Part 6 (1/2)

”I can assure you, Madam, that you may speak to me in all confidence and that I have no interest other than seeing your husband restored to you In showing you that note I have deliberately taken the risk of allowing you to know my true identity, which, I trust, will remain with you and you alone”

She sh there is some hope that Ifro,” said Holmes

”I have been in India with my husband for six years We have lived in Calcutta and most recently in Delhi My husband is Vincent Sical Survey of India Our years here, until recently, have been very peaceful and filled with satisfaction, for I share my husband's interests in historical matters Unlike many of our countrymen who come here, we have not been separated by my husband's work He has shared his enthusiasms and discoveries fully with me, and I have tried in my small way to aid him to the lis are well known to me,” said Holmes ”Pray, continue”

”As you may know, my husband has dedicated his life to the reconstruction of Indian history and to the preservation of India'son a volume on the early history of the Subcontinent that I venture to say will become the standard work on the subject for h much of the earliest history but felt that there were very real gaps in the history of the Buddhist religion He becaations of the Survey into the Nepalese Tarai, where, hidden in its jungle confines, he believed lie the archaeological ruins that will provide the answers to many historical problems More than at any time in his career, I found him to be alht about and talked about nothing else

”It hen he was in this rather delicate fralishman, recently arrived in India, who clai for work as one of the Survey's field investigators He displayed excellent credentials, and even though he was not previously known to anyone at the Survey, he was immediately hired He said that he had recently worked in Hanoi with the French, and after a stay in Hong Kong he had decided to ply his trade in India He had excellent references as well, for the French scholars appeared to have written for hie of antiquities He clairaphy of northern Bihar and the Nepalese Tarai, of which he claiht him immediately to the attention of my husband, who after a brief interview hired him on the spot

”His na this entleman, who I felt in ained my husband's confidence, and the two became almost inseparable Their talk was constant, and Vincent took to inviting hiular basis I was most uncomfortable with this new friendshi+p, for on the few short occasions on which I was left alone with him, Fordham looked at me so voraciously that I felt compelled to leave the room

”Vincent refused to hear ht my suspicions and worries unfounded For the first time, I became isolated from my husband and felt myself replaced somewhat in his attention The more I saw of Fordham the more I felt that he could not be trusted

”It ith a sense of relief, therefore, that I learned that Vincent had decided to send Fordham to the Tarai for a preliminary survey of Buddhist monuments Permission for the expedition had co interval, and Fordhale assistant, this now about three e party of workers fro that he would be best served by workers hired and trained on the spot

”A month later, Vincent reported elatedly toruins that pre-dated the historical Buddha, a rather sensational discovery in itself Fordhara the report a e of Indian antiquity, Vincent scheduled it for io Vincent returned home in a state of utter dejection He said that Fordham's report had just arrived from the printer's and was about to be distributed when he noticed some odd inconsistencies in its presentation In consultation with his chief assistant, Mukherjee, it was decided that Fordham had either made some major errors, or had perpetrated a colossal hoax He had decided to delay publication of the report until an on-site investigation could be es and could not be reached Only Mukherjee are of the problem, and in order to avoid his own embarrassment as well as that for the Government as a whole, Vincent had decided that he had best ation himself

”Mukherjee went ahead He wired a few days later from Patna that the sites visited by Fordha of henchical purposes, and that Fordham had disappeared and probably had left India hatever booty he was able to remove from the ruins This confiro to the site hih his sense of betrayal was acute

”Teeks ago, he departed, leaving Mukherjee in charge of the Survey, and, on the pretext that he wanted a feeeks to write up his own archaeological notes, left for the Nepalese Tarai He promised to wire me as soon as he arrived But after his departure, I received no word After ten days of silence, I decided then to follow hio no further, for he deeers of the Tarai alone sufficient to deter anyone He said that he would notify the Government of what had happened and would send a party of police and sepoys after my husband, but I have steadfastly refused to allow this My husband wanted to avoid the Fordhae at all costs And so I find les alone in search of my husband It was Mukherjee whoarden He is still trying to stop me, but I wish to leave for Patna this afternoon Froo to the Tarai”

Towards the end of her description, Hole on her face

”I do not think that a venture into the Tarai is a wise one, Madaers of the Hiive you pause,” said Holmes ”And I should be derelict if I were to allow you to continue to believe that your husband ical charlatan He erous The man who calls himself Anthony Fordham is in reality Anton Furer, a thief and plunderer who continues to devastate the archaeological and museum worlds for his own purposes The false name Fordham is one that he has used on several occasions in the past I a The letters froeries, of course The French Surete has put out a world wide alert for his capture It is unfortunate that word appears not to have arrived in India'”

She appeared even htened than before ”Will he harm my husband?”

”Not until he finds what he is after That he is not already far away in another country plotting other : that he has yet to find his prize Perhaps he needs your husband to find it, perhaps to identify it In any case, it is io to find your husband”

”Only if I go with you” She uttered the last feords with such firmness that Holmes decided not to try to dissuade her

”I do not think it wise for you to come, but I shall not try to stop you if you insist In any case, I should like to meet with Mukherjee as soon as possible,” Holmes said

Mukherjee had not yet left Benares, and appeared at Holmes's hotel within the hour He struck Holan to speak, he told me, and Holmes knew at least in this case that Smith had chosen well He knew intimately the areas of the Tarai which he and Holht be He brought with hiain of identifying himself Mukherjee seemed unimpressed, which Holmes found a distinct relief from the normal reaction He proceeded without interruption

”As you know, Mr Holmes, that area of the Tarai is very difficult, and we have only begun our archaeological explorations there The Nepalese Ranas for id on this point: no entry under any circumstances For some reason, however, they relented recently, and allowed this expedition”

Holmes told me he smiled at those words, for it was obvious to hiure in the Rana palace had been enticed by Furer with proreat rewards, and had wheedled what he wanted out of the Maharajah

”A system of rewards is at work here, Mr Mukherjee, and I don't doubt that Furer will have promised to share his booty with various individuals Who is the Rana in charge?”

”The area is under the jurisdiction of General Khadga Shamsher, who has absented himself most of the time on shi+kar He was present when the first discovery was made: that of the Asoka pillar at Rummindei That discovery, as you know, identified that se as the birthplace of the Buddha But the General quickly lost interest and allowed Fordham to continue without supervision”

”I happen to know Khadga Shauess is that despite his absence, he is well aware of developh the usual invisible network of spies Furer's probleets closer to his quarry, for he will have the Ranascloser to him, and ill of course move from here But tell me first what you found when you arrived on your inspection tour”

Mukherjee pointed to the map ”The area of exploration is this, Mr Hole of Rummindei, the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautae that probably contains the remains of his father's city It is between these two sites that the initial investigations were to be made Once he had made a preliminary survey in this area, Fordham made brief forays in every direction In several places, he found substantial ruins, which, unfortunately for the future of archaeological exploration, he destroyed in what appears to have been a major hunt for unknown treasures All the sites have been destroyed in whole or in part Knowing the nature of Buddhist ruins, however, Iof worth is contained in them”

”And yet,” Hol perhaps of enorerous circuue orientalist”

”I have an idea, Mr Holestion”

”And what is that?”

”The Piprahwa casket”

”And what is that, pray tell?”

”There is an ancient tradition, still current a Buddhists, Mr Holmes, that after the Council of Kashmir sometime in the first century BC, the emperor Kanishka journeyed to the birthplace of the Buddha and left a gift in reatest value were placed, jehich formed part of the royal Kushan collection At the same time, relics of the Buddha himself, were placed with them in a small cloth sack The casket was first held in veneration at a stupa near Rummindei, but later it was rew into htenht, reatest value, but, more than that, to have relics of the Buddha his, particularly if they were to be sold to a rich Buddhist in son country So Furer lurks, hides, plunders until he finds what he wants Having Sives him the time that he needs to do that And perhaps the information that he needs as well Tell me, my dear Mukherjee, where is Kapilavastu?”

”No one knows exactly, Mr Hole of Tilaurakot, a village that lies just beyond the Nepalese border”

”Would Smith share this opinion?”

”We discussed the identification many times, Mr Holmes, and I a kept our opinion to ourselves, however, for we are well aware of the problee could create should it fall into the wrong hands Knowing Vincent Smith as I do, I doubt if he would release any opinion to Fordha of circumstances”

”Let us assuive Furer any information even if he were forced to subht that his ere in danger, then would he provide Furer with the information?”

”I believe that he would, Mr Holmes”

”Then I believe that she should leave immediately for Kapilavastu, or Tilaurakot, since I am sure that it exists by its ancient name on no map and is known to no one save the antiquarians And I should go with her It is there and perhaps only there that we shall confront Furer”

”I will not stay behind, Mr Holmes My duty is to Mr Smith”

”I was about to say that you could be of inestimable help in our adventure, Mr Mukherjee, as you have been so far Yes indeed, you must come, you must accompany Mrs Smith And I shall travel by a different route”

Holmes continued his narrative ”I outlined my plan to Mukherjee and then to Mrs S Benares and the prospect of locating her husband I was less sanguine, however, knowing that Furer was a hardened criminal, capable of any treachery and cruelty Indeed, there was always the gri for before we arrived In that case, I was sure that he would not hesitate to murder Smith and leave his corpse to feed the jackals of the Tarai But we had no alternative at this point I instructed Mukherjee that he should travel with Mrs Smith by the most direct route to Rummindei and that ould rendezvous there in two days I would travel separately and in disguise, but I would never be very far away

”It was by now late in the day Mukherjee decided that he and Mrs Smith should leave at once, in ti the across the northern rivers that evening In so doing, he thought that they could easily reach the village of Besarh by the next day, and thereby possibly reaching Ruarden of the hotel, notified the hotelier that I wished to keepand expected to return only after an indeterminate period

”I waited a fewthe loose shi+rt and trousers worn by Indian h, and it would at least facilitate a that took hal Sarai There, I boarded the sa By the tiht had fallen cohted, I looked back and saw gage I headed due north on foot, till I saw the river Ahead of me, except for an occasional fire, there was only darkness In the growing blackness, I crossed the Gandak in a small craft When we reached the other side, I asked the boatuide, for I told hiht He could take ht, he said, for the fear of dacoits (bandits) was too great When we got to the horses, I found that the oas reluctant to give the tiotiations when everyone turned out to be easier than I expected A traveller, on his way to his hoht at the local inn next to where the horses were stabled He overheardHe knew the trail well but was fearful of travelling alone He agreed to go with h my haste made him wonder what my mission was I promised the owner that the horses would be returned within a few days, and that ould leave theent in Rummindei