The security agent was unperturbed. "Mycroft Holmes knows most of what goes on, you know. At the moment, the Foreign Office is more than a little interested in Chu San Fu. As to why his men are to be secreted away, your brother did not choose to explain."
"I wish someone would," I blurted out.
"The Elizabethan policy, my dear Watson. Delay, play for time until things clarify. There is an adage of diplomacy which applies here. Make haste slowly."
"Well," said MacDonald, "my men have been informed that tonight's events are best forgotten. The prisoners have been turned over to associates of Mr. Orloff. I don't know where they are, nor do I want to."
"The safe-house technique has always been effective in situations like this," said Orloff.
Noting my expression of bafflement, Holmes came to my rescue. "A private residence which is not quite what it seems to be. Since, officially, it has no associations with government or police, it makes a nice hideaway or temporary prison."
"You've given me enough clues," was my exasperated comment, "but a criminal band attempted to enter our quarters illegally. Why all the secretive treatment?"
"To confuse Chu San Fu. If six of his followers simply vanish, he will not make a move until he discovers what happened. Were they captured? Are they peaching to the police? Have they simply run away? His hands will be tied until the matter is resolved and during that time we shall attempt to clear up the muddle surrounding this matter and discover what makes the Golden Bird so valuable. The answer lies with the Chinaman. He knows."
"But is not Basil Selkirk also involved?" asked Orloff.
"Watson and I had a meeting with the financier. He stated that he was after the Bird simply because Chu San Fu was. I'm inclined to believe this. Chu San Fu has the key to the puzzle. Barker found out what it was. Among Barker's possessions was a book which Slim secured for us dealing with the career of Jonathan Wild. I think Wild, long ago, knew the secret of the Bird."
"That's why his man, Harry Hawker, stole the statute from the shop on Rhodes," I said.
"The Rhodes robbery took place around 1850, Watson. Wild had been dead a full ten years by then. My theory is that what Wild knew died with him but a clue remained. Hawker discovered it, possibly in the same manner that the lamented Barker did. The answer may very well be in this book of Barker's, gentlemen, which I intend to study with much care."
Gilligan, MacDonald, and Orloff, after more musings, speculation, and libations, took their leave and this time the lights did go out at 221B Baker Street.
17
More Light in Dark Places
181
The events had been tiring indeed and when I awoke the following morning, I was somewhat shocked at the late hour. Mrs. Hudson and Billy had returned by the time I found myself in the sitting room. Holmes had breakfasted and the smell of his strong shag was heavy in the room. The volume dealing with Jonathan Wild was on the desk and Holmes sat by the fireplace, his fingers steepled and his aquiline nose pressed against them. I tiptoed out of the room to acquaint our housekeeper of my presence and needs. When I returned, Holmes had not moved a muscle, but he suddenly looked up as though startled by my presence.
"Ah, Watson, you are the late-abed today."
He sprang to his feet, crossing to the silver coffee urn.
"This should still be warm," he said, "and a cup will serve you well. Both of us in fact."
Holmes seldom deigned to perform domestic duties but on this day he bustled around, pouring coffee, urging me to be seated and talking all the while.
"You have ordered breakfast, no doubt?"
I indicated that this was so.
"Splendid!"
I had not lived with Sherlock Holmes so long not to recognize the signs. He had come upon something and was quite delighted with himself and anxious to share his thoughts with his only confidant, me.
"Of course, I have been through the book. Badly written, but one section shows a spark of originality. The author, one Pierce by name, devotes a full chapter to the plans of Wild that never bore fruit. The schemes that the criminal did not or could not take action on. It is in this portion of the book that the only markings appear."
Holmes was at the desk, leafing through the book taken from Barker's dwelling. "Let me read this to you. 'Jonathan Wild was instrumental in a large number of jewel robberies but diamonds were his only passion.' "
Holmes's eyes rose from the page. "This portion is bracketed. A more specific marking comes later." He resumed reading: " 'In 1828, Wild spent much time and a considerable amount of money planning a theft of the Sancy diamond, one of the crown jewels of France. The stone had come into the possession of Demindoff and Wild intended to possess it despite my protestations that the gem was too well-known to be sold and I knew that Wild would never consider cutting it.' "
As Holmes paused for a moment, I offered a comment.
"The author, Pierce, seems to have been quite an intimate of Jonathan Wild."
"Or attempts to picture himself as such. His facts seem accurate. I do know that the Sancy was sold by Demidoff in 1865 for twenty thousand pounds. Or, at least, that is the story. I wonder if Wild actually did steal the stone!"
"Doesn't Pierce make mention of it?"
"Simply that the robbery did not go off as planned and Wild abandoned the idea. Here's the main point of interest: 'The one diamond that Wild really coveted was the Pasha of Egypt though he was never able to get his hands on it.' "
Holmes looked at me, his eyes alight.
"Barker drew a line through 'Pasha of Egypt.' "
"And when he died, that was the word that Lindquist heard: 'Pasha.' "
"Exactly. You can see my interest was immediately sparked."
"But what has the Pasha of Egypt diamond to do with the Golden Bird?"
"What indeed? At one time I mentioned that the pursuit of the Bird would seem more reasonable if it were encrusted with precious gems. Suppose, Watson, instead of jewels on the outside, to give the object a far greater value, there was one jewel, a world-famous diamond, on the inside?"
Holmes's idea was certainly intriguing. "Then all these thefts over a long period of time—they were not really after the Golden Bird but a diamond—the Pasha of Egypt."
Holmes head was shaking slowly in a negative fashion.
"As I have stated on other occasions, it is a capital mistake to theorize in advance of the facts. One begins to twist facts to fit theories, instead of fitting theories to facts. We need facts now, 'Watson, and shall have to seek them from experts. I have dispatched a note to Orloff asking him to arrange a meeting with Edwin Streeter."
"The name is unfamiliar to me."
"The royal jeweler, ol' chap. Streeter wrote a book in '83: The Great Diamonds of the World. I rather fancy he knows the diamond field inside and out and might provide the information that will crystallize this whole matter."
Holmes ran into a snag at this point since the royal jeweler was vacationing in the south of France at this time. However, Wakefield Orloff's intimate knowledge of comings and goings between England and the Continent came to the detective's aid. According to the security agent, Dr. Max Bauer of Germany was in England at the time and Orloff was able to arrange a meeting between the famous gem expert and Holmes.*
* It is interesting to note that Dr. Bauer later, in 1896, published a book called Precious Stones. It was translated and published in England around 1903 and is considered one of the most comprehensive studies of gems ever published.
Happily, the doctor was a follower of the exploits of my friend and was quite delighted to visit our chambers on Baker Street which gave me the opportunity of being present at a most fascinating exchange of information.