Free My Dearest Holmes by Rohase Piercy Page A

have been a development in the lady's life. Rather a topical one, I suppose, under the circumstances. Rumour has it that she has been heard on more than one occasion to declare herself utterly opposed to anything of the kind. She appears to prefer the company of her intimate friends. I'm sure, under the circumstances, that I need explain no further...'
    He must have thought it very prim of me (under the circumstances) to blush, but blush I did.
    Sherlock Holmes opened his eyes very wide, and leaned forward in his chair.
    'Good heavens, Lord Carstairs, do I understand you to imply that this Mrs Forrester moves in circles in which she could well have made the acquaintance of Miss Kirkpatrick and of your--well, and of Miss D'Arcy, for example?'
    'Ah, I have forestalled you there, Mr Holmes,' said Lord Carstairs with a wry chuckle. 'I have discussed the whole thing with Maria. She has heard of Mrs Forrester, she says, but she has not actually met her; even though, coincidentally, she also resides in Camberwell. No, the problem must definitely be approached from my end, Mr Holmes. However the blackmailer obtained the letters from Mrs Forrester, he is definitely not on Maria's trail. If he knew that my son was also hers, he would certainly make no secret of the fact, as it would add scandal to scandal.'
    'Hmm.' Holmes lit a second cigarette. The firelight played across his tense features, giving them an unearthly, almost a threatening quality, I thought. 'Mrs Cecil Forrester is definitely the link in the chain, however,' he said. 'It may be true, as you say, that she herself would not blackmail her brother's old friend, especially as her own social position appears to be somewhat unsteady. Who would be most likely, therefore, to have had access to Mrs Forrester's papers over the last few months? Clearly someone with whom she is intimate. From what you say, Lord Carstairs, that person is unlikely to be of the male gender. The chances of the blackmailer being a woman are therefore very high.
    'There is always the possibility, of course, that those letters have been stolen from her; so we must not exclude the male gender entirely from our enquiry...Surely, Lord Carstairs, your natural curiosity must have led you to try and contact Mrs Forrester? I am assuming from what you have said, that you have not been successful in this.'
    Lord Carstairs gave a short laugh. 'Upon making enquiries, I found that Mrs Forrester is out of the country. I believe that she intends to spend the rest of the winter in Paris, where she has a friend; but exactly where in Paris, and with which friend, I have been unable to ascertain. Obviously the letters I have received do not come from Paris! And now there is no more time.'
    Sherlock Holmes rose briskly from his chair.
    'There are forty-eight hours, Lord Carstairs,' he said. 'And those forty-eight hours may be everything. Thank you for this late interview--I trust you will have no reason to regret it. I will be in touch with you again by the morning of the 24th at the very latest. In the meantime, I would advise you to do nothing yourself, and to discourage Miss and Mr Kirkpatrick from any further attempts at burglary. Good evening to you, Lord Carstairs.'
    He had already shaken hands with the bemused gentleman and was halfway to the door before our host had time to express the bewilderment caused by these parting words.
    'Burglaries?' he faltered. 'What burglaries, Mr Holmes?'
    I hastened to reassure him as I shook his hand.
    'Mr Maurice Kirkpatrick made an attempt to procure his birth certificate from his mother's house at Camberwell this morning,' I said. 'I'm afraid he was unsuccessful; the housemaid interrupted him, and the document was eventually found by Miss D'Arcy and myself. I must confess, I don't see that the possession of it would have done him much good.'
    Lord Carstairs gave a rueful laugh of relief.
    'Good heavens, Dr Watson! I suppose they wanted to forestall any similar attempts on the part