The Mammoth Book of New Sherlock Holmes Adventures - Mike Ashley [18]
Spooner leant forward to examine a blackened fragment of what had once been gilded wood and gesso and to which a fragment of charred canvas still adhered.
“The night before last,” Holmes explained, “I paid a clandestine visit to Dr Giddings’s garden. I found this on a bonfire in a corner of the grounds. The embers were still warm. Unless I am mistaken, that is all that remains of the fake Rembrandt – and just as well, perhaps.”
“Whatever made you think of looking there?”
“When I called on Dr Giddings the previous day, he was obviously concerned about my interest in the Rembrandt. He tried to convince me that its theft was a student prank and he brought my visit to a sudden halt with what seemed to me rather a theatrical fit of coughing. I believe that was to prevent me looking inside the room where the painting was currently housed. I reasoned that he would want to be rid of the evidence very quickly after such a fright and there seemed to be only one easy way to do that.”
Spooner removed his spectacles and polished them thoughtfully. “Mr Holmes,” he said, “you are a remarkable young man. I predict that you will go far. May I ask you to put what you have just told me in writing? My colleagues will, I know, want to study it most carefully.”
“I had anticipated that request,” replied my friend, handing over a sealed envelope.
“How wise, Mr Solomon, how wise. The college is indebted to you. You will undoubtedly be hearing more from us. For the moment all I can do is personally grace my platitude on record.” He shook Holmes warmly by the hand and escorted him to the door.
Sherlock Holmes reflected during the next few days on the immense pleasure and satisfaction this little enquiry had occasioned him. He had, at that time, no inkling that his vocation lay in the field of criminal detection but, as he later confessed to me, the bothersome business of the Dutch Nativity, was undoubtedly the case that opened up new possibilities to him.
All that lay in the future. One more immediate result manifested itself a few days later. Holmes received an unexpected invitation to dine with the Master of Grenville. He arrived at the lodge at the appointed time expecting to find himself one of a large party. To his surprise the only other guest was the Warden of New College. As soon as the three men had embarked on their meal the master introduced the subject of Holmes’s recent investigations. The fellows of New College were very grateful to him for clearing the matter up but were anxious that none of the information he had gathered should go any further. Under the circumstances he felt sure that Holmes would appreciate that absolute secrecy must be a condition of his remaining in Oxford.
Holmes assured the dons that he would not contemplate breaking any confidences. What, he enquired would be happening to those involved in the series of outrages culminating in the theft of the painting? The warden replied, “Any action we might take could only embarrass several important people. Under the circumstances we think it best to draw a veil over all that has happened.”
Holmes was stunned. “Forgive me, sir, if I mistake your meaning, but it seems to me that you are saying that truth weighs very lightly in the balance against personal reputation.”
“That is a rather stark way of expressing it,” the master suggested.
“But apparently accurate. Theft, forgery and deceit must go unpunished, even unremarked, because we must not make life awkward for members of the establishment. That is a philosophy I am surprised to hear advocated by men of learning and honest enquiry. I fear, gentlemen, that it is one to which I could never subscribe.”
The subject was quickly changed but at the conclusion of the meal Sherlock Holmes returned to his chambers and immediately wrote a letter announcing his resignation from the college.
The Affray at the Kildare Street