Sherlock Holmes in Something the Cat Dragged In Read Online Free PDF Page A

Yes, he had drawn up such a campaign. He planned to fight a battle with lead soldiers and dice against two friends, beginning on the date he had chosen as the start of this ‘war.’ I borrowed the papers and had them studied by a military expert who said that not only did they appear to be a possibly successful campaign, but also they gave a strong appearance of verisimilitude. Had I not told him of their provenance, he said, he might have believed them genuine.”
    He looked sour at that. “It bothered me. I could not exactly explain why, but I felt that the papers were dangerous, so I quietly put a man into Northgate’s house here in the city. Detective Len Rogers is an up-and-coming man and a protégé of Harrison’s. Len is young yet, but his dad was a constable for many years and rose to become a sergeant. That watch the cat found? Harrison tells me that Rogers’s father bought it to mark his tenth year as a policeman. Just before he retired, he risked his life to protect a young lady, and her family presented him with a silver one. So he passed on that brass watch to Len when the lad joined the force, giving him a better chain as a twenty-first birthday present.”
    Even as Holmes had deduced, I reflected.
    â€œHe acted as a footman?” Holmes offered. “And he purchased a pair or two of Alfred Jessup gloves for the role. What was he able to tell you?”
    â€œNothing, Mr. Holmes. He made reports every third day, and he had seen and heard nothing that caused him any alarm.”
    Miss Emily raised her head and looked him in the eye. “And those were the papers that were stolen? Do you think whoever took them thinks that they are real, or would they sell them knowing them to be false but hoping to make money?”
    Lestrade smiled wryly at her. “Excellent questions. Well, Mr. Holmes?”
    Holmes steepled his fingers and contemplated us over them. “I think that it matters little. The question is, if those papers reach… the power in question, will they believe them genuine? I fear they will.”
    Harrison spoke quietly. “Sir, could our government not approach that power? Tell them what happened and assure them that the papers were merely the pastime of a dilettante, a man whose hobby is playing with toy soldiers and enacting mock battles against elderly friends?”
    â€œWould that we could, lad. You do not know the power in question. They are always ready to see a slight, and even readier to believe someone is poised to attack. The expert said honestly that had he not known from where the papers came, he would have thought them genuine. Do you not think that if the power buys them at some cost, they too will be predisposed to accept them? Yes, we could go to them now and say that the papers were false, yet they would still purchase them if they could to see why we were agitated, and finding them all too convincing, they would disbelieve us the more readily.”
    We stared at each other glumly. I had fought in one war and wished for no other. Holmes stirred. “What of Northgate? Did you know that he was missing?”
    â€œI still do not know,” Lestrade averred.
    In reply Holmes spread out the bloodied handkerchief, showing the entwined initials. “H. J. C. N,” he read. “Horace Justyn Calthrope Northgate.”
    â€œHe may have lent the handkerchief to my man.”
    â€œI think you would do well to assume the worst,” was all Holmes said.
    Lestrade stood. “Northgate has many friends and a lot of influence. You are likely right and I should not waste time. Harrison, go to the hospital and see how Len is doing. Much may depend on what he can tell us. If they say it will be hours or longer before he can account to us, then rejoin me. If, however, they think that he may be able to speak soon, stay with him. In either case, go by the local station and have them put a constable on his door. Two if need be. Tell