Young Sherlock Holmes_ Fire Storm - Andrew Lane [47]
‘You sent a telegram to Mycroft,’ Sherlock said accusingly to Rufus Stone as they sat. From outside he could hear the driver throwing their bags on to the back of the carriage.
Stone’s face was impassive. ‘I had to,’ he said. ‘I work for your brother, and if he found out that I had let you go to Edinburgh without notifying him, there would be hell to pay.’
‘There would indeed,’ Mycroft confirmed. ‘I pride myself on knowing everything that goes on around me. If I discovered that my brother had slipped unnoticed through the city, I would be mortified.’
‘I’m still going to Edinburgh,’ Sherlock said levelly.
Mycroft nodded. ‘Of course you are.’ He reached up and rapped with his cane on the carriage roof. ‘King’s Cross!’ he called.
‘What?’
The carriage jerked and began to move away from the kerb.
‘Do you think that the disappearance of Amyus Crowe is of no interest to me?’ Mycroft shook his head. ‘He is, apart from being the closest thing I have to a personal friend, a man of exceptional abilities, for whom I have a great deal of professional respect. If he has disappeared suddenly, then there must be a reason, and I wish to know what that reason is. The presence of these two Americans is unsettling as well, given that we do not know whether they are friends or foes. Like you, Sherlock, I am puzzled, and that is a state of mind that I find particularly painful.’
‘What about you?’ Sherlock asked. ‘Will you be coming with us?’
‘I fear my days of travelling are past,’ Mycroft replied. ‘Our Russian expedition convinced me that I am better staying in London, where I am comfortable, and letting others actually seek out evidence and answers. But I shall be doing my part – while you are looking for Mr Crowe and his daughter, I shall be making enquiries about these two American visitors.’
Sherlock felt his heart sink. He wasn’t surprised at Mycroft’s decision, but he would have felt more confident with his brother at his side.
‘Oh,’ Mycroft continued, ‘I almost forgot. Congratulations on your deduction concerning exactly where Mr Crowe was headed. I cannot fault your logic, although I can fault Mr Crowe’s use of a rabbit’s head. There must have been something less offensive to hand and something less likely to have been stolen by a passing carnivore.’ He peered around the inside of the cab. ‘Do you think,’ he mused, taking the conversation off at a tangent, ‘I could have a carriage panelled, upholstered and carpeted to look like my office? Or like the Diogenes Club? That way I could travel in perfect comfort without the nausea that usually comes with a change of location.’
‘But who would bring your morning cup of tea or your afternoon sherry?’ Rufus Stone asked with a smile.
‘Those things can be arranged,’ Mycroft said. ‘The cab could stop outside certain establishments at pre-planned times, and waiters could pass trays through the window. I could have entire meals delivered for me to consume on the move. Think of the time saved!’
‘If you were allowed to eat and drink in here,’ Sherlock pointed out, ‘then you would grow so fat that you would never be able to get out again, which would undermine the entire point of having your own carriage in the first place. You would be like a snail in its shell.’
Mycroft nodded. ‘A fair point,’ he conceded.
‘If you’re not going to stop us going to Edinburgh,’ Matty piped up, ‘then why are you here, Mr Holmes?’
‘An excellent question, young man, and one that cuts right to the heart of the matter. I am here to see my younger brother, of course – something that hasn’t happened for a while now – and I am also here to warn the three of you to be careful. It has presumably occurred to you that anything which could cause Amyus Crowe to run rather than fight is likely to be bigger and more dangerous than you expect. I have always regarded Mr Crowe as a man entirely without fear. To find out that there is something that scares him is like finding out that the moon is entirely hollow at the back, like a dish, rather than a ball, like the Earth.’ He sighed. ‘I am also led to understand