William Seil - The Furt The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - The Titanic Tragedy

‘There was a burglary in Miss Norton’s cabin on Thursday night. The worst part of it is, the villains also broke into the adjoining cabin, where an old woman was sleeping. They tied her up, but she was not harmed.’

Moriarty raised his eyebrows, but Miss Storm-Fleming did not look surprised.

‘Villains? There was more than one intruder?’ Moriarty asked.

‘The captain investigated. It appears that two men were involved.’

‘And was anything taken?’

‘I do not believe so...nothing of importance, anyway.’

I had played poker long enough to know that I had some talent for bluffing. Moriarty appeared to believe me. He had said nothing about the break-in that took place in my cabin. Did he know? Had he, in fact, been the intruder? And was he being truthful about the burglary, or was his story intended as a red herring to divert suspicion from himself?

‘This is most peculiar, Doctor. I wonder whether there is any connection between the two incidents?’

‘I do not know... Tell me, Colonel, did anyone know that you would be away from your cabin?’

Moriarty thought for a moment. ‘No one that I know of... Although, I did run into our German friend, Baron Von Stern, on deck. He began talking about my late brother. He seemed to think that I should write a biography. While I have no interest in such a thing, I did not see any harm in discussing it. It passed the time as we strolled along the deck.’

‘How long were you together?’ asked Miss Storm-Fleming.

‘Perhaps half an hour. Why? Do you suspect the baron?’

‘Not at all,’ said Miss Storm-Fleming. ‘I just wondered whether someone might have seen the two of you and taken advantage of the opportunity.’

‘Well...if you will excuse me, Doctor, Miss Storm-Fleming, I must make my way to the smoking room to see the captain.’

‘He is expected here shortly,’ I said. ‘He has a dinner engagement.’

‘Then perhaps I will meet him on his way — thank you.’ He nodded to each of us as he left.

The dining room was already full of people, but the head steward had reserved a quiet table for us at one side of the room.

‘Doctor Watson, is it not shocking about the colonel? And your friend, Miss Norton! What is going on?’

‘I am sure I do not know... And you left out the small matter of a murder.’

‘Two murders, if my information is correct.’ She studied my reaction.

‘You have heard about Strickley, then?’

‘Is that his name? I just heard about a body being found down below. How did you find out about it?’

‘The captain asked me to help the ship’s surgeons perform the post-mortem.’

‘And I know something else – there was some kind of disturbance on deck last night after your mysterious disappearance. Passengers who tried to walk there were turned back by the crew — something about an electrical problem.’

Stunned by this admission, I decided to confront her.

‘Miss Storm-Fleming, just who are you? You are not an innocent widow, that is for certain.’

‘That may be true. But I am your friend, and I am in trouble. I have no idea whether they will believe my story about Bishop once we reach New York.’

‘I am not sure that I believe your story either...not that I think you killed Bishop. But I saw you from the squash-rackets court – you were not walking with Bishop, you were following him.’

Miss Storm-Fleming’s eyes were open wide and beginning to fill with tears. She put her hand on my arm.

‘I had personal reasons for following him... I cannot tell you about that now. But I need to know what is going on. You are in the middle of something, I can tell... I need to know that you are on my side, and that you will help to clear my name.’

‘You seem to know a great deal already. In fact, you are exceptionally well informed.’

‘Perhaps I have friends in high places.’

I was losing my patience with her, and it showed.

‘I can see that I was wrong to bring this up,’ she said. ‘Let us just forget it and see if we can have a quiet dinner.’

‘We will let it pass for the moment but sometime you must give me some answers,’ I replied.

We ordered a bottle of wine and, much to my surprise, soon found ourselves in a relaxed and warm conversation. We spoke of departed loved ones and how difficult it was to fill the emptiness. The time passed quickly and soon we were finishing our coffee.

‘Thank you for a wonderful evening, Doctor Watson. I hope I have not been too trying.’

I smiled and reassured her that that was not the case.

Across the room I saw Captain Smith and his dining companions. It appeared that he too was about to retire.

‘Miss Storm-Fleming, if you will excuse me, I need to speak to the captain.’

‘Please do, I shall retire to my cabin.’

‘Shall I accompany you?’

‘No, no, please go ahead. I will be fine.’

I called out to her over the roar of conversation, ‘Miss Storm-Fleming, please be careful.’

She turned to glance at me, smiled and left the room.

On my way to the captain’s table I passed the Von Sterns, who were finishing their main course of roast duckling with apple sauce.

‘Doctor,’ said the baron, rising to shake my hand. ‘We saw you when we came in but we did not want to disturb you. Would you care to sit down?’

‘No, no, thank you. I just wondered whether you heard about Colonel Moriarty.’

‘What about the colonel?’

‘Someone broke into his cabin this evening.’

‘No!’ he said. ‘I do not believe it. I was just talking to Herr Moriarty. Was anything taken?’

‘It does not appear so, but he is very disturbed.’

‘I am disturbed as well,’ said the baroness. ‘First these terrible blackmail notes, then the burglary at Miss Norton’s cabin and now this. Have you made any progress in investigating the blackmail?’

‘I am afraid not, Baroness. But I do not think these burglaries are related to the blackmail notes. Try not to worry.’

Von Stern walked behind his wife and put his hands on her shoulders. ‘My wife is a very sensitive woman, Doctor, but she will be fine... Meanwhile, my dear, our dinner is getting cold. Are you sure you will not join us, Doctor?’

‘Thank you again, but I must be on my way.’

I arrived at the captain’s table, just as he was bidding his dining companions good night.

‘Ah, Doctor Watson. Have you met my friends — Mr and Mrs Widener and their son, Harry; Mr and Mrs Thayer; Mr and Mrs Carter, and Major Butt.’

We exchanged greetings.

‘Perhaps, Doctor, you would accompany me to the bridge? It is almost nine o’clock and I have a busy day tomorrow.’

I told the captain that I would be most pleased to. We said goodnight to the others, who were clearly not ready to leave.

As we left the dining room, I asked the captain if he had seen Moriarty.

‘Yes, another entry in our log of murders and burglaries — not to mention shooting. I will look into it in the morning. How is your investigation?’

‘I am still in the dark. But Holmes asked Miss Norton and me to meet him in the smoking room at 11.30. Maybe he will have something to report then.’

In the short time it took to get to the bridge, we made no progress in solving the mysteries on board the Titanic. But the walk did give me an opportunity to breathe some fresh air and compose myself again before meeting Holmes and Miss Norton. There were only a few men on the bridge when we arrived.

‘All in order, Mr Lightoller?’ the captain asked.

The second officer was standing by the wheel when we arrived.

‘Indeed, sir. We are keeping a lookout for icebergs. Mr Murdoch will be relieving me at ten. How are you, Doctor Watson?’