The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories Part II Read Online Free PDF Page B

and back again.
    â€œAll right, then. If you feel confident enough to try.”
    â€œI confess, I am not entirely confident, but I will find my way. What sort of questions must I ask?”
    â€œIt is best to concentrate on her senses, what she smelled, heard, etcetera. Anything that she can remember to describe this man, for she could not see him. Also, the location is important. He took her someplace she’d never been before, to her knowledge.”
    â€œDid she not come to your rooms from there?” I asked.
    â€œShe hid under a tarpaulin in barrel cart that was next to the building and allowed it to take her away, so she was not aware of the path she took. When that stopped, she apparently came upon Preston, who immediately thought to bring her to me. He wondered if he should to take her to a hospital, and in truth, that may not have been a bad idea considering her condition.”
    â€œI should examine her, then, Holmes,” I said. “She will no doubt have some serious injuries with the treatment she’s received.”
    â€œI agree, but given her reaction to my touching her hand, doing that may be difficult at first. You should wait until your wife has won her trust.”
    â€œShould I write down her answers for you?” Mary asked.
    Holmes pursed his lips thoughtfully. “That would be a fine pretence. As I said, I plan to eavesdrop with your husband from my bedroom. I’ll make an excuse and pretend to leave the house, perhaps that I am going to find the doctor. She need not know he is even there - you’ll wait in my room, Watson - then I’ll enter my bedroom from the hall. When I’ve heard enough, I’ll return as if I’d returned from the outside. You may then show me what notes you have, so she does not suspect that I was listening through the wall.”
    Mary sighed. Her clear blue eyes glistened once more with uncertainty.
    â€œThis will certainly be a challenge, Mrs. Watson,” said my friend.
    â€œYet you say you cannot convince her to speak to you.”
    â€œNo,” he said. “I am afraid this case is doomed to failure at my hands alone.”
    â€œVery well, then.” Mary nodded. “Let me dress and we shall go.”
    After a few moments, Mary emerged from our bedroom dressed in a simple, emerald green gown accented with ivory, with her hair neatly wrapped in a bun. She carried over her arm two other gowns and personal linens.
    â€œI thought perhaps she might like some clean clothes. These dresses are different sizes.”
    â€œVery good, Mrs. Watson,” said my friend. “Let’s be off.”
    We summoned a hansom cab. As we made the short drive to Holmes rooms down the street and around the corner, Holmes gave my wife some additional guidance on the sort of questions to ask. He then added, “You should be aware that she is in the condition she was in when she arrived. The maid wanted to clean her up, but I asked her to wait until you have seen her.”
    Holmes led us up the stairs, gesturing us to be quiet. He directed me to enter his bedroom door, and when I did, I went immediately to the small peep hole Holmes had created in the wall to see into the sitting room. In the room it was hidden by a moulded glass wall decoration that expanded the field of vision so one could see the entire room laid out. As I peered through the hole, I froze for a moment, mortified at the site that met my eyes.
    A young woman around the age of three and twenty sat in the chair at Holmes’s hearth. Her pale red hair was ratted and dirty, and her fair skin layered in grime. Her dress, a soft pink calico, was ripped in several places and soiled with oil, muck, and dust. She was missing a shoe and her stocking was rent, leaving her foot nearly bare. A crocheted afghan blanket of red and blue had been laid about her shoulders, and yet she still shivered as she lifted a cup of tea to her swollen lips with fingers cut and