The Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (67 page)

I began to understand what my friend meant when he said that his brother possessed even keener faculties than he did himself. He glanced across at me and smiled. Mycroft took snuff from a tortoiseshell box and brushed away the wandering grains from his coat with a large, red silk handkerchief.

‘By the way, Sherlock,' said he, ‘I have had something quite after your own heart – a most singular problem – submitted to my judgement. I really had not the energy to follow it up, save in a very incomplete fashion, but it gave me a basis for some very pleasing speculations. If you would care to hear the facts—'

‘My dear Mycroft, I should be delighted.'

The brother scribbled a note upon a leaf of his pocket-book, and, ringing the bell, he handed it to the waiter.

‘I have asked Mr Melas
¹³
to step across,' said he. ‘He lodges on the floor above me, and I have some slight acquaintance with him, which led him to come to me in his perplexity. Mr Melas is a Greek by extraction, as I understand, and he is a remarkable linguist. He earns his living partly as interpreter in the law courts, partly by acting as guide to any wealthy Orientals who may visit the Northumberland Avenue hotels.
¹⁴
I think I will leave him to tell his own very remarkable experience in his own fashion.'

A few minutes later we were joined by a short, stout man, whose olive face and coal-black hair proclaimed his southern origin, though his speech was that of an educated Englishman. He shook hands eagerly with Sherlock Holmes, and his dark eyes sparkled with pleasure when he understood that the specialist was anxious to hear his story.

‘I do not believe that the police credit me – on my word I do not,' said he, in a wailing voice. ‘Just because they have never heard of it before, they think that such a thing cannot be. But I know that I shall never be easy in my mind until I know what has become of my poor man with the sticking-plaster upon his face.'

‘I am all attention,' said Sherlock Holmes.

‘This is Wednesday evening,' said Mr Melas; ‘well, then, it was on Monday night – only two days ago, you understand – that all this happened. I am an interpreter, as, perhaps, my neighbour there has told you. I interpret all languages – or nearly all – but as I am a Greek by birth, and with a Grecian name, it is with that particular tongue that I am principally associated. For many years I have been the chief Greek interpreter in London, and my name is very well known in the hotels.

‘It happens, not infrequently, that I am sent for at strange hours, by foreigners who get into difficulties, or by travellers who arrive late and wish my services. I was not surprised, therefore, on Monday night when a Mr Latimer, a very fashionably dressed young man, came up to my rooms and asked me to accompany him in a cab, which was waiting at the door. A Greek friend had come to see him upon business, he said, and, as he could speak nothing but his own tongue, the services of an interpreter were indispensable. He gave me to understand that his house was some little distance off, in Kensington,
¹⁵
and he seemed to be in a great hurry, bustling me rapidly into the cab when we had descended into the street.

‘I say into the cab, but I soon became doubtful as to whether it was not a carriage in which I had found myself. It was certainly more roomy than the ordinary four-wheeled disgrace to London, and the fittings, though frayed, were of rich quality. Mr Latimer seated himself opposite to me, and we started off through Charing Cross
¹⁶
and up the Shaftesbury Avenue.
¹⁷
We had come out upon Oxford Street, and
I had ventured some remark as to this being a roundabout way to Kensington, when my words were arrested by the extraordinary conduct of my companion.

‘He began by drawing a most formidable-looking bludgeon loaded with lead from his pocket, and switched it backwards and forwards several times, as if to test its weight and strength. Then he placed it, without a word, upon the seat beside him. Having done this, he drew up the windows on each side, and I found to my astonishment that they were covered with paper so as to prevent my seeing through them.

‘ “I am sorry to cut off your view, Mr Melas,” said he. “The fact is that I have no intention that you should see what the place is to which we are driving. It might possibly be inconvenient to me if you could find your way there again.”

‘As you can imagine, I was utterly taken a back by such an address. My companion was a powerful, broad-shouldered young fellow, and, apart from the weapon, I should not have had the slightest chance in a struggle with him.

‘ “This is very extraordinary conduct, Mr Latimer,” I stammered. “You must be aware that what you are doing is quite illegal.”

‘ “It is somewhat of a liberty, no doubt,” said he, “but we'll make it up to you. But I must warn you, however, Mr Melas, that if at any time tonight you attempt to raise an alarm or do anything which is against my interests, you will find it a very serious thing. I beg you to remember that no one knows where you are, and that whether you are in this carriage or in my house, you are equally in my power.”

‘His words were quiet, but he had a rasping way of saying them which was very menacing. I sat in silence, wondering what on earth could be his reason for kidnapping me in this extraordinary fashion. Whatever it might be, it was perfectly clear that there was no possible use in my resisting, and that I could only wait to see what might befall.

‘For nearly two hours we drove without my having the least clue as to where we were going. Sometimes the rattle of the stones told of a paved causeway, and at others our smooth, silent course suggested asphalt, but save this variation in sound there was nothing at all which could in the remotest way help me to form a guess as to where we
were. The paper over each window was impenetrable to light, and a blue curtain was drawn across the glass-work in front. It was a quarter past seven when we left Pall Mall, and my watch showed me that it was ten minutes to nine when we at last came to a standstill. My companion let down the window and I caught a glimpse of a low, arched doorway with a lamp burning above it. As I was hurried from the carriage it swung open, and I found myself inside the house, with a vague impression of a lawn and tree son each side of me as I entered. Whether these were private grounds, however, or
bona fide
country was more than I could possibly venture to say.

‘There was a coloured gas-lamp inside, which was turned so low that I could see little save that the hall was of some size and hung with pictures. In the dim light I could make out that the person who had opened the door was a small, mean-looking, middle-aged man with rounded shoulders. As he turned towards us the glint of the light showed me that he was wearing glasses.

‘ “Is this Mr Melas, Harold?” said he.

‘ “Yes.”

‘ “Well done! Well done! No ill-will, Mr Melas, I hope, but we could not get on without you. If you deal fair with us you'll not regret it; but if you try any tricks, God help you!”

‘He spoke in a jerky, nervous fashion, and with some giggling laughs in between, but somehow he impressed me with fear more than the other.

‘ “What do you want with me?” I asked.

‘ “Only to ask a few questions of a Greek gentleman who is visiting us, and to let us have the answers. But say no more than you are told to say, or” – here came the nervous giggle again – “you had better never have been born.”

‘As he spoke he opened a door and showed the way into a room which appeared to be very richly furnished – but again the only light was afforded by a single lamp half turned down. The chamber was certainly large, and the way in which my feet sank into the carpet as I stepped across it told me of its richness. I caught glimpses of velvet chairs, a high, white marble mantelpiece, and what seemed to be a suit of Japanese armour at one side of it. There was a chair just under
the lamp, and the elderly man motioned that I should sit in it. The younger had left us, but he suddenly returned through another door, leading with him a gentleman clad in some sort of loose dressing-gown, who moved slowly towards us. As he came into the circle of dim light which enabled me to see him more clearly, I was thrilled with horror at his appearance. He was deadly pale and terribly emaciated, with the protruding, brilliant eyes of a man whose spirit is greater than his strength. But what shocked me more than any signs of physical weakness was that his face was grotesquely criss-crossed with sticking-plaster, and that one large pad of it was fastened over his mouth.

‘ “Have you the slate, Harold?” cried the older man, as this strange being fell rather than sat down into a chair. “Are his hands loose? Now then, give him the pencil. You are to ask the questions, Mr Melas, and he will write the answers. Ask him first of all whether he is prepared to sign the papers.”

‘The man's eyes flashed fire.

‘ “Never,” he wrote in Greek upon the slate.

‘ “On no conditions?” I asked at the bidding of our tyrant.

‘ “Only if I see her married in my presence by a Greek priest whom I know.”

‘The man giggled in his venomous way.

‘ “You know what awaits you, then?”

‘ “I care nothing for myself.”

‘These are samples of the questions and answers which made up our strange, half-spoken, half-written conversation. Again and again I had to ask him whether he would give in and sign the document. Again and again I had the same indignant reply. But soon a happy thought came to me.I took to adding on little sentences of my own to each question – innocent ones at first, to test whether either of our companions knew anything of the matter, and then, as I found that they showed no sign, I played a more dangerous game. Our conversation ran something like this:

‘ “You can do no good by this obstinacy.
Who are you?
”

‘ “I care not.
I am a stranger in London
.”

‘ “Your fate will be on your own head.
How long have you been here?
”

‘ “Let it be so.
Three weeks
.”

‘ “This property can never be yours.
What ails you?
”

‘ “It shall not go to villains.
They are starving me
.”

‘ “You shall go free if you sign.
What house is this?
”

‘ “I will never sign.
I do not know
.”

‘ “You are not doing her any service.
What is your name?
”

‘ “Let me hear her say so.
Kratides
.”

‘ “You shall see her if you sign.
Where are you from?
”

‘ “Then I shall never see her.
Athens
.”

‘Another five minutes, Mr Holmes, and I should have wormed out the whole story under their very noses. My very next question might have cleared the matter up, but at that instant the door opened and a woman stepped into the room. I could not see her clearly enough to know more than that she was tall and graceful, with black hair, and clad in some sort of loose white gown.

‘ “Harold!” said she, speaking English with a broken accent, “I could not stay away longer. It is so lonely up there with only – oh, my God, it is Paul!”

‘These last words were in Greek, and at the same instant the man, with a convulsive effort, tore the plaster from his lips, and screaming out “Sophy! Sophy!” rushed into the woman's arms. Their embrace was but for an instant, however, for the younger man seized the woman and pushed her out of the room, while the elder easily overpowered his emaciated victim, and dragged him away through the other door. For a moment I was left alone in the room, and I sprang to my feet with some vague idea that I might in some way get a clue to what this house was in which I found myself. Fortunately, however, I took no steps, for, looking up, I saw the older man was standing in the door way, with his eyes fixed upon me.

‘ “That will do, Mr Melas,” said he. “You perceive that we have taken you into our confidence over some very private business. We should not have troubled you only that our friend who speaks Greek and who began these negotiations has been forced to return to the East. It was quite necessary for us to find someone to take his place, and we were fortunate in hearing of your powers.”

‘I bowed.

‘ “There are five sovereigns
¹⁸
here,” said he, walking up to me,
“which will, I hope, be a sufficient fee. But remember,” he added, tapping me lightly on the chest and giggling, “if you speak to a human soul about this – one human soul, mind – well, may God have mercy upon your soul!”

‘I cannot tell you the loathing and horror with which this insignificant-looking man inspired me.I could see him better now as the lamp-light shone upon him. His features were peaky and sallow, and his little, pointed beard was thready and ill-nourished. He pushed his face forward as he spoke, and his lips and eyelids were continually twitching, like a man with St Vitus's Dance.
¹⁹
I could not help thinking that his strange, catchy little laugh was also a symptom of some nervous malady. The terror of his face lay in his eyes, however, steel grey, and glistening coldly, with a malignant, inexorable cruelty in their depths.

‘ “We shall know if you speak of this,” said he. “We have our own means of information. Now, you will find the carriage waiting, and my friend will see you on your way.”

‘I was hurried through the hall, and into the vehicle, again obtaining that momentary glimpse of trees and a garden. Mr Latimer followed closely at my heels, and took his place opposite to me without a word. In silence we again drove for an interminable distance, with the windows raised, until at last, just after midnight, the carriage pulled up.

‘ “You will get down here, Mr Melas,” said my companion. “I am sorry to leave you so far from your house, but there is no alternative. Any attempt upon your part to follow the carriage can only end in injury to yourself.”