The Adventure of the Plated Spoon and Other Tales of Sherlock Holmes (35 page)

I sighed in relief, noticing only then that I'd been holding my own breath. I looked up at the others and smiled.

“Who—who are you?” asked the lady.

“Friends,” Holmes said. “There is time enough to get acquainted later. For now, I'm sure Dr. Watson will want to admit you to hospital to make certain of your health before your father comes to take you home.”

“Home!” she said, with a lovely inflection that warms my heart still.

The coda to our adventure was a happy one for Lady Jane Chilton. Six months after her complete recovery and safe return to her father's arms, her betrothal to Lord Wadsworth, the popular and eligible heir to a fortune equal to Sir James's, was announced. By all accounts, the handsome young peer was delighted with his choice, of whom Her Majesty had approved when she was presented at court.

At this writing, “Celeste Flores” is a bone of contention between Great Britain and her native Argentina. The Crown wishes to try her for complicity in the abduction of seven young women since rescued from bondage, whilst the government in Buenos Aires is eager to reunite her with her old burglary ring behind bars. During this contretemps it came out, interestingly enough, that she was born in a tiny fishing village under the distinctly earthbound name of Inez Sobraco. Holmes informed me that the surname is the Spanish for “armpit.”

Scotland Yard—prodded by the newspapers and popular outrage—pledged to apply all due pressure to eradicate the pernicious white slave trade in England, and the Home Secretary declared to do the same in all its possessions. The Foreign Secretary demanded cooperation from those countries that depended upon the goodwill of Great Britain. The Russian Czar and the King of Egypt promised their cooperation. Not to be outdone, the American President vouchsafed to put his Attorney General upon the case, making special mention of Sherlock Holmes in an address to the public.

“He's a politician, after all,” said Holmes, when I congratulated him. “Thanks to you and Carter, I'm fodder for his re-election.”

Notwithstanding this disclaimer, the flesh pedlars are now reported to be in full rout across the globe, peaching upon their fellows in order to save their own necks from the gallows. Some of the names mentioned in connection with the foul trade locally have rocked the Empire to its foundation; but that foundation is built upon solid rock, and will survive because of its conviction to human decency.

Sherlock Holmes's last conversation with Nick Carter, whilst awaiting the latter's boat train to Southampton, centred, of all things, upon a spoon. Holmes thought it worthy of inclusion in his personal Black Museum of grotesque mementos, whilst Carter made an earnest case in favour of remanding it to the Pinkerton Detective Agency for its edification in persecuting the white slave trade in America. They agreed to break the impasse by appealing to my own judgement in the matter.

“I know you for a just man by your deed as well as your word,” Carter said, “and I'm confident you won't be swayed by your friendship with Sherlock.”

Holmes, who had come to terms more than I with the American's free use of Christian names, smiled sardonically. “Neither will he be moved by flattery. Well, Watson?” He handed me the utensil, as a bailiff would deliver an item of evidence to a magistrate.

I put the spoon in my pocket, surprising them both.

“I declare Mary Watson to be the rightful owner,” said I. “She can throw it in with the everyday silver until it becomes nothing more sinister than an instrument for dining.”

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Copyright © 2014 by Loren D. Estleman.

All rights reserved.

This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.

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ISBN 10: 1-4405-7450-2

ISBN 13: 978-1-4405-7450-4

eISBN 10: 1-4405-7451-0

eISBN 13: 978-1-4405-7451-1

“The Adventure of the Two Collaborators” previously published in
The Sherlock Holmes Compendium
edited by Peter Haining, copyright © 2007 by Apocryphile Press, ISBN 10: 1-9339-9348-0, ISBN 13: 978-1-9339-9348-5.

“The Surgeon's Kit” previously published in
A Study in Terror
by Ellery Queen, copyright © 2001 by G.K. Hall & Company, ISBN 10: 0-7838-9485-6, ISBN 13: 978-0-7838-9485-0.

“The Adventure of the Dying Ship” previously published in
The Confidential Casebook of Sherlock Holmes
edited by Marvin Kaye, copyright © 1998 by St. Martin's Griffin, ISBN 10: 0-312-18071-3, ISBN 13: 978-0-312-18071-3.

“Chapter 2” previously published in
The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu
by Sax Rohmer, copyright © 1997 by Dover Publications, ISBN 10: 0-486-29898-1, ISBN 13: 978-0-4862-9898-6.

“How Watson Learned the Trick” previously published in
Sherlock Holmes: The Published Apocrypha
edited by Jack Tracy, copyright © 1980 by Houghton Mifflin, ISBN 10: 0-3952-9454-1, ISBN 13: 978-0-3952-9454-3.

“Two Shabby Figures” previously published in
The Beekeeper's Apprentice
by Laurie R. King, copyright © 1994 by St. Martin's Press, ISBN 10: 0-3124-2736-0, ISBN 13: 978-0-3124-2736-8.

“The Adventure of the Unique Hamlet” previously published in
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
by Vincent Starrett, copyright © 1975 by Pinnacle Books, ISBN 10: 0-5230-0695-0, ISBN 13: 978-0-5230-0695-6.

“The Adventure of the Red Widow” previously published in
The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes
by Adrian Conan Doyle and John Dickson Carr, copyright © 1999 by Gramercy, ISBN 10: 0-5172-0338-3, ISBN 13: 978-0-5172-0338-5.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, corporations, institutions, organizations, events, or locales in this novel are either the product of the author's imagination or, if real, used fictitiously. The resemblance of any character to actual persons (living or dead) is entirely coincidental.

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Cover design by Sylvia McArdle.

Cover images © sdmix/123RF; old-maps.co.uk.

Interior spot art © Archim Prill/123RF.