The Devil's Grin - a Crime Novel Featuring Anna Kronberg and Sherlock Holmes by Annelie Wendeberg Read Free Book Online

was missing, probably taken out for repair. I had noticed it as we came in, but didn’t think of a crime, as a pub’s window panes are chronically threatened by the clientele.
    ‘ Yes… yes… two days ago ,’ she stammered.
    ‘ What has been taken?’
    ‘ Food mostly and the oil lamp from over the door,’ she said pointing to the exit.
    ‘ What about clothes?’ I asked. She stumbled backwards and almost slammed into the wall.
    ‘ How did ya … My husband’s coat, but how could ya…?’
    ‘ It is but a simple observation of –‘ I elbowed Holmes to interrupt his explanation. The woman was shocked enough and there was no need to pour more gibberish into her already overloaded brain.
    ‘ Did the burglars leave something behind?’ he asked with an annoyed sideways glance at me.
    ‘ What do ya mean?’ she said, and upon noticing Holmes impatient look she added: ‘No, he hasn’t left nuffink.’
    ‘ Have you seen him?’ I asked.
    ‘ No,’ she said and stomped off into the kitchen.

    ~~~

    We made our way back to the station and I asked H olmes whether he also had got the impression that the woman was hiding something. He only snorted and said with a taunting look at me: ‘Who doesn’t?’
    Once in the train, Holmes asked: ‘Is it possible to contract tetanus without a deep and dirty wound?’
    ‘ Actually, it is. I was thinking about that last night. He could hav e got tetanus from eating bad or dirty meat. I have seen people eating cats, dogs, and rats, and having not enough patience or wood for cooking them long enough will inevitably result in contracting whatever disease the animal had.’
    Holmes ’s eyes glazed over and he was silent for a long time. We had almost reached London when he said: ‘We have to find Big Boots. Could he have contracted cholera, too?’
    ‘ Not necessarily.’ I noticed the glint of hope in Holmes’s eyes fading.
    ‘ Would a second cholera victim come in handy to help you solving the case?’ I said coldly and he mirrored my stare. Then he answered: ‘Without Big Boots, it makes no sense investigating the case. There are not enough data.’
    After a nother long silent stretch I asked: ‘Mr Holmes, I’m rather confused. Two men take a walk together to the Thames. One dies of tetanus while having cholera in the final stage and is thrown into the river. The same having restraint marks on wrists and ankles. Both steal food and a coat just hours before the latter is being thrown into the water together with the man who wore it. That makes absolutely no sense to me!’
    ‘ Hm…’ answered Holmes. And that was the last word he spoke until we parted in London.

Chapter Five

    A week after the Hampton incident, I found a man dying on the floor of my ward. All I could do was kneel at his side, caress his head, and wait for the last seizure to release its grip.
    Patients curiously gazed at us, muttering anxiously, angrily, or piteously. The man was perfectly still now, but for a barely noticeable vibration of all the muscles in his tense body. His spine was arched far back, his arms pulled to his side, fists clenched, and feet cramped to an almost half-moon shape. His face wore a devilish grin and his eyes were rolled far back into his skull. All about him spoke of great agony. I placed my other hand on his chest. His heart was still beating but the muscle spasms forbade him to breathe.
    ‘ Just one more moment,’ I whispered.
    His fluttering heart couldn’t accept its fate.
    ‘ The pain will go away,’ I said gently.
    A minute later the strained heart fell silent. No one in the ward dared to speak. The presence of death sealed their lips. Only a few quiet coughs and the whimpering of a child could be heard.
    This was one of the hardest things to accept: the moment when death came no matter what I did, and then to let it happen and give both, man and death, peace. And strangely enough, once I accepted it, it gave me peace, too. As if death had touched my shoulder