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

direction of the mist, would have drifted out past the Lizzie May , where the captain was keeping lookout for her towards the harbour. Do you see? The Alicia needed only go past the Lizzie May to become invisible to all who kept a lookout for her. This she could easily have done in the time before the mist cleared away, and once she was on that side, the journey to those islands is a short one, and quite possibly the only way to go once the treacherous undercurrents have taken the upper hand.”
    â€œDo you really think this is possible? The undercurrents would have to be very strong for the cutter to go such a long way.”
    â€œAn experienced sailor knows better than to try and fight currents. The men in the crew had a good reason for not taking any unnecessary risks.”
    â€œWhat’s that?”
    â€œLike most sailors, they did not know how to swim.”
    Holmes walked over to his desk and started scribbling a note. Just then, Mrs Hudson walked in through the door, bearing the latest morning editions.
    â€œAh, Mrs Hudson,” said Holmes. “I need you to take this over to the telegraph office. It is for a Mr Jack Frome of Lydmouth harbour.”
    I took the newspapers from the landlady and glanced over the front page of The Times .
    â€œHolmes!” I cried. “You are too late!”
    He looked up from his note and I showed him the headline that read: “Crew of Alicia found on Channel island.” He took the newspaper and read it while making strange noises of contentment and delight.
    â€œIt is just as we deduced! The cutter, when driven off course by the mist and the current, was forced to steer towards the islands to avoid drifting out into the open sea. The captain of the Lizzie May admits that all eyes were directed towards the harbour from whence the cutter was expected to come, and if only someone had glanced in the other direction, they would have seen the boat and there would never have been any mystery. The crew of the Alicia is reported to be all right in the circumstances, although were found to be suffering from mild dehydration. Oh, and listen to this, Watson: ‘Harbour-master Jack Frome also confesses to having withheld the fact that he occasionally suffers from impaired vision due to chronic migraines, a condition which presented itself on the day of the disappearance, and may have contributed to the official’s failure to see the cutter as it drifted along with the mist.’ Ha-ha! Watson, I am very much indebted to you. Allow me to buy you dinner tonight. Mrs Hudson, you may forget about that telegram.”
    â€œBut are you not frustrated by the fact that no one will give you credit for actually solving the case without this information?” I said.
    â€œNot in the least. The satisfaction I get from my work comes from myself and not from the acknowledgment of others. It is enough to know that I did solve it, or indeed that there was a solution to it. I often repel at the word ‘mystery’ that we use for cases like this. There are no mysteries in this world, my friend, only problems that are not yet solved.”
    â€œI must say, however,” I remarked, “that the promise of a remarkable explanation when the problem is yet unsolved often surpasses the prosaic nature of the real explanation once it is revealed. Seeing the solution to this mystery, for instance, it is plain and simple. And a bit boring.”
    â€œThat is why people go to magic shows, Watson. They need the illusion of unexplainable mysteries. But I am no conjuror. I am a mechanic, pure and simple, and I solve problems.”
    â€œThen perhaps cases like the Phillimore mystery are rather refreshing from time to time?”
    Holmes reclined into his armchair once more. “To a collector of fairy-tales, perhaps.”

The Adventure of the Cawing Crow
    There are, deep within the accumulation of papers in my possession relating to the many cases of Sherlock