Paul Gilbert - The Chronicles of Sherlock Holmes

Despite the gentleness of his earlier treatment of Miss Lomas, Holmes now found it quite impossible to cope with her tearful display of grief. Consequently he waved me, distractedly, towards the stricken woman and I was successful in stilling her by administering hot coffee while her brother applied soft soothing strokes to her forehead with a dampened sponge. After repeatedly blowing her nose and then apologizing profusely, Miss Lomas felt ready to continue with her remarkable tale.

‘Mr Holmes, in view of the tendency that the popular press has towards distortion and embellishment, I think it best that I lay before you the bare facts pertaining to the loss of the Alicia , as they are understood by the local people. You will then better understand why our father’s somewhat differing interpretation of events has caused such a furore within the community.’ Holmes smiled and nodded his affirmation.

‘Because of her age and yet despite confirmation of her continued seaworthiness, the Alicia ’s range had been reduced in recent years, to cross-channel runs and occasional excursions to northern Spain. Her last voyage, as it subsequently proved to be, was to have been one of the former. She was carrying a cargo of coke, oil and twine and a small crew mastered by Captain Johnson, a man well used to piloting those waters. The weather was set fair, so a larger crowd than was usual congregated to watch her negotiate the estuary until she disappeared from view and out into the open sea.

‘Mr Holmes, we thought nothing more of her until word came, from Dieppe, that the Alicia had not arrived, in accordance with her appointed schedule. This was inexplicable to us. There had been no wind to speak of, that might have blown her off course. The vessel and her company had made this very journey a thousand times before! There would have been no rocks or other obstacles that she might have encountered along her route; indeed, the size of her hull and the brevity of the voyage would have meant that she would have to have been shipping water not long after leaving harbour for her to have sunk in mid-channel.

‘Consequently, the only reasonable explanation for her inexplicable loss was a collision with another vessel. The recent inclement weather had led to patches of grey mist floating haphazardly over the Channel. Collisions in these conditions are not unknown although, mercifully, quite rare. Therefore the owner of the vessel, Mr Nathaniel Garside, a successful local businessman and communal benefactor, dispatched a small flotilla of local craft with instructions to search along the Alicia ’s projected course for traces of wreckage and, the Lord willing, to pick up any survivors. The harbour master at Dieppe dispatched a similar group of craft on the same mission, in fact some craft even converged upon the same mid-Channel location, but, despite all their efforts, all boats returned to their respective ports in empty-handed despair. After this operation was repeated on the following day, with the same unfortunate result, all hope was deemed to be lost. Mr Garside was left distraught at the loss of his vessel and the families of the crew members were rendered inconsolable.

‘The loss of the Alicia appeared destined to become logged amongst one of the great unsolved nautical mysteries until my father decided to speak up.’

All this while Holmes had been sitting with his eyes tight shut in a state of intense concentration. He said not a word and moved not a muscle and so bizarre was his appearance that Miss Lomas was prompted to pause for a moment, raising a questioning glance in my direction, as to whether Holmes was even awake. Holmes answered her doubts himself by suddenly jumping up from his chair and fumbling for a match with which to relight his pipe.

‘Miss Lomas,’ he began, ‘I must congratulate you. To a man as ignorant as myself of nautical matters, your narrative has proved both informative and stimulating. However, to a student of all that is extraordinary and, seemingly, unsolvable your tale is both gratifying and tantalizing. On the surface, the events and circumstances that you have described are impossible to accept. Therefore I must urge you to describe to me your unfortunate father’s version of what took place.’

‘Mr Holmes, I do not seek either your congratulations or your gratification.’ Miss Lomas’s cheeks were flushed as she admonished Holmes for his strange vocabulary. ‘However you refer to my father as “unfortunate” which seems to indicate that you already regard him as a victim of injustice. This fills me with fresh hope.’

‘My dear young lady, you must not take offence at my poor use of the English language. Equally, it would be unwise to build up what may prove to be false hopes at this early stage. Let us just say that I will not prejudge anything that you tell me until I am in full possession of the facts.’ Holmes smiled as he waved her to continue.

All this while Edward Lomas had been sitting in passive silence, upright with both hands flat upon his knees. He now placed his arm comfortingly about his sister’s shoulder. When he spoke it was with a strong, educated tone that belied his youthful, fresh-faced countenance.

‘Mr Holmes, my dearest Mildred, I think it best that I continue with the remainder of our story. My sister might find it difficult to contain her emotions as we must inevitably touch upon an unfortunate weakness in our father’s nature.’ Miss Lomas smiled gratefully at her brother and nodded her agreement to his suggestion.

Edward Lomas betrayed his discomfiture by repeatedly clearing his throat. Holmes offered him a cigarette, which Lomas gratefully accepted.

‘Well, gentlemen, there is no point in beating around the bush. In common with many men of the sea our father has a fondness for rum that manifests itself when he is landbound for any length of time. However his penchant for the camaraderie of the local inns often precludes all else and it has cost him many a lucrative voyage, of late. When he remains indoors he is an intelligent and kindly man and a good and loving father. I should mention also that we lost our poor mother some years ago to the tuberculosis. When once at his cups, however, it is impossible to persuade him to come home and he will spend most of his time and what little money he might have on rum for himself and his old shipmates, who take advantage of his misguided generosity and ridicule him for his jovial nature. He is now more renowned for his singing and amusing tales than ever he was for his abilities aboard ship.

‘Gentlemen, it is precisely because of his reputation as a “rummy” that his claim to have witnessed the last moments of the Alicia before she was lost was never taken seriously. Night after night he would repeat his tale to whoever he could find to listen to him. These persons, however, became progressively fewer, and soon folk began to find his assertions offensive rather than amusing. Those who had lost loved ones when the Alicia went down, employees of Mr Garside, even strangers who knew nothing of him, began clamouring to have him removed from the various taverns he was accustomed to frequent. Eventually he resorted to drinking alone at home and at least there, Mildred and I might enjoy some success in weaning him from his poison.’

At this point I paused from my frantic taking of notes and raised my hand to stop Lomas in mid-narrative.

‘Forgive my interruption, Mr Lomas, but I do not understand how your father’s addiction to alcohol could possibly lead to his incarceration on the grounds of insanity. Indeed, would not his reputation for drinking have saved him from such a fate? Surely his assertions, which everyone seemed to find so strange and offensive, would have been put down to rum rather than brain fever?’ I suggested, whilst noting Holmes’s look of surprised admiration at my timely interruption.