Free The Chronicles of Sherlock Holmes by Paul Gilbert Page A

Bradstreet and his men, and Jarvis and the driver of the cab merely confirmed Montague Phillimore’s story. Matters were further complicated by the disappearance of Jarvis only days after that of his master, and my own enquiries at various domestic service agencies did nothing to enhance our knowledge of Jarvis’s previous employers or his background. Of course the singular demise of Lord Chalfont, whose left index finger was neatly removed and subsequently dug up in one of his flower-beds, diverted and occupied us for several days during that period, so that the mystery of James Phillimore remained exactly that. Now to the papers and let us hope that they can, belatedly, enlighten us.’
    ‘Your recollection of subsequent events is most accurate,’ I said, whilst putting my now redundant notes to one side and gathering up the day’s papers. As I began to read from the first of these I glanced up at Holmes’s expectant face, his left forefinger laid across his lips, his eyes wide and alert. ‘I am well aware of your desire for brevity and I will précis these accounts as well,’ I assured him.
    This was a task that I was well able to do, for the various articles that I read through contained little new information that was relevant to our case. Holmes growled impatientlyas I skipped over article after article and by the time that I had reached the Financial Times we knew as much as we could want to about Montague Phillimore’s family background and his achievements, but nothing that would enlighten us as to the whereabouts of his missing brother.
    Only speculation as to the reasons for Phillimore’s suicide attracted Holmes’s attention and this took the form of numerous allusions to a financial scandal in the Phillimores’ company. We were on the verge of consigning the Financial Times to the same fate as its fellow journals when it occurred to us that the answer might yet have lain on its inner pages.
    Sure enough, a small column on page twenty-three made a passing reference to Montague Phillimore’s tragic and untimely demise, but devoted rather more space to the story concerning the misappropriation of company funds of which he had been accused. This had first been brought to the attention of company shareholders at the annual general meeting that Montague had been forced to attend alone.
    ‘Holmes, it says here that Montague took his own life the night before an extraordinary general meeting, which had been called for with the express intention of having Montague driven from the board of his own company!’ I told him excitedly. ‘No mystery, then, as to the reason for his suicide. He surely wished to avoid the ignominy of scandal and ruination and, in the absence of his brother, could not face this alone.’
    ‘Is it not most suggestive that his brother conveniently disappeared on the very morning of the meeting at which this scandal was first made public?’ Holmes asked rhetorically through the dense fog of his old shag.
    ‘Normally I would agree with you,’ I replied while continuing to glean further information from the paper, ‘but it says here that the company accountant first discovered the missing funds a full two weeks before the date of the annual general meeting and that he was required to keep this information confidential until all the shareholders were called together. Surely that would have been the appropriate time for James Phillimore to have staged his disappearance, would it not?’ I speculated.
    ‘Perhaps …’ Holmes stood there in an enrapt silence, thoughtfully rubbing his chin while smoke billowed out from his pipe. He then added enigmatically: ‘Perhaps I made enquiries at the wrong type of agencies.’
    ‘You have formulated a different theory then, I take it.’
    ‘Only a germ of one, Watson, only a germ. I will leave you with a puzzle to chew over in my absence. Would it not have made more sense if James Phillimore had attempted to convince his brother of his absence