Part 15 (1/2)

'Inspector Harriman has either been paid well or is at the very heart of the conspiracy that you and I have uncovered I suspect the latter I thought of going to Hawkins The chief warder had struck me as a civilised man and he had taken pains to ensure that my stay at the House of Correction had not been any more uncomfortable than it had to be However, to have raised the alarht have been to precipitate a second, more lethal attack, and so instead, I requested an intervieith theescorted to the hospital, was delighted to discover that ere already acquainted, for it made my task considerably easier I showed him the sample of the soup that I had kept back and explained to him as afoot, that I had been falsely arrested and that it was my enemies' intention that I should never leave Holloway alive Dr Trevelyan was horrified He would have been inclined to believe me anyway for he still felt hi that business in Brook Street'

'How did he come to be in Holloway?'

'Needs must, Watson You will recall that he lost his employment after the death of his resident patient Trevelyan is a brilliantseveral months, the position at Holloas the only one he could find and, reluctantly, he took it We must try to help him one day'

'Indeed so, Holmes But continue '

'His first instinct was to inforainst me was too entrenched, h it was critical foranybody else and it would have to be achieved by other ht be It was obvious to Trevelyan, as it was to me, that I could not physically forcea tunnel or cli the walls There were no fewer than nine locked doors and gates between uises, I could not hope to walk through theed Clearly, I could not consider the use of violence For about an hour we spoke together and all the tiht reappear at anyto interview ation

'And then Trevelyan mentioned Jonathan Wood, a poor wretch who has spent most of his life in prison and as about to end it there for he had fallen grievously ill and was not expected to survive the night Trevelyan suggested to me that when Wood died, I could be admitted to the prison hospital He would conceal the body and sle me out in the coffin That was his idea but I disht There were too rowing suspicions ofalready why the poison ad ht already suspect that I ise to the the prison at such a time would be too obvious It was exactly the sort ofmy time in the hospital I had already taken note of the orderly, Rivers, and in particular the good fortune of his appearance: his slovenly ht red hair I saw at once that all the necessary ele man were in place and that it would be possible to devise an alternative scheainst the other I told Trevelyan what I would need and to his eternal credit he did not question ement but did as I requested

'Wood died shortly before ht Trevelyan came to my cell and told me personally what had come to pass, then returned home to collect the few ite , I announced that nosed severe food poisoning and admitted me to the hospital where Wood had already been laid out I was there when his coffin arrived and even helped lift hiiven the day off and now Trevelyan produced the wig and the change of clothes which would allow uise myself as him The coffin was re was in place You y, Watson We needed Harriman to do our work for us First of all, ould reveal my extraordinary and inexplicable disappearance from a securely locked cell Then, almost immediately, ould inform him of a coffin and a dead body that had just left the place Under the circu conclusion, which is precisely what he did So confident was he that I was in the coffin, that he did not take so lance at the sloitted orderly as seely responsible for what had occurred He rushed off, in effect easing e out It was Harriman who ordered the doors to be unlocked and opened It was Harriman who undermined the very security that should have kept me in'

'It's true, Holmes,' I exclaimed 'I never looked at you All my attention was focused on the coffin'

'I have to say that your sudden appearance was the one eventuality that I had never considered and I was afraid that at the very least you ht reveal your acquaintanceshi+p with Dr Trevelyan But you wereboth you and the warder there actually added to the sense of urgency and made Harriman more determined to chase down the coffin before it left'

There was such a twinkle in his eye as he said this that I took it as a coh I understood the role I had actually played in the adventure Hole and the more there were of us present, the easier he would have found it to play the part 'But what are we to do now?' I asked 'You are a fugitive Your name is discredited The very fact that you have chosen to escape will only help to persuade the world of your guilt'

'You paint a bleak picture, Watson For my part, I would say that circumstances have immeasurably i?'

'Have I not told you? I keep rooms all over London for eventualities just such as this I have one nearby, and I can assure that it is a great deal reeable than the accommodation I have just left'

'Even so, Holmes, it seems that you have inadvertently made many enemies'

'That does indeed seem to be case We have to ask ourselves what it is that unites such disparate bodies as Lord Horace Blackwater, scion of one of England's oldest families, Dr Thomas Ackland, benefactor of the Westminster Hospital and Inspector Harriman, who has fifteen years unblemished service in the Metropolitan Police This is the question that I put to you in the less than congenial surroundings of the Old Bailey What do these three men have in common? Well, the fact that they are all men is a start They are all wealthy and well connected When brother Mycroft spoke of a scandal, these are the very sort of people who ed I understand, by the by, that you returned to Wimbledon'

I could not possibly conceive how, or from whoo into such details I merely assented and briefly told him of the circuitated by the news of Eliza Carstairs, the rapid decline in her health 'We are dealing with aand cruelty, Watson This matter cuts very deep and it is imperative that we conclude this business so that we can visit Edain'

'Do you think that the two are connected?' I asked 'I cannot see how the events in Boston and even the shooting of Keelan O'Donaghue at a private hotel here in London could possibly have led to the horrible business hich we are now occupied'

'But that is only because you are assuhue is dead,' replied Holh While I was in Holloway, I was able to send a e to Belfast-'

'They permitted you to wire?'

'I had no need for the post office The criminal underworld is faster and less expensive and available to anyone who happens to find the side of the law There was a er by the name of Jacks whoo He carried my enquiry with him, and as soon as I have a reply, you and I shall return to Wiether In the meantime, you have not answered my question'

'What connects the five men? The answer is obvious It is the House of Silk'

'And what is the House of Silk?'

'Of that I have no idea But I think I can tell you where to find it'

'Watson, you astonish me'

'You do not know?'

'I have known for some time Nonetheless, I will be fascinated to know your own conclusions and how you arrived at the the advertisement withmy recent intervieith the Reverend Charles Fitzsimmons 'Dr Silkin's House of Wonders,' he read For a htened 'But of course This is exactly e have been looking for Once again I uishi+ng in confinement, you have been busy'

'This was the address that you had expected?'

'Jackdaw Lane? Not exactly Nonetheless, I am confident that it will provide all the answers that we have been searching for What tiine ould do better to approach such a place under cover of darkness Would you be aain in, shall we say, four hours?'

'I would be happy to, Holest you bring your service revolver, Watson There are ht'

EIGHTEEN

The Fortune-Teller There are, I think, occasions when you know that you have arrived at the end of a long journey, when, even though your destination is still concealed froht, you are somehoare that when you turn the corner that lies just ahead of you, there it will be That was how I felt as I approached The Bag of Nails a second time, just before five o'clock, with the sun already down and a chill, unforgiving darkness descending on the city Mary had been asleep when I returned home and I had not disturbed her, but as I had stood there inthat it was fully loaded, I wondered what a casual observer wouldhi to set out in pursuit of a conspiracy that had so far encompassed murder, torture, kidnap and the perversion of justice I slipped the weapon into reatcoat and went out

Holuise, apart from a hat and a scarf which he had drawn across the lower part of his face He had ordered two brandies to brace us against the bitterness of the night I would not have been surprised if it had snowed, for there had already been a few flakes blowing in the breeze as I arrived We barely spoke, but I relanced at ood hu in his eyes and understood that he was as eager as I to have this done with

'So, Watson ?' he asked

'Yes, Hollad to have you once again at my side'

A cab carried us east and we descended on the Whitechapel Road, walking the re fairs could be found all over the countryside during the summer months but came into the city as soon as the weather turned and they were notorious for the late hours they kept and the din that they made indeed, I wondered how the local populace could possibly endure Dr Silkin's House of Wonders, for I heard it long before I saw it; the grinding of an organ, the beat of a druht Jackdaw Lane was a narrow passageway running between the Whitechapel and Cos,three storeys on either side s that seemed too small for the amount of bricks that surrounded them An alleyway opened out about halfway down and it was here that a man had imposed himself, dressed in a frock coat, an old-fashi+oned four-in-hand necktie and a top hat so beaten about that it see to throw itself off He had the beard, the ht eyes of a pantomime Mephistopheles

'One penny entrance!' he exclairet it Here you will see soros to Esquientlemen! Dr Silkin's House of Wonders It will aet what you see here tonight'

'You are Dr Silkin?' Holmes asked

'I have that honour, sir Dr Aso My travels have taken me all over the world and all that I have experienced you will find here for the sule penny'

A black dwarf in a pea jacket andout a rhyth a loud roll every time the penny was h

The spectacle that awaited us took ht of the day it ht have been revealed in all its tawdry shabbiness but the night, held at bay by a ring of burning braziers, had lent it a certain exoticism so that if you did not look too closely you really could believe that you had been transported to another worldperhaps one in a storybook

We were in a cobbled yard, surrounded by buildings in such a state of disrepair that they were partly open to the ele precariously fro with cri entertain would provide The ed pig Others were open, orks and peep shows providing a glimpse of the sort of horrors that I knew all too well from my time with Holmes Murder seemed to be the predominant the with her throat slit and her abdomen open just as she had been when she was discovered not far from here, two years before I heard the crack of rifles A shooting gallery had been set up inside one of the buildings, I couldat the far end

These attractions and others were contained in the outer perions parked in the courtyard itself, with platforms constructed between theht A pair of identical twins, orientals, were juggling a dozen balls, hurling them between them with such fluidity that they made it seem automatic A black man in a loincloth held up a poker that had been ue A woman in a cuician perforer than I would have expected there hed and applauded, wandering aian jangled ceaselessly around the before me and another so tiny that she could have been a child, but for her elderly appearance Were they spectators or part of spectacle? It was hard to be sure