Sherlock Holmes and the Dance of the Tiger Read Online Free PDF Page A

such a brilliant man, sometimes you say the most ludicrous things!   I am an open book.   If there is anything you wish to know you have only to ask.”
    “There are things which are better left unsaid, Miss Belle.”   He looked away.  
    That would be a first for Sherlock Holmes!
    “I must be assured that you understand the type of work we do.   And the inherent dangers,” he stated, adding softly, “And that you enter into them willingly.”
    “I do.”   Mirabella received the very clear impression that her proximity was uncomfortable for Sherlock.   She who revered him so much and who was never so alive or inspired as when she was in his company.   “Do give me some credit, Mr. Holmes.   I did help to solve the case of the Sword Princess, after all.”
    She determined not to let Sherlock pull her in with these moments of emotion—unfathomable and unreadable but emotion nonetheless—which tugged at her heartstrings.   She knew very well that she was like a fly to be lured in—and then to be swatted when it got too close to his lifeblood.   His cases .   His work .
    They passed the Diogenes Club, Sherlock’s brother Mycroft’s club.   They were approaching Piccadilly Circus when she saw the Eros statue followed by the Criterion Bar, where Dr. John Watson had first learned of an eccentric scientist needing a roommate.
    John Watson had his own demons as a result of his time spent as a military doctor in Afghanistan.   Was that why he took so many risks with Sherlock?   Throwing himself into Sherlock’s cases seemed to keep John’s memories at bay—until the night came.   Mirabella knew from Sherlock that John often paced the floors at night, the young doctor’s bedroom being on the third floor above Sherlock’s room.  
    Mirabella glanced at Sherlock.   Everyone was tortured in some way.   It seemed to be the human condition.
    “For the time being you still have a position, Miss Hudson, but you must promise to take my instruction more seriously.   Why should I waste my genius and my valuable time on a thankless girl which might otherwise be spent undermining crime and saving lives?”
    “Oh, I am grateful, Mr. Holmes, believe me.”   Especially when you are asleep.
    “As you should be.   But I assure you that you will be punished for your insubordination.   And your tendency to lie, which I abhor above all things.”
    “Lie?” she replied indignantly, turning to stare at him.   “I do not even know how to lie.”
    “You just did.”   He consulted his pocket watch.   “Not two minutes and fifty-seven seconds ago.”
    “Whatever do you mean, Mr. Holmes?” she asked, genuinely dismayed.
    The carriage turned onto Paddington Street where she saw James Taylor & Co., shoemaker to Sherlock Holmes. As if to commemorate the occasion, he tapped his foot in annoyance.   “I refer to the Case of the Sword Princess, which you claim to have solved.”  
    “I did not say that I solved the case, I merely said that I helped to solve the case,” she replied.
    “It is nonetheless an incorrect statement.”
    “Of course,” she murmured, understanding dawning.   “You were not the star of that discourse, therefore it must be untrue.”
    “You are becoming more like LeStrade every day, Miss Belle.”   He stifled a laugh, an expression of uncharacteristic amusement crossing his features.   “Being abducted by the villains does not constitute solving the case.”
    “I managed to save myself and four little girls!” she replied indignantly, crossing her arms in front of her waist.
    “And would you still be alive today if Watson were not such a crack shot?”
    “Probably not.”
    “And would Watson have been there to fire the shot if I had not deduced where you were and led him to the location?”
    “No.”
    “So who solved the case?”
    “You did, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, and I am a wretched, evil girl.”   She added in a whisper, “And I owe you my life.”
    “Think nothing of