We moved the furniture around now here, now there, one after another, and lifted the carpet, carefully examining the floor underneath. We did all this in total silence, even walking on tiptoe.
Suddenly Holmes uttered a triumphant cry. ‘Have a look, Watson,’ he whispered and motioned for me to come near. I crawled up to him.
Holmes suddenly lifted the corner of the carpet by the head of the bed, ‘The first thing that struck me was that the corner leg of the bed was not pressing down on the carpet,’ he whispered.
I looked at the floor under the carpet and all the same noticed nothing.
‘You don’t see it?’ smiled Holmes.
‘Absolutely not,’ I replied.
‘And all the same, it is so simple.’ Holmes still smiled and said softly, ‘Look at the floor boards. In all the other places where we examined the floor, you noticed, of course, that the cracks between them had been filled with paint and where the paint cracked, dust and other dirt particles had collected. It’s different here. The cracks are not filled with paint and there is no dirt, which shows that these floorboards are not immoveable.’
Holmes produced a thin spike, stuck it into a floor board and gently raised it. The board shifted.
He moved it just a little and then replaced it. He then covered it with the carpet and moved the bed so that all four legs pressed down on it. ‘Now the entrance is sealed,’ he said, getting up. ‘The most important is done. There’s only trifles left to be attended to now. The criminal is on board, because he has nowhere to go and the sooner the ship moves, so much the better. Watson, let’s go to Mahomet-Sultan.’
We left the Emir’s quarters and went on deck.
IV
We found the Minister of the Court standing with the Emir and quietly conversing with him. We waited till he looked in our direction and Holmes gave him an imperceptible sign. He indicated with his eyes that he understood. He ended his conversation with the Emir and, accompanied by the interpreter, made his way to Holmes’s cabin. We followed.
‘The sooner the ship leaves, the better,’ Holmes said to him. ‘Rest assured, the thief will not escape.’
‘Really,’ exclaimed the Minister joyfully, when he heard this announcement from the interpreter.
‘Yes,’ said Holmes. ‘He is on board and, of course, won’t risk escaping as long as the ship is ringed by sentries.’
‘Oh! Oh! In that case I will inform His Highness at once!’ the Minister exclaimed through the interpreter and the two Bukharans ran out of the cabin.
The second whistle sounded a minute later. A few minutes later, the third whistle sounded, sailors rushed about the deck, the military band thundered and the ship began to move gracefully away from the wharf.
‘Now, then, my dear Watson, we have to become sailors,’ said Holmes, opening his travel case.
But first, before changing, Holmes went out of the cabin and, returning after a little while, said, ‘Splendid. Everything’s done. The interpreter has asked the ship’s captain to instruct the bosun to sign on two more sailors who will now appear before him. So, look lively, Watson, change and let’s go to meet our new chief. And to look younger, a new fair-haired wig for you, into which rub wood-oil instead of pomade.’
I obeyed therewith. In twenty minutes we were ready. The interpreter arrived just then. Holmes told him briefly what he had noticed and advised him to get the Minister to assist him in switching the Emir’s bedroom and office and place sentries there for security. When all this had been said, the interpreter left and we were off to see the bosun.
The signing-on ritual was short and simple.
We were shown our places, our watch was assigned, our surnames written down, Holmes as Gvozdeff and I became Panshin. After that they let us go. By a fortunate coincidence our watches coincided. There were still three hours before our first watch, so we wandered up and down the lower deck.
Holmes wanted to pay special attention to that part of the ship lying under the Emir’s quarters. But to carry out any substantial observation of this part of the vessel was completely impossible, because here the whole of the lower deck was filled with the baggage of the Emir and his retinue, the chests being solidly packed from the deck to the ceiling. This discovery put Holmes in an especially good mood.
‘Undoubtedly, there is a way of getting between the chests to the Emir’s bedroom. The thief isn’t going to stay there for long and, one way or another, will emerge,’ he said, having finished his inspection. ‘But he has to have an accomplice on board. The accomplice blocked this particular area with chests in such a way that nothing could be checked between them. My dear Watson, let’s find out who supervised the loading.’
‘That shouldn’t be too difficult,’ I answered.
‘If that’s what you think, you do it,’ said Holmes.
V
Without a word, I made my way to the bottom deck where those sailors who were not on watch took refreshments and rested. And as soon as I appeared amongst them, I began to abuse one of them, ‘How the hell did you stow away the luggage, so that nobody can get through or even crawl through!’
‘And what the hell are you barking at me for,’ he bit back. ‘Wasn’t me indicated what to put where.’
‘Then who was it?’
‘Who? That new fellow, Skalkin, or whatever his name is!’
Hearing his name, an older, bearded sailor looked at me intently and said angrily, ‘Well, it was me, and what got in your way?’
‘The devil take you!’ I yelled. ‘I can’t get through.’
‘No need for you to get through there,’ he muttered. ‘So shut up or I’ll bash your face in.’
I managed to smooth over the quarrel, went to Holmes and told him everything I had discovered.
‘Splendid!’ exclaimed Holmes. ‘That means he is new. It’s worth knowing and he will have to be watched.’
Three hours passed and we reported for our watch. Holmes’s watch was on the lower deck. I was on the upper, by the wheel. My watch began at eight and passed quietly. But when I had completed it and went down to meet Holmes, who had completed his, from the look he threw at me, I realized something unusual had happened.
But it wasn’t possible to have a discussion. We weren’t alone and could be overheard. We went down to the sailors’ quarters, undressed and went to sleep.
It was still completely dark when Holmes woke me up. He slept beside me and a slight touch from him was enough to bring me to my feet. I yawned several times and tossed and turned as if to show that I had slept enough and began to dress. We went up unnoticed and crept into our cabin.
With intense curiosity I waited for what Holmes had to tell me. ‘And so, in a couple of hours, the situation should be clear,’ he said softly.
‘You’ve found something out tonight?’ I asked.
‘Yes,’ he answered. ‘It was just before eleven o’clock at night. I was on my watch and observed Skalkin carefully emerging from the sailors’ quarters. I pretended to be dozing. He looked at me suspiciously, but was apparently reassured and dived in amongst the luggage. There was nobody there. I sat with my back to him, watching intently through a mirror which I had taken the precaution of hanging up on the wall and which he hadn’t noticed. Thanks to this mirror, I could see everything behind me. He threw another glance at me, was still reassured that I wasn’t watching, and carefully approached one of the chests. Pushing it aside, he quickly disappeared in the gap that appeared. I leaped up from my place, carefully approached and put my ear to the edge of the gap he had created. It was just as I expected. Out of the pile of chests I overheard a conversation.