Sherlock Holmes and the Chinese Junk Affair and Other Stories Read Free

has remained, just an underground concrete shell.”’
    Sir Simon paused and, looking from Holmes to me, said, ‘I think I should now take some time to describe this room. The entrance led as I have already mentioned, from the side of the main entrance hall. It was intended, I gather, that guests would arrive at the main entrance of the Hall, leave their coats and hats, and then descend down the staircase to the ballroom. The entrance to the ballroom was six feet wide and ten feet high. I later measured it. There were twenty wide steps down into the ballroom which measured thirty-five feet in width and sixty-five feet in length. Again I know because I measured it. The ballroom was a perfect oblong shape except for the protruding stairs from the entrance doors. The place was as the builders had left it, bare concrete walls and ceiling, but needed only plastering, ornate ceiling, decorations; you know, everything which would have made it into a delightful ballroom.
    ‘However, it was what was in the room that made me stop and stare in disbelief. Along the centre of the floor was the keel of a boat. Beginning a few feet from the bottom of the staircase and ending a few feet from the rear wall. Over fifty feet in length. I could see it was to be a boat, because the ribs down one side were already in place.
    ‘If that was not enough of a shock, to see a boat being built underground with no hope of ever getting it out, then it was compounded by the sight of ten grinning Chinamen standing in a row, who, when I stared at them, each in turn bowed from the waist and continued to grin. Mr Holmes, I thought it about as bizarre a situation as one could ever come across.’
    I looked sideways at Holmes and saw the look of supreme pleasure upon his face. An architect who is asked to design a cathedral or an artist commanded to paint the Royal Monarch could not have had a more satisfying expression.
    Here was not a lurid domestic murder or a criminal case of burglary which seemed to have been Holmes’s lot for some time now, but a case that had all the trappings of mystery and intrigue, to equal the best of his others. It involved the highest in the land and the story that was already unique was only yet half told.
    ‘I think I had better ring for some more coffee. I’m afraid I have much more to tell,’ said Sir Simon. Holmes eased himself in his chair to make himself more comfortable.
    ‘I have listened to many strange accounts in my life but I am sure Dr Watson will agree that this looks like being the strangest yet.’
    I agreed and took the opportunity to also stretch out my legs. The coffee was brought in almost at once and after Sir Simon did the honours, continued with his account.
    ‘I turned to Rodger and saw he was smiling. He said, “Let us retire and have a drink by the fire and let these good chaps rest after their day’s labour.” He waved his hand to them and they in turn, grinned and bowed to us again.
    ‘Over drinks Rodger explained that the Chinese were constructing a full-sized ocean-going wooden junk, and that it would take about six months to build. He wanted me to visit Halam Hall and observe the progress, month by month.
    ‘When I laughed and asked why he was building a Chinese junk, in a building where there was no hope of ever getting it out, he only smiled and replied, “Well, if you will come down once a month and observe its construction, eventually on completion, all will be revealed.” I ask you, Mr Holmes, what man could resist such an invitation?
    ‘Each month I journeyed to Halam Hall and enjoyed an excellent meal, good wine and a complete rest from the London scene. I looked forward to those weekends. Rodger was wonderful company. He had such a huge store of anecdotes about his years abroad, and his general knowledge of most subjects, like your own, Mr Holmes, is phenomenal; he was a great raconteur and also a good listener.
    ‘Each time I visited, I was shown the progress the Chinamen