Sherlock Holmes and The Scarlet Thread of Murder by Luke Benjamen Kuhns Read Free Book Online Page B

was dented and at the top the guttering was bent and broken. The roof above was flat, it would make for a quick and invisible get away. I reached for the copper pipe. I slipped. My heart suddenly raced. I was able to grab the inside of the window frame, stopping myself from falling out. I pulled myself back inside, I suspect the man who pulled this off had aid of a rope and used the pipe and gutter for extra balance.
    Around back, there was a metal stair that led to the roof. I left one officer in the room and told the other to look around outside on the ground. I raced up the stair and made my way to the roof. The wind was cold and strong, and the rain was coming down harder. I looked at the area in which the villain had climbed atop the roof. I heard a slam and looked to the adjacent building. A door was swinging open and shut with the wind. I walked over and observed the gap between the buildings. There was a scuff mark and a broken brick on the ledge. The gap was no more than five feet. Someone with the right speed could have jumped it. I walked back over to the bent gutter. A rattling caught my attention. I looked down, and caught on a piece of bent metal, hung a silver ring. I took it into my hand and noticed a Star of David embedded upon the band. Where had I seen this before? It struck me like a brick. The tall man at Lamech’s. He had worn this very ring.
    ***
    I made haste towards Lamech’s lodgings. I tried the door. It was open. I went inside, slowly, and withdrew my revolver. The rooms were amuck. Tables and chairs overturned, shattered glass scattered everywhere, and torn pieces of cloths. Burgled? No, someone left here in a hurry. I went up to the room where Lamech had died. It, too, had been turned to shambles. No one was there. The entire group of anarchists had vanished.
    We cleaned up the mess at The Weekly Dispatch and my men scoured Lamech’s old rooms for any clues that might be of use. Nothing turned up. It was as if the entire group had vanished into thin air. It was eleven o’clock at night, and the rain had turned the roads to mush. I sat in my office with the glow of an oil lamp to keep me company as I filed paper work. I was eager for an update regarding the efforts made to speak with survivors of the explosion, and loved ones of those who had lost someone to find any clue as to who planted that explosive.
    Who poisoned Lamech, and why did his followers vanish? I reached into my pocket, and withdrew the silver ring with the Star of David on it. The tall man was my lead suspect in the Brown murder, but where was he?
    ***
    â€œAll the bodies have been identified,” said Inspector Lestrade, leaning back comfortably in the chair in front of my desk. “I’ve spoken to some of the families, and I can’t see any connection to this Lamech. No one on that train posed any kind of threat to him or his organisation.”
    I buried my face in my palms for a moment. “They may not have posed a threat to him. Was there anyone of interest?”
    â€œNothing out of the ordinary that I saw. Men and women on their way to work, running errands. It seems a random attack. There’s no motive from Lamech’s end. Other groups in questions have been accounted for that night as well.”
    â€œThis can’t be purely random, Lestrade,” I pressed.
    â€œI’ve got the list of the dead here, and the statements.” He slid some papers my way. “Maybe you can find something I missed.” Lestrade rose. ”I heard the anarchists have disappeared.”
    â€œIt’s too convenient. I still have a couple other angles I need to check first.”
    â€œGood luck.” Lestrade turned and walked out.
    After I read through the statements left by Lestrade, I found Mr White in his chamber at the station. Lamech’s body had been moved to a morgue. White was fast at work trying to figure out the composition of the chemicals used to ignite the