Authors: Braven
Holmes had risen from
his chair and was looking out the window towards the street and the
star-studded Egyptian sky just now tinted with the first rosy hue of
the coming day.
While I was digesting
this new idea, Orloff returned to a subject he had mentioned
previously.
"There's liable to
be another offer of knighthood. Will you accept this time?"
"Little chance. I
rather fancy I ruffled some feelings with my first refusal. In any
case, I have already been amply rewarded for this singular
adventure."
I was about to question
Holmes regarding this when he turned towards Orloff and me suddenly.
"You know, it was
the scheme of a Mad Hatter, but it would have worked."
"Oh come now,
Holmes," I remonstrated automatically.
"You have been too
close to it, ol' fellow. Never mind your thoughts. What of the
dockworker in London, the tailor in Paris, the German baker and
their cousins everywhere? They read of the discovery of an unknown
tomb, the first of its kind ever revealed to the eyes of modern man.
The seals on the inner door are as they were when the crypt was
closed over three thousand years ago, and inside are the golden
tablets with a new concept of the first prophet of Allah."
"How would Chu have
worked that?" asked Orloff shrewdly.
"The inner door was
of stone. Chu could have effected an opening and slid the tablets
through into the interior of the tomb. I imagine that such an
opening, not large enough for a man, could have been concealed
readily enough. I tell you it would have shaken the foundations of
more religions than that of Islam. You forget the spell that this
strange land can weave. What of the man you mentioned, Watson,
Charles Piazzi Smythe of our century, not without impressive
credentials? He was Astronomer Royal of Scotland, you know, and was
absolutely convinced, and convinced untold others, that the
measurements of the inside of the Great Pyramid foretold the entire
history of the human race."
I suppressed a yawn and
rose to my feet.
"Come now, Holmes,
you've solved this problem, so let us not spend good time on
might-have-beens. This adventure is over."
A
Retrospection
I was wrong, for
Holmes's adventures seldom end swiftly. Conclusions take a while, as
they did in the tragic Birlstone matter and others that I could
mention. Holmes and I did return to Baker Street by way of Berlin. In
the German capital, the sleuth returned the two golden tablets to
their legal owner, Herr Mannheim, the great collector. The
industrialist got them back in their original form since Holmes,
aided by Gray, had convinced Memory Max that he had best obliterate
his forgeries and return the original secret writings to their
surface. Holmes can be very persuasive when he's of a mind. Herr
Mannheim decided to drop his charges against the misguided Heinrich
Hublein and some six months later, due to the great influence of the
steel tycoon, young Hublein was released from jail. As to whether he
became reconciled with his father, Shadow Schadie, I do not know.
Sometimes, in the dark of night, I shudder at the thought that Holmes
and I might have loosed two men who could walk up walls on an
unsuspecting public. But it did seem like the sporting thing to
do at the time.
The final resolution to
the case came round the time of Hublein's release. I was looking for
our checkbook and, without thinking, opened the upper-left-hand
drawer of the desk, which was usually locked for Holmes kept private
papers within.
Right on the top was a
sheet of notepaper carefully mounted between two pieces of glass. I
observed that it was resting on what I assumed was the letter from
Irene Adler. I had no intention of viewing Holmes's confidential
mementos, but I could not fail to recognize the paper and the
ink-scrawled words upon it, for I knew them by heart.
Holmes: At the cry of
the jackal, I shall attack
from the rear with a detachment of
light horse.
Yours for victory,
Watson.
Now I knew what Holmes
meant when he said he had been amply rewarded for our singular
adventure.