My friend did not seem convinced.
I watched with interest to see if our visitor—a nervous fellow resembling a long-legged stork in a solemn black suit—might still be able to present his case in such a way as to pique Holmes’s interest. It seemed unlikely. We were due to return to London by train the following morning, having just concluded a rather seamy bit of business related to a traitor within the ranks at Edinburgh Castle.
I filled my coffee cup, considering whether the strong brew would keep me awake when the sunset in a few hours. I decided that I didn’t care. It had been a trying day, and I needed the jolt. I offered a cup to our visitor, but he declined, instead choosing to pack his pipe with rather pungent cherry tobacco.
Sherlock Holmes and I had started the morning with a grim meeting with representatives of both the military and the Crown, where Holmes spent a great deal of energy explaining the truth of the matter that had summoned us to the Scottish capital. The meeting concluded with an offer of a revolver and one bullet to the traitor, and five minutes of solitude to confer with his God before he had a tragic gun-cleaning accident. Within three minutes we heard, through the closed door, a ringing curse directed toward Holmes and then the gunshot.
We delivered the man’s confession into the proper hands at Holyrood Palace, however the bureaucratic process took time. Twenty minutes late for the last train back to London, we were now back in our tidy little hotel near the center of the Royal Mile, ensconced in the small sitting room between our two bedrooms. Holmes had made a show of impatience about getting home, but I could tell that the idea of an enforced rest wasn’t entirely unwelcome. Nor was a sunset walk through the city Robert Louis Stevenson has described as “what Paris ought to be.”
This story is from the Issue 62, 2020 edition of The Strand Magazine.
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This story is from the Issue 62, 2020 edition of The Strand Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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INTERVIEW Laurie R. King
CREATING new works based on an iconic fictional character who’s been around for over a century can be a minefield for an author.
ADVENTURE ON A BAD NIGHT
BEFORE dinner was quite finished Vivien began wanting to get outdoors, into the air she hadn’t seen since afternoon.
THE EDINBURGH BANKERS
“MR. Holmes, I’m not asking for myself. It’s for the livelihood of the rest of us.”
The Adventure of the Home Office Baby
FOLLOWING the occasion of my marriage, and relocation with Mary to our newlywed home in the Paddington district, only a few blocks east of the great station itself, I was able to continue building my new practice while still finding time to assist Sherlock Holmes in a number of investigations.
KEVIN OF THE DEAD
PEOPLE often say to me, “Kevin, what’s it like being undead and all that?” And I say, “It’s a job, you know?” You get up at sunset, brush off the dirt and slugs, climb out of the box, and off you go into the night looking for some poor unfortunate to siphon a pint from.
AUNT NELLIE'S DIARY
MANY contemporary readers know Louisa May Alcott only as the author of the classic Little Women, the much-beloved story of the March sisters’ journey from childhood innocence to mature womanhood.
INTERVIEW John Grisham
FOR the last thirty years, the term legal thriller has been synonymous with John Grisham. Credited with single-handedly popularizing the genre, he has inspired scores of other authors and, in the process, has become both a commercial and critical success.
The Dowser's Discovery
“IF you don’t mind, sir,” said old Fiedler as he finished pouring our coffee, “I’d like to go into the village this morning with the others. It’s market day.”
THE AMIABLE FLEAS
IN May 1954, more than fifteen years after writing Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck rented a house for himself and his family a stones-throw from the Champs-Elysées in Paris.
INTERVIEW Don Winslow
EVER since Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett revolutionized the crime novel with hardboiled heroes, gritty settings, and moral complexity, countless authors have tried to carry the torch.
