Denis Smith - The Mammoth Book of the New Chronicles of Sherlock Holmes

‘Now, at last, that clue has appeared. He had a wire the other day from one Inspector Clarke of the Kent force, concerning the burglary last week at the Hollingworths’ house, Wickling Place. It had struck Clarke – evidently an officer who has his finger on the pulse of things – that the Wickling Place burglary appeared remarkably similar to those in London, of which he had read. The thieves had slipped in quietly, when everyone was asleep and, from all that they might have taken, had selected only the most valuable items. Lanner went down to Kent and the two men went over the case together. Clarke and his officers had of course made extensive inquiries in the district, in case any strangers had been seen at the time of the robbery. In the course of these inquiries they had learnt from the Hollingworths themselves that they had recently been paid a visit by an old school-companion of their late son, Stephen, who had come, he said, to offer his sympathies upon their sad loss.’

‘Gilbert Rowsley!’ said Herbert.

‘So I now believe, although he introduced himself to the Hollingworths as Gabriel Tooth. Now, although this name was not upon Lanner’s list of recent visitors to the burgled houses in London, he was convinced that there must be a connection between this man’s visit to Wickling Place and the burglary which took place there the following night. He has therefore spent the past week endeavouring to discover the whereabouts of this man, Tooth, but without success. Now, if the identification of him as Gilbert Rowsley is correct, as I am sure it is, Lanner may at last be able to lay his hands on the guiding brain behind these perplexing burglaries.’

‘Was Rowsley’s name on Lanner’s London list?’ I asked.

Holmes nodded. ‘Gilbert Rowsley had been a recent guest, at some function or other, at every one of the burgled houses. But his name was but one among a great number and until this evening there was no reason to suspect him any more than anyone else.’

‘What drew you to that name, then, rather than to any of the others on the list?’

‘The old album he had left behind in the house in Quebec Street. The initials upon the front were “G.R.”, and although they were correct for ‘‘George Robinson’’, the name he was going under there, it appeared to me that the album was several years old and that “G.R.” might thus perhaps be his real initials, too. You can imagine how keen I was to cast my eye over Lanner’s list, at Scotland Yard. When I did so, I quickly discovered that one of the names on it matched the initials “G.R.”. Still, I could not be certain and I must admit I was very relieved when Mr Herbert was able to confirm my speculation, by recalling that Gilbert Rowsley had indeed been one of his old school companions.’

‘It seems to me,’ I observed after a moment, ‘that Rowsley took a great risk in exposing himself at Wickling Place, even if he was using an assumed name. At the functions he attended in London he was but one guest among many; down in Kent he arrived alone, and his visit was bound to be recalled and speculated upon.’

Holmes nodded. ‘That is so; but the season in London was ending, and his opportunities diminishing. No doubt when the possibility of robbing the Hollingworths occurred to him, he thought it too good a chance to pass up and worth the risk. No doubt, also, he considered, as do most criminals who have enjoyed a run of success, that he was much too clever to be caught.’

‘What a vile, unspeakable snake he must be, to take advantage of a family’s grief and use them so meanly!’ cried Herbert with feeling.

‘If the little we have heard of him is a fair sample,’ I remarked, ‘I imagine his debts are many and his creditors pressing. No doubt he was desperate to pay off some of those who were threatening him.’

‘I rather fancy he intended to end their persecution in an altogether more decisive manner,’ Holmes responded with a shake of the head, ‘by showing them a clean pair of heels. I think it likely that he has had his escape planned for some time. It seems evident that he used Mr Herbert as a decoy this evening, to give himself a clear run as he left his lodgings. The men that Mr Herbert encountered near Fleet Street are almost certainly the other members of Rowsley’s gang – the three men who were seen near Wickling Place at the time of the burglary there. Thanks to Mr Herbert, we have two of their names, and Lanner tells me that they are well known at Scotland Yard, so it should not be too difficult to lay hands on them first thing in the morning. No doubt Rowsley had promised to pay them their share of the proceeds of the robbery, once he had disposed of the stolen goods. Indeed, judging by the degree of their anger on being presented with a worthless brass figure, it may well be that Rowsley had not yet settled with them for the earlier robberies. But his great confidence in being able to escape his pursuers has led him into an error, for the use of the Indian figure incriminates him unequivocally in the burglaries. It was one of the items taken from General Appleton’s house in Chelsea a few weeks ago, no doubt in error and against Rowsley’s instructions, for it is of very little value and he evidently thought it not worth his while to dispose of it.’

Herbert let out a long groan and clutched his head. ‘I see it all now!’ cried he in a mournful voice. ‘I have been played for a fool!’

‘Do not judge yourself too harshly, Mr Herbert,’ returned Holmes in a sympathetic tone. ‘From the very first, he has calculated and sought to deceive you, in case you might ever prove useful to him. Among the very first words he spoke to you, he gave you the false name of “Stephen Hollingworth”, which he evidently judged might be more advantageous to him than revealing to you his true identity. I am afraid he is a man who uses people as other men use tools, to procure that which he wants.’

‘And now?’ I enquired.

‘Now,’ returned Holmes in a grave voice, ‘we approach what should be the last act of this little drama. Despite all his efforts to cover his tracks, Mr Rowsley has made a little slip. You recall the scrap of paper we found in his study?’

‘The one with the very precise amount of money recorded upon it?’

‘Exactly, Watson. It was in his own hand. I could see no reason why he should record his debt to another, especially as, from what we know of him, he would be unlikely to repay it. Perhaps, then, I conjectured, it was the cost of something. But what?’

‘We have no way of knowing.’

‘Well, it is a moderately large sum, marked specifically for Friday morning; we may surmise from his actions that Rowsley intends to vanish completely on Friday and leave all his creditors with nothing; and the note is endorsed “O.L.”.’

‘I cannot see that there is any clue there,’ Mr Herbert remarked with a shake of the head.

‘No? But what if “O.L.” stands for “Orient Line”? They carry the mails to Australia, their boats leaving from the Albert Dock every second Friday and the price of a second-class passage from London to Australia is somewhere in the region of the sum noted on the paper.’

‘Of course!’ I cried. ‘That must be it!’

‘They are leaving early in the morning,’ Holmes continued, ‘so all the passengers will already be on board.’

‘Do you know if Rowsley is among them?’

‘There has been no time to verify the matter; but we shall soon find out, for we are almost there.’

We had passed Greenwich and were racing down the long broad expanse of Blackwall Reach. Now, as we reached Blackwall Point, a wide, dark opening came into view on the north bank of the river.

‘Bow Creek,’ said the helmsman, following our gaze. ‘And there,’ he added, ‘is the Victoria Dock Pier.’