Part 16 (2/2)

We took up our positions behind a clump of trees where we could reun to snow, fat white feathers falling out of the night sky The ground was already white and it was markedly colder up here, at the brow of the hill, than it had been in the city I was in considerable pain from the blow that had been inflicted onand ht have the beginnings of a fever But I was determined to show none of it I had coh to the end Hol and I had infinite faith in his judgeht

Lestrade ed me and handed me a silver hip flask I raised it toit back to the little detective He wiped it on his sleeve, drank some himself and put it away

'What's the plan, Mr Holmes?' he asked

'If you want to catch these people red-handed, Lestrade, then wethe alar to break into a concert?'

'It is not a concert'

I heard the soft rattle of yet another approaching carriage and turned to see a broughareytheround underfoot already treacherous, lanced at Holmes There was a look in his face quite different from any that I had seen before I would describe it as a sort of cold satisfaction, a sense that he had been proven right and that now, at last, he could seek vengeance His eyes were bright but the bones in his cheek drew dark lines below theel of death would appear quite sowhen finally we met

'Do you see, Watson?' he whispered

Concealed behind the trees, we could not be seen but at the same ti and of the lane as it ran in both directions Holold on the side of the brougham; a raven and two keys It was the faant man with the swollen eyes whose watch had been stolen and e had met in Gloucestershi+re Was it possible that he was involved in this too? The coach turned into the driveway and stopped Lord Ravenshaw descended, clearly recognisable even at this distance, dressed in a black cloak and top hat He walked to the front door and knocked on it It was opened by an unseen figure, but as the yellow light spilled out, I saw hiled fro strip of paper but of course it was no such thing It was a white silk ribbon The new arrival was adht,' Holmes said 'Watson, are you prepared to accompany me? I must warn you that what you will encounter on the other side of that door reat distress This case has been an interesting one and I have long feared that it could lead to only one conclusion Well, there is no helping it We le shot, Lestrade That will be the signal for you and your men to come in'

'Whatever you say, Mr Holmes'

We left the protection of the trees and crossed the road, our feet already crunching on an inch of freshly laid snow The house loomed up in front of us, the s heavily curtained and allowing only a soft rectangle of light to show through I could still hear the piano playing but it no longer suggested toan Irish ballad, the sort of ht have been performed in the lowest public house We passed the line of carriages, still waiting for their owners, and reached the front door Hol man whom I had not met on my last visit to the school, with black hair pressed close to his head, arched eyebrows and a manner that was both supercilious and deferential He was dressed in a vaguely -top trousers and buttoned boots He also wore a lavender waistcoat and loves

'Yes?' The house steward, if that hat he was, had failed to recognise us and regarded us with suspicion

'We are friends of Lord Horace Blackwater,' Holmes said, and I was astonished to hear him name one of his accusers at the police court

'He sent you here?'

'He very much recommended you to me'

'And your naue of mine, Mr Smith'

'And did Sir Horace provide you with any token or means of identification? It is not norht'

'Most certainly He told ive you this' Holth of white silk ribbon He held it in the air for a moment, then handed it across

The effect was immediate The house steward bowed his head and opened the door a little wider, gesturing with one hand 'Come in'

We were admitted into a hallway that tookthe austere and gloomy nature of the school on the other side of the lane and had been expectingcould have been further from the truth, for I was surrounded by opulence, by warht A black and white tiled corridor, in the Dutch style, led into the distance, punctuated by elegant ainst the walls between the various doors The gas lahly ornate fitht to pour onto the many treasures that the house possessed Elaborate rococoon the walls, which were theold wallpaper Two marble statues from ancient Roht have seely inappropriate in a private home There were flowers and potted plants everywhere, on the tables, on pilasters and on wooden plinths, their scent hanging heavy in the overheated air The pianofroht

'If you would like to wait in here, gentlemen, I will inform the master of the house that you are here'

The servant led us through a door and into a drawing room as well appointed as the corridor outside It was thickly carpeted A sofa and two ared around a fireplace where several logs were blazing The ere covered by thick velvet curtains with heavy pellass door where the curtain had been drawn back and which led into a conservatory filled with ferns and orange trees with a large brass cage containing a green parakeet at the very centre One side of the roo sideboard on which were displayed all manner of ornaraphs in fra on ether as if they were husband and wife An occasional table with spandrels stood beside the fire with a nulasses

'Please make yourselves coentlemen a drink?' We both declined 'Then if you would like to remain here, I will return very shortly' He left the roo no sound on the carpet, and closed the door We were alone

'For Heaven's sake, Holmes!' I cried 'What is this place?'

'It is the House of Silk,' he replied, grimly

'Yes But what ?'

He held up a hand He had gone over to the door and was listening for anyone outside Having satisfied hinalled to me 'We have an ordeal ahead of us,' he whispered 'I aht you here, old friend But we must see an end to it'

We slipped outside The house steward had disappeared, but the , a waltz now, and it struck me that the keys were a little out of tune Wefurther into the building, away from the front door Somewhere, far above us, I heard someone cry out very briefly and my blood froze, for I was sure it was the sound of a child A clock, suspended on the wall and ticking heavily, showed ten to nine but so enclosed e, so cut off from the outside world, that it could have been any tian to make our way up Even as we took the first steps, I heard a door open soht I recognised It was the master of the house He was on his way to see us

We hurried forward, turning the corner just as two figures the house steho had greeted us and another passed below

'Onwards, Watson,' Holmes whispered

We caas lamps turned down It was carpeted, with floral wallpaper and there were s in heavy frames which proved to be tawdry imitations of classical works There was an odour in the air that eet and unpleasant Even though the truth had still not fully dawned on me, my every instinct was to leave this place, to wish that I had never come

'We must choose a door,' Holmes muttered 'But which one?'

The doors were unmarked, identical, polished oak hite porcelain handles He chose the one closest to hiether, we looked in At the wooden floor, the rug, the candles, theand the basin, the bearded , dressed only in a white shi+rt open at the collar, at the boy on the bed behind him

It could not be true I did not want to believe it But nor could I disavow the evidence of my own eyes For that was the secret of the House of Silk It was a house of ill-repute, nothing ross perversion and the wealth to indulge it Theseboys and their wretched victims had been drawn froe, plucked off the London streets with no families or friends to care for thenored by a society to which they were little more than an inconvenience They had been forced or bribed into a life of squalor, threatened with torture or death if they did not comply Ross had briefly been one of them No wonder he had run away And no wonder his sister had tried to stabI had come to take him back What sort of country did I live in, at the end of the last century, I wonder, that could so utterly abandon its young? They could fall ill They could starve And worse nobody cared

All these thoughts raced through my consciousness in the few seconds that we stood there Then the ?' he thundered

Holmes closed the door At that very moment, there was a cry fro rooone The piano music stopped I wondered e should do next, but a second later the decision was taken from us A door opened further down the corridor and a man stepped out, fully dressed but with his clothes in disarray, his shi+rt hanging out at the back This time I knew him at once It was Inspector Harriman

He saw us 'You!' he exclaiht, I took outLestrade and histo our aid But I did not fire into the air as I could have done I aier with a murderous intent which I had never felt before and have never felt since For the only time in my life, I knew exactly what it meant to wish to kill a man

My bullet missed At the last second, Holmestowards h to spoil as la a second staircase and disappearing down it At the sahout the building More doors flew open andaround them, their faces filled with panic and consternation as if they had been secretly waiting uessed, at once, that the moment had finally come Down below, there was the crash of wood and the sound of shouting as the front door was forced open I heard Lestrade calling out There was a second gunshot So forward, pushi+ng past anyone who happened to get in his way, following in Harriman's path The Scotland Yard ame was up, but it seemed inconceivable that he would be able to escape Lestrade had arrived His men would be everywhere And yet, that was evidently what Holmes feared, for he had already reached the staircase and was hurrying down I followed, and together we reached the ground floor with its black and white tiled corridor Here, everything was chaos The front door was open, an icy wind blowing through the corridors and the gas laun their work Lord Ravenshaho had re jacket, ran out of one of the rooar still in his hand He was seized by an officer and pinned back against the wall

'Get your hands off me!' he shouted 'Don't you knoho I am?'

It had not yet dawned on him that the whole country would soon knoho he was, and would doubtless hold him and his name in revulsion Other clients of the House of Silk were already being arrested, bunity,tears of self-pity The house steas sitting slu froraduate froed out of a room with his arm twisted behind his back