Part 11 (1/2)

The nextthere was still no word from Rufus Stone Disconsolate, Sherlock and Matty ate a breakfast of oat porridge served by a silent maid It was so thick that Sherlock could have cut it into slices with a knife, and it looked like pigswill, but it was surprisingly tasty, and filling as well

'What's the plan?' Matty asked

'I' to find a bookshop or a library,' Sherlock replied 'I need a map of the city, and I need to find out more about the place I feel lost here I can't find o and check the places you used to know, see if there's anyone who re to need all the help we can get' He paused for a second, thinking 'That park, up the street froates at ot a watch,' Matty pointed out

'Then ask someone'

Having finished their porridge, they said their goodbyes and went out into the street

Sherlock found a library a little way along the hfare Inside, the dry s It reminded him of Uncle Sherrinford's library He always felt at ho to the section devoted to Scotland, he pulled an armful of volumes off the shelf and settled at a nearby table to read

Within an hour he had a h, and its place within the wider history of Scotland The toas built on seven hills, he discovered, which he supposed would explain the fact that every direction seemed to be either uphill or down

After a while the close black print started blurring as he tried to read it He closed the book and shut his eyes for a ht, that the kind of information he wanted wasn't the kind that went in reference books Where did people go in Edinburgh when they were on the run? How did they avoid detection when soe of the local criminal fraternity, and were theythes that Matty was more likely to find out from his contacts, but unless it ritten down and kept up to date then it was the kind of information that would just slip away Sherlock decided that he needed to write down all the little snippets and facts that he or Matty unearthed along the way Maybe if he kept them on file cards then he could access the thought struck hi wasn't that different from what Josh Harkness had done a collect inforal activity and keep it The only real distinction was that Sherlock wouldn't be using it for profit

He checked the watch that usually hung from a chain on his waistcoat It was half past eleven Ti Matty

As he returned the books to their shelves he noticed that there were h for sale at the front desk for sixpence He bought one and took it back to the table where he had been reading to open it His gaze scanned quickly across the details: the shape of the city and in which directions thein froone along a road nah the city That enabled him to work out where their hotel was, and where he was now

Folding theit in his pocket, he set off for the park He felt ate his way around now

The sun was shi+ning through the clouds, casting bearey as if girders of light were holding up the entire sky Glancing down side roads as he strolled along Princes Street he caught glirey cloud hanging above the city, but there was soeometry and perspective It looked as if it just shouldn't be possible that the castle was up there while the toas down here

As he passed one particular alley, so noise He stopped, intrigued, and looked sideways He et any closer to the alley a that would have been stupid a but if anyone was following him then he wanted to knoho it was

For a moment he could only see a pool of shadow, like liquid darkness, where the sun could never penetrate, but after a few ot used to the contrast and he couldin mid-air, like a pale balloon It took a moment of concentration before his brain realized what he was looking at a the face of so there, in the alley, staring out

Sherlock took an involuntary step backwards The face was bone-white, with eyes set so deep that the sockets were just black holes in the face The cheekbones stuck out sharply, and the lips a if the figure had any lips a were pulled back froure was enjoying sohu there, in the alley, looking at hiround and left there, propped up against a piece of wood, as a warning? And ould do such a ure raised a hand to the side of its face and waved, then drew back into the darkness until Sherlock couldn't see it any , did he re alone Had it been hiure had looked even ht have been a trick of the poor light

What was going on? He thought back to what his aunt and uncle had told hi mad, like his father?

For a few seconds Sherlock wanted to go further into the alley, looking for the figure a looking for the truth about what he'd seen a but he pulled back Logically, the ure was bait to lure him in But was it randohed his good sense? Rattled, Sherlock walked away from the mouth of the alley and he didn't look back

The park was only a few

'Are you all right?' his friend asked 'You look like you've seen a ghost'

'Don't be stupid,' Sherlock replied sharply 'There's no such thing as ghosts'

'All right a keep your hair on'

'Did you find anything out?' Sherlock asked

Matty shook his head 'Most of the blokes and kids I knew around here have moved on That or they've died I did find a couple of people who re Ah this way What about you?'

'I could find my way around the city now'

'Well, I suppose that's so on eographical knowledge'

Matty stared at him 'So what's our next move?' he asked eventually

Sherlock pondered for athis question hio back and talk to the ticket collectors and the guards at the station here,' he said slowly, 'but they uarantee that they would remember Mr Crowe Besides, if he continued to be as careful as he was back in Farnhaot off at an earlier station and h'

'If he's here at all,' Matty pointed out 'After all, you've only got a dead rabbit's head pointing you here It's not one off in co direction'

'Despite Rufus vanishi+ng?' Sherlock asked

Matty shrugged 'You've got a point The clue was probably a good one, but now that it's got us here, what do we do? Wait for another one to co?'

'Matty,' Sherlock said slowly, 'I've said it before and I'll say it again a you enius in those around you'

'What do youus to Edinburgh, if we understood it properly Why did he do that? We've not asked ourselves that question yet'

'Because he wanted us to follow him,' Matty replied

'Exactly He wanted us to follow hih!” He wanted us to know exactly where he was heading, and the only reason for that was because he wanted us to cooing to leave us dangling He'll leave another clue around, one that will lead us right to where he is'

'Why couldn't he do that from the start?' Matty asked

'Because all he kneas that he and Virginia were heading to Edinburgh Once he was here he would find somewhere to settle down in peace a somewhere he wouldn't be detected Not a hotel then More likely a cottage somewhere outside the town that he could rent Once he knew his address, he would find a way of letting us know'

'But he doesn't knohere we are,' Matty pointed out

'So he would leave a e somewhere that we could see it no ht back to the newspaper that he had read on the train In particular he ree of classified advertisees froroup of people, either in plain language or in code 'He'll place a classified advertisement in the local newspaper,' he said with certainty 'He knows that's one of the places I'll look'

'But what if we e in yesterday?'

Sherlock shook his head 'He wouldn't knohat day ere going to be here If I know Amyus Crowe, he would pay for the advert to be in all week'

Matty nodded Either what Sherlock had saidto take it on trust 'Then let's get a local newspaper Let's get all of the if they were going to have to plough their way through ten or twelve newspapers, or whether Amyus Croould have put the advertisement in all of theo, then turned back 'You'll have to read 'eot any money on me, so you'll have to buy 'em as well'