Young Sherlock Holmes_ Fire Storm - Andrew Lane [38]
He stood back to look at his handiwork. The plaster was now covered with a series of overlapping scratches and Xs.
‘You’ve missed some,’ Matty pointed out.
‘No,’ Sherlock replied, ‘I haven’t. Those pinholes are new.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘I’m very sure. Look closely at them.’
Matty moved towards the wall, squinting.
‘No, Sherlock said, ‘move backwards. Try and look past the wall, and ignore the holes that I’ve marked.’
Matty shook his head, but he complied. His eyes suddenly widened in surprise. ‘It’s an arrow!’ he cried.
‘Precisely,’ Sherlock said. He followed Matty’s gaze. There, marked out in pinholes that had no connection with anything that had been pinned to the wall – new pinholes that had presumably been made especially – was an arrow pointing towards the window.
Both boys followed the direction of the arrow and stared through the window at the green landscape outside. ‘Is that the way they went?’ Matty asked dubiously. ‘If so, I’m not sure it’s much help.’
‘Closer than that,’ Sherlock said. ‘That’s the window leading out to the paddock where Virginia kept Sandia. Mr Crowe is telling us to look out in the paddock. He’s left a message for us there.’
Matty shrugged. ‘Seems a lot of palaver to go to when he could have just left a note pinned the wall.’
‘Like you said, if he’d left a note, then anyone could have found it,’ Sherlock pointed out. ‘He’s left a clue pointing to a note.’ He held out Matty’s knife. ‘Here, thanks.’
Matty shrugged. ‘Keep it,’ he said. ‘The way things go, you’ll probably need it more than I do.’
Together the two boys headed out of the cottage and into the open. Sherlock led the way to the fenced-off area of ground that had been visible through the window. They climbed over the gate.
‘Where do we start?’ Matty asked, looking around the grassy area. ‘I don’t see anything obvious.’
‘It won’t be obvious,’ Sherlock pointed out. ‘Mr Crowe would have hidden it so it wouldn’t be found.’ He thought for a moment. ‘If I had some string we could mark off a grid of squares and search each square individually, so we knew we’d covered all the ground. Without that, there’s a risk that we’ll miss something by accident.’
‘Tell you what,’ Matty suggested, ‘let’s you and me start at opposite sides and walk forward, looking at the ground, until we meet. We take a step to the side, turn around and each walk towards the fence again. Then we turn around, take a step to the side, and do it again. That way we’ll work in strips across the field and we won’t miss anything.’
‘Sounds like a plan.’ Sherlock nodded. ‘Let’s do it.’
So for the next half hour they progressively moved together and apart across the field, each one meticulously examining the ground as they walked, checking each clump of grass, each rabbit hole and each pile of manure that Virginia’s horse had left behind. Sherlock’s back began to ache after a few minutes, thanks to the uncomfortable position that he was forced to adopt: bent over and taking small steps. He imagined that from some distant vantage point he and Matty looked like chickens checking the field for corn.
‘I’ve got something!’ Matty exclaimed.
‘What is it?’
Matty lifted something from the ground and held it up. It was made of a grey metal.
‘It’s a fork,’ Sherlock pointed out.
‘I know it’s a fork. Could it be important?’
Sherlock shrugged. ‘Leave it where you found it. We may have to dig if we can’t find anything else.’
Five minutes later it was Sherlock’s turn to make a discovery. ‘Matty – over here!’
Matty stuck the fork into the ground, and then ran over to where Sherlock was crouching. ‘What is it?’
Sherlock indicated a root-edged hole that led away at an angle into the earth. ‘I think it’s a rabbit hole.’
‘Congratulations. I’ve already found five of them.’
‘But this one has something in it.’ Sherlock reached into the hole, to the object he’d caught sight of in the shadows. His fingers encountered something that was simultaneously furry and sticky.