‘“Any resemblance between us, it must be pointed out, begins and ends with the physical. That we are both confirmed old bachelors is, perhaps, the only aspect of our characters or lifestyles that we share. Whilst I tend to be quiet and reserved, James is outspoken and effervescent. I have taken a small house in one of the quieter suburbs, so my brother’s home is but a few minutes from the centre of town. As I am at my most content in sitting before my fire with a glass of old port and a good book, James’s lifestyle embraces the theatre, fashionable restaurants and the attendance at every kind of social event to which he is regularly invited.
‘“Inevitably these differences between us led to mutual reservations and misgivings regarding the initiation of our intended partnership. However, I must point out that these very differences in our natures have proved to contribute towards the success of our company. James’s social skills have led to the building of a huge portfolio of well-connected and affluent clients willing to entrust their investments to our hands. Whereas my own more grounded and steadfast financial skills ensure that their trust is not misplaced and that our client’s accounts are well managed; as a consequence Phillimore and Phillimore is a name that resounds throughout the financial world.
‘“Now, gentlemen, to the events of last Tuesday morning …” At this juncture, Holmes, you interrupted our client to enquire as to why Phillimore had allowed a week to pass before bringing this case before you.
‘“It may seem as if I have allowed the grass to grow under my feet, but I assure you that I informed the police at the moment the mystery revealed itself. However, their enquiries revealed nothing and, to tell you the truth, I do not think that they attached too much credence to my account of the events I shall now outline to you. Inspector Bradstreet seemed to think that the nature of my brother’s disappearance would appeal to your own singular taste in crime and implied that the regular force viewed James’s fate with an air of indifference, hence my journey to Baker Street this morning.”
‘“I am not at all surprised at the ineptitude of the regular force,” you replied. “However, Bradstreet normally displays above average diligence and intelligence, so I shall bow to his recommendation and beg you to proceed.”
‘“The facts, then, are these, gentlemen. Last Tuesday morning, in our capacity as principle directors of Phillimore and Phillimore, my brother and I were required to attend the annual general meeting of our company. Since James is not the most punctual of men, it was decided that it should fall to me to procure a cab and collect my brother in plenty of time, at approximately nine o’clock, a.m. You might recall that the weather was decidedly bad; the early-morning mist combined with a fine drizzle to form a most dreary outlook and upon arriving outside my brother’s home a full ten minutes before the appointed time, as is my wont, I viewed the impending wait with some apprehension.
‘“Because of the inclement conditions I dispatched the driver to ring for my brother at ten past the hour, only for him to return with a message from James’s valet to the effect that he would be ready to join me in but a few minutes. I received the news with a certain resigned indignation, and sat there drumming my fingers, repeatedly glancing at my watch as the minutes ticked away. When he did eventually emerge he stood reflectively under his porch before announcing the last words I would ever hear him utter: ‘I must go back in to retrieve my umbrella!’ he called through the grey swirling haze, before disappearing back into the house.
‘“My mood was darkened by increased frustration and when James failed to reappear after a further five minutes had passed, I decided to dispense with the services of the driver and to seek out my brother for myself. I rang on the bell pull impatiently and repeatedly and after two or three minutes Jarvis, James’s valet, finally opened the door to me. He greeted me with a strange questioning glance, as if unaware of my reason for standing there.
“‘Yes sir?’ he queried.
“‘Jarvis, please be so kind as to give my brother this message. Let his umbrella be hanged! He must join me in the cab this instant or we will surely be late for our own meeting!”
“‘Now I should point out that, although Jarvis had not been in my brother’s employ for very long, he had proved himself to be a most loyal, efficient and level-headed kind of fellow and a most able manservant. Therefore his reaction to my explosive rhetoric was all the more surprising.
“‘I beg your pardon sir,’ he replied in his customary quiet, measured tones, ‘but Mr James has already retrieved his umbrella and returned outside to join you. Surely he has not mistaken another cab for your own?’ There was a slim blue and white Chinese vase, by the front door, wherein James always stowed his umbrella, but which was now empty and Jarvis pointed to this to confirm the validity of his previous statement.
“‘What nonsense!” I rejoined. “No other vehicle has passed this way since I pulled up outside, a full half-hour ago. My brother is merely malingering, as is usual, and employing you to stall for him for his own inexplicable reasons. Let me pass, Jarvis, and I shall search the house for myself!” With that I shoved the poor fellow roughly against the wall and barged my way through. I went from room to room, leaving no stone unturned, even pausing to ascertain that each window was still locked from the inside. Then, to my annoyance and great confusion, I had to concede that Jarvis had been speaking the truth. My brother was nowhere to be seen!”
‘At this point, Holmes, you caused him to pause and asked him to explain why he had thought it necessary to check the locks on each window, since it displayed surprising presence of mind in the unusual circumstances. His reply was as follows:
“‘James is well renowned for his eccentric behaviour and it would have come as no great surprise to find that in order to avoid both me and the annual general meeting, an event he had no great desire to attend, he had left his house by a less than conventional means.”
“‘Mr Phillimore, you are indeed describing a most singular event and I can assure you now that I shall take up your problem with all dispatch. Please describe your subsequent course of action.”
‘With understandable and considerable relief, Phillimore bowed in acknowledgement of your pledge before continuing with his remarkable story.
“‘After offering Jarvis a thousand apologies, I had to acknowledge that James could only have departed through the front door and that a combination of the poor visibility and my constantly glancing at my timepiece, had caused me to miss his hurried departure. Though why he chose to avoid me and the cab, heaven alone could know.
“‘However, upon my rejoining the cab, the driver confirmed everything that I had seen and was also unable to offer a rational explanation of the events we had just witnessed. He offered to drive me around the empty neighbouring streets to see if we could discover James departing on foot. Mr Holmes, we drove around for a full hour, before returning to my brother’s house in the vain hope that he had returned. Jarvis was undoubtedly as bemused as were both myself and the driver and so, as a last resort, I handed the matter over to the police. Alas, their response and results they achieved proved to be as negative as I have previously described to you.”
‘With that, Phillimore completed his narrative and shortly afterwards he reclaimed his partially dried clothes and departed, encouraged by the hope that you would solve the mystery of his absent brother.’
‘A hope that proved to be vain and somewhat premature, eh, Watson? As I recall, our visit to Phillimore’s home proved as fruitless as that of Bradstreet and his men, and Jarvis and the driver of the cab merely confirmed Montague Phillimore’s story. Matters were further complicated by the disappearance of Jarvis only days after that of his master, and my own enquiries at various domestic service agencies did nothing to enhance our knowledge of Jarvis’s previous employers or his background. Of course the singular demise of Lord Chalfont, whose left index finger was neatly removed and subsequently dug up in one of his flower-beds, diverted and occupied us for several days during that period, so that the mystery of James Phillimore remained exactly that. Now to the papers and let us hope that they can, belatedly, enlighten us.’