The Adventure of the Tired Captain A Sherlock Holmes Case by K. Michael Gaschnitz Read Free Book Online

man’s secrets the possibility of blackmail exists.”
    “You think Captain Morstan was blackmailing Moran?”
    “I did not say so, Watson.”
    “You intimated as much.”
    He shrugged.
    I let the matter drop for the moment.
    “So is it your intention for Mary to stay here?” I asked. “We could share my old bedroom.”
    “No , that would not do.”
    “Where then?”
    “I think I will keep that information to myself for now, Watson,” he replied.
    “What do you mean you will keep it to yourself? Damn you Holmes she is my wife. I, more than anyone have a right to know.”
    “I am not denying that you have every right to know Watson, but it is the safety of your wife which concerns me most.”
    “How does my knowing her whereabouts endanger her safety?” I asked.
    “If you knew where she was you would understandably rush to her side. And while your actions would by noble you would be like the proverbial bull in the china shop.”
    “What do you mean?”
    My friend spoke to me in the manner of a father lecturing his child. “Come, Watson. Moran was the finest tracker and big game hunter in Her Majesty’s army. He would have little trouble tracking you through the brick and mortar jungle in which we live. Even I had to constantly be on my guard when I went to look in on her, this morning.”
    “You seem to have based your actions on very scant knowledge of the facts, Holmes,” I said.
    “I have done what I think best in the short amount of time available,” he replied.
    We sat in silence for several minutes, a silence broken only by the ticking of the clock in the corner. “You will go to see her again?”
    “Naturally Watson, I would not leave her in the total care of a complete stranger.”
    “There is another who knows of her whereabouts then?”
    “Of course. I can not be with her twenty four hours a day, and continue my investigations.”
    “Who is this person, Holmes?”
    “That too must remain my secret for now. Suffice it to say that aside from yourself and my brother Mycroft he is the one man I would trust completely.”
    “But now I must cut our visit short. I have promised your wife that I would arrive at 3 P.M.,” he said disappearing into his bedroom. “I must prepare myself.”
    I wandered over to the window and stared out at the traffic passing along Baker Street. An omnibus rolled by rumbling like distant cannon fire, and for a moment it brought back memories of Maiwand, and for the first time in months I felt the ache in my shoulder where I had been wounded in that battle of so long ago. I stood, absentmindedly rearranging the bottles which littered the top of Holmes’ deal topped chemical table.
    “Watson,” Holmes called out. “I have had Harris’ in the Strand make me a new pair of shoes. They are in the wardrobe of your old room. Would you be kind enoug h to bring them to me?” I knew that Holmes now used that chamber as a store room where he kept many of the tools of his trade, among them his assortment of disguises.
    “Of course Holmes,” I replied. I stepped out into the passage and after closing the door to our old chambers I called down to Billy, Mrs. Hudson’s page boy and whispered in his ear.
    Following this I went up to the bedroom where I had slept for many years. In the bottom of the closet were an ordinary looking pair of black shoes however when I picked them up I noticed the soles were very thin and had no heel. I took the shoes into the sitting room. While I waited I smoked three of Holmes’ cigarettes which he kept in a small box on the table beside his chair. After about ten minutes in which the room took on the characteristics of a London fog I was shocked to see Holmes’ landlady emerge from his bedroom.
    “Mrs. Hudson, I did not hear you come up,” I said.
    At that moment there came a knock at the sitting room door. Since I was closest to it I stepped over and turned the knob. My head swam as standing in the doorway was a mirror image of the