The Dragon Turn Read Free Page A

troubles with me?”
    It is only too true.
    “You are a
girl
, that’s the bigger problem.”
    She smiles.
    “I don’t think Alistair Hemsworth is a killer and not just because —”
    “No, you think he is someone who can help you … who has been taken off to jail.”
    She swallows, “I deserved that. I appreciate your candor … always have.”
    “You had an opportunity and it suddenly vanished. He is out of circulation.”
    “For a crime he vehemently denies committing.”
    “They all do.”
    “That’s not true. You forget how many criminals I have met, how many murderers. I think I know a guilty one when I see one. I have developed a sixth sense. It’s … a woman’s gift.”
    “I have no such ethereal power. But I will admit that a woman’s intuition eludes me.”
    “Frightens you, one might better say.”
    “It isn’t scientific, not in any way, and therefore, not dependable.”
    “I know what I heard and saw back there.”
    “And you know that Nottingham stole his wife.”
    “I admit that he has motivation, yes.”
    “Which is an enormous factor in any crime.”
    “But he seemed to be denying that this ‘secret’ place where Nottingham was found even belonged to him … andthey don’t have a body. A murder without a body? Answer me honestly: should that be a closed case?”
    “I —”
    Irene pulls him toward her and guides him out of the flow of pedestrians and up against the wall of a building. She moves closer, gently pressing against him. “This last fact intrigues you.”
    “Well …”
    “Look at me as you answer, Sherlock.”
    He can’t do it. She is right about the missing body. It is a most fascinating feature and it indeed intrigues him, deeply so, has from the moment Lestrade mentioned it;
a death without a corpse and no murder weapon
.
    “You don’t need to solve this. I’m not asking you to do that.” She presses even closer. “We could just see if the place is really Hemsworth’s, and you could show the police that they haven’t proved anything yet, put doubts in their minds … get His Highness out of jail for a while, at least?”
    “
We
shouldn’t be doing anything. And even if I were to look into it, what you are suggesting would involve inspecting the crime scene and I’ve promised myself not —”
    “For me?”
    “I —”
    “You are correct about my bias concerning this. It is important to tell the truth. You know I believe in that. Yes, I stand to benefit greatly from his being released. Guilty, as charged. But if he is wrongfully incarcerated, then no one benefits, and there is certainly no justice.”
    “Irene —”
    “And this will be a sensational case: the whole country will be intrigued. There’s been nothing like this since the Spring Heeled Jack was on the loose.”
    Oh, that was well put. She is devilishly clever
. He feels his resistance crumbling.
    “Be honest about your desires, Sherlock,” she says, putting her arms around his waist. “You want to do this … don’t you?”
    “I —”
    “Beyond everything, you need the adventure … because you, sir, are bored.”
    Ah, another marvelous blow, well struck. She knows me too well
.
    Boredom is like a monster to Sherlock Holmes, like a troll hiding beneath a bridge, waiting to attack him. It haunts him: he fears it as it approaches. He has been trying to keep the fact that he is bored out of his skull to himself. A boy, even a smart one like him, needs action. Thinking, reading about crimes, speculating, even moving about the city arm in arm with the irresistible Irene Doyle, just isn’t enough for him. Several times during the last eighteen months, he has almost chased after pickpockets he’s spotted plying their trade in the thick London crowds —
oh, to run them to the ground … and apply a little Bellitsu to their craniums! To see Malefactor again!
    The brilliant young gang leader has vanished from the streets, his nasty Trafalgar Square Irregulars scattered.