Free Sherlock Holmes and the Giant Rat of Sumatra by Paul D. Gilbert Page A

continuing with your father’s remarkable tale.’
    Collier nodded his assent and made short work of his grilled kipper and eggs, a meal which I also heartily enjoyed. Holmes viewed us both with some amusement as he lit another cigarette.
    As he wiped his plate clean Collier glanced somewhat sheepishly towards Holmes, obviously aware of Holmes’s empty plate and untouched cutlery.
    ‘Will you not be joining us, Mr Holmes?’
    To save Holmes from the tiresome task of explaining himself I offered an explanation of my own.
    ‘When Mr Holmes is engrossed in a case, especially one as unusual as yours, he finds that the energy expended in the digestive process could be better used in maintaining the sharpness of his mental faculties. Do not let his abstinence detract from your own enjoyment of the meal, for I assure you that Holmes’s appetite will return upon the successful conclusion of the matter.’
    Holmes clapped his hands together gleefully.
    ‘Well done, Watson!’ he exclaimed. ‘I could not have expressed the thing better myself. However, engrossing as Mr Collier’s letters undoubtedly are, we must not neglect the other matter that has so recently been brought to our attention. I am certain that Lestrade is already being cajoled by the odious Mr Dodd into replacing our services with those of another agency. So, with thatin mind, would you stroll to the vendors to procure a copy of
The Times
while I provide Lestrade with a suggestion or two and dispatch Mrs Hudson with a couple of wires that may prove to be significant?’
    ‘Of course, the
Matilda Briggs
affair!’ I must admit that the enthralling nature of Sir Michael Collier’s tale had occluded any thought of the mysterious ship and our unpleasant client. However, as I went to fetch my coat and carry out Holmes’s instruction, the memories of the previous afternoon at the quayside and at the office of the Red Cannon shipping line came flooding back to me. I craved Collier’s indulgence and made for the door as Holmes began scribbling out his notes.
    The light mist that I had observed the previous day as it had spread itself lazily across the Thames had thickened substantially overnight. As it merged with the constant discharge from the forest of chimneys that surrounded us, it had transformed into this monstrous, swirling, grey pre-souper that appeared to swallow up all that was in its path.
    Even the ‘Empty House’, that had once been the scene of one of Holmes’s investigations and stood opposite to our own lodging became nothing more than a ghostly apparition and any foolhardy passers-by stole along like so many crouching shadows. I turned up my coat collar and pulled down my hat as I continued upon my mission.
    As soon as I had stepped out on to the street I was engulfed by the swirling gloom. Indeed, as I made my way towards the corner with Marylebone Road, I missed my footing several times. I reached the stand of Simon, my usual vendor, without any further mishap and the scarcity of customers that morning prompted me to slip him a few extra loose coins to cheer his gloomy countenance. I was on the point of turning for home with my paper under my arm, when the first rays of sunlight began to dissipate the edges of the mustard-tinged fog. I therefore decided to extendmy walk, and to while away the time that Holmes would need to put his plans into motion by stretching my stiff legs.
    After a hundred yards or so, I decided that I could not trust Holmes’s impatient nature for a moment longer; as there was a real possibility he would ask Collier to continue with his reading in my absence. I turned around sharply at the thought and beat a hasty retreat towards 221B. When I reached the crossroads, however, my attention was drawn towards the opposite corner, for there stood, without a doubt, the very caped figure that had so perplexed me in Pepys Street the previous afternoon!
    I stood there rubbing my eyes in disbelief and on this occasion I decided to