It was early,very early in the morning,as
my sleep was interrupted in a terrible way. Clumsily I walked out of my
room and looked down towards the front door.
"By Jove",Holmes moaned as he staggered
from his room,"Why has Someone's dog decided to come howling at my door
at this early hour?!"
He walked down the stairs, and opened
the front door.
Holmes bent down to examine the
German Shepherd, who sat in the door way and who had surely disturbed the
sleep of the citizens of London from here down to Trafalgar Square by its
barking and howling.
"Hello!" Holmes looked surprised
as he spotted a small piece of paper, tucked into the Dogs Collar, and
carefully he pulled it out.
"May I ask what's up with this dog,
Holmes?", I asked as soon as I stood behind him, "All this commotion has
woken me up!", I added with a hint of anger.
"This is a rather unusual dog, indeed,
Watson. A guide dog, to be precise, and it was send here by a young Lady
from Hampstead or Camden Town 30 or 45 minutes ago."
"My dear Holmes," I interrupted
him, "you may tell me, that this is a guide dog, but how could you deduce
the sex and the place of residence of it's owner?"
"Elementary,my dear Watson. First
of all, this dog knew to which house it had to go, that means its owner
trained it to do so. That tells us, that the owners place is about 6 -
10 kilometres from here. Hampstead and Camden Town are the only districts
of London that are within this radius. And the only districts, that, when
you go in the direction of Baker Street, led trough >Regent's Park<.
A dog, no matter how well-trained it is, couldn't resist to 'play' in the
flowerbeds. Look here at the dog's paws, the petals and scratches prove
this. It smells like a mixture of dog, roses and a perfume called >Morning
Samba<, all of which tells me, that it was a young woman that send the
dog out."
"You're talents still amaze me,
Holmes.", I replied startled.
"Thanks for the praise, my dear
friend. But, by the way, if you're wondering about this piece of paper,
it is a note for us written in Braille."
"In Braille?", I repeated in astonishment,
but there was one thing that puzzled me much more, "For us? You mean that
this will be a new case?"
Holmes nodded at me with a smile:
"Yes, Watson, the game is afoot again."
After quickly dressing, we followed
our strange visitor up the Baker Street and walked through >Regent's Park<
passing >Queen Mary's Gardens<.
Holmes was right. Not only that
some animal ravaged the flowerbeds, also the fact, that we found ourselves
soon in front of a small house in Hampstead, proved his theories.
"Here we are, Watson. Mrs Beth Carter
is the dogs owner."
Stepping boldly up to the front
door, Holmes rapped on the door with his knuckle.
"Just a moment. I'm coming!" A pleasant
female voice came from inside.
"Beth Carter?!", I started to think.
"What is it,Watson?You looking so
thoughtful."
"It's...nothing...only I'm SURE
I know the name Beth Carter from somewhere, only I just can't remember
where I have heard it."
"That doesn't matter. Maybe you
can ask Mrs Carter about it."
A moment later the old wooden door
was opened.
"Good day Ma'am, allow me to introduce
myself, my name is Sherlock Holmes and the man who is here with me is my
good friend and colleague Doctor Watson."
I of course, courteously raised
my Blue Felt Bowler Hat to her.
The elegant young lady, who had
just opened the door, began to smile,
"I'm happy to hear that. I never
really thought that my dog will lead you here. Please... won't you come
in."
 |
The elegant young lady, who had just opened
the door, began to smile,
"I'm happy to hear that. I never really thought
that my dog will lead you here. Please... won't you come in."
|
"Mrs Carter", Holmes started, a short
time after we stepped into the small room, "May I ask you a few questions,
Am I correct, when I say that you were born German and moved to London
before you went blind?"
Mrs Carter sat up and took notice.
But Holmes' words didn't seems to make her wonder, I myself felt a little
foolish for tipping my hat to her, forgetting that she was blind.
"I've already heard that you've
got a talent of knowing people within seconds, Mr Holmes, but I've never
expected that you'll find out my past that quickly. Yes, you're totally
right with your thoughts. Nearly 4 years ago my husband and I moved to
London from Germany. And about a year and three months ago I lost my eye-sight
after a long, terrible illness. But, Sir, would you please tell me, how
you were able to know all that that quickly?"
"I surely will do so. First of all,
your smile told me that you once where able to see. You know, the blind
and sighted person smiles in different ways. And then I noticed there is
this sketch pad on a shelf by the door. A sketch pad is a little bit unusual
for someone who is blind, don't you think, Ma'am? The signature on this
very sketch pad says:
'Für meine geliebte Frau. In
Liebe Jonathan.'
Jonathan Carter is your husband,
I presume? I suppose that he must have gave you this sketch pad, a short
while after your arrival in London. I see you used the pad just a few times,
just to finish your rough sketches,is that right?Ahh,you're nodding,good.You've
got a great Artistic talent,these
drawings on the walls are wonderful.
I'm sure the picture on the table shows your husband."
"You're amazing me, Mr Holmes. Yes,
yes, your assumptions are completely correct. And yes,if you mean the young
gentleman,that is my Jonathan. He is also the reason, why I want to talk
to you and Dr Watson."
Mrs Carters last sentence has a
terrible sadness in it. That just could mean, that Something had happened
to her husband.
"Please Ma'am, if it weighs that
heavily on you, get it off your chest."
"Alas, you know, Sir, my husband
Jonathan worked at the Bank of England just before he disappeared."
"Disappeared?!"
"Yes, Mr Holmes. My husband has
vanished into thin air, I've not heard from him for weeks. He went to work
as usual, but he never came back."
"Maybe an accident?!"
Holmes suddenly looked at me with
disappointment, "My dear Watson. We wouldn't be here, if it were so.",
then he turned his attention back to our client, "Do you know when he disappeared?"
He asked in a soothing, interested
tone.
"Yes. It seems like it must have
happened on the way back home. The police investigations came to nothing.
A few days ago a friend of mine told me, that I should contact you. So
I did it as quickly as possible."
"I'll see, what I can do for you.
Don't you know more about the incident?"
"No, I'm sorry.", she shook her
head, sadly.
"Mrs Carter. We'll see, how we can
help you. See you soon!"
We got up to go, but Holmes abruptly
hesitated,
"Mrs Carter, one last question.
It may be curiosity, but may I ask you to show me the pictures, that are
neither here nor in the corridor?"
"I'm sorry, Mr Holmes, but that
is impossible. I keep them at the bank."
"Why this?", he replied,curiously.
"Jonathan advised me to do so about
1 ½ year ago. He has some very strange ideas in those days. I saw
no reason to 'hide' the pictures, but my husband insisted on putting at
least 15 drawings into the safe."
"Was it also your husband who trained
your dog to find to my flat?"
Mrs Carter nodded: "Yes. As I said,
he had some strange ideas in those days."
"Thank you very much, Ma'am. We'll
see you soon!" |
