Free The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Dr Jekyll & Mr Holmes by Loren Estleman Page B

there is nothing further to be gained here, at least not at the moment. Let us retrace our steps to Baker Street before that constable who is eyeing us too closely from the corner makes up his mind to arrest us for being suspicious persons.’
    ‘I fear that I am out of my depth,’ said I when we were back beneath our own roof, inadequately illuminated by the rising sun struggling to penetrate the encroaching fog outside the window. ‘Why should Hyde wish to keep secret his relationship with Dr. Jekyll, when he is so bold about his other interests?’
    Holmes lit a cigarette and warmed his hands before the fire. ‘That is the pertinent question which faces us, and I do not think that I am exaggerating when I say that the answer will go a long way towards solving our little problem. The puzzle is nearly complete; we lack but one piece. Now that Hyde has declared his enmity, there is only one man in all of London who is in a position to supply us with what we need.’
    ‘I think I know whom you mean, but would not going to him necessitate breaking your word to Utterson?’
    ‘Not at all. The credit ruse worked once; there is no reason to suspect that it will not prove successful a second time. If it should not — well, my promise to Utterson was that as long as it is in my power to keep the gentleman in the dark he would remain so. The situation now is such that I can no longer avoid a course of action which from the start was obviously the only practical one.’ He straightened and threw his cigarette-end into the fire. ‘And now, Watson, I prescribe a thorough application of soap and water and then bed. It has been a long night for the both of us, and we must be fresh and alert this afternoon when we call upon a quarter of a million pounds sterling.’

Six

    U TTERSON C HANGES H IS M IND
    T he contrast between the stately dwelling in which Henry Jekyll lived and practised and the decaying structure round the corner into which we had seen Hyde vanish early that morning was startling; set back from the street, the building was separated from it by a strip of grass as smooth and green as the surface of a billiard table, with conical bushes spaced about the grounds in a manner reflecting the skill of a gardener who had spent years perfecting his art. Ivy clung to the red brick walls and shaded the spacious, sparkling windows, completing the atmosphere of a pleasant country home nestled incongruously within the bosom of the foul city. It was difficult to believe that a single piece of architecture could present two such diverse faces to the world, and yet one had but to walk a few steps to become convinced of the duplicity.
    The butler who answered Sherlock Holmes’s ring was of a type to match that part of the building before which we stood. Tall, elderly, with a great shock of snow-white hair and a thin face nearly as pale, he bore in his expression and carriage the proud yet humble air of one who is accustomed to serving, and who does so exceedingly well. He accepted between thumb and forefinger the card with which Holmes presented him, lifted it gingerly to within an inch of his watery blue eyes, and held it there far longer than it took to read the single name which was engraved upon it. Finally he lowered it and, after asking us in a surprisingly vibrant voice to step inside and wait, collected our hats, coats, and sticks, turned, and walked silently across the flag-paved room and through a pair of panelled doors. He slid them shut behind him with no more sound than one might make in drawing a breath.
    The room in which we waited was less than cavernous, though what it lacked in breadth it more than made up for in the luxury of its appointments. Tasteful curtains muted the light filtering in through the windows. An excellent bust of Goethe done in flawless marble stood unobtrusively atop a pedestal in one corner, at the far end of a row of four solid-looking wooden and satin-upholstered chairs lined up with their