The Sensible Necktie and Other Stories of Sherlock Holmes Read Online Free PDF Page A

creature, or an explosion. The problem was that the course of events had to have taken place within a very limited timeframe of no more than four minutes, from the moment when the patch of mist formed to when it cleared away. In this time, the boat could not possibly have been consumed by a fire - unless the mist was no mist but smoke from a fire on a different boat - but it could have sunk as a result of running aground, being attacked by a large animal, consumed by a wave or exploding. All of these eventualities, however, would have left behind a wreck that would have surfaced at least partly, not to mention dead bodies that would eventually have been swept ashore. None of this has happened. I returned to Baker Street from Lydmouth vexed by the lack of clues in this case, and have spent several days testing a number of hypotheses from the comfort of this sitting room. Today, I thought that I had hit upon something promising. I conjectured that the patch of mist in which the cutter was lost was created by artificial means, and have attempted to find the method used by recreating the process in my laboratory.”
    â€œThat accounts for the mess on the table. And have you found the method?”
    â€œThat is not the problem, Watson. A cloud of smoke or vapour could easily be created by human hands, but the question is how could it be done several yards out into the open sea? In conjunction with my experiments, I have tried, as I mentioned, to acquire a complete picture of the weather conditions at Lydmouth that day using as many newspaper reports as I could find. You see the remains of them scattered around you.”
    â€œIt is a veritable newspaper graveyard. And what does your complete picture indicate?”
    â€œNothing conclusive. There were no reports of fog anywhere in the vicinity on that day, but the weather was not clear, and the creation of small areas of mist cannot be excluded.”
    â€œCould it not have been a cloud of smoke drifting from a nearby fire or factory?”
    â€œOnly to thicken once more on the open seas, where it should have been dispersed by the ocean breeze? A queer cloud of smoke, Watson.”
    â€œSo what are we to make of it all? That the explanation is a supernatural one?”
    â€œOh Watson, don’t be foolish. There is clearly some vital piece of evidence lacking.”
    â€œI do hope you will find it, old chap. We don’t want another James Phillimore on our hands. After that ordeal, you had to spend a month at a resting home.”
    â€œThe case haunts me to this day, Watson. It was a perfect vanishing act. His colleague was standing in the street outside, waiting for Phillimore to fetch his umbrella before accompanying him to their office in the City, and inside the house the maid heard the door open and slam shut just seconds before she looked out into the hallway and found it completely empty.”
    â€œI remember. In the room to the right, another maid was cleaning, and in the room to the left, the butler was clearing the breakfast table. They heard the door too, but saw no sign of their master. How many weeks did you devote to the case before giving it up?”
    â€œTen at least. I was positive that the staff of the household had conspired, but in that case, what would they have done to him, and why were there no signs of struggle?”
    â€œAnd then there was that report from South America. Peru, was it? That a man of his description had checked into a hotel in his name at exactly the same moment that he disappeared in London. Chilling.”
    â€œMy dear Watson, that must have been a pure coincidence. But it serves to demonstrate how willing people are to welcome impossible solutions.”
    â€œDo you think the cutter Alicia has ended up in the same place as James Phillimore?”
    â€œHum! I shall refrain from indulging you in your attempts to allow for supernatural eventualities.”
    â€œIt only stands to reason to assume that