The Mammoth Book of New Sherlock Holmes Adventures by Mike Ashley Read Free Book Online Page A

responsible. Was it Rembrandt?”
    “No, sir.” By now Holmes had discovered that the way to prevent Spooner’s train of thought running into frequent sidings was to keep him concentrating hard on the matter in hand. “Perhaps it would be best if I explained, from the beginning, the sequence of events which led to the disappearance of the painting.”
    “Excellent idea, young man. Play the part of Chorus and leak your spines clearly.”
    Holmes began his explanation, hurrying on when his audience showed signs of wishing to question or interrupt. “First, I must suggest to you that your reading of Dr Giddings’s character owes more to charity than objective observation. I fear that the senior fellow was furious at being passed over for the wardenship and that that is why he gave his painting to New College.”
    “But, surely …”
    Holmes scarcely paused for breath. “It was to be his revenge. You see, the painting was a fake, or more probably the work of an inferior artist touched up by the hand of an improver. I realized this when I spoke with Mr Simkins. He was puzzled because the painting which another of his clients had seen about the time Giddings bought it was “vibrant” with “warm, glowing colours” as he described it. Yet when Simkins, himself, viewed it in the chapel it was apparently obscured with ancient varnish. Now Giddings was the only one who could so have misused the picture and for only one reason: he realized, after adding it to his collection that it was not a work from the hand of the master. To avoid the humiliation of having to admit that he had been duped he had the picture varnished over, and waited for an opportunity to get rid of it. His exclusion from the wardenship provided the excellent chance to kill two birds with one stone. He disembarrassed himself of the fake Rembrandt and put one over on the fellows of New College. Giddings knew that, eventually, the painting would be cleaned and that, from beyond the grave, he would have his revenge.
    “Then, long after the whole matter had been pushed to the back of his mind, he was alarmed to hear that the fellows had decided upon the immediate restoration of their Rembrandt. He knew Simkins and Streeter could not fail to discover the truth and that both his folly and his vendetta would be exposed. What could he possibly do to prevent the closing days of his life being lived under this double shame? Only the disappearance of the picture could save him but he could not encompass that. He would need accomplices. It was then that he bethought himself of his friend and fellow collector, Lord Henley.”
    “Lord Henley? Why on earth should that highly respected nobleman be a party to such a notorious escapade?”
    “I confess that I, too, was puzzled on that score. Eventually I had to prize the truth from his son, Mr Mountcey.”
    “That young man is a scoundrel.”
    “Quite so, sir.” Holmes rushed on. “It seems that not only did the two collectors share common interests, but Lord Henley owed a considerable debt of gratitude to Dr Giddings. A few years ago a crooked dealer attempted to implicate his lordship in a colossal art fraud. Had he been successful the scandal would have been terrible. Giddings was largely responsible for exposing the syndicate behind the imposture. Lord Henley now felt duty bound to assist his saviour. The two old friends planned the robbery together. Giddings found out through his college contacts the precise day on which Simkins and Streeter were to collect the painting. Then Lord Henley arranged for the fake telegram postponing the appointment and had one of his underworld contacts pose as the restorers’ agent. Just in case anyone from the college who watched the removal became suspicious he arranged for the work to be done under cover of darkness when the chapel was almost certain to be empty.”
    “But what about the other thefts?”
    “A fortuitous sequence of events that enabled the conspirators to