Part 6 (1/2)
”Then what have you done?” I demanded, sulkily.
”Just changed a couple of trunk checks, that's all,” said Raffles Holmes. ”That bit of bra.s.s you have in your hand, which was handed to you in the station by the porter of the Garrymore, when presented at Jersey City will put you in possession of Mrs. Wilbraham Ward-Smythe's trunk, containing the bulk of her jewels. She's a trifle careless about her possessions, as any one could see who watched the nonchalant way in which she paraded the board walk with a small fortune on her neck and fingers. Most women would carry such things in a small hand-satchel, or at least have the trunk sent by registered express, but not Mrs. Wilbraham Ward-Smythe; and, thanks to her loud voice, listening outside of her door last night, I heard her directing her maid here she wished the gems packed.”
”And where the d.i.c.kens is my trunk?” I asked.
”On the way to Chicago,” said Raffles Holmes, calmly. ”Mrs. Wilbraham Ward- Smythe has the check for it.”
”Safe business!” I sneered. ”Bribed the porter, I presume?”
”Jenkins, you are exceedingly uncomplimentary at times,” said Raffles Holmes, showing more resentment than I had ever given him credit for.
”Perhaps you observed that I didn't go to the station in the omnibus.”
”No, you went over to the drug-store after some phenacetine for your headache,” said I.
”Precisely,” said Holmes, ”and after purchasing the phenacetine I jumped aboard the Garrymore express-wagon and got a lift over to the station. It was during that ride that I transferred Mrs. Ward-Smythe's check from her trunk to yours, and vice versa. It's one of the easiest jobs in the Raffles business, especially at this season of the year, when travel is heavy and porters are overworked.”
”I'll see the trunk in the Hudson River, pearl rope and all, before I'll claim it at Jersey City or anywhere else,” said I.
”Perfectly right,” Holmes returned. ”We'll hand the check to the expressman when he comes through the train, and neither of us need appear further in the matter. It will merely be delivered at your apartment.”
”Why not yours?” said I.
”Raffles!” said he, laconically, and I understood.
”And then what?” I asked.
”Let it alone, unopened, safe as a church, until Mrs. Wilbraham Ward-Smythe discovers her loss, which will be to-morrow afternoon, and then-”
”Well?”
”Mr. Holmes will step in, unravel the mystery, prove it to be a mere innocent mistake, collect about ten or fifteen thousand dollars reward, divvy up with you, and the decks will be cleared for what turns up next,” said this wonderful player of dangerous games. ”And, as a beginning, Jenkins, please sign this,” he added.
Holmes handed me a typewritten-letter which read as follows.
”THE RICHMORE, June 30, 1905. ”Raffles Holmes, Esq.. ”DEAR SIR,-I enclose herewith my check for $1000 as a retainer for your services in locating for me a missing trunk, which contains articles which I value at $10,000. This trunk was checked through to New York from Atlantic City on Monday last, 9.40 train, and has not since been found. Whether or not it has been stolen, or has gone astray in some wholly innocent manner, is not as yet clear. I know of no one better equipped for the task of finding it for me than yourself, who, I am given to understand, are the son of the famous Sherlock Holmes of England. The check represents the ten per cent. commission on the value of the lost articles, which I believe is the customary fee for services such as I seek. Very truly yours.”
”What are you going to do with this?” I demanded.
”Send it as an enclosure to Mrs. Wilbraham Ward-Smythe, showing my credentials as your agent, in asking her if by any mischance your trunk has got mixed in with her luggage,” observed Holmes. ”For form's sake, I shall send it to twenty or thirty other people known to have left Atlantic City the same day. Moreover, it will suggest the idea to Mrs. Wilbraham Ward- Smythe that I am a good man to locate her trunk also, and the delicate intimation of my terms will-”
”Aha! I see,” said I. ”And my thousand-dollar check to you?”
”I shall, of course, keep,” observed Holmes. ”You want the whole business to be bona fide, don't you? It would be unscrupulous for you to ask for its return.”
I didn't exactly like the idea, but, after all, there was much in what Holmes said, and the actual risk of my own capital relieved my conscience of the suspicion that by signing the letter I should become a partner in a confidence game. Hence I signed the note, mailed it to Raffles Holmes, enclosing my check for $1000 with it.
Three days later Holmes entered my room with a broad grin on his face.
”How's this for business?” said he, handing me a letter he had received that morning from Chicago.
”DEAR SIR,-I am perfectly delighted to receive your letter of July 1. I think I have Mr. Jenkins's missing trunk. What pleases me most, however, is the possibility of your recovering mine, which also went astray at the same time. It contained articles of even greater value than Mr. Jenkins's-my pearl rope, among other things, which is appraised at $130,000. Do you think there is any chance of your recovering it for me? I enclose my check for $5000 as a retainer. The balance of your ten per cent. fee I shall gladly pay on receipt of my missing luggage. ”Most sincerely yours, ”MAUDE WARD-SMYTHE.”