Mike Ashley - The Mammoth Book of New Sherlock Holmes Adventures

The fates were so to decree but, perversely, they stayed their hand for nearly two months; it was then their sister Atropos they sent. She came to us in the thin disguise of our landlady, bearing the morning's tray of correspondence and requests for appointments, medical for me, criminal and otherwise for

Holmes. Her rap at our door, thus effected, was so gentle, and her tap so faint, that we were unaware she had entered our chamber. She gave no warning of the remarkable train of events, of the brazen attempt at an audacious new crime – and delayed retribution for a hideous old one – that would ensue; nor was I prepared for the demonstrations of my friend's amazing powers of observation, deduction and inference, of the quick workings of his intellect and of his astonishing ability to create and test hypotheses until the truth was revealed as clearly as are the pure golden tailings and nuggets in the pan of the prospector.

Thus it was that ten days ago Sherlock Holmes and I were visited by the eminent London publisher Garrison Bolt. He wished, he had said in his letter requesting the appointment, to consult Holmes about a matter arising from his business. On the grounds that this might involve my role of chronicler Holmes had asked me, despite a period of considerable activity in my medical practice, to be present. The shrewd, scholarly face of the bookman was known to us, although we had not met for some years. It was with the house of Bolt that I had negotiated publication of my account of one of our earliest cases. I remembered very well the hard bargain he had struck and admit to harbouring some resentment as a result, a resentment heightened by the contrasting generosity of the public, whose approval of my later efforts stood in such sharp contrast to Mr Bolt's parsimony. Despite the numerous reprints of my work, from which Mr Bolt's firm reaped a considerable income, nary a penny was paid over the modest sum agreed, a circumstance which directed me to other, more generous publishers. But a bargain is a bargain and neither Holmes nor I had ever allowed ourselves the indulgence of bearing any grudge or ill will towards Garrison Bolt save that, on the occasions when he had requested my contribution of short introductions to later editions, my dislike of his business ethics always caused me to respond with a positive "No!". We greeted him cordially as he entered our Baker Street rooms and seated him as comfortably as our quarters permitted.

"I am delighted to see you again, Mr Holmes – Dr Watson," said our visitor, settling himself into an armchair.

"And we, you", replied my friend cheerfully. "It was only last evening that we were speculating on the effects, beneficial

or otherwise, of the new Literary Supplement on the fortunes of publishing houses such as yours, and on those who, like Dr Watson, supply the grist for your mills."

"It certainly introduces a new element into the novelist's equation," commented Garrison Bolt, with a wry smile, "the effects of which will be felt throughout the world. Indeed, there is an international aspect to this singular and tantalizing matter that has come up in our offices, which I believe will be of interest to you." Holmes and I leaned forward. Both paused, as though seeking the words that would best secure our attention. "It appears to me that the matter already does relate to you!"

"How so?" asked Holmes, laying aside his pipe.

"I have had in my employment, head of one of our departments, a Mr Musgrave," the publisher explained. "Some years ago he died."

"How?"

"Of natural causes."

"What type of man was he?"

"A hard-working person, of a religious bent but with no other special feature in his character. I have had no occasion to think of Newman Musgrave since – until a month ago, when we received a letter addressed to him care of ourselves. I have it with me now." Garrison Bolt handed an envelope to Sherlock Holmes. It appeared thus:

"As you see, the letter has been addressed not to Newman, but to Norman, Musgrave. We have had no other Musgraves in our employ so I feel sure that the letter was intended for Newman. It has been registered, carries Canadian postage and has the note `CONFL FILMS' upon the outside of the envelope, with the words 'REPORT SY' in the top left hand corner, in the position where the sender's return address is usually given. No such return address, or any indication as to the sender, however, appears.The postman, after some demur, agreed to leave the envelope with us.

"As we had no note of the dead man's relatives we naturally opened it. To our surprise we found inside only these two blank pieces of paper." He handed these to me. I passed them to Holmes, who glanced at them cursorily and returned them to our visitor.

"Thinking that the sheets might have some connection with 'films', or perhaps 'confidential films' ", he continued, "and not trusting them only to my own examinations, I employed the best expert advice I could secure by submitting them to Scotland Yard for analysis by every possible chemical and heat test – all without any result."

"Tut, man," cried Holmes, glancing at the envelope. "You surely received the letter at least a month ago. Have you not been tardy in submitting it for testing?"

"I fear so, sir. I had not read any emergency into the matter. It was only when the police laboratory failed me that I realized that if the mystery was to be solved more specialized advice was needed. It was then that I thought of you, Mr Holmes. Like all Londoners I am aware of your extraordinary ability to solve the insoluble, and to bring light into darkness. You will recall that our house had the pleasure of publishing one of Dr Watson's first accounts of a tour de force in your astonishing career. I was struck, too, by the postmark 'Baskerville' on the envelope, mindful that the name is associated with another of your recent adventures. The name of my employee, Musgrave, of course is to be found in yet another of Dr Watson's accounts.

I interjected, "How the correspondent could have something so secret to say to Mr Musgrave and yet not be aware that this person had been dead for several years is very hard to understand – or why blank sheets should be so carefully registered through the mail."

"Quite so.To a man like me the matter is an insoluble mystery." He turned to Holmes. "Well, Mr Holmes, you are not a man like me, and there is my hope! May Ileave this conundrum in your hands? I cannot see that even you will be able to find the key to it, and the matter may perhaps be of no importance but I, for one, find it intriguing."

"And so do I!" responded Holmes cheerfully. "I will turn my mind to it – aided, I hope, by DrWatson. The part of suppliant biographer is not his only role in this agency. You will hear from us as soon as we are ready to report."

Our visitor thanked us and left. Holmes picked up the envelope and its enigmatic contents and examined them with his lens.

"There are points about this little problem which promise to make it unique – but an insoluble mystery? What think you, doctor?"

"I would not admit as much without first making some effort," I replied. "We have the Baskerville postmark and the reference to Musgrave to go on. Of Musgrave Iknow only what you told me years ago; as to Baskerville I suggest we contact Sir Henry without delay. He spent some years in Canada before he inherited his Dartmoor estate; he may well be able to throw some light on this letter and its origins."

"Right, Watson! We do have these two starting points. And we may have more! Let us leave Baskerville and Musgrave for the moment, and first see what the power of reason, applied to this billet-doux, will reveal. You opined, and Garrison Bolt agreed with you, that it is very hard to understand how the correspondent could have something so secret to say to Mr Musgrave and yet not be aware that he had been dead for several years. With respect, you make two assumptions – you advance two hypotheses – which enjoy the support of no data. Why should we assume that the correspondent is ignorant of Newman Musgrave's death? We know no such thing. It is quite possible that he is well aware of it but has had some good reason for not writing until now. Some recent event may have removed the impediment. I do not say that this is probable; only that it is possible. As to your first surmise, there is no certainty that this transmission was intended for Newman Musgrave at all.