Mike Ashley - The Mammoth Book of New Sherlock Holmes Adventures

"Your powers of deduction are as sharp as ever," Trevor remarked. "Recall how you amazed my father upon that first meeting? Now, an explanation, if you please."

"Simplicity itself: observe the marks of wear upon the polish of the table-top. Note the scuff mark where a hand would be picked up, and the two smaller indentations at either side of where the pack resides at the centre of the table, made when the pack would be lifted at the end of a hand."

"Remarkable."

"Further, three of the four players are right-handed, the fourth not so. This much is obvious from the slight groves in the patina of the polish, worn either to the right or left of the player. You are left-handed, Victor, and I deduce therefore that you were a frequent guest on bridge nights."

"Twice a week for the past two years, Holmes," said he shaking his head.

"I can tell, also, that penny bets were placed upon the outcome of the games. The scratches here and here attest to that."

"At this my friend coloured. 'Why,' he blustered, 'you're right, Holmes. A little wager added interest to the contests.' "

"I am not a gambling man myself," I said. "I find that the scientific analysis of the pursuit results in the fact that one can never win, only break even, except when luck intervenes. And I have never been one to trust in the happy felicity of luck."

"We finished our breakfast, and I asked then to be shown around the house, and expressed the desire to questions the Atkinsons' head house-boy and house-keeper."

"Victor showed me into the lounge, a spacious room affording a magnificent panorama across the sun-soaked terraces of the estate. Hanging above the fireplace was an oil painting of the brothers, tall, flaxen-haired men in the middle-thirties, posing with their rifles on either side of a prostrate tiger."

"I have left everything in place, as found on the morning of the brothers' disappearance. Observe the table and gas-lamp."

"As Trevor had mentioned in the letter, there were no suspicious circumstances to be drawn from the toppled table and lamp. A wind stirring the curtains through the open window might easily have occasioned the damage."

"Were the doors locked upon the night of the disappearance?" I asked.

"It is uncommon in these parts to take the precaution of locking doors. If we trust our staff, then we see no need…"

"We passed through the house from room to room, and I noticed nothing amiss or noteworthy as we did so. At length we stood upon the verandah and gazed out over the verdant hills of the estate. 'Tell me, Victor – were the brothers in the habit of taking hikes, or taking off on travels without notifying friends and staff?"

"Most certainly not. They had the interests of the estate at heart. They were most conscientious in the running of the business. They would go nowhere without first notifying one of their managers. Twice a year they took a boat up to Madras to call on acquaintances for a week, at Christmas and again six months later at the end of June.' "

"So therefore their disappearance in February cannot have been simply a trip to Madras?"

"Of course not! We checked this possibility at the shipping office in Trincomalee."

`Which company did the brothers use for their voyages to India?' "

"The Modras Line. They have offices in town."

"I might call upon them myself in the course of my investigation," said I.

"The house-boy was summoned from the kitchen, and I questioned him upon the verandah. The 'house-boy' proved to be no boy at all, but a tiny, wizened Tamil in his fifties at least. He was polite and informative, but could shed no light on the mysterious vanishing of his employers. I ran the gamut of usual questions, from whether he noticed anything amiss on the night in question – he had not – to whether the brothers were liked and respected, which they were. Finally I asked: 'What, in your opinion, has become of Master Bruce and William?' "

"At this his eyes filled with tears, and he murmured, 'I fear for their lives, Mr Holmes.' "

"You do, and why is this?"

"The little Tamil shook his head. 'Their spirits are abroad at night,' said he."

"I exchanged a glance with Trevor. 'They are? And what makes you so certain?' "

" 'Myself, I have not heard or seen them – but my kitchen boys report hearing their wails in the night from the hills around. Their spirits haunt the estate and will do so until their enemies are brought to justice.' "

"I considered his words for some minutes, my thoughts entertaining dark possibilities in the bright sunlight of that equatorial country, whereupon I dismissed the house-boy and turned to Trevor."

"And what, my friend do you make of that?"

"Poppycock, Holmes! Superstition of the first water. There are no people on Earth more given to such flights of fancy than the natives of this island. They probably heard the trumpeting of an elephant and drew conclusions."

"Perhaps I might have a word with the house-keeper?"

"Trevor informed me that the girl employed by the brothers at the time of their disappearance was no longer in service here. 'She is pregnant, and shortly after the brothers' disappearance

took ill. For the past three months she has been bed-ridden in a bungalow on the edge of the estate – the brothers hired a doctor in the early stages of her pregnancy, when she first showed signs of weakness. The doctor has attended her ever since. Later, if you wish, we might visit her and see what she can add to your investigations. Now, perhaps I could show you around the estate before the sun is at its height? I have my morning rounds to do anyway. If you would care to join me…' "

"We took a trap along the rutted tracks excavated through the red soil of the estate. From time to time Trevor reigned the horse to a holt, climbed down and engaged native workers in long minutes' conversation. One hour before noon, with the sun beating down like some heavenly furnace, Trevor pulled up on the very perimeter of the estate, jumped down and strode through the knee-high bushes to address a worker bent over in inspection of the soil. While Trevor was thus occupied, and despite the fierce attention of the sun, I elected to leave the canopied shade of the trap and take a stroll."

"I inspected a number of tea plants, about which, over the course of my botanical investigations, I have come to know a little. At length I repaired to Trevor's side, interested in the involved conversation he was conducting with the worker. They were discussing the state and composition of the soil. At one point I interrupted. 'Might this account for the state of the plants in this area?' I enquired."

" 'I didn't know you were a botanist too, Holmes,' said Trevor."

"I've gleaned a passing knowledge of the science in my reading over the years," said I. "And these plants seem, if I am not mistaken, to be suffering from Elsinoe thaea – or mottle scab."

"The manager nodded. 'And not only in this area, Mr Holmes. Fully half the estate is blighted.' "

Trevor swung his arm to indicate a broad swathe of land on the periphery of the plantation. 'The entire eastern sector will not produce this season,' said he. "I closed down the whole area when I took charge in February, locked the outbuildings where the tea was stored for drying, and ensured that no-one approached these terraces, for fear of spreading the scab.' "

" 'Do you think that the Atkinsons were aware of the disease before they vanished?' I asked."

"Trevor considered the question before replying. 'It is possible, Holmes; indeed probable.' He was silent awhile. 'Why?' he asked at length. "Do you think that this might have some bearing on the case?' "

"It is too early to say," I opined. "But certainly it is a factor to be taken into consideration."

"We had been joined, there upon the hillside, by a knot of curious native workers. They spoke rapidly in their own tongue, Sinhalese, upon which Trevor seemed to lose his temper and snap at them in their language. They fell immediately silent and appeared shame-faced."