Young Sherlock Holmes_ Death Cloud - Andrew Lane [69]
‘Don’t,’ Matty warned. ‘Just . . . don’t.’
Sherlock and Virginia laughed.
Together, the four of them went into the dining room and ordered lunch. They were surrounded by women in silks, crinolines, peacock feathers and hats and gloves, and men with shining moustaches in frock coats, but nobody gave them a second glance. They were accepted as a family, taking in the sights of the capital city of the most important country on the face of the planet.
Sherlock had lamb cutlets, which were perfectly cooked – bloody in the centre – and came with potatoes and beans. Matty and Amyus Crowe both went for steak and kidney pudding, while Virginia, more adventurous, risked chicken served with a French sauce with peppercorns and cream.
As they were eating, Amyus Crowe bought them up to date on the reason they were there.
‘I telegraphed ahead to a man I know in this fair city,’ he said between mouthfuls of food. ‘A business associate of sorts.’
Sherlock wondered briefly what kind of ‘business’ Crowe was involved with, as he had never mentioned it before, but the American continued speaking.
‘I told him which road the convoy of carts were coming in on, and asked him to intercept them and find out their ultimate destination. I told him where I’d be stayin’, and he’s just sent a telegram back to tell me that the carts ended up unloading their various boxes and suchlike at a warehouse in a place called Rotherhithe. He told me where the warehouse was located.’
‘Rotherhithe?’ Sherlock asked.
‘It’s a few miles downriver – an unsavoury location where sailors take their entertainment between voyages and goods are stored before being loaded on to ships. Not a place where you want to be after dark.’ He shook his head unhappily. ‘I wouldn’t normally risk taking you there, but this is too big. The Baron’s up to something, an’ it’s important enough that he’s willing to kill for it. Already has. He’ll no more baulk at disposin’ of the two of you than he would steppin’ on a spider. The trouble is that we need to check that the boxes on the carts are the beehives you saw back in Farnham, and that means I need you to come to Rotherhithe to take a look, Sherlock. But I warn you – it might be dangerous. Really dangerous.’
Sherlock nodded slowly. ‘I’ll take the chance. I want to find out what’s going on – why he keeps trying to kill me.’
Crowe glanced across at Matty, who was shovelling peas into his mouth with a spoon. ‘As for you, young man, I guess that you’ve seen your fair share of wharves and warehouses, given that you spend your life travelling around in a narrowboat. And I guess too that you can handle yourself in a fight.’
‘If a fight starts,’ Matty said through a mouthful of peas, ‘I run. If I can’t run, I punch low and I punch hard.’
‘I couldn’t have put it better myself.’ Crowe nodded. ‘I’ll come with you, of course, but we may have to separate to watch different areas.’
‘And what about me?’ Virginia’s voice was high-pitched with indignation, and her violet eyes flashed dangerously. ‘What do I do?’
‘You stay here,’ Crowe said darkly. ‘I know you can handle yourself in a scrap, but you don’t know what can happen to a young woman in Rotherhithe. The people who live there are worse than animals. I’d never forgive myself if anything happened to you, not after –’ He stopped abruptly. Looking across at Virginia, Sherlock saw her eyes suddenly glisten. ‘Stay here,’ Crowe repeated. ‘If we get separated, we need to know that there’s someone back here who can take messages and pass them on. That’s your job.’
Virginia nodded, not saying anything.
Crowe looked back at the two boys. ‘When you’re ready,’ he said, ‘we’ll head off.’
As they crossed the foyer of the hotel, Sherlock turned and looked back at Virginia. She was staring at him. She tried to smile, but the expression turned into a worried twist of her lips. He smiled back at her reassuringly,