Mike Ashley - The Mammoth Book of New Sherlock Holmes Adventures

Indeed, as I turn my mind to it, the less likely does that premise become.

"Second, you find it hard to understand why blank sheets should be carefully registered through the mail. There you are certainly right. Such a mailing is absurd. If the message – for a message it must be – is not contained inside the envelope it follows that it must be found upon it."

"On the envelope itself?"

"Yes!"

"That is logical," I admitted, after a moment's consideration, "but why do you question that the message, however it is constituted, is intended for Newman Musgrave? If not for him, for whom?"

"For us!"

"For you and me?"

"Yes! Consider.The letter was brought to us by Garrison Bolt, an established publisher with whom you have done business, and are known to have done business. His name and address appear in every copy of your original work. As my brother Mycroft has remarked, your tales are to be found everywhere. It should not be surprising if the sender of this message from Canada has access to them; in fact, she clearly has."

"She?"

"The writing is in a woman's hand. The emotional characteristics – the swirling M's and E's, and the ambivalent C's in particular – are unmistakable. She, yes, she, is clearly aware of the reputation our agency enjoys. What more natural than that the publisher should refer her enigmatic communique to us? Bolt, provided he gave her letter his attention, must surely equate 'Baskerville' and 'Musgrave' to 'Sherlock Holmes'. She could be sure that he would. Indeed, to make certain of his attention she has sent it by registered post."

"You mean that she has deliberately addressed the envelope to a man she knows does not exist?" I asked.

"So I read it. This message is, and always was, intended for us, Watson!"

"Astonishing!" said I. "But what of the Baskerville postmark? Of the Canadian stamps? And what of my suggestion that we contact Sir Henry? Does it have merit?"

"I fear not," said Holmes.

"May I ask why?"

"Well, your suggestion is that he may be able to throw some light on the matter. But what light can he possibly throw?" Holmes paused. He gazed first at the ceiling, as though in concentration, then at me, in a manner reminiscent of my old school master when explaining a complicated matter to his class. "As you say, he once lived in Canada. So do some five million others. And how could this postmark possibly connect with him? Sir Henry's post office is not at Baskerville, but at Grimpen. You and I have used it frequently, as our Canadian reader of your tales is clearly aware. The seat of the Baskerville family for centuries has been in Devon, not Canada. There is, to the best of my knowledge, no town or village of Baskerville in Canada. No! Sir Henry is not involved here."

"But if the postmark is not genuine," said I, "it must be bogus!"

"Your reasoning does you credit, doctor," said Holmes with an encouraging chuckle. "You are an island of common sense in a bewildering sea of uncertainty!" He took up his lens and examined the postmark with intensity. "See here!" he exclaimed. "See that S in 'Baskerville'? What do you make of it?" He handed the lens to me.

"It is smudged and indistinct," said I. "It appears to have been tampered with."

"Exactly! The letter has been substituted for another. It appears first to have been the letter R."

I peered through the lens again. "Yes – R," I agreed.

"So we have not Baskerville but Barkerville. Is there such a place? Make a long arm for our Gazetteer if you please, Watson. Thank you. Now… Baskerville. No. Nothing. But here! 'Barkerville'," he read, "and in the west of Canada too! 'In British Columbia; part of the Cariboo Gold Fields; the site of a major gold strike in 1862, second in importance only to the recentYukon strike of 1898; a colourful frontier gambling town; an attraction to visitors; a tourist resort.' "

"But what could be the sender's object in tampering with the postmark?"

"To ensure that the envelope, with its striking allusions to Baskerville and Musgrave, would be brought to me. In this she

has succeeded. Our correspondent in British Columbia has gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure delivery of this message to us, Watson."

"But why did she not communicate with you directly?" I asked.

"Why not, indeed!" Holmes leaned back in his chair, placed his forefingers together, with Garrison Bolt's envelope between them, closed his eyes and continued. "Two minds are better than one,Watson. Let us reconsider what we have deduced:This envelope is a message. Its contents are irrelevant. Its sender is an intelligent, imaginative, resourceful and determined woman. She lives in, or within travelling distance of, Barkerville in the west of Canada. She has deliberately sent it to a man she knows to be dead. She has sent it in such a manner, by registering it, by misspelling the dead man's first name as Norman, and by altering the postmark to 'Baskerville' to ensure – nay, to guarantee – that it reaches the hands not of the defunct addressee but of ourselves. She has deferred posting the letter until the occurrence of some event which has removed the reason for her not doing so before."

"Excellent!" said I.

"Have we reached the limits of what reason and energy can supply?"

"I fear that we have."

"Surely you do us an injustice. We have further avenues to explore. Do you provide the energy, Watson, and I the reason. Be good enough to make inquiries through the post office as to the origin, and if possible the sender, of this envelope. Records are kept of registered post. Now that we have ascertained the true location from which the letter was dispatched the task may not be an impossible one, especially since the postmaster who registered this envelope in Barkerville is left-handed, and therefore identifiable."

"Holmes!"

"Well, surely it is self-evident?"

"How?"

"Observe the two circular cancellation stamps. They are produced by a metal strike which, grasped by a right-handed man, naturally produces an imprint tilted to the left. These are tilted to the right."

"But is this single instance conclusive?"

"Corroboration is afforded by the registration stamp. The R, unlike the cancellations, which are upside down, is not inverted. The envelope faced the sender, not the postmaster, when handed over the counter and was turned round for the act of registration. You observe that the R stamp also tilts to the right. Cancellation and registration were therefore both effected by a left hander, and both by the postmaster. Voila tout! The steps in this reasoning are so elementary as to be facile, but the induction itself may prove of the utmost importance. Why? Because this postmaster has faced the letter's sender across his counter. He may, even now, be able to recall and identity her."

"Holmes," I ejaculated, after a moment, "this is yet another of those occasions when I feel an overwhelming urge to rise in embarrassment and to knock my head against our ceiling in sheer frustration!"

"Worry not, friend Watson," replied Holmes with a smile. "Levity is not your forté! Do you gravitate to the post office and let us see what the high principles of deduction, allied to some common sense research, can produce."

"I will do so at once," I replied, laughing, as I turned to the door.

"Thank you.You are as a crutch to a cripple. Please, my dear fellow, indulge my infirmity by handing me my briar pipe and some shag tobacco before you go. This little problem requires thought."

I was able to report to Holmes within three hours. One of the staff of the Baker Street Post Office, an avid admirer of Holmes and his methods, gladly and enthusiastically threw himself into the task of helping us. Despite approaching closing time he transmitted without a moment's delay over the spans of the Atlantic Ocean and the vastness of the Americas to far away Barkerville. The eight hours time difference he explained ensured that our message would arrive at the Barkerville office as it opened its doors for the day's work. He even promised to wait for the reply. The Canadians, despite the unusual nature of our urgently-worded enquiry, checked their records immediately; the letter to Musgrave had indeed been dispatched from their office and, they reported, duly appeared in their ledger in its proper place. The entry however, they were embarrassed to