The Perils of Sherlock Holmes by Loren D. Estleman Read Free Book Online

drew my attention to her in the first place. I met her when she came to work for me as a typist. Her suggestions for the improvement of the firm were inspired, and as she was of good family I soon realised that she was the woman to bring order to my existence away from the office. We were married within a year. From time to time, when the firm is shorthanded due to illness or personal emergency among the staff, she still comes in to help out.”
    “I assume she works well with Richard.”
    “They make an ideal team. Often I have seen them in conference, with many nods and expressions of agreement. But what has this to do with my ghosts?”
    “Probably nothing. Perhaps everything. Let us return to this will. Were you persuaded to make it out?”
    “My solicitor was in this morning. I signed the documents and Richard witnessed my signature. My wife is chief beneficiary, and Richard is executor; he is a reliable man, and the fee will come in handy should his financial difficulties continue.”
    “I commend Your Lordship upon his generosity. You had the dream again last night?”
    “Yes, and I’m not certain it was a dream. I was cold sober, having gone straight home from the office without stopping at the tavern, and retired at a decent hour. A cup of tea with Lady Chislehurst before bed was my only indulgence. I shall not repeat myself, for the visitations were the same, including the redundant striking of the hour of one upon the clock, the shades of Christmasses Past, Present, and Yet to Come, and the visions which accompanied them. This time, however, it was all much more vivid. I awoke this morning with the conviction that it had all been true. And there was something else, Mr. Holmes: the condition of my bedroom slippers.”
    “Your bedroom slippers?”
    “Yes.” He leaned forwards, placing his palms upon his desk. “They were soaked through, Mr. Holmes, exactly as if I had been walking in snow the whole night.”
    This intelligence had a profound effect upon my friend. Face thrust forwards now, his eyes keen and his nostrils flaring, he said, “I must prevail upon Your Lordship to invite Dr. Watson and myself to be your guests tonight.”
    The earl frowned—less perturbed, I thought, by the inconvenience of entertaining two unexpected houseguests as by the impropriety of Holmes having made the suggestion himself. “You deem this necessary?”
    “I consider it of the utmost importance.”
    “Very well. I shall send a messenger to inform my wife.”
    “That is precisely what I must ask you not to do. No one must know that we are in residence.”
    “May I ask why?”
    “Everything depends upon the outward appearance that your nightly routine remains unchanged. I assure you I am not being melodramatic when I say your life is in danger.”
    “But of what, Mr. Holmes? By whom?”
    Holmes stood, ignoring this reasonable question. “I shall need time to lay my trap. Will it be possible to ensure that Lady Chislehurst and your servants are all away from home this evening between the hours of eight and nine?”
    “That should not be difficult. Our cook will have left by then, and our maid is away visiting relatives for the holiday. I shall suggest my wife call upon her friend Mrs. Wesley down the street. She was widowed last spring and faces a lonely Christmas.”
    “Excellent. Pray inform her that you are exhausted and will probably have retired by the time she returns. Dr. Watson and I shall be watching from cover. Expect us immediately after she has gone. It is extremely important that you share none of these details with anyone, especially your clerk.”
    The earl was plainly troubled, but agreed without further questions, and provided us with directions to his London lodgings, whereupon we moved towards the door. Upon the threshold I turned and said, “I should like to ask Your Lordship a question, a personal one.”
    “I have no secrets, Doctor.”
    “Is your family name by any chance Cratchit?”
    He