"Because that's all there was. Hananish and Trelawney agreed to contribute one hundred thousand pounds to the consortium, which they never did because their reserve fund was elsewhere. The four hundred thousand was from the other banks of the combine."
"Neat, that. The conspirators had no financial involvement at all."
"Hananish told us there was no risk involved. I'll wager he had a silent chuckle in the telling."
"I take it the metal was delivered to Hananish by the west coast banks and sent from there to London."
"Correct. When the actual gold was safely tucked away in the Bank of England, Hananish sent the spurious boxes, suitably weighted, of course. Upon arrival in London, he had them transferred to the B & N Railroad and took out a policy for the listed worth of the shipment, five hundred thousand pounds, with Inter-Ocean. That's where he made his mistake."
"I fail to see it."
"Then, Watson, we were all fools together. Wasn't it suspicious that he didn't insure the shipment from Gloucester to London? There was just as much chance of a robbery during that trip as there was when the cargo went from London to Great Yarmouth."
I clasped my brow with my hands in anguish. "Of course."
"You are now mimicking my actions of this morning and thinking the same thoughts." This idea served to dispel Holmes' dark mood. "But come, the future is where our thoughts must lie."
"Half a mo'," I exclaimed. "The thieves took the crated brass from the boxcar and transferred it to the wagon. They maneuvered it into the mine and left it there."
"Blocking the entrance after doing so."
"What about the horses?"
"They turned them loose, stripped of their harness. You don't know your Essex farmer. Two unattended horses roaming about would go promptly into a barn. If someone came to claim them, there would be the oft-used story of buying them from traveling gypsies."
I threw up my hands in capitulation. Holmes had all the answers. After dinner that evening, it was Mrs. Hudson who announced the arrival of Claymore Frisbee, and I wondered if the sleuth had dispatched Billy on another mysterious errand.
The president of Inter-Ocean Trust was his urbane self when he entered our chambers and took a seat by the hearth fire, but there were lines of worry below the prominent cheekbones of his face. He was a good judge of moods, however; and Holmes' manner seemed to relax him. Perhaps the tot of quite superior brandy I secured for him helped. After all, he was our client.
"You suggested that I might toddle over 'round this time," Frisbee said after the exchange of customary pleasantries.
Holmes admitted to this. "Relative to the treasure train policy, you are . . . I believe the expression is 'off the hook.'"
Frisbee produced a heartfelt sigh of relief and allowed me to secure another brandy for him. "That's welcome news, for it's a sizeable sum and would have put us under some strain, I'll admit. Who stole the gold?"
"Let me tell you," responded Holmes.
And he did in his precise manner, with no extraneous words or thoughts either. At several points during the recounting Frisbee was hard-pressed to contain himself; and at the conclusion he did rather explode in amazement.
"You mean the B & N people and Scotland Yard have been running around looking every which way for the gold, and it was never on the train at all?"
"Comforting, wouldn't you say, since it is safely resting in the Bank of England."
"You're going to turn the matter over to Inspector Hopkins of the Yard?"
Holmes shook his head. "I haven't forgotten how they let Moriarty and Colonel Moran slip through their fingers, to say nothing of Lightfoot."
Frisbee registered puzzlement. "Lightfoot?"
"You wouldn't know him, and it's unimportant, though he may be mixed up in this. Only as a mercenary, however—a pawn."
"Albeit a dangerous one," I remonstrated.
Holmes waved this away. "There is some interest at Whitehall regarding this affair. I'm going to tackle Hananish tomorrow with the assistance of a special branch."
Holmes said a special branch. Frisbee thought he meant the special branch, just as my friend had intended him to.
"Well, if you're going to ring down the curtain yourself, I'm happy about it." Claymore Frisbee made to reach for his checkbook, but a gesture from the sleuth forestalled him.
"Let us settle accounts when we've written finis to this complex matter. There's a few jumps still to be taken."
"Regarding the insurance?" queried Frisbee with alarm.
"No, no!" You can pocket the premium and consider the matter at an end. But I've a wish to bring Hananish to heel. The grim reaper has dealt harshly with the ungodly, and there's a few left to testify for the Crown against him. In addition, I cannot stand in court and swear that the gold in the Bank of England came from the west coast banks, for I have no means of identifying the precious metal. However, I want to see Hananish show where it did come from, if not his fellow bankers."
"You've got him," stated Frisbee.
"I'll need your help." Holmes removed his gaze from the fire in front of him and regarded Frisbee keenly.
"You have but to ask," was the prompt answer.
"No news of the matter must leak out now. I wish to catch Hananish completely off guard, for it might unnerve him. In fact, let us spread a false trail. Let it be known that you are paying off the policy on the gold shipment. You could arrange an appointment for me to deliver the Inter-Ocean check to Alvidon Chasseur tomorrow, could you not?"
"What check?" sputtered Frisbee, again alarmed.
"There will not be one, but I have a little matter to settle with Mr. Chasseur. Relative to a disagreement between us as to who is the world's leading detective."
Frisbee, who had heard enough about the meeting between Holmes and the railroad tycoon to know what was going on, readily agreed to Holmes' request and made ready to depart, looking considerably more relaxed than when he had arrived.
Secretly, I groaned. Here we go again, I thought. Holmes accused me of having a pawkish humor, but he was not above a prank or two himself on occasion. I still shudder when I recall the hoax he perpetrated on Lord Cantlemere relative to the great yellow Crown diamond. The aged peer, who became one of Holmes' staunchest supporters, still contends that my friend's sense of humor was perverted.*
*Surely, in his later recording of this case, Watson became confused, for it is virtually certain that the Adventure of the Mazarin Stone took place after the turn of the century. It is obvious that this matter occurred somewhat before 1900.
I was helping Frisbee with his coat when Holmes posed a question. "Have you had any dealings of late with the Deutsche Bank?"
Adjusting his muffler, Frisbee regarded the sleuth with surprise. "Strange you should ask that."
"How so?"
"They are solvent, all right. Their national economy is booming. Most of the pottery you buy now comes from German kilns, you know."
"Most of the waiters in our restaurants are German, for that matter," commented Holmes, for what reason I could not fathom.
"That so? One of the P.M.'s aides had a little talk with the banking commission recently about the size of German investments over here. They've been getting their fingers in a lot of things. Couple of steel firms in Birmingham were in need of financing but a while ago. The Deutsche Bank made overtures and the government had to step on the negotiations, diplomatically, of course."
Standing next to our visitor, my confusion must have been apparent. Holmes chided me for having a mirror-like face as regards my inner feelings. Frisbee took pity on me.
"It's been a spell since we were allied with the Prussians and ever since Bismarck unified the German states, their empire has been gaining in strength. If Kaiser Wilhelm ever calls back the Iron Chancellor from Friedrichsruh and reinstates him, we could really be in trouble."*