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you mean, after the gold
train went by," I exclaimed.
    "Or
before, for that matter." The sleuth's attitude was
casual and he seemed to have lost interest in the
matter.
    Our
walk back to the four-wheeler was made in silence.
I had nothing to say nor had Dandy Jack, who
had recovered his grin. Holmes was deep in thought, his hands clasped
behind his back and his aquiline face
chin-down on his chest. In the convey ance,
Dandy Jack headed back to Brent since there were
no orders to do otherwise.
    As
we approached the small village and its station,
Holmes summoned himself from his rev erie. "I would appreciate your thinking more on
how that wagonload of gold was removed
with no one the wiser. In daylight too, for the authorities found the
boxcar before night fell."
    Dandy
Jack indicated that he would give the matter
due consideration, but there was little enthusiasm
in his manner. Why our driver should be
expected to come up with an answer eluded me. At
the station, Holmes passed some bills to Dandy Jack,
who did not bother to count them before shoving
them into a pocket with a gesture of ac knowledgment
that could have doubled for thanks.
    As
he stood on the platform and waved us good bye,
did I detect an expression of relief on his weathered
face?
    On
the train, I viewed Holmes with purpose. I had
allowed him a lengthy period for meditation, and
enough was enough. Questions were bubbling on
my lips. I never had the chance to ask them; Holmes
divined my thoughts.
    "Dandy
Jack has led a not-uneventful life, and it was
fortunate for our purposes that he was on the scene."
Holmes removed his ostrich-skin pouch and fueled
his short-stemmed briar. "For that matter, the
sleepy village of Brent has seen more exciting times. It was once the
halfway house for a thriving business."
My mouth opened with the obvious question,
but Holmes continued: "A ring of brandy smugglers
got their contraband cargo this far and then sent it in various directions, much in the manner
that Dandy Jack mentioned."
    "He
was, then, a part of the ring?"
    "Very
good at his job, too."
    "How
do you know of this, Holmes?"
    "I
broke the ring."
    "Ah,
then you knew Jack."
    "Only
by reputation. There was a falling out among
the thieves. The matter of greed you men tioned
previously. There were two casualties, which
did not sit well with one member of the gang.
I was able to contact him, by post actually, using
a code name. We transacted some business, always
by the mails. The entire gang was captured, including
a customs official in Yarmouth."
    "But
they didn't all go to jail," I said with a wise smile,
which his answer erased.
    "Actually,
they did. However, one of the gang escaped
after a brief period in a certain penal institution.
He's never been found."
    Holmes
puffed on his pipe for a considerable moment,
his eyes harkening back to times gone by. Then he continued in a low
tone of voice which, on occasion, served
as a tocsin for a confidential matter of importance. "Dandy
Jack is a singular name and rather hard to forget. Old friend, we'd
best forget it just the same."
    During
our return to London, I viewed our countryside
investigation in a new light. Small wonder that our unusual driver
had considered the matter of the stolen gold with a professional
interest. If a smuggler—who must have worked in collusion
with some of the local inhabitants at one time—did
not know how the stolen gold was removed,
then who would?

    Chapter
7
    The
Leaden Intruder
    THAT
EVENING, our dinner at 221 B Baker Street was
a quiet one. I was touched by the faith Holmes had
evidenced by his revelation on the homebound train
and did not wish to plague him with further questions.
Many of my queries through the years must have smacked of the inane
to him. He frequently displayed irritation when others could not match the mercurial speed of his
intellect, but exhibited a singular
patience with me. On more than one
occasion he had stated that I possessed an intuitive
ability to center