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Hugh Bonneville (11:55)

It was a quarter past nine when I started from home and made my way across the park. And so through Oxford street to Baker Street. Two Hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, one of whom I recognized as Peter Jones, the official police Agent while the other was a long thin, sad faced man with a very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock coat. Now our party is complete said Holmes, buttoning up his pea jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones of Scotland Yard. Let me introduce you to Mr. Merryweather who is to be our companion in to night's adventure. We are hunting in couples again Doctor. You see said Jones in his consequential way our friend here is a wonderful man for starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him do the running down. I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes sir, said the police agent loftily. He has his own little methods which are if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical and fantastic. But he has the makings of a detective in him. It is not too much to say that once or twice as in that business of the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure he has been more nearly correct than the official force. Oh if you say so Mr. Jones. It is all right said the stranger with deference. Still I confess that I miss my card game. It is the first Saturday night for seven and 20 years that I have not had my card game. I think you will find, said Sherlock Holmes, that you will play for a higher stake to night than you have ever done yet and that the play will be more exciting for you Mr. Merryweather. The stake will be some £30,000 and for you Jones it will be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands. John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher and forger. He's a young man Mr. Merryweather but he is at the head of his profession and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on any criminal in London. He is a remarkable man is young John Clay. His grandfather was a Royal Duke and he himself has been to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers and though we meet signs of him at every turn we never know where to find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him yet. I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you tonight. I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clayton and I agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is past 10, however and quite time that we started. If you two will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the second. Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of of gas lit streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. We are close there now, my friend remarked. This fellow Merriweather is a bank director and personally interested in the matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is not a bad fellow though an absolute imbecile in his profession. He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as tenacious as a lobster. If he gets his claws upon anyone, here we are and they are waiting for us. We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed and following the guidance of Mr. Merriweather we passed down a narrow passage and through a side door which he opened for us. Within there was a small corridor which ended in a very massive iron gate. This also was opened and led down a flight of winding stone steps which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. Merriweather stopped to light a lantern and then conducted us down a dark earth smelling passage. And so, after opening a third door into a huge vault or cellar which was piled all round with crates and massive boxes. You are not very vulnerable from above, Holmes remarked as he held up the lantern and gazed about him. Nor from below, said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon the flags which lined the floor. Why dear me, it sounds quite hollow, he remarked, looking up in surprise. I must really ask you to be a little more quiet, said Holmes severely. You have already imperiled the whole success of our expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit down upon one of those boxes and not to interfere the solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate with a very injured expression upon his face while Holmes fell upon his knees upon the floor and with the lantern and a magnifying lens began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few seconds sufficed to satisfy him for he sprang to his feet again and put his glass in his pocket. We have at least an hour before us, he remarked, for they can hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at present, Doctor, as no doubt you have divined in the cellar of the city branch of one of the principal Lond Banks. Mr. Merriweather is the chairman of Directors and he will explain to you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at present. It is our French gold, whispered the director. We have had several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it. Your French gold? Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 Napoleons from the bank of France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to unpack the money and that it is still lying in our cellar. The crate upon which I sit contains 2000 Napoleons packed between layers of lead foil. A reserve of bullion is much larger at present than is usually kept in a single branch office and the directors have had misgivings upon the subject which were very well justified, observed Holmes. And now it is time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime, Mr. Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern and sit in the dark. I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket and I thought that as we were a partie carre you might have your game after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And first of all we must choose our positions. These are daring men and though we shall take them at a disadvantage they may do us harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then when I flash a light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire Watson, have no compunction about shooting them down. I placed my revolver cocked upon the top of the wooden case behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness. Darkness. Such an absolute darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot metal remained to assure us that the light was still there ready to flash out at a moment's notice to me with my nerves worked up to a pitch of expectancy. There was something depressing and subduing in the sudden gloom and in the cold dank air of the vault. They have but one retreat, whispered Holmes. That is back through the house. Intersex Coburg Square. I hope that you have done what I asked you, Jones. I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door. Then we have stopped all the holes and now we must be silent and wait. What a time it seemed from comparing notes afterwards it was but an hour and a quarter. Yet it appeared to me that the night must have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position. Yet my nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension and my hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, heavier in breath of the bulky Jones from the thin sighing note of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint of a light. At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then it lengthened out until it became a yellow line. And then, without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand appeared, a white, almost womanly hand which felt about in the centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the hand with its writhing fingers protruded out of the floor. Then it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared and all was dark again, save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between the stones. Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, tearing sound, one of the broad white stones turned over upon its side and left a square gaping hole through which streamed the light of a lantern over the edge there peeped a clean cut boyish face which looked keenly about it. And then with a hand on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder high and waist high until one knee rested upon the edge. In another instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face and a shock of very red hair. It's all clear, he whispered. Have you the chisel and the bags? Great Scott. Jump Archie, jump and I'll swing for it. Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the collar. The other dived down the hole and I heard the sound of rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed upon the barrel of a revolver. But Holmes hunting crop came down on the man's wrist and the pistol clinked upon the stone floor. It's no use, John Clay, said Holmes blandly. You have no chance at all. So I see, the other answered with the utmost coolness. I fancy that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his coat tails. There are three men waiting for him at the door, said Holmes. Oh indeed. You seem to have done the thing very completely. I must compliment you. And I you, Holmes answered. Your red headed idea was very new. And effective. You'll see your pal again presently, said Jones. He's quicker at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the darbies. I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have the goodness also when you address me always to say sir and please. All right, said Jones with a stare and a snigger. Well would you please sir, march upstairs where we can get a cab to carry your Highness to the police station? That is better, said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the detective. Really Mr. Holmes, said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them from the cellar, I do not know how the bank can thank you or repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience. I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. John Clay, said Holmes. I have been at some small expense over this matter which I shall expect the bank to refund but beyond that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in many ways unique and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of the Red Headed League. You see Watson, he explained in the early hours of the morning as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker street. It was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of the League and the copying of the encyclopaedia must be to get this not over bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it but really it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his accomplice's hair. The pound four a week was a lure which must draw him. And what was it to them who were playing for thousands? They put in the advertisement. One rogue has the temporary office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it and together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for half wages it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive for securing the situation. But how could you guess what the motive was? Had there been women in the house I should have suspected a mere vulgar intrigue. That however was out of the question. The man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his house which could account for such elaborate preparations and such an expenditure as they were at. It must then be something out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's fondness for photography and his trick of vanishing into the cellar. The cellar. There was the end of this tangled clue. Then I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in London. He was doing something in the cellar, something which took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be? Once more I could think of nothing, save that he was running a tunnel to some other building. So far I had got. When we went to visit the scene of action, I surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have remarked how worn, wrinkled and stained they were. They spoke of those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and Suburban bank, butted on our friend's premises, and felt that I had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert, I called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank directors with the result that you have seen. And how could you tell that they would make their attempt tonight? I asked. Well, when they closed their League offices, that was a sign that they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence. In other words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered or the bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. For all these reasons, I expected them to come to night. You reasoned it out beautifully. I exclaimed in unfeigned admiration. It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings true. It saved me from ennui, he answered, yawning. Alas, I already feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little problems help me to do so. And you are a benefactor of the race, said I. He shrugged his shoulders. Well, perhaps after all, it is of some little use, he remarked, l'homme, c'est rien. L'oeuvre, c'est tout. As Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand. Next time on Sherlock Holmes Short Stories, Holmes is drawn into yet another strange and unsettling mystery, the man with the twisted lip. When Dr. Watson stumbles upon a troubling scene in one of London's seedy opium dens, he's pulled into Holmes latest investigation involving a respectable businessman who has vanished without a trace. As Holmes dives deeper into the shadowy corners of London's underworld, he uncovers a secret life that would shock even the most hardened detectives. Join us next time for a chilling descent into Victorian London's hidden underbelly, where nothing is as it seems. Can't wait a week until the next episode? Well, listen to it right away by subscribing to Noiser Plus. Head to www.noiser.comscriptions for more information or click the link in the episode description.

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