Read Online Sherlock Holmes in Something the Cat Dragged In by Lyn McConchie - Free Book Online Page B

him along and letting him shadow me on some cases. If he stays with us he could go far, but he has a lot to learn as yet.”
    Holmes stared thoughtfully out of the window. “It’s clear the kidnappers planned to take Northgate. Rogers was an accident; they had to take him before he drew attention, but they dumped him as soon as they could. At some point, Northgate’s handkerchief fell from his pocket.”
    â€œDo you think Northgate is injured?”
    â€œI think they likely knocked him on the head,” Holmes told him. “But there were four of them, and they could easily have held Northgate without doing him real damage.”
    â€œFour?” I asked.
    Harrison spoke, ticking the numbers off on his fingers. “The cab driver. He must have been involved or why would he not have raised the alarm? He would have seen some at least of what occurred, but instead he appears to have simply driven away. He may have circled the block and returned to the house by the rear entrance. Then there were two men Rogers saw at the house, and a fourth man, the one who hit Rogers from behind.” I had overlooked that one.
    â€œCould he not have been struck by one of the two men with Northgate?”
    â€œUnlikely,” Holmes broke in. “From what Rogers said, he had barely reached the house when he was hit. Northgate is not an elderly man; on the contrary, although in his fifties he is a sportsman and fit, and it would take at least two strong men to contain and silence him. It is my suggestion that they took both Rogers and Northgate into the Siddons house initially. There they were bound, gagged, and dumped in that shed where we found the boy. Northgate, distressed by Rogers’s head wound, and perhaps blaming himself that he had not listened to Lestrade, wiped the blood away with his handkerchief, and when the kidnappers returned for Northgate, he purposely left the handkerchief—easily identifiable as his—behind.”
    Harrison stiffened. “I see. And if he did that, it indicates he was both conscious and in his own mind. You are right; they constrained him by force but without damaging the—merchandise.”
    â€œSo I think,” Holmes agreed. “It is still puzzling as to why they are so determined to hold him. They have the papers, so why do they also require Northgate? If they did not have the papers it might make sense. But they do not need both. However, I have a theory. Brand reported that Lord Northgate thought he recognized Liebowitcz. Maximillian Liebowitcz—his current pseudonym—comes of an old Prussian family who are minor nobility. As such he was very well educated, his final schooling taking place here in England, so that he speaks impeccable English. What if he managed an introduction to one of those who share Northgate’s hobby? By the by, when about his criminal activities, he uses the name of servants on the family’s estate.”
    I drew in a deep breath. “So Northgate would not know him as Liebowitcz, and perhaps Northgate saw him with that friend once or twice in passing. How dangerous would it be if Northgate talked and it was known by our agents that Liebowitcz was the cause of a war between us and…”
    On that question and our discussion of it we adjourned for lunch, returning to Baker Street where we enjoyed a cold collation of salad, bread and butter, and an excellent pot of tea. We had just finished when Mrs. Hudson entered the room and laid the ivory cat on the table in front of Holmes.
    â€œLad from the café brought this, Mr. Holmes.”
    I was on my feet at once. “Quickly! Western must have discovered something.”
    My friend snatched up the cat and together we strode out the front door. Within a short space of time we entered the building three blocks away, where Western sat at a table in a back corner. We joined him at once and he smiled.
    â€œI have some good news, my friends, and