Part 17 (2/2)
”What sort of glove?” Holmes asked, his interest obviously roused
Lestrade consulted the thin file again and read out a brief description ”Dark blue lady's glove, right hand, lace at wrist, three sed helplessly ”That's all we have I'm afraid, Mr Holot e later nobody likes to hang about on a job like that, now do they?”
Evidently having heard enough, Holmes leapt to his feet ”Very well, Lestrade; if you will excuse us, I think we had best go and exae, which can cause a , Watson!” he ordered as he pulled open the door and headed down the stairs
I followed after him as best I could, with Lestrade's entreaty that there was no reason to jump to hasty conclusions soon lost in the air behind side Holmes, he fired a series of questions at h from the speed hich one question followed another and, more obviously still, from the way he answered the questions himself
”Why did the killer not take thefell under the seat, and he sile, perhaps? But Lestrade said there was no struggle Which does not necessarily le, of course Did Miss Williams sit quietly and allow herself to be slain? I think not, Watson For that matter, how could she be murdered if no murderer could possibly have been present? I am tee of a brief break in this ue to interject ”You're sure this is murder then, Holmes?”
Holmes stopped in his tracks and turned to address me directly ”Which would you prefer to believe, Watson-that atrain or that the lady's glove soed the same trick by itself?”
That was hardly the question I was asking, I pointed out to Holmes with some acerbity All very well towoman lay dead and, if Hole
Holrace to look abashed He was not a callous man, but he did tend, on occasion, to overlook the huies, Watson,” he said, beckoning to a passing hansom cab ”I can conceive of no reason why Miss Willialove, disposed of it in so comprehensive a manner and then conveniently and quietly died Not to mention the small matter of Mr Archibald Aberdeen” He spoke to the cabbie and, as we settled ourselves, I asked him about our destination
”Baker Street, Watson, where you will drop me off, then I think you should make a visit while I busy myself elsewhere Lestrade says the unfortunate victim had family in the area of Leyton station: a sister Go and speak to her, there's a good chap, and discover what you can about Miss Willia thereuseful to be learned”
”And what of you, Hol?”
Holmes allowed himself a thin smile ”Oh, here and there, Watson,” he said ”Perhaps even a trip to Aberdeen”
Miss Williaht, timid creature who seemed surprised that I wished to speak to her about Emily, but determined to help, nonetheless Would that I could have said the same of her husband
A tall, painfully thin man with sparse sandy-coloured hair and an untidy e Fellows paced up and down in front of his wife as though to barricade her against any threat fro at each side, and his head bobbing forward and back in annoyance, I was put in ht Even after I explained that I orking with Mr Sherlock Holarded me with ill-concealed distrust
”Why on earth wouldat all about the movements of her sister?” he spluttered ”As I'aret and her faht pause and, turning to the lady in question, ventured to enquire the cause of the estrangee,” she replied ”He thinks-”
”That she married beneath herself!” Fellows interrupted His face was flushed red with anger and, as he continued, his words tripped one over the other in his haste to spit out his fury ”That fool of a father of hers thinks that she would have been bettera clerk, not a mere sweep likeboy, and noith half a dozenunder , the precious clerk? Ahi talk, while the whole faand scarlet-faced, and pointed at his wife for earet would never entertain No, nor her noddy sister!”
Shocked though I was by the er and lack of reverence towards the dead, there was little I could politely say in response I had no wish to upset Mrs Fellows any further, even though her husband appeared to labour under no such compunction She presumably believed her sister to have died of natural causes; as I to disabuse her of that co ain
”There can be no har her courage, she continued in a considerably louder voice, ”Yes, I didIt hen my husband was at work She'd taken soo with her, to do a bit of shopping, fill her bottom drawer for her” She stifled a sob and took a deep breath ”Oh sit down, George, please! Stop your co for a minute and listen to e in the woman was remarkable I had taken her to be a timid mouse and her husband to be the bully who had cowed her coestured at her husband to sit then turned back to lint of determination in her eyes
”Please do not concern yourself with George's inte husband to stand for no slight, however s her next word ”- stressful”
”You must understand that hters would marry someone from his own line of work He has worked in the bank for thirty years, you see, reaching his present position on the board soo He knows only bank staff and their faine no better society, nor a better e, and fell in love with him, it mattered little to my father that he is the proprietor of a successful business, only that he is not an office worker like himself And so my father will not speak to me, now or in the future, and I have been cut fro, as respectable a clerk as ever earned a wage behind a bank counter
”But that's not her fault, is it, Dr Watson? She can't help our father's prejudices any more than I can Our ood, so weanyone Shouldfriendshi+p, he would cut Emily from his will as quickly as he did me, for all that he is in poor health hi the world to co his children here on Earth”
Fellows had tried to interrupt several tination, but his as a stronger soul than I would have credited previously, and she silenced hi around the big shops; no chance of buaret's fiance outside Harrods on a weekday afternoon”
”And yesterday?” I proh the day itself required confirs account in order to purchase the sort of bits and pieces required by a woe In fact, she had the money in her purse e ave it to e suain”
It was clear toher equilibriuth Consequently, I tried gently to prise any re information from her as swiftly as I could
”What did you buy, Mrs Fellows?” I asked
”That's the thing, Dr Watson,” she replied, shaking her head ”We didn't buy e her Poor Eht a necklace and a little silver bracelet, but nothing else I was quite glad to bump into Mr Fraser, to be honest, so pale was E her body Though I was keen to hear more, both of the victiate a grief-stricken sister, even if I were so ill ested that Fellows made his wife tea and, on that pretext, followed him to the s the death of his sister-in-law His reaction was as unexpected as his earlier callous disregard He blanched and stu on to the back of a chair to steady hi, for part of ht wo character He asked if we had a suspect in mind I was forced to admit that we did not, as yet, but reassured hies As I made my farewells, I asked hoell acquainted he ith Fraser
”He's not a friend, if that's what you mean,” he said, with a return of his previous ill humour ”Bill Fraser is an employee of mine - for the moment at least! He handles the paperwork, mainly Between you and me, Doctor, he's a queer fish Secretive, if you knohat I mean, and inclined to fits of te withfor her Turns my stomach to think of it, after what you just told me”
He showedshut behindhi with the Fellows had taken so short a time that I doubted Holmes had returned to our rooms yet I did not knohat to make of the couple I hadjust un her final journey was a short walk away; the opportunity to investigate was too great to reat stations of the capital, this suburban line boasted only two platforle, small ticket-office, to which I repaired iuard in the uniform of the railway company sht be of assistance
As I had noticed in the past, uard proved more than happy to answer any question I cared to ask hiue to cover for hih a door marked ”Ely well-appointed staff lounge As we took a seat, the guard introduced himself as Cedric Tyler and repeated his earlier query
In all honesty, I wasn't entirely certain what I wanted to know I hesitated as I tried out first one, then another question inTyler if he had noticed anything unusual on the day Miss Williams was killed I are that Hol fro chatter” but it had always seeuard chose that moment to enter the room Tyler called him over and described uard-one Peter Nicholas-had been on duty on the day in question Furthere event which occurred immediately thereafter Obviously pleased to be the centre of attention, the guard described a disagreement shortly before the train coentlee minutes before the train's departure but had been rebuffed in some way and had been forced tohad occurred entle!
”And what happened next?” I enquired, but all the guard could say with certainty was that the gentlee No, he did not know the naain Indeed he would be happy to point hi, for the gentleman returned fro nothing else either man could add, I thanked them both for their time and followed Tyler back to the ticket office and from there into the station proper As I boarded a hanso for the old saw that the murderer often returns to the scene of his crime, this one would be incredibly foolhardy to return there every day at six
On my return to Baker Street, Mrs Hudson inforht back out Holmes had sent word that I should meet him at the station where Miss Williams hadso It had been a busy day and the weather outside had taken a decided turn for the worse The co and a steady downpourprospect