Sherlock Holmes Murder Most Foul

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sherlock Holmes

Murder Most Foul

 

 

 

 

The Family

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Born in England and raised in west London, Gordon Punter, a self-taught film-maker, has spent the past thirty years, principally in the Middle East, employed as a Media Production Director, writing, producing and directing video commercials, documentaries and corporate programs.

 

An avid reader of history, in particular, true crime, he took early retirement three years ago to concentrate on writing. 
Sherlock Holmes - Murder Most Foul
 is his debut novel. Currently researching and writing his third novel, he presently lives in Qatar with his Canadian wife, Cindy, whom he has been married to for twenty-three years. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gordon Punter

 

 

Sherlock Holmes

Murder Most Foul

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Olympia Publishers

London

www.olympiapublishers.com

OLYMPIA PAPERBACK EDITION

 

Copyright ©
Gordon Punter 2015

 

The right of Gordon Punter to be identified as author of

this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

 

All Rights Reserved

 

No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication

may be made without written permission.

No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced,

copied or transmitted save with the written permission of the publisher,

or in accordance with the provisions

of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended).

 

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to

this publication may be liable to criminal

prosecution and civil claims for damage.

 

A CIP catalogue record for this title is

available from the British Library.

 

ISBN: 978-1-84897-558-3

 

(Olympia Publishers is part of Ashwell Publishing Ltd)

 

This is a work of fiction.

Names, characters, places and incidents originate from the writer’s imagination.

Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

 

Published in 2015

 

Olympia Publishers

60 Cannon Street

London

EC4N 6NP

 

Printed in Great Britain

 

 

 

 

 

In memory of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

(1859–1930)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contents

 

 

 

Introductory Note

Chapter 1

The Final Confrontation
             

Chapter 2

The Reign of Terror Begins
             

Chapter 3

Mr Sherlock Holmes Investigates
             

Chapter 4

Unfortunates
             

Chapter 5

Femme Fatale
             

Chapter 6

The Mark of M
             

Chapter 7

Dear Boss
             

Chapter 8

Harbinger of Death
             

Chapter 9

Night of the Signs
             

Chapter 10

Revelations
             

 

Chapter 11

Abyss
             

Chapter 12

Charnel House
             

Chapter 13

Hue and Cry
             

Chapter 14

Consequences
             

Chapter 15

Reckoning
             

Chapter 16

Retribution
             

Chapter 17

The Curtain Falls
             

Chapter 18

Abdication
             

 

 

 

 

Introductory Note

 

 

 

The lower classes of England, particularly those inhabitants of the East End of London, known as cockneys to the middle-class, distort, mispronounce and use words or phrases incorrectly whilst speaking. They habitually drop letters from words, so a statement such as below:

 

Harry has a horrible habit of hanging his hat in the hall.

 

Will, when spoken, appear written like this:

 

“’Arry ’as a ’orrible ’abit o’ ’angin’ ’is ’at in the ’all.”

 

Cockney rhyming slang, which originates from the East End, is a form of speech where two or three words replace a particular common word, but nonetheless rhyme with that word. Such as:

 

Butcher’s hook = look

Apples and pears = stairs

Loaf of bread = head

Adam and Eve = believe

Boracic lint = skint (no money)

 

However, in many cases, the two or three replacement words are reduced to one word, as in:

 

Butcher’s = look – “Let’s take a butcher’s.”

Apples = stairs – “I’m off up the apples.”

Loaf = head – “Use your loaf, Joe.”

Boracic = skint – “I’m boracic. Ain’t got no money.”

 

An abundance of non-rhyming slang words and phrases are also used by both the male and female populace, with no holds barred by either gender when it comes to making reference to anatomical organs, or licentious pleasures.

 

John Thomas = penis

Plums = testicles

Knee-trembler = sexual intercourse in public, standing position

Shilling head = fellatio

Back scuttle = anal intercourse

Lead in the pencil = able to achieve an erection

No lead in the pencil = unable to achieve an erection

 

For the discerning reader, an explanation of the various slang words and phrases, periodically spoken by some of the characters in the following story, are to be found at the back of the book.

 






 

Currency of the day.

 

The British one pound note, or its equivalent, the sovereign coin, comprises of twenty shillings, and each shilling comprises of twelve pennies.

 

Farthing = ¼ of a penny

Ha’pence = ½ of a penny

Thru’pence = 3 pennies

Sixpence (also called a ‘tanner’) = 6 pennies

Shilling (also called a ‘bob’) = 12 pennies

Florin = 2 shillings

Half-crown = 2 shillings 6 pennies

Double florin = 4 shillings

Crown = 5 shillings

Half-sovereign = 10 shillings

Sovereign (also called a ‘quid’) = 20 shillings

Guinea (also called a ‘yellow-boy’) = 21 shillings

 






 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains,

however improbable, must be the truth.

 

--Sherlock Holmes

 

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