Mike Ashley - The Mammoth Book of New Sherlock Holmes Adventures

into the outside world as the nether regions of West Central, proof you shall have!"

Half an hour later we stood at the entrance to the National Portrait Gallery in St Martin's Place.

"Follow me, Watson!"

We ascended the stairways to the upper floor, where Holmes led the way to a spacious, high, rectangular gallery. Turning into it, he led me to the foot of a life-size portrait depicting a young man, magnificently apparelled, the whiteness of his face, lace collar and buff thigh-boots in sharp contrast to the sombre tones of his livery, standing next a table draped with deep crimson velvet. On it lay a magnificent crown and its regalia.The caption made me gasp: Portrait of Charles I by Daniel Mytens it read. The Tudor Imperial Crown of State and the State Sceptre and Orb can be seen in the picture.

"Holmes!" I exclaimed. "The crown! The jewels! They are the very ones! These are indeed the Hurlstone treasures!"

"Yes," he replied, "they are. And this portrait was painted from life! We can take pride in having restored to the light this ancient finery which has lain in a dungeon crypt for centuries. As to my prediction of the bag's contents," he continued, as though turning to a subject of more interest, "the explanation is a simple one. I had the advantage of having seen this portrait before."

"How so?"

"As part of an official group assembled to satisfy the authorities of the rightful claim of the Musgraves to the Hurlstone Crown. Reginald Musgrave was here, too. It was his solicitor, I recall, who pointed out that our discovery of the crown provided clear evidence of the success of the Smart sympathizers in thwarting Cromwell's edict ordering the destruction of the regalia following the execution of Charles. I was thus able to astonish you, and the current custodian of Hurlstone, with my prognosis that, the crown having been found in the first linen bag, it was likely that the orb and sceptre were in the second. It was the existence of that second bag that gave me the key. The instant I drew it from the open coffin the whole sequence of events that followed Brunton's death became clear to me. I had no need to open it."

"That was quick thinking indeed, Holmes," I marvelled.

"Well, perhaps I had yet a further advantage. As you know I have always felt that we had not heard the last of Rachel Howells. My mind was, I suspect, ready to accept a hypothesis into which she would fit. Incidentally, Watson," he continued, changing the subject yet again, "King Charles's head was still firm on his shoulders when this portrait was struck off. Perhaps it is as well that with the jewels in the Hurlstone crypt we did not find also the several Royal cranium that the crown once encircled."

"That would have been a sensation indeed!" I responded.

"A sensation, yes, but it might have resulted in others accompanying us on our transatlantic adventure: the eccentric Mr Dick, and Boz himself, were ever fascinated by the events of Charles's execution! They would certainly wish to see the conclusion of this business. And very good company their shades might prove! However the appearance of Watson and Holmes accompanied by two ethereal companions might prove an experience for which these worthy Canadians are not yet prepared! By the way, Watson," he added as we turned to leave, "should you decide to write an account of this somewhat cerebral affair, you might consider giving Mr Garrison Bolt an opportunity to participate. I do not believe you will find him as churlish as on the last occasion – or that he will relegate your account to delayed publication at a cut rate price in a Christmas annual!"

1901 also saw the cases of"The Priory School"and"Thor Bridge", whilst 1902 introduced us to "Shoscombe Old Place", "The Three Garridebs" and "The Illustrious Client". The year 1903 brings us to one of those great puzzles. "The Blanched Soldier" is a case recounted by Holmes himself, not Watson. Holmes was clearly in a begrudging mood when he wrote the case notes because he was rather vindictive about Watson having deserted him for a wife. It would seem that sometime towards the end of 1902 or early 1903 Watson married again, and Holmes felt rebuffed and neglected. In truth, however, Watson had not neglected Holmes. He was there all the time. Holmes just chose to write him completely out of the story of "The Blanched Soldier" by way of rather childish spite occasioned by Watson's marriage some years later when Holmes wrote up the notes.

During the course of the case Holmes mentioned that he had an urgent commission for the Sultan of Turkey that had to be dealt with. Thanks to the researches of Dr Zakaria Erzinçlioglu, the eminent pathologist, who had access to certain papers in his home country, it has been possible to bring together the full facts of "The Adventure of the Bulgarian Diplomat", and vindicate Watson's position once and for all. Holmes may have had one of the greatest brains we have ever witnessed, but at times he could be a cantankerous and awkward individual.

By the early years of the new century the extraordinary powers of Mr Sherlock Holmes had been put to many a severe test andhis successes had brought him fame throughout the continent of Europe. Although many of those cases gave my friend great opportunities to demonstrate those deductive methods of reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable successes, yet no case involved a greater array of bizarre personalities and in none would the consequences, in the event of my friend's failure, have been more horrific than in the case I am about to lay before the public for the first time. For reasons that will become clear to the reader of this narrative, it is only now possible to reveal the full facts of what must be considered one of the crowning points of my friend's career.

It was on a cold and bitter evening in January, 1903, that my friend Mr Sherlock Holmes and I returned from a bracing walk to the rooms at Baker Street. We ascended the staircase in silence, for we were both frozen to the marrow, and a moment later were glad to find ourselves standing in front of a roaring fire in Holmes's large and untidy room. We stood rubbing our hands before the grate and soon the warm blood was coursing through our veins. Holmes took one of his empty pipes and placed it between his teeth, then flung himself into the basket chair and picked up a large envelope that had been lying open on the table at his elbow. He removed the large, folded sheet of paper from its envelope and, spreading it out on his knee, began to read it quietly to himself with a frown of concentration on his face. As he did so, I could not help studying the envelope, which Holmes had replaced upon the table. It was of a cream colour and uncommonly large, but its most extraordinary feature was the design emblazoned across it. This was like a large and extremely intricate treble clef mark in gold, the body of the mark being made up of fine lines running back and forth along its length.

"Well, Watson," said Holmes, who had been watching me furtively. "What do you make of it?"

"I must say it is a most unusual envelope, Holmes, but I confess that I can infer nothing of interest from it," I replied.

Holmes rose from his seat and handed me the letter. "It arrived by special courier this morning.You know my methods, Watson. Apply them."

I took the letter in one hand and the envelope in the other and started my examination. First, I looked closely at the envelope with its singular design. Following my friend's methods I took up his magnifying lens from the table and examined the design minutely. I then sniffed at the envelope, as I have seen Holmes do on occasion. I then unfolded the letter and read aloud the contents: