Shortly after my marriage I had bought a connection in the Paddington
district. Old Mr. Farquhar, from whom I purchased it, had at one time an
excellent general practice, but his age, and an affliction of the nature
of St. Vitus' dance, from which he suffered, had very much thinned it.
The public, not unnaturally, goes upon the principle that he who would
heal others must himself be whole, and looks askance at the curative
powers of the man whose own case is beyond the reach of his drugs. Thus,
as my predecessor weakened, his practice declined, until when I
purchased it from him it had sunk from twelve hundred to little more
than three hundred a year. I had confidence, however, in my own youth
and energy, and was convinced that in a very few years the concern would
be as flourishing as ever.
For three months after taking over the practice I was kept very closely
at work, and saw little of my friend Sherlock Holmes, for I was too busy
to visit Baker Street, and he seldom went anywhere himself save upon
professional business. I was surprised, therefore, when one morning in
June, as I sat reading the _British Medical Journal_ after breakfast, I
heard a ring at the bell followed by the high, somewhat strident, tones
of my old companion's voice.
"Ah, my dear Watson," said he, striding into the room. "I am very
delighted to see you. I trust that Mrs. Watson has entirely recovered
from all the little excitements connected with our adventure of the
'Sign of Four.'"
"Thank you, we are both very well," said I, shaking him warmly by the
hand.
"And I hope also," he continued, sitting down in the rocking-chair,
"that the cares of medical practice have not entirely obliterated the
interest which you used to take in our little deductive problems."
"On the contrary," I answered; "it was only last night that I was
looking over my old notes and classifying some of our past results."
"I trust that you don't consider your collection closed?"
"Not at all. I should wish nothing better than to have some more of such
experiences."
"To-day, for example?"
"Yes; to-day, if you like."
"And as far off as Birmingham?"
"Certainly, if you wish it."
"And the practice?"
"I do my neighbour's when he goes. He is always ready to work off the
debt."
[Illustration: "'NOTHING COULD BE BETTER,' SAID HOLMES."]
"Ha! Nothing could be better!" said Holmes, leaning back in his chair
and looking keenly at me from under his half-closed lids. "I perceive
that you have been unwell lately. Summer colds are always a little
trying."
"I was confined to the house by a severe chill for three days last week.
I thought, however, that I had cast off every trace of it."
"So you have. You look remarkably robust."
"How, then, did you know of it?"
"My dear fellow, you know my methods."
"You deduced it, then?"
"Certainly."
"And from what?"
"From your slippers."
I glanced down at the new patent leathers which I was wearing. "How on
earth----?" I began, but Holmes answered my question before it was
asked.
"Your slippers are new," he said. "You could not have had them more than
a few weeks. The soles which you are at this moment presenting to me are
slightly scorched. For a moment I thought they might have got wet and
been burned in the drying. But near the instep there is a small circular
wafer of paper with the shopman's hieroglyphics upon it. Damp would of
course have removed this. You had then been sitting with your feet
outstretched to the fire, which a man would hardly do even in so wet a
June as this if he were in his full health."
Like all Holmes's reasoning the thing seemed simplicity itself when it
was once explained. He read the thought upon my features, and his smile
had a tinge of bitterness.
"I am afraid that I rather give myself away when I explain," said he.
"Results without causes are much more impressive. You are ready to come
to Birmingham, then?"
"Certainly. What is the case?"
"You shall hear it all in the train. My client is outside in a
four-wheeler. Can you come at once?"
"In an instant." I scribbled a note to my neighbour, rushed upstairs to
explain the matter to my wife, and joined Holmes upon the doorstep.
"Your neighbour is a doctor?" said he, nodding at the brass plate.
"Yes. He bought a practice as I did."
"An old-established one?"
"Just the same as mine. Both have been ever since the houses were
built."
"Ah, then you got hold of the best of the two."
"I think I did. But how do you know?"
"By the steps, my boy. Yours are worn three inches deeper than his. But
this gentleman in the cab is my client, Mr. Hall Pycroft. Allow me to
introduce you to him. Whip your horse up, cabby, for we have only just
time to catch our train."
The man whom I found myself facing was a well-built, fresh-complexioned
young fellow with a frank, honest face and a slight, crisp, yellow
moustache. He wore a very shiny top-hat and a neat suit of sober black,
which made him look what he was--a smart young City man, of the class
who have been labelled Cockneys, but who give us our crack Volunteer
regiments, and who turn out more fine athletes and sportsmen than any
body of men in these islands. His round, ruddy face was naturally full
of cheeriness, but the corners of his mouth seemed to me to be pulled
down in a half-comical distress. It was not, however, until we were all
in a first-class carriage and well started upon our journey to
Birmingham, that I was able to learn what the trouble was which had
driven him to Sherlock Holmes.
"We have a clear run here of seventy minutes," Holmes remarked. "I want
you, Mr. Hall Pycroft, to tell my friend your very interesting
experience exactly as you have told it to me, or with more detail if
possible. It will be of use to me to hear the succession of events
again. It is a case, Watson, which may prove to have something in it, or
may prove to have nothing, but which at least presents those unusual and
_outré_ features which are as dear to you as they are to me. Now, Mr.
Pycroft, I shall not interrupt you again."
Our young companion looked at me with a twinkle in his eye.
"The worst of the story is," said he, "that I show myself up as such a
confounded fool. Of course, it may work out all right, and I don't see
that I could have done otherwise; but if I have lost my crib and get
nothing in exchange, I shall feel what a soft Johnny I have been. I'm
not very good at telling a story, Dr. Watson, but it is like this with
me.
"I used to have a billet at Coxon and Woodhouse, of Drapers' Gardens,
but they were let in early in the spring through the Venezuelan loan, as
no doubt you remember, and came a nasty cropper. I had been with them
five years, and old Coxon gave me a ripping good testimonial when the
smash came; but, of course, we clerks were all turned adrift, the
twenty-seven of us. I tried here and tried there, but there were lots of
other chaps on the same lay as myself, and it was a perfect frost for a
long time. I had been taking three pounds a week at Coxon's, and I had
saved about seventy of them, but I soon worked my way through that and
out at the other end. I was fairly at the end of my tether at last, and
could hardly find the stamps to answer the advertisements or the
envelopes to stick them to. I had worn out my boots padding up office
stairs, and I seemed just as far from getting a billet as ever.
"At last I saw a vacancy at Mawson and Williams', the great stockbroking
firm in Lombard Street. I daresay E. C. is not much in your line, but I
can tell you that this is about the richest house in London. The
advertisement was to be answered by letter only. I sent in my
testimonial and application, but without the least hope of getting it.
Back came an answer by return saying that if I would appear next Monday
I might take over my new duties at once, provided that my appearance was
satisfactory. No one knows how these things are worked. Some people say
the manager just plunges his hand into the heap and takes the first that
comes. Anyhow, it was my innings that time, and I don't ever wish to
feel better pleased. The screw was a pound a week rise, and the duties
just about the same as at Coxon's.
"And now I come to the queer part of the business. I was in diggings out
Hampstead way--17, Potter's Terrace, was the address. Well, I was
sitting doing a smoke that very evening after I had been promised the
appointment, when up came my landlady with a card which had 'Arthur
Pinner, financial agent,' printed upon it. I had never heard the name
before, and could not imagine what he wanted with me, but of course I
asked her to show him up. In he walked--a middle-sized, dark-haired,
dark-eyed, black-bearded man, with a touch of the sheeny about his nose.
He had a brisk kind of way with him and spoke sharply, like a man that
knew the value of time.
[Illustration: "'MR. HALL PYCROFT, I BELIEVE?' SAID HE."]
"'Mr. Hall Pycroft, I believe?' said he.
"'Yes, sir,' I answered, and pushed a chair towards him.
"'Lately engaged at Coxon and Woodhouse's?'
"'Yes, sir.'
"And now on the staff of Mawson's?'
"'Quite so.'
"'Well,' said he. 'The fact is that I have heard some really
extraordinary stories about your financial ability. You remember Parker
who used to be Coxon's manager? He can never say enough about it.'
"Of course I was pleased to hear this. I had always been pretty smart in
the office, but I had never dreamed that I was talked about in the City
in this fashion.
"'You have a good memory?' said he.
"'Pretty fair,' I answered, modestly.
"'Have you kept in touch with the market while you have been out of
work?' he asked.
"'Yes; I read the Stock Exchange List every morning.'
"'Now, that shows real application!' he cried. 'That is the way to
prosper! You won't mind my testing you, will you? Let me see! How are
Ayrshires?'
"'One hundred and six and a quarter to one hundred and five and
seven-eighths,' I answered.
"'And New Zealand Consolidated?'
"'A hundred and four.'
"'And British Broken Hills?'
"'Seven to seven and six.'
"'Wonderful!' he cried, with his hands up. 'This quite fits in with all
that I had heard. My boy, my boy, you are very much too good to be a
clerk at Mawson's!'
"This outburst rather astonished me, as you can think. 'Well,' said I,
'other people don't think quite so much of me as you seem to do, Mr.
Pinner. I had a hard enough fight to get this berth, and I am very glad
to have it.'
"'Pooh, man, you should soar above it. You are not in your true sphere.
Now I'll tell you how it stands with me. What I have to offer is little
enough when measured by your ability, but when compared with Mawson's it
is light to dark. Let me see! When do you go to Mawson's?'
"'On Monday.'
"'Ha! ha! I think I would risk a little sporting flutter that you don't
go there at all.'
"'Not go to Mawson's?'
"'No, sir. By that day you will be the business manager of the
Franco-Midland Hardware Company, Limited, with one hundred and
thirty-four branches in the towns and villages of France, not counting
one in Brussels and one in San Remo.'
"This took my breath away. 'I never heard of it,' said I.
"'Very likely not. It has been kept very quiet, for the capital was all
privately subscribed, and it is too good a thing to let the public into.
My brother, Harry Pinner, is promoter, and joins the board after
allotment as managing director. He knew that I was in the swim down
here, and he asked me to pick up a good man cheap--a young, pushing man
with plenty of snap about him. Parker spoke of you, and that brought me
here to-night. We can only offer you a beggarly five hundred to start
with----'
"'Five hundred a year!' I shouted.
"'Only that at the beginning, but you are to have an over-riding
commission of 1 per cent, on all business done by your agents, and you
may take my word for it that this will come to more than your salary.'
"'But I know nothing about hardware.'
"'Tut, my boy, you know about figures.'
"My head buzzed, and I could hardly sit still in the chair. But suddenly
a little chill of doubt came over me.
"'I must be frank with you,' said I. 'Mawson only gives me two hundred,
but Mawson is safe. Now, really, I know so little about your company
that----'
"'Ah, smart, smart!' he cried, in a kind of ecstasy of delight. 'You are
the very man for us! You are not to be talked over, and quite right too.
Now, here's a note for a hundred pounds; and if you think that we can do
business you may just slip it into your pocket as an advance upon your
salary.'
"'That is very handsome,' said I. 'When should I take over my new
duties?'
"'Be in Birmingham to-morrow at one,' said he. 'I have a note in my
pocket here which you will take to my brother. You will find him at
126B, Corporation Street, where the temporary offices of the company are
situated. Of course he must confirm your engagement, but between
ourselves it will be all right.'
"'Really, I hardly know how to express my gratitude, Mr. Pinner,' said
I.
"'Not at all, my boy. You have only got your deserts. There are one or
two small things--mere formalities--which I must arrange with you. You
have a bit of paper beside you there. Kindly write upon it, "I am
perfectly willing to act as business manager to the Franco-Midland
Hardware Company, Limited, at a minimum salary of £500."'
"I did as he asked, and he put the paper in his pocket.
"'There is one other detail,' said he. 'What do you intend to do about
Mawson's?'
"I had forgotten all about Mawson's in my joy.
"'I'll write and resign,' said I.
"'Precisely what I don't want you to do. I had a row over you with
Mawson's manager. I had gone up to ask him about you, and he was very
offensive--accused me of coaxing you away from the service of the firm,
and that sort of thing. At last I fairly lost my temper. "If you want
good men you should pay them a good price," said I. "He would rather
have our small price than your big one," said he. "I'll lay you a
fiver," said I, "that when he has my offer you will never so much as
hear from him again." "Done!" said he. "We picked him out of the gutter,
and he won't leave us so easily." Those were his very words.'
"'The impudent scoundrel!' I cried. 'I've never so much as seen him in
my life. Why should I consider him in any way? I shall certainly not
write if you would rather that I didn't.'
"'Good! That's a promise!' said he, rising from his chair. 'Well, I am
delighted to have got so good a man for my brother. Here is your
advance of a hundred pounds, and here is the letter. Make a note of the
address, 126B, Corporation Street, and remember that one o'clock
to-morrow is your appointment. Good-night, and may you have all the
fortune that you deserve.'
"That's just about all that passed between us as near as I can remember
it. You can imagine, Dr. Watson, how pleased I was at such an
extraordinary bit of good fortune. I sat up half the night hugging
myself over it, and next day I was off to Birmingham in a train that
would take me in plenty of time for my appointment. I took my things to
an hotel in New Street, and then I made my way to the address which had
been given me.
"It was a quarter of an hour before my time, but I thought that would
make no difference. 126B was a passage between two large shops which led
to a winding stone stair, from which there were many flats, let as
offices to companies or professional men. The names of the occupants
were painted up at the bottom on the wall, but there was no such name as
the Franco-Midland Hardware Company, Limited. I stood for a few minutes
with my heart in my boots, wondering whether the whole thing was an
elaborate hoax or not, when up came a man and addressed me. He was very
like the chap that I had seen the night before, the same figure and
voice, but he was clean shaven and his hair was lighter.
[Illustration: "UP CAME A MAN AND ADDRESSED ME."]
"'Are you Mr. Hall Pycroft?' he asked.
"'Yes,' said I.
"'Ah! I was expecting you, but you are a trifle before your time. I had
a note from my brother this morning, in which he sang your praises very
loudly.'
"'I was just looking for the offices when you came.'
"'We have not got our name up yet, for we only secured these temporary
premises last week. Come up with me and we will talk the matter over.'
"I followed him to the top of a very lofty stair, and there right under
the slates were a couple of empty and dusty little rooms, uncarpeted and
uncurtained, into which he led me. I had thought of a great office with
shining tables and rows of clerks such as I was used to, and I daresay I
stared rather straight at the two deal chairs and one little table,
which, with a ledger and a waste-paper basket, made up the whole
furniture.
"'Don't be disheartened, Mr. Pycroft,' said my new acquaintance, seeing
the length of my face. 'Rome was not built in a day, and we have lots of
money at our backs, though we don't cut much dash yet in offices. Pray
sit down and let me have your letter.'
"I gave it to him, and he read it over very carefully.
"'You seem to have made a vast impression upon my brother, Arthur,' said
he, 'and I know that he is a pretty shrewd judge. He swears by London,
you know, and I by Birmingham, but this time I shall follow his advice.
Pray consider yourself definitely engaged.'
"'What are my duties?' I asked.
"'You will eventually manage the great depôt in Paris, which will pour a
flood of English crockery into the shops of one hundred and thirty-four
agents in France. The purchase will be completed in a week, and
meanwhile you will remain in Birmingham and make yourself useful.'
"'How?'
"For answer he took a big red book out of a drawer. 'This is a directory
of Paris,' said he, 'with the trades after the names of the people. I
want you to take it home with you, and to mark off all the hardware
sellers with their addresses. It would be of the greatest use to me to
have them.'
"'Surely, there are classified lists?' I suggested.
"'Not reliable ones. Their system is different to ours. Stick at it and
let me have the lists by Monday, at twelve. Good-day, Mr. Pycroft; if
you continue to show zeal and intelligence, you will find the company a
good master.'
"I went back to the hotel with the big book under my arm, and with very
conflicting feelings in my breast. On the one hand I was definitely
engaged, and had a hundred pounds in my pocket. On the other, the look
of the offices, the absence of name on the wall, and other of the points
which would strike a business man had left a bad impression as to the
position of my employers. However, come what might, I had my money, so I
settled down to my task. All Sunday I was kept hard at work, and yet by
Monday I had only got as far as H. I went round to my employer, found
him in the same dismantled kind of room, and was told to keep at it
until Wednesday, and then come again. On Wednesday it was still
unfinished, so I hammered away until Friday--that is, yesterday. Then I
brought it round to Mr. Harry Pinner.
"'Thank you very much,' said he. 'I fear that I underrated the
difficulty of the task. This list will be of very material assistance to
me.'
"'It took some time,' said I.
"'And now,' said he, 'I want you to make a list of the furniture shops,
for they all sell crockery.'
"'Very good.'
"'And you can come up to-morrow evening at seven, and let me know how
you are getting on. Don't overwork yourself. A couple of hours at Day's
Music-Hall in the evening would do you no harm after your labours.' He
laughed as he spoke, and I saw with a thrill that his second tooth upon
the left-hand side had been very badly stuffed with gold."
Sherlock Holmes rubbed his hands with delight, and I stared in
astonishment at our client.
"You may well look surprised, Dr. Watson, but it is this way," said he.
"When I was speaking to the other chap in London at the time that he
laughed at my not going to Mawson's, I happened to notice that his tooth
was stuffed in this very identical fashion. The glint of the gold in
each case caught my eye, you see. When I put that with the voice and
figure being the same, and only those things altered which might be
changed by a razor or a wig, I could not doubt that it was the same man.
Of course, you expect two brothers to be alike, but not that they should
have the same tooth stuffed in the same way. He bowed me out and I found
myself in the street, hardly knowing whether I was on my head or my
heels. Back I went to my hotel, put my head in a basin of cold water,
and tried to think it out. Why had he sent me from London to Birmingham;
why had he got there before me; and why had he written a letter from
himself to himself? It was altogether too much for me, and I could make
no sense of it. And then suddenly it struck me that what was dark to me
might be very light to Mr. Sherlock Holmes. I had just time to get up to
town by the night train, to see him this morning, and to bring you both
back with me to Birmingham."
There was a pause after the stockbroker's clerk had concluded his
surprising experience. Then Sherlock Holmes cocked his eye at me,
leaning back on the cushions with a pleased and yet critical face, like
a connoisseur who had just taken his first sip of a comet vintage.
"Rather fine, Watson, is it not?" said he. "There are points in it which
please me. I think you will agree with me that an interview with Mr.
Arthur Harry Pinner in the temporary offices of the Franco-Midland
Hardware Company, Limited, would be a rather interesting experience for
both of us."
"But how can we do it?" I asked.
"Oh, easily enough," said Hall Pycroft, cheerily. "You are two friends
of mine who are in want of a billet, and what could be more natural than
that I should bring you both round to the managing director?"
"Quite so! Of course!" said Holmes. "I should like to have a look at the
gentleman and see if I can make anything of his little game. What
qualities have you, my friend, which would make your services so
valuable? or is it possible that----" he began biting his nails and
staring blankly out of the window, and we hardly drew another word from
him until we were in New Street.
* * * * *
At seven o'clock that evening we were walking, the three of us, down
Corporation Street to the company's offices.
"It is of no use our being at all before our time," said our client. "He
only comes there to see me apparently, for the place is deserted up to
the very hour he names."
"That is suggestive," remarked Holmes.
"By Jove, I told you so!" cried the clerk. "That's he walking ahead of
us there."
He pointed to a smallish, blonde, well-dressed man, who was bustling
along the other side of the road. As we watched him he looked across at
a boy who was bawling out the latest edition of the evening paper, and,
running over among the cabs and 'buses, he bought one from him. Then
clutching it in his hand he vanished through a doorway.
"There he goes!" cried Hall Pycroft. "Those are the company's offices
into which he has gone. Come with me and I'll fix it up as easily as
possible."
Following his lead we ascended five stories, until we found ourselves
outside a half-opened door, at which our client tapped. A voice within
bade us "Come in," and we entered a bare, unfurnished room, such as Hall
Pycroft had described. At the single table sat the man whom we had seen
in the street, with his evening paper spread out in front of him, and as
he looked up at us it seemed to me that I had never looked upon a face
which bore such marks of grief, and of something beyond grief--of a
horror such as comes to few men in a lifetime. His brow glistened with
perspiration, his cheeks were of the dull dead white of a fish's belly,
and his eyes were wild and staring. He looked at his clerk as though he
failed to recognise him, and I could see, by the astonishment depicted
upon our conductor's face, that this was by no means the usual
appearance of his employer.
[Illustration: "HE LOOKED UP AT US."]
"You look ill, Mr. Pinner," he exclaimed.
"Yes, I am not very well," answered the other, making obvious efforts to
pull himself together, and licking his dry lips before he spoke. "Who
are these gentlemen whom you have brought with you?"
"One is Mr. Harris, of Bermondsey, and the other is Mr. Price, of this
town," said our clerk, glibly. "They are friends of mine, and gentlemen
of experience, but they have been out of a place for some little time,
and they hoped that perhaps you might find an opening for them in the
company's employment."
"Very possibly! Very possibly!" cried Mr. Pinner, with a ghastly smile.
"Yes, I have no doubt that we shall be able to do something for you.
What is your particular line, Mr. Harris?"
"I am an accountant," said Holmes.
"Ah, yes, we shall want something of the sort. And you, Mr. Price?"
"A clerk," said I.
"I have every hope that the company may accommodate you. I will let you
know about it as soon as we come to any conclusion. And now I beg that
you will go. For God's sake, leave me to myself!"
These last words were shot out of him, as though the constraint which he
was evidently setting upon himself had suddenly and utterly burst
asunder. Holmes and I glanced at each other, and Hall Pycroft took a
step towards the table.
"You forget, Mr. Pinner, that I am here by appointment to receive some
directions from you," said he.
"Certainly, Mr. Pycroft, certainly," the other answered in a calmer
tone. "You may wait here a moment, and there is no reason why your
friends should not wait with you. I will be entirely at your service in
three minutes, if I might trespass upon your patience so far." He rose
with a very courteous air, and bowing to us he passed out through a door
at the further end of the room, which he closed behind him.
"What now?" whispered Holmes. "Is he giving us the slip?"
"Impossible," answered Pycroft.
"Why so?"
"That door leads into an inner room."
"There is no exit?"
"None."
"Is it furnished?"
"It was empty yesterday."
"Then what on earth can he be doing? There is something which I don't
understand in this matter. If ever a man was three parts mad with
terror, that man's name is Pinner. What can have put the shivers on
him?"
"He suspects that we are detectives," I suggested.
"That's it," said Pycroft.
Holmes shook his head. "He did not turn pale. He _was_ pale when we
entered the room," said he. "It is just possible that----"
His words were interrupted by a sharp rat-tat from the direction of the
inner door.
"What the deuce is he knocking at his own door for?" cried the clerk.
Again and much louder came the rat-tat-tat. We all gazed expectantly at
the closed door. Glancing at Holmes I saw his face turn rigid, and he
leaned forward in intense excitement. Then suddenly came a low gurgling,
gargling sound and a brisk drumming upon woodwork. Holmes sprang
frantically across the room and pushed at the door. It was fastened on
the inner side. Following his example, we threw ourselves upon it with
all our weight. One hinge snapped, then the other, and down came the
door with a crash. Rushing over it we found ourselves in the inner room.
[Illustration: "WE FOUND OURSELVES IN THE INNER ROOM."]
It was empty.
But it was only for a moment that we were at fault. At one corner, the
corner nearest the room which we had left, there was a second door.
Holmes sprang to it and pulled it open. A coat and waistcoat were lying
on the floor, and from a hook behind the door, with his own braces round
his neck, was hanging the managing director of the Franco-Midland
Hardware Company. His knees were drawn up, his head hung at a dreadful
angle to his body, and the clatter of his heels against the door made
the noise which had broken in upon our conversation. In an instant I had
caught him round the waist and held him up, while Holmes and Pycroft
untied the elastic bands which had disappeared between the livid creases
of skin. Then we carried him into the other room, where he lay with a
clay-coloured face, puffing his purple lips in and out with every
breath--a dreadful wreck of all that he had been but five minutes
before.
"What do you think of him, Watson?" asked Holmes.