The Adventure of the Pharaoh's Curse (The Assassination of Sherlock Holmes Book 1) (3 page)

We had the carriage to ourselves, so Holmes finally set aside his walking stick, and proceeded to light his old, oily black clay pipe. “Well, Lestrade,” said he, when finished with this task. “We have a clear run here of two hours with which you can fill in the remaining details of your investigation.”

“What would you like to know, Mr. Holmes?”

“First of all, how many items in total have been stolen?”

Lestrade consulted his official notebook. “Since the thirtieth of September, there have been twenty-nine items that have been noted as missing. The collection is enormous, so it is possible that other small objects have been overlooked.”

“Still, we have roughly twenty-nine items in thirty-two days. That is suggestive, don’t you think, Lestrade?”

“Is it, Mr. Holmes? I hadn’t remarked that it was particularly noticeable.”

“Oh, yes. I would be much obliged if you would provide me with a list of the objects and the days that they were reported missing.”

“I thought you might need that, Mr. Holmes, and had a duplicate account drawn up.” Lestrade extracted a piece of paper and handed it over to Holmes.

My friend merely tucked it into his breast pocket and then continued his questioning. “First of all, there are other players in this case that have yet to be mentioned, are there not? What of the guards in the Ancient Britain Galleries, under whose very noses the treasures have vanished? In my experience, most night guards are elderly, uneducated, and given to excess consumption of spirits.”

Lestrade nodded as if he anticipated this question. “There are two guards assigned to the Britain Galleries, as well as the adjoining rooms along the eastern side of the second floor. They are required to make rounds of this section of the museum several times during the night. But during the other hours they can often be found resting in small cubicles.”

“‘Sleeping’ would perhaps be a more accurate term, would it not?”

“As you say, Mr. Holmes, though they deny it, of course. Neither man has been at the Museum for as long as Mr. Bedford. The first man, whose name is Edward Rucastle, has been at his post for eight years, coming there soon after finishing his schooling.”

“Rucastle?” I asked. I glanced at Holmes. “Do you think it could be the same lad?”

Holmes’ grey eyes gleamed. “The boy’s name was Edward, if I recall correctly. He is about six and twenty-years of age, Lestrade?”

Lestrade nodded. “That sounds about right. Do you know him? He is a sour man, none too bright, and not very popular with his fellows. But for all the minor complaints, the Museum’s Director has had no serious reason to doubt his loyalty.”

Holmes shook his head. “It may simply be a coincidence. We must converse with him at some point, Lestrade. Pray continue.”

“The other man was only hired a few months ago. His name is Quincy Seraphim and he is a retired sergeant of the Army. Coldstream Guards, I believe. He is nearing fifty, with a quiet, unassuming manner.”

“Surely he must be a prime suspect,” I exclaimed. “He had access, and if he started working there just before thefts began…”

“Indeed, Watson. But he is perhaps too obvious a suspect. Would not a clever man wait some time before beginning his crime spree? Otherwise, he simply calls all of the attention to himself.”

“Not if he is using the scarabs as a distraction,” I argued.

Holmes nodded thoughtfully. “A valid point, Watson. Using them as a blind would be a clever tactic. But why murder poor Patterson in the Egyptian Gallery, which is a floor away and on the opposite side of the Great Court? No, no, we will undoubtedly need to question Mr. Seraphim, but I would not rush to condemn him.”

“And there is another objection to your scenario, Doctor,” said Lestrade. “The Museum is well aware that the night guards it employs do not generally hail from the cream of society. They must have good references, of course, but it is a lonely and thankless job. The pay is not miserly, but it is hardly extravagant either. So the Museum has in place measures to ensure that no guard walks home with a pound of gold in his pocket. First, there are two guards for each section so that they watch each other. For a guard to be involved, they would likely need to be in collusion. And then in the morning, the entire lot of them must line up by the Montague Place entrance, where they are searched before being let out the door.”

“One of them could offer the searcher some metallic arguments to overlook things,” I offered.

“I think not, Doctor,” said Lestrade severely. “This is not left in private hands. An officer from the Yard does this duty, and even they are rotated regularly.”

I was still unsatisfied. “Surely they could conceal the stolen objects somewhere in the museum and a confederate could then recover it during the day?”

Holmes laughed aloud. “Excellent, Watson! It is a great aid to put yourself in the other fellow’s place and think of what you would do if you were so criminally inclined.”

However, Lestrade was shaking his head. “We had the same thought, Doctor. But it seems that the Museum had taken steps to prevent that over thirty years ago. The Principal Librarian, Sir Edward Bond, long ago received an anonymous note. In it, some enterprising rouge carefully detailed forty-two different ways that the Museum was vulnerable to thieves. With the advice of the Yard, they acted upon this note and secured all of these former chinks in their armor. One such gap mentioned in the note was just as you suggest, Doctor, so all potential hiding spots have long since been sealed off.”

“Odd that such a famous paleographer as Sir Edward would never be able to identify the anonymous writer of such a note,” said Holmes dryly. “But there is one other guard whose part in this drama has not yet come into focus. What has befallen the missing Mr. Andrew Morrison?”

“Ah, that is a good question, Mr. Holmes,” replied Lestrade. “We don’t rightly know.”

“You must be more precise, Lestrade. You said the man has gone missing, but failed to provide any of the necessary details to elucidate whether he is conspirator or victim.”

“Yes, well, we are uncertain of that. As I noted, Mr. Holmes, on the twenty-fourth of October Mr. Morrison was on duty in the Egyptian and Assyrian Galleries. Mr. Bedford was still working on that night and the two of them passed each other regularly. Bedford claims that Morrison was acting entirely normally. He was last seen at nine o’clock in the morning. But when it was time for the guard line-up, Morrison never appeared. The Director immediately called in the Yard, and Patterson had a squad of constables hurriedly sweep the place, but they found no sign of him. Finally they had to open the doors to the public. But to this day, no one has ever seen Mr. Morrison alive again.”

“Hmmm,” Holmes pondered this information. “And his particulars? You said there were irregularities?”

“Well, Mr. Holmes, Patterson sent a man round to Morrison’s residence. This proved to be a boarding-house on Godalming Road. He had been residing there since late August, just a few days before he obtained the job at the Museum, and he lived quietly and paid his bills regularly. He never returned for his items, which were admittedly few in number and of little value. But the odd part was that on the ledger, he noted his previous address as being a place on Rotherhithe Street. But when Patterson’s man called there, they had no recollection of him.”

“So it was a fake address?” I asked.

Lestrade shook his head. “Not exactly, Doctor. His name was in their book as well, but even though it has been a span of only two months, no one could recall the man. It is as if he had slipped entirely from their memory.”

“A handy trick, that, if you are up to no good,” observed Holmes.

“The landlady at Godalming Road noted that Morrison’s identity papers said that he had been born in Richmond. So Patterson sent a man round there too.”

Holmes nodded approvingly. “I must say that Patterson’s methods are to be commended. He was most thorough in this case.”

“Ah, I see it now,” I exclaimed. “Let me guess, Inspector. He found that Morrison had never been born in Richmond?”

“On the contrary, Doctor,” Lestrade replied. “The records were quite clear. Morrison had been born on 18 December 1854. He also died there on 6 January 1905.”

Holmes chuckled dryly. “So, your Mr. Morrison assumed the identity of a dead man. Very clever, indeed. While it is possible that this was done for some benign reason, I think we must accept the strong likelihood that this was done explicitly for the purpose of infiltrating the Museum.”

“But Mr. Holmes,” Lestrade protested. “Morrison vanished six days before the murder of Inspector Patterson, and the thefts have continued up through last night.”

“Yes, that does present a difficulty. As of now, I am not yet in possession of all of the facts with which to further an explanation of Mr. Morrison’s precise role. However, there is another question that we must ask ourselves. Surely the British Museum has gold from Greece, Persia, and many other distant lands. Why are only the treasures of Ancient Britain vanishing? It would be impossible to sell such unique objects on the open market, and no fence wants stuff of the sort that you can neither melt nor sell. The gold objects are one thing, but the Lewis Chessman? Worthless! Except perhaps to a few exceptionally rich collectors of limited scruples.”

“Well, the rumors going round the Museum is that it is revenge,” said Lestrade cautiously.

“Revenge upon whom?”

“Revenge upon the nation of Britain.”

“For what action?”

“For committing the ransacking of the Pharaoh’s tomb.”

Holmes laughed heartily. “Let them believe that, Lestrade. But it does raise another interesting question. There is no earthly reason why those scarabs were substituted for the treasures. You said that they were plaster, did you not?”

“Yes, what of it?”

“Not stone or faience?”

“No, I don’t believe so.”

“So why does the ghost of a four thousand year old mummy need to leave behind a modern copy?”

With that cryptic pronouncement, Holmes refused to say another word about the matter until he was on the scene of the action. He briefly glanced at the list of missing objects and then buried himself in a selection of the evening papers. Lestrade and I were left hoping that the gleam in Holmes’ eyes suggested that his hand was already upon some clue.

§

We arrived at Victoria Station just as it was the light was fading to dusk. A thick fog had descended and caused the lines of London’s dark, shapeless buildings to take on a dull neutral tint. On the streets the men were out in force with their long poles lighting the lamps, which gave off their soft, parchment-colored light. At the curb, Lestrade hailed a hansom cab and ordered the driver to take us to the Museum.

“Belay that, my good man,” countermanded Holmes. “The Alpha Inn.”

As the cab set off for this destination, Lestrade’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Do you fancy a pint, Mr. Holmes?”

“I fancy a word with Mr. Dominic Bedford.”

“And you expect to find him at the Alpha Inn?”

“I cannot say with absolute certainty, of course, however, I think the likelihood is very high.”

“Why so, Holmes?” I asked.

“As we strode through the passenger foyer at the station, I noted that it was shortly after half past five o’clock. Unless the hours of the Museum have been altered since I retired to the Downs, I know that this is very near the time when the night watchmen congregate at the Inn to share a small beer before starting their duties.”

“But Mr. Bedford has refused to report for work,” I protested.

“True, Watson, but the habits of many years do not change overnight. He is well used to the company of his fellows, and may still seek them out, even if he does not join them afterwards on their trek to the Museum’s doors.”

A few minutes later we found ourselves in Bloomsbury, at that small public house on the corner of Oxford Street and Coptic Street. Although a score of years had passed since we first crossed that threshold looking for the origin of a singular goose, the same white-aproned landlord, his face even ruddier and more weathered, continued to stand guard behind the bar.

“Good evening, Mr. Windigate,” Holmes called. “I trust you are well? Is Mr. Bedford a guest of the house this evening?”

“Ah, yes, Mr. Holmes,” said that man, clearly recognizing my famous friend. “He is indeed. You see the stout and swarthy fellow in the corner, nursing a beer? The one with the grizzled hair and whiskers?”

“Indeed!” replied Holmes with a triumphant glance in Lestrade’s direction. “Well, prosperity to your house, sir,” he said, sliding a pair of shillings across the bar.

When we approached the indicated table, the older man looked up at us with unfriendly brown eyes. However, when he recognized Lestrade, his manner changed to one of servility. “What can I do for you, Inspector?”

“This here is Mr. Sherlock Holmes and his companion, Dr. Watson. They have some questions for you.”

“I’ve answered plenty of questions. I’ve got no more information for you.”

Holmes slid into the seat opposite Bedford and turned the full force of his gaze upon the man. “Come now, Mr. Bedford. You are a man of the world, are you not? You have seen some near sixty years in your day, and you have fiddled at many a music hall in Shadwell.”