The Revenge of Moriarty (37 page)

Adela Asconta made a discontented spitting noise.

‘The inspector? He is …?' gulped Sanzionare.

‘My man. Just as you are all, in truth, my men and women. I only wish to prove to you, Luigi, that at any time, and in any place, I can control you, bend you, break you, remove your own paltry power. I have shown this already to Grisombre and Schleifstein. They have seen their errors and now stand by me. You have only to say the word.'

Sanzionare whispered an oath.

‘The old alliance,' Moriarty's voice rose. ‘I am determined that the old alliance be reformed. Together, with myself once more at the helm, we can dominate the denizens of crime throughout Europe. It is your choice. You can still have Italy. But on your own, I somehow do not think you would last long.'

Later, after they had given Sanzionare brandy and soothed Adela, the Italian asked, ‘But what if I had fought? What if I had tried to make good an escape?'

‘Unlikely,' smiled the Professor. ‘I believe in so bemusing my victims that they even lose sight of reality. However, in that unhappy event, I would have used certain strong methods. Come here to the window.'

They stood together, looking down on Langham Place while Moriarty pointed out Terremant and his hansom.

‘He would have seen to it that you did not get far. If I had considered it necessary, you would have been killed.'

A few hours later, when Sanzionare had been taken over to Bermondsey to be reunited with his old partners in crime, Moriarty sat down and went through the ritual of closing the account in the back of his journal. Only two more. Segorbe and Holmes. The other three would be an object lesson to Segorbe. It would be a direct approach, and if that failed, then Segorbe would have to be an object lesson to the other three.

He called for Spear and dictated the simple telegraph addressed to the quiet Spaniard in Madrid. It read –
WE MUST SPEAK WITH YOU URGENTLY IN LONDON. PLEASE INFORM US OF TIME AND PLACE OF ARRIVAL.
It was signed by Grisombre, Schleifstein and Sanzionare. The return address was given as Poste Restante, Charing Cross Post Office, London.

*
Balfour. Holmes is referring here to Jabez Spencer Balfour, the English businessman who, in 1895, had to face an extradition order from Argentina and trial in London for fraud, concerning his huge Balfour Group of companies. He served a term of fourteen years penal servitude during which he wrote the famous
My Prison Life
– possibly the best-written of all books of prison reminiscences.

†
Isabella Banks (or Bankes). Bigamous wife of Dr Thomas Smethurst. Smethurst was found guilty of murdering her by poison in 1859, but after sentence a prominent medical authority, Sir Benjamin Brodie, was directed to look into the case for the Home Office. As a result, Smethurst was reprieved and served one year's imprisonment for bigamy. Holmes' remark clearly shows what he thought of the case. working from house owned by Mrs Sally Hodges. Is that not a load off your mind, Crow?'

*
There is no specific dating, regarding this conversation, in Inspector Crow's notes. However, it must have taken place sometime after 20 March. Holmes was certainly in Cornwall between 16 and 20 March; and probably for some time before those dates, which cover the period of
The Adventure of the Devil's Foot
, and are exactly recorded by Dr Watson. The real interest here, in view of following events, is, however, Holmes' mention of Dr Moore Agar who was the cause of the great detective being in Cornwall at all. Watson records that Holmes' ‘iron constitution showed symptoms of giving way in the face of constant hard work of a most exacting kind,
aggravated, perhaps, by occasional indiscretions of his own'
. Moore Agar prescribed a complete rest. There can be little doubt of the indiscretions, and the fact that they were connected with the drug being supplied to Holmes via Mr Charles Bignall of Orchard Street. Of this, more later.

LONDON, ANNECY AND PARIS:

Tuesday, 20 April – Monday, 3 May 1897

(The Spanish lesson)

‘One has to admit that Paris is a singularly attractive city,' remarked Sherlock Holmes as they drove, in bright sunlight, from the Gare du Nord.

‘I have aways thought so,' said Crow.

‘The problem is,' continued Holmes, ‘that too much beauty, coupled with the fact that it is renowned as the great city of pleasure, makes it a breeding ground for idleness. And idleness, Crow, as I have observed in my own case, leads one to the devil's work. See there,' he pointed down one of the many side streets, ‘the poisoner Lachette had his home just four minutes' walk from that corner. It is not generally known that I had a hand in his final capture. A question of a most toxic Japanese fish being inserted into the bouillabaisse.'

Crow attempted to bring the conversation back to matters in hand.

‘You really believe that we will find some relevant clue to Moriarty's whereabouts by enquiries here?'

‘No doubt at all,' Holmes appeared listlessly diffident, as though Moriarty was the last person that interested him. ‘That
pension
we have just passed,' he turned to point back at the little corner building. ‘I remember that well enough. It is there that Ricoletti, the one who used his club foot to such diabolical purpose, stayed for a short time en route for England, after his escape from Italy. I believe his abominable wife went on ahead of him. But that was in my youth, Crow.'

Holmes had insisted that they sample the luxuries of the
Crillon
for this visit. ‘If we are to question the staff without arousing too much interest, our best disguise will be as guests,' he had told Crow, who felt the extravagance truly a little above his means.

Once they were installed, however, in the somewhat palatial apartments which Holmes had reserved for them, Crow found himself quite enjoying the visit. The only cloud on the horizon was the thought of Sylvia left to her own devices back in King Street. On the last occasion that he had left her alone, the wild goddess of social betterment had entered into her heart. He now prayed fervently that the lessons he had tried to teach her since becoming resolute of purpose would not go unheeded. Crow dreaded yet another tussle with his wife.

The Scottish detective bathed and dressed at his leisure, emerging to discover that Holmes had already been about their business. A curt note was attached to the mirror of the dressing-table.
I have jogged the servants' memories
, it read.
Please join me for dinner as soon as you feel purified enough to expose yourself to the wickedness of the city
.

Crow hurried downstairs to find Holmes sitting comfortably among the elegant diners in the large restaurant.

‘Ah, Crow,' he made an expansive gesture. ‘Do sit down and try some of this excellent duck, it is positively the best I have ever tasted.'

During the meal Crow attempted to draw the great detective, but he remained resolutely silent on the question of Morningdale and his enquiries so far; chattering away knowledgeably about Paris, and, in particular, French cuisine and the good wines of the country.

It was not until they reached coffee that he finally spoke of their venture.

‘Friend Morningdale is well remembered here. Apparently he was what they call a good tipper, and to begin with it is clear to me that his sole purpose was some form of meeting with Grisombre, the famous French criminal leader.'

‘We were pretty certain of that already,' said Crow, somewhat disappointed.

‘Indeed we were, but the talk I have had with the porter, and some of his staff, has made it positive beyond doubt that Morningdale was Moriarty. For one thing, this Morningdale claimed to hail from Boston, Massachusetts. By some judicious questioning I am led to believe that his accent was that of a man who has lived extensively in California. I am something of an expert on American dialects as you may know. Some years ago I published a short monograph on the subject of the natural vowel sounds among people born and bred in the various states.'

‘And your case rests on this alone?'

‘Oh no, there are other reasons which I will not bore you with at present. But, Crow, we must be about our business. It appears that Morningdale spent some time, together with his secretary, roistering in the Montmartre area. A sleazy part of the city at the best of times, but that is where we should be looking.'

So Crow and Holmes spent that first evening together combing the bars and cafés of Montmartre. To no avail, for however subtly Holmes phrased his questions, he was met with blank stares or shakings of the head.

Three days passed before they even touched upon anyone who remembered the American and his English secretary, and Crow judged that Holmes was becoming increasingly depressed, a nervous irritability replacing the more jovial manner of his arrival in the capital.

They had almost given up, on the third night, having covered a dozen or so of the dubious haunts of pleasure, when Holmes suggested that they visit the
Moulin Rouge
.

‘I am not anxious to view the heathen spectacle of women displaying themselves in that wild orgy again tonight, Crow,' he remarked somewhat sourly. ‘But I fear we will have to put up with it once more for the sake of criminal science.'

At the
Moulin Rouge
they encountered a waiter who thought that he recalled the American and his companion, but could not be absolutely certain.

‘I'll warrant that a large tip would loose his tongue,' said Holmes. ‘But I'll only stoop to the method of bribery as a last resort.'

At a little before one in the morning the two detectives left the establishment, and, as they awaited a cab in the Place Blanche, they were approached by one of the girls who, inevitably, plied their wanton trade on the streets of that area.

Crow was about to turn the girl away – as he had done many times since their nightly peregrinations – when Holmes stayed his hand.

‘You may well be able to assist us, dear lady,' Holmes addressed the girl with unaccustomed charm. ‘We are making enquiries regarding an American friend of whom we have lost sight. We are aware that he was certainly enjoying himself in these night haunts of your city early in the year. I wonder if you set eyes on him. If not you, then your friends.'

‘There are many American gentlemen who pass this way, Monsieur,' the girl replied. ‘I have not got time to discuss them in the streets. I am here to make money.'

‘You will not lose by it,' declared Holmes pulling some silver from his pocket. ‘Let me describe this particular man to you.'

The girl grabbed hungrily at the coins, listening intently as Holmes drew a concise word picture of the stout, red-faced Morningdale.

‘Salaud,'
the girl mouthed. ‘I recall that one. He threw me into the gutter. Almost broke my arm.'

‘Tell me about it,' Holmes fastened her with his eyes, which, Crow observed, were not as clear as usual.

The girl told of the night that she had approached the American, and of his threats.

‘He was a strange one,' she said. ‘He could speak our language well – the argot if you know what I mean.'

Holmes nodded.

The girl gestured in the direction of the
Moulin Rouge
. ‘He had been in there, talking to Suzanne the Gypsy. One of the waiters is a good friend, he told me that they talked together for some time.' She gave a bitter laugh. ‘She went off with his friend.'

‘Who? This Suzanne?'

‘That's right.'

‘And where shall we find her?'

‘Anywhere.' She spread her arms wide. ‘Suzanne is a law to herself. I have not seen her for two, maybe three, weeks.'

‘First thing in the morning we must begin our search for Suzanne the Gypsy,' Holmes counselled when they were back at the
Crillon
. ‘The trail grows warm, Crow. She spoke to the man, and I should imagine that she is the kind of woman whose tongue will be set running with a small financial reward. As you have seen, it is now time for bribery.'

But on the next morning, Crow was disturbed to find Holmes in a dispirited mood. He did not rise at his usual hour and appeared to be in great turmoil, sweating profusely and in a kind of agony which racked his body at frequent intervals.

‘I fear that I shall have to return to London,' the great detective said weakly. ‘This is what I dread, and it is the reason for Moore Agar advising rest in congenial surroundings. I fear there is now only one place where I can obtain the medicine which will arrest this state; and that is in London. Crow, you will have to continue without me, find this Suzanne and speak with her. You still have time before you are due back at Scotland Yard. I shall catch the next train to Calais.'

It was with a heavy heart that Crow saw the detective onto the train, before returning, alone, to the quest.

During the weeks that had passed since Moriarty had acquired the buildings at Bermondsey, much had been done in the way of refurbishing. Even since Schleifstein had become their first guest in this hideout, groups of family men – mainly cracksmen and sneak thieves who posed as builders, decorators and painters – had moved in to enlarge the premises, and make them more comfortable and safe from any person who might take an interest from the wider, and more law-abiding, world outside.

Pleasant alternative quarters had been furnished for Moriarty himself, and the main members of his Praetorian Guard, not to mention a large dormitory for transient family people; rooms for storing goods, lock-ups and, in fact, many of the amenities which they had so relied upon a few years before in the converted warehouse hard by the docks near Limehouse.

Bridget Spear, with only a few weeks to go before her confinement, had been moved into one of Sal Hodges' properties, together with a midwife to see that all went well. Sal Hodges, herself now like ‘a galleon in full sail', as she described it, would use the same room and midwife when her time came.