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Createspace
Category:
Action/Thriller
Publisher: Createspace
ISBN-10: 1511654260
Type: Fiction
Pages: 220
Copyright: April 15, 2015
ISBN-13: 9781511654265
Price: $2.99 (eBook)
A second rediscovered case from the files of Sherlock Holmes.
Sherlock Holmes agrees to take the case of Mr Avery Quill, whose daughter has mysteriously disappeared. A short time later the girl's body is discovered, accompanied by a visiting card bearing the head of the mythological Gorgon. No sooner have Holmes and Watson begun their investigation, than Mr Quill is also killed in the same brutal fashion, and an identical card found nearby.
The Baker Street Irregulars find the premises of a club for disinherited nobles, known as 'The One Hundred per Cent Society' which uses the Gorgon symbol, but this appears to have no connection to the murders. The following day Holmes is visited by one of the Society's members, who feels obliged to warn him that he and Watson are next on the murderer's list!
Holmes continues his enquiries, despite a first attempt on his life. The trail goes cold, but he refuses to close the file on one of the most sadistic and ruthless criminals that he has ever encountered.
Excerpt
'Have you any idea as to the identity of our adversary?' I asked after a moment of silence.
'I have been able to deduce only that he is no stranger to murder, and that he is a tall man. He is young and strong, and has short grey hair.'
I turned to him in surprise. 'I confess that I saw none of this.'
'There is no great mystery to it. My dressing gown sash was tied in a Scaffold Knot, which indicates that our enemy knew precisely how to strangle efficiently, from some experience. The angle of the application to Mr Quill's neck and throat reveals that his murderer is tall, and the extent of the tightness suggests someone of strength.'
'But you said he is young, and has grey hair?'
'Did you not see the hat, near the corner of the room? It was far too small to have belonged to Mr Quill. I imagine the murderer lost it as he fled, if he thought pursuit was close, or removed it to do his work and then forgot about it. It was of a style that an older man would consider inappropriate, as is the case with some new fashions. I glanced inside it, but did not disturb it, for long enough to notice the traces of hair oil where numerous grey hairs had stuck after being recently trimmed.'
I was about to add that he had also neglected to tell Inspector Lestrade about the 'constable' who had visited our rooms and left the message, but I knew Holmes well enough to be sure that this was no oversight. We alighted at Baker Street and Holmes entered quickly, calling out for Mrs Hudson.
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