Still mesmerized by this wonder I heard Holmes instruct me âNow is the moment Watson. Draw your service revolver.â Then we both reveled ourselves to Druitt from behind the crates where we had been hidden. Surprised that Druitt hadnât seen our motion Holmes announced to him in a loud voice âDruitt remove you hands from the machines controls and place them in the air!â Looking both shocked and surprised Druitt failed to immediately react to Holmes instructions. âDruittâ Holmes tried again âMy friend Dr. Watson has a service revolver aimed at you and I should remind you that all his years in the army he has never missed his target.â With that Druitt placed both his hands in the air and awaited further instructions. âNow you will slowly stand up, remove yourself from the machine and walk slowly in our direction.â Coming towards us in slow measured steps Druitt commented âMr. Holmes and Dr. Watson, what a pleasure to see you both again. I had counted on us never crossing paths after the Jack the Ripper business.â âWell if not for at first glance a series of seemingly unconnected incidents we might not find ourselves here in this ware house at this early hour of the morning.â Holmes returned. âWatson, keep your service revolver pointed at Druitt while I go to investigate the extent of the damage he may have already done to the art world.â With that both Druitt and I watched Holmes approach the time machine.
Chapter 26 Â First he stepped onto the machine and sat down on the chair Druitt had occupied upon his most spectacular arrival. Holmes then delicately touched all of the controls in front of him wisely understanding that he did not know their function or what might happen if he activated any of them. He then turned around to notice a small collection of oil paintings that had been secured to the back of the operatorâs seat. Untying the cord that had held them there, he looked in turn to each one then looked directly at Druitt asking âOriginals or copies?â Druitt answered some what cryptically âMr. Holmes in front of you there is a panel with two dates, one is my departure date and one is my arrival date. Read the date on the left then the one on the right that should answer your question. Carefully putting the paintings back down Holmes turned around and followed Druittâs instructions. I held my breath while I waited to hear Holmes answer. I could tell he was having problems with the evidence the two panels were now presenting him with. Then coldly and logically Holmes stated the date 1895 then followed with the date 1995. Already sensing my disbelief Druitt calmly said âYes Dr. Watson with this remarkable machine I have traveled 100 years into the future. After I had it shipped from the continent and assembled here I wasnât too sure just how much potential it might have or be capable of. So my first few voyages were limited first to just a day then week, I thought of these early trips as voyages of exploration. âPart of these early voyages of exploration was to see what this part of the city would look like in say a day or in yearâs time, but also to see if this particular ware house would still be here in whatever time I chose to travel to. It would make for very unnecessary complications to my plans for any one in the future to know about my machine and my uses for it.â
âWhen I was confident enough about my machines capabilities I went ahead 100 years. Fortune one hundred years in the future smiled on me Dr. Watson for although being a little worse for ware Burke & Wills Removals and Storage was still located here in 1995â.
Chapter 27 Â I took umbrage that Druitt had referred to Wells machine as his own then commented on his bold and still some what unbelievable statement âObviously with criminal intentâ I muttered. Almost as if he had heard my