took all she inherited and sailed with her cousin to New Zealand, where she hoped in a new land, and with her relative by her side, to forget her ordeal and be happy again.
It was a year later when both Holmes and I, opening envelopes postmarked from New Zealand, found that Miss Mary’s tale had a happier ending than we had realized.
“Holmes, I have an invitation to Miss Mary’s wedding.”
“As have I, Watson.”
“Mine has a note from Josiah. He says that his cousin is marrying one of his oldest friends and will live on a farm nearby. He is delighted.” I thought for a moment. “I wonder if she will come back to London for her wedding trip, Holmes?”
He shook his head. “I think not. What fond memories does she have of this city? No, her home is elsewhere and there I think she will be content to remain.” In which it turned out he was right—as always.
SECRETS
I was gazing out of the window at Holmes’ rooms when I spied a familiar figure. I watched until I was certain I knew its destination before turning to my old friend.
“Holmes, it appears you are about to receive a visit from a man you aided only a year ago. Yet here he comes to call again, and although his difficulty does not seem to weigh upon him so heavily as did the affair of the beryl coronet, still he does bear the aspect of a man who has some trouble upon his mind.”
Holmes joined me at the window briefly. “Ah, Mr. Alexander Holder. Yes, you are right, Watson. He is bringing me a pretty little problem, but not as something realized, I do believe, more as a precaution. Well, I shall admit him. Do you care to remain and listen, I should be glad of your company.”
I assured Holmes I should be delighted to assist in any way I could, and I therefore settled back in my chair and awaited the arrival of a man Holmes had once saved from public ruin, while also rescuing the man’s son from disgrace and imprisonment. I guessed that it was with these memories Alexander Holder had ventured to bring yet another problem to lay before the keen wits of my old friend.
It was only minutes before the banker was shown into the room where we at once made him welcome. He was little changed, still well dressed, but in subdued and respectable clothing, and his frame remained as portly and dignified as ever. Yet I could see the trouble in his eyes and the hope that gleamed as he looked upon the face of Sherlock Holmes. In no time at all he was seated by the cheerfully blazing fire with a glass of wine in one hand, and we saw him relax a little—although the worried look yet remained to furrow his brow.
“Now,” said Holmes, looking at the banker. “I feel you have a small problem concerning your bank, not great as yet, but you fear it could grow. What can you tell me?”
“Why? That I do not know how you do it, Mr. Holmes, yet you are perfectly correct.“
“Then let you speak freely and we shall listen.” So with that assurance Alexander Holder drank off the final mouthful of his wine and embarked on his tale.
“As you both know, I am senior partner in the private bank of Holder & Stevenson. Our record of confidentiality has always been unimpeachable—but I have reason to fear that this may be so no longer. It is not for any trivial reason that I approach you, Mr. Holmes. When first I suspected something was amiss, I hired a large firm of private detectives to follow those of the bank who might be involved. This they have done for several weeks.
“I know information may be being passed to a foreign power, and yet I can see no way in which this is being carried out. My suspicions were originally aroused when Lord Calverton told me that it would be our bank that would be the middleman in certain negotiations. Only two days later I had a conversation with the ambassador of a certain power who seemed to know without a doubt that our bank would be involved.”
Holmes pressed the tips of his fingers together and nodded. “I see, and of course with foreign negotiations shortly to be begun between the power you mention and our Foreign Office, you would wish to be certain of your security.”
Alexander Holder started up in horror. “You know of this?”
“Calm yourself, sir. One of the principals—on our side of course—has already done me the honor of mentioning some of the aspects of the negotiations while asking my advice.”
The banker sank back into his chair with a sigh of relief. “Ah, you relieve my mind, Mr. Holmes. Since you already know something of the background, I can speak more freely. Yes, that we should confirm certain aspects of our security was the suggestion of my partner, Mr. Radford Stevenson. Knowing that our bank is to be intimately involved in the negotiations, he suggested that we should examine the trustworthiness of our employees, since the three who are senior must of necessity know some small amount of what it is that is discussed and decided. This I agreed to do, and together we concocted a ruse that we believed would serve.”
His brow furrowed in distress. “To be brief, we invented a small but unpleasant scandal involving one of our accounts. As you know, it is rare for a private bank to hold accounts for ordinary people, but in some cases it is done, and we ourselves do have some two dozen accounts of such a type as are normally dealt with by my partner and myself only. In this case, the account—I need hardly say—was fictitious, as was the supposed foreign personage whose account it was. We permitted word of this scandal to be overheard by our senior employees and the results were immediately obvious.”
Here he brought out his wallet and produced a newspaper clipping that he showed to us. It was from a newspaper specializing in prurient and salacious gossip, and from a still more obnoxious column entitled ‘Tidbits from the Tattler,’ and we read—
“It was revealed today that the Count of Esslin was being sued for his seduction of a Miss Jasmine Reddingford of this country. The lady in question claiming that marriage was offered and accepted, and that it was on this foundation the Count was permitted certain personal liberties.
“We have just heard, however, that the Count, (being reluctant to have his affairs exposed to public scrutiny in an English court) has settled privately and instead—for a sum which should keep the young lady in comfort for the rest of her days. How useful it is to be rich.”
Holmes made a moue of disgust. “Really, Mr. Holder.”
“Forgive me, sir. But it was necessary to provide something that engendered a temptation to gossip if any of our senior employees were so inclined. The worst of it is,” here he passed over a report from the detective agency. “Because of the very short space of time it took for this information to reach the newspaper and appear, it is virtually certain that the person who informed them of the scandal is indeed one of our senior employees.”
Holmes was perusing the first reports, and he looked up. “So it would appear. Please continue, Mr. Holder.”
“It was clear to Radford and me that we must give our spy a new scandal, so that this time the agency could follow those involved from the beginning. Accordingly, we waited a week, then provided new information which was again likely to be known only by senior employees.”
With that he proffered a second clipping, which informed its readers that a certain foreign nobleman had suffered huge losses at baccarat tables in London and was privately selling some of his heirlooms to replenish his account with cash. It suggested with a sneer that such was the lot of foreign noblemen who—with very few exceptions—were rogues, fools, or wastrels.
“As you can see by the reports, while only three of our employees could have known this information, my partner and I made certain (by means of a meeting) that none spoke to other employees before they departed work. Once the three left the bank after junior employees had all departed, teams of private detectives followed each of them. I tell you, Mr. Holmes, none of them could have betrayed our confidence—and yet, betrayed we were. This item appeared only twenty-four hours later.
“The agency could not even suggest any possible way in which those followed could have evaded their surveillance and passed information. Nor can they promise that it will not continue to happen,