Read Online Sherlock Holmes: The Coils of Time & Other Stories (Sherlock Holmes Adventures Book 1) by Ralph Vaughan - Free Book Online

Holmes admitted, “but it chills another portion, for the ancient adage about the depth of still waters is quite true when it comes to the souls of our fellow men.  A respectable façade all too often blinds us to the evil beneath.”  He surveyed their surroundings.  “Still, it is a pleasant area, with many literary and artistic connections.  Interesting, perhaps odd, that a mathematician concerned with complex functions of geometry should residence himself amongst the likes of Carlyle, Whistler, Rossetti, Swineburn and Eliot; but, then, given the esoteric nature of the mathematical realms which he explores, perhaps not.”
    “Mathematics, esoteric?” Kent questioned.  “What’s so esoteric about the times table, or two plus two equalling four?  Or devising railway timetables, for that matter?”
    “I have not read Hinton’s papers, but Assistant Rector Dawning’s use of the term ‘higher dimensions of geometry’ is sufficient warning we are not dealing with the simple arithmetic of a public school education,” Holmes explained.
    “Higher dimensions?” Kent said with a little derisive snort.  “What does that mean anyway?  And how does it pertain to our quest?  What we need from him is not a blasted numbers lesson, but whether he knows the whereabouts of Maddoc, or even if he is indeed the same Maddoc we seek.”
    “One would almost suspect you of harbouring a strain of Welsh yourself, Inspector,” Holmes said with a slight smile.  “We will rouse Mr Charles Hinton and determine from him all that, and hopefully more.”
    Their knocking upon the door was answered by a man in his early forties, clad in a dark dressing gown and carrying an untrimmed oil lamp.  He opened the door a crack, confirmed that he was Charles Howard Hinton, and demanded to know the identities of his late visitors.  When Inspector Kent presented his identification papers and named his companion, the door was opened and they were admitted.  They were shown into a sitting room and the gaslamps turned up.
    “So, what do you want?” Hinton demanded.
    “Do you know a man named Maddoc?” Kent asked.
    Hinton scowled.  “I will admit that I know a charlatan and a fraud named Maddoc – Moesen Maddoc.  If that’s all you came to ask, then I’ll thank you to leave.”
    Kent scowled at the man’s rudeness, but neither he nor Holmes made any move to leave.  Instead he described the man they had seen at the Neptune.
    “Yes, that’s Maddoc all right.”  He leaned forward and grinned.  “Tell me the fool did something illegal and is on his way to Dartmoor in Devon.”
    “Not as far as we know,” Kent answered.  “At this point, we merely want to talk to him in connection with some investigations we have undertaken.”
    Hinton grunted noncommittally.
    “There would seem to exist between the two of you more than the usual amount of animosity,” Holmes observed, “more than one would expect from a disagreement about theories of mathematics.  Were his beliefs concerning the higher dimensions of geometry really so at variance with yours as to engender such hatred?”
    Hinton levelled a steely stare at his visitors and asked:  “Do either of you gentlemen believe in the possibility of travel in the fourth dimension?”
    “Fourth dimension?” Kent exclaimed.  “What the deuce do you mean by that?”
    “I believe Professor Hinton is referring to time as a dimension, a view gathering acceptance currently among men of science and philosophy,” Holmes said.
    “Quite right, Mr Holmes,” Hinton agreed.  “We believe in the three common dimension of space – length, breadth and height – because we can so easily see them with our eyes, perceive them with our sense of touch.  Understand, though, that in doing so, we accept two universes which we cannot perceive, that being the universe of the line – one dimensional – and the plane – expanse in two dimensions.  We cannot see either of those universes, nor