price to acquire Bruckmann. In the end, a large company is almost by definition more successful than a smaller one, and the big ones swallow the small ones. I think this is more usual in the Anglo-Saxon world, but it applies here as well.”
I thought I was about to receive the same basic lessons in economics that I had had successively from Mr Lawler, Mr Bradley and Holmes himself, so I hastily turned the conversation back to John Harden.
“Is Mr Harden often in Aachen?”
“Mr Harden, as far as I am aware, and I admit that we are not discussing my special area of expertise, divides his time between London and here, but he has always come to the opera festival and sits in the middle of the front row of the dress circle every night surrounded by his guests. From your seat in the slips you will be able to see him with his wife for Così fan tutte tomorrow.”
I felt I had learnt as much as I could about Mr Harden for the moment and resolved to go to Fidelio as well.
“Your decision you will not regret, sir!” exclaimed the helpful opera enthusiast as he handed me my ticket.
I found a post office and telegraphed my intentions to Holmes. I then went to a cafe on the Hauptstraβe for something to eat and when I came back there was an answer for me. He told me to watch out for any audience participation from Mrs Harden. Holmes’s responses are often sphinx-like in their obscurity and I had no intention of letting this one disturb my enjoyment of the opera.
The next day I visited the Cathedral. The construction of this magnificent edifice was started by Charlemagne. I reflected how the power of economics was starting to subvert national boundaries and circumscribe the ability of national political leaders to act. Charlemagne would not have had to engage in spying on his subjects in order to extract money from them. Absolute power is much easier to exercise and is perhaps less corrupting than the exercise of limited power. My musings at the Cathedral and wandering round the Old Town, made my day pass very swiftly and in the evening I betook myself to the opera house to hear Così fan tutte.
The house was as full as my friend at the box-office had said and, as I waited for the overture to start, I cast my eye around the audience. The man at the centre of the front row of the dress circle, surrounded by dinner-jacket-clad gentlemen and ladies in evening wear had to be Mr Harden. He was engaged in animated conversation with two gentlemen to his left and the one seat that was empty was the one to Mr Harden’s right. As I watched, I saw a lady in dark evening wear, which contrasted with the extreme pallor of her skin, make her way past the other spectators to take her place next to Mr Harden. The evening passed in a whirl of the most glorious music. I left my seat promptly at the end and decided to wait at the front to see Mr and Mrs Harden leave, but though I waited for a long time, they did not come by. So I returned to my hotel, where I passed a peaceful night.
The next day I went to the Post Office and telegraphed Holmes about the events of the previous evening. I had also formulated the plan of buying one of the new Eastman cameras to see if I could make a so-called ‘snapshot’ of Mr Harden, his wife and those surrounding him. I mentioned this too in my telegram to Holmes. As I left the Post Office, I bumped into my friend from the Box Office who wished me a pleasent evening at the theatre in his charming accent. I dropped again into the cafe on the Hauptstraβe and enjoyed some of the fine local cakes and then went to a specialist camera shop to buy the camera. I took detailed instructions on how to take a ‘snapshot’ and then headed back to the Post Office, again crossing the path of the man from the Box Office, to see if there was a reply to my telegram. Holmes had written: “Now you have seen what all the ladies do, be true and do the same on Monday. Then return to London.” Most of this seemed like a code but the last part was at least clear.
I went to Fidelio on Monday night and once again watched as, rather irregularly, Mrs Harden took her place after Mr Harden had arrived. She sat next to him, the whiteness of her skin emphasised by his black jacket, and I raised my camera to my eye and took my ‘snapshot’. The button clicked.
With a sigh of relief I sat back in my seat to wait for the lights to go down. Suddenly I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned to face two imposing theatre ushers. One said something in German which I did not understand. As I was explaining that I did not speak much German, my neighbour said “They are requesting that you come with them.”
We went out of the auditorium and into a little lobby, which was deserted. One of the ushers seized my camera and said in accented English “I will take your camera to the Box Office where you may collect it at the end of the performance.” The other usher looked on, but when his colleague had my camera with its precious photograph in his grasp, he went off to continue his business. I was anxious not to let my camera out of my sight so I chased after the usher who had seized my camera, protesting vigourously. Suddenly a familiar voice said.
“Follow me, Watson! I am here to make sure the man from the Box Office does not get hold of this. I think we have drawn quite enough attention to ourselves already.”
We exited through a side door and went back to my hotel. Once in my room, Holmes leant back in the arm-chair and drew deeply on a cigar before he spoke.
“I think it is only fair to you, Watson, to explain what I have been investigating,” began Holmes. “A few weeks ago, I was approached by a government minister – not Mr Lawler – who wanted me to investigate the toxic effects of tobacco. He wanted someone who was an experienced chemist, fully independent of other researchers and a tireless investigator. We are all aware of the positive effects of tobacco – for general health as a purgative, for the mind as an aid to concentration, and for the senses, as a source of pleasure. Tobacco is a natural leaf-based product and so its consumption ought to be an innocent enjoyment. The government is concerned that the tobacco companies are adding ingredients to increase the desire to smoke to a level higher than would be natural for the product and that may have an adverse effect on health. It has charged me with carrying out the research.”
“And what would the consequences be if you found anything of that kind?” I asked, lighting up a cigar of my own.
“A manufacturer is of course allowed to add what it wishes to its products to increase their desirability but not if the additive has a deleterious effect on the consumer. If this were the case, then the additional ingredients would need to be eliminated.”
“And what are your findings so far?”
“Nicotine in tobacco has of course been known about for a long time. It was first isolated from the plant as far back as the eighteen-twenties. It is a stimulant to the nervous system and this explains the agreeable effect that tobacco inhalation has on the smoker and why
the urge to consume a second cigarette or other smoking product after having consumed one is so strong.” Holmes briefly closed his eyes and drew deeply on the cigar he had lit up, so that its tip glowed, before he continued. “I was quite struck by what you said about the addition of different flavours to the tobacco which you described to me from your visit to Bradley’s. Mr Bradley mentioned menthol as being one of a variety of new flavours being tried, and recent introductions have included vanilla and cherry. My research, my notes on which are in this file here, has shown that menthol enhances the enjoyment of nicotine to such an extent that the smoker’s desire for an additional cigarette is increased exponentially. Indeed, as your sottish friend, Isa Whitney, discovered in the case of laudanum, to the extent that further consumption becomes impossible to resist.”
“But, Holmes! You have just said that a manufacturer is allowed to put anything he likes into his product as long as it is not toxic.”
“There is, is there not, something slightly disconcerting about a widely available product with a legal additive which produces an unnatural craving for it? And the manufacturers must know about this. Otherwise the main two, Commonwealth Tobacco and Thompson’s, would not be introducing two new products with the same new additive at the same time. But the fact that it is ‘slightly disconcerting’ is not a sufficient reason for withdrawing an additive that is legal, though I pointed out the effect menthol has to the officials in the Ministry of Health when I made my initial submissions.”
“And what is the relationship between your chemical investigation and what I am investigating?”
“That is something I was very tempted to ask Mr Lawler himself when he visited us. The ministers in charge of public health and those charged with managing this country’s finances both seem to be more than usually interested in the activities of the tobacco companies and yet seem unaware of each other’s activities. I carried out the first engagement under representations of the strictest secrecy, however, so I could not disclose to Mr Lawler the nature of my investigation. It is only after much thought that I am disclosing it to you.” Holmes again raised his cigar to his lips. “How marvellous a thing is a cigar!” he exclaimed. “Tobacco rolled in a tobacco leaf and nothing added to it.” He paused and again closed his eyes reverentially as the smoke rose from the end of his cigar before he said: “And now we must investigate what you have found!” and with that he disappeared into the bathroom with my camera.
“Excellent, Watson!” he exclaimed, when he emerged. “This is just what we were looking for! We will go back to London tomorrow!” And without saying any more, he tucked the photograph he had developed into the impressive-looking file of data in which he had gathered his researches into tobacco additives.
We arrived back at Victoria Station early in the morning of the Wednesday. Holmes had said nothing further to me about the case on the journey home. Instead, his sole topic of conversation was Mozart’s librettist, Lorenzo da Ponte, and the wonder of his operatic plots – Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro – all shot through with scheming and subtlety yet with da Ponte remaining in full charge of the story’s direction. Rather than going back to Baker Street, Holmes insisted we make straight for Tobacco House, headquarters of Thompson’s. My friend presented his card at the reception and, even though we were asking to speak to the Chief Executive, it had its customary commanding effect. Within five minutes we were sitting in front of Mr James Grace. Holmes put his file of data on the table in front of him as he sat down opposite.
“Mr Holmes, your name is obviously known to me through the writings of your friend Dr Watson. What can I help you with today?”
“I have been commissioned by the government with finding evidence of market collusion between the major tobacco companies in the United Kingdom.”
“Mr Holmes. The tobacco companies are well aware of their responsibilities. We do not talk to each other about pricing or strategy.”
“It is noticeable, is it not, that prices go up at the same time by the same amount and that product innovations tend to be copied by the different companies?”
“What you describe, Mr Holmes,” said Mr Grace, with barely suppressed impatience, “is a well-ordered market. The three companies adopt their strategies independently and do not talk to each other. I am powerless to influence what my competitors do just as they are powerless to influence us.”
“It is possible, is it not, for companies to talk to each other without talking to each other?”
“I fail to follow you, Mr Holmes.”
“When an employee leaves, he tends to go to another tobacco company.”
“We try to discourage that. Our senior employees have six-month cooling-off periods – the maximum that is allowed under restraint of trade laws – to prevent precisely that.”
“Even so, your strategy of raising prices and introducing new variants of your products has hardly changed, so when one employee leaves and goes to another tobacco company, knowledge of your plans goes with him.”
“There is absolutely nothing illegal about what we have done.”
“What about your previous Chief Scientific Officer?”
“He left us six months ago.”
“What is he doing now?”
“I understand he is now working for International Tobacco.”
“Why did he leave you?”
“Mr Holmes, your inquisitiveness may not have any limits, but my willingness to answer your questions does.”
“What can you tell me about mentholated products?”
“Menthol is a legal additive that we struggled to add to our product in a way which was acceptable to the public. Since you obviously have at least half an idea of the way our business works, I may as well tell you that this was why our previous Chief Scientific Officer left us. It had been his task to develop a mentholated product and this he failed to do. His replacement, whom we were able to attract from Commonwealth Tobacco, was able to achieve what we wanted in a short space of time and we have now introduced a mentholated product to the market albeit later than our main competitor. After the cooling-off period stipulated in his contract, our last Chief Scientific Officer went to work for the number three player on the market, International Tobacco. Long may he fail to achieve there what he failed to achieve here!”
“What do you know about menthol’s influence on the propensity to smoke?”
“Mr Holmes! You have asked me enough questions. All that we do here and indeed all that our competitors do, as far as I am aware, is entirely legal. We comply with all government regulations, pay more taxes than any other industry, and provide employment to thousands of people across the land. I must ask you and your friend to leave and bid you a good day.”
Holmes stood up to leave and as he did so, he carelessly let the photograph I had taken in Aachen fall out of the file. He made to snatch it up from Mr Grace’s desk, but Mr Grace got to it first. He picked it up, looked at it briefly, and handed it back to Holmes. “I request that you leave or I will call the Company’s security guards.”
We were soon back in Baker Street. Holmes sat silently in his chair. “We were warm, as the children say,” he mused, but would not be drawn on further steps. I sat all evening awaiting a further comment but none was forthcoming. In the end I left him to his ponderings and went to bed.
Early next morning I got up and noticed our cigarette stocks were running low and went down to Oxford Street to replenish. In Bradley’s shop I picked up a newspaper. This carried on its front page a report on a swingeing fine imposed on the tobacco companies. Commonwealth Tobacco and Thompson’s had agreed, without any admission of wrong-doing, to pay substantial fines for anti-competitive practices.
Mr Bradley was in a conversational mood.
“Pleased to see you, sir!” he said, and at my bidding got me five packs of his proprietary product. As a favour to Holmes, I also got several packets of Gold Bush.
“So what do you make of this fine for the tobacco
companies?” I asked.
“Well, it seems to happen all the time to the big businesses – banks and the like,” observed Mr Bradley sagely. “They’re always being fined for some irregularity or other. I presume they are too good at avoiding normal tax so the government is reduced to forcing one-off payments out of them. Well, there’s no danger of my little shop ever being big enough for that to happen to me!”
There seemed no answer to that, so out of curiosity I asked “And how are the menthol products selling?”
“Strange you should mention it, sir,” he said. “Commonwealth Tobacco and Thompson’s have both said that the introduction has not delivered the sales they were hoping for and are withdrawing all stocks. This is very unusual as we’ve had no lack of interest for them in our shop. I am even thinking of getting a mentholated version made of our own product if my manufacturer will supply me.”
The paper carried two further announcements:
Mr Lawler had surrendered his junior Cabinet post and, although remaining a Member of Parliament, was going to work as a non-executive director at International Tobacco. It was stressed that Mr Lawler’s focus would be exclusively on International Tobacco’s overseas business and thus that there was no impropriety in his stepping into the role directly from a position in the British cabinet.
And John Harden was retiring from his post as Chief Executive Officer of Commonwealth Tobacco. He had been nominated for a peerage and was going to act as the government’s adviser on business ethics. The paper commented that as Chief Executive Officer of a global organisation, he could not have been expected to know about allegedly anti-competitive practices in just one country for which his company had been fined. Accordingly the offences, of which his company continued to maintain its innocence, were no bar to his elevation to the House of Lords or to his being honoured with the advisory postion he had been given.
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