The Beekeeper's Apprentice - Laurie R. King [96]
Lestrade stared at the two of us for a moment, then to my dismay burst into raucous laughter. Was this to be the reaction of every policeman we met?
“Oh, Mr. Holmes, always the comedian, you were. I forgot your lit-tle jokes for a minute.”
Holmes drew himself up to his full height and glared at the man in icy hauteur.
“Have you ever known me to jest about my profession, Lestrade? Ever?” The last word cracked through the cold air like a shot, and Lestrade’s humour was cut off in an instant. The remnant of the smile made his face sour and slightly ratlike, and he glanced at me quickly and cleared his throat.
“Ah, yes, well, Mr. Holmes, I presume you’d like to see what they left of your cab. One of the men recognised Billy from the old days and thought to give me a ring on it. He’ll get a promotion out of to-night’s work, I don’t doubt. And don’t worry about your man—he’ll be all right in a day or two, I imagine. It looked like a clout on the head followed by a bit of chloroform. He was already coming around when they took him off.”
“Thank you for that, Inspector. Have you already gone over the cab?” His voice held little hope.
“No, no, we haven’t touched it. Looked inside, that’s all. I told you the man’d get a promotion. Quick-thinking, he is.” I noticed one of the uniformed men nearby fiddling needlessly with the horse’s reins, his head tilted slightly in our direction. I nudged Holmes and ad-dressed Lestrade.
“Inspector, that I believe is the individual over there?” The man started and moved away guiltily, busying himself elsewhere. Lestrade and Holmes followed my eyes.
“Why yes, how did you guess?”
Holmes interrupted. “I believe you will find, Lestrade, that Miss Russell never guesses. She may occasionally reach tentative hypothe-ses without absolute proof, but she does not guess.”
“I am glad,” I added, “that the gentleman is working his way back up to his former position of responsibility. Men with his background can be a valuable model for younger members of the force.” I had Lestrade’s full attention now.
“Do you know him then, Miss?”
“As far as I know I’ve never seen him before tonight.” Holmes al-lowed his eyes to wander off to the cab, his face inscrutable.
“Then how—?”
“Oh, but it is too obvious. An older man in a low position can either have got there by being, shall we say, of limited mental resource, which according to you he is not, or by backsliding. It could not have been a criminal act that pushed him down the ladder, or he would not still be in uniform. Which personality flaw it is can readily be ascertained by the broken veins in his face, while the deep furrows around his mouth indi-cate either pain or sorrow in recent years. I should suspect, as his body seems unimpaired, that the latter is to blame, which would explain the abuse of alcohol, and that in turn accounts for the demotion in rank. However, his general competency and the fact that you mention the possibility of promotion tell me that he has passed through the crisis, and will now serve as an example to the men around him.” I gave the flabbergasted Lestrade my most innocent of smiles. “It’s really quite ele-mentary, Inspector.”
The little man gaped and burst out laughing again. “Yes, sir, Mr. Holmes, I do see what you mean. I don’t know how you’ve done it, but it could have been you saying that. You’re absolutely right, Miss. His wife and daughter were killed four years ago, and he took to drinking, even at work. We kept him on at a desk job where he’d do no one any harm, and a year ago he pulled himself together. He’ll be back up there in no time, I think. Come now, I’ll get a lamp so we can look at your cab.” He went off shouting for a light.
“Russell, that last line was a bit overly dramatic, don’t you think?” Holmes murmured at my side.
“A good apprentice learns all from her master,