Sherlock Holmes and the Discarded Cigarette (8 page)

Chapter 30

 

“Good morning Dr. Watson I received a message from hansom cab driver to be here this morning and I was wondering what it was in regard to.” “Mr. Wells” I started before we preceded any further “it is in regards to your time machine.” “Do you mean that the second set of drawings has been recovered?” Wells questioned me.

“More than that” was all I could answer, “come with me please.” As Wells and I made our way into the middle of the ware house he observed two sites, my friend Holmes standing next to for Wells at least a very real time machine.

At this point I could tell that Wells was very much at a loss for words while he beheld the site that was presented to him. Partial sentences were all he could manage “That's impossible...that can't...this isn't re...”

Holmes not wanting Wells to struggle with the reality of the situation said “Mr. Wells the machine you see before is quite real and fully functional.” Wells being a man of logic questioned this fact by asking “How is this so?”

Holmes then went into a brief explanation of how Wells ex wife, a copy of the mechanical drawings, three inventors, an art forger by the name of Montague John Druitt and a time trip 100 years into the future almost ruined the art world had all made it so.

“100 years?” Wells asked with out fully understanding what he had just been told. “Mr. Wells if you would step over here” Holmes pointed in the general direction of the machines controls.

Wells joined my friend now standing in front of the machines controls much as Druitt had revealed the record of the machines travels Holmes now stated Mr. Wells “in front of you there is a panel with two dates, one is departure date and one is the arrival date. Read the date on the left then the one on the right that should answer your question.”

Wells silently mouthed the two dates he saw “1895 – 1995”

Giving Wells a few minutes to let this information settle in Holmes gravely stated “Seeing this, and knowing how such technology could be used for great good also for great evil it is very obvious that this machine should not be allowed to fall into the wrong hands.”

Wells asked with almost the same type of voice that one asks upon learning about the death of a loved one “Are you suggesting that my time machine be destroyed?” This was one of the rare times when I have ever seen my friend at a loss for words.

I could see that there was some conflict going on in my Holmes mind about this matter. There was the fact that the machine was a technological wonder a marvel and a wonder of its time. But there was the matter that Druitt had used it for no good but his own.

Holmes no doubt realized that Druitt was for all purposes a small time criminal but if such a machine was to fall into the hands of an arch enemy like Professor Moriarty who knows what the outcome might be. .

Not being able to look at Wells growing sad face Holmes turned to me and stated “Watson we have a dilemma. It is obvious that with what has happened Mr. Well's creation cannot continue to exist, but it is almost unthinkable that this machine should be destroyed.”

Chapter 31

 

For some reason I saw Druitt's hand on the small crystal rod pushing it down to make the machine stop. Sensing some solution to this problem I asked Wells “The small crystal shaft in front of operator. Pushing it down makes the machine stop and pushing it up makes if go...correct?”

Wells nodded his head in agreement. Then sensing where this was going he said “Once the machine has been stopped the crystal shaft can safely be removed thus making the machine inoperable until it has been reinserted”

Forming a workable solution in my head I looked around the immediate area until I spied a long length of heavy twine. “Mr. Wells I believe I have a solution to both yours and Holmes problem.

Gathering up the twine and taking it to the machine I asked Holmes, knowing his expertise about knots to wrap the crystal shaft a couple of times then securely tie the twine. “Mr. Wells how far into the future is your machine capable of traveling to?”

Until just now only experiencing his machine as a set of mechanical drawings Wells was unsure of the answer. Crouching down Wells scrutinized the controls until he found the one that would set the machines destination date.

“Well this is incredible Dr. Watson and Mr. Holmes but it appears who ever built the machine had in mind going far into the future.” said Wells as he continued to appreciate the craftsmanship that had been involved in bringing the mechanical drawings to life.

Drawing Wells back to the present I asked again “How far? to the year 2295 Dr. Watson.” “Watson” Holmes said with some pride as he figured out my compromise “you propose to send Mr. Wells machine far enough into the future where it will cause no harm or ever be accessible to anyone. Then Holmes smiled when he finished working out the last details “And thus saving it from being needlessly destroyed.”

Holmes then turned to the one person who had the most to loose in these events “Is Dr. Watsons compromise agreeable with you Mr. Wells?” Wells looking considerably relieved nodded yes. Then with Wells setting the machines final arrival date all three of us left the machine with me paying the twine in front of us as we walked backward to about ten feet away from the machine.

Chapter 32

 

When I had reached the end of the twine I pulled it taught then handed it to Wells. “When you are ready” I said to Wells realizing he needed no instruction as to what to do next. Knowing what would happen as he pulled on the now much taught twine Wells looked first at me then at Holmes and hauntingly asked “Can I have one last look at my machine before I send it into oblivion?”

Holmes and I understanding that Wells had just come to accept that his very much theoretical had come into being and that none of us would ever see it again agreed to give him a little time alone to inspect and become aquatinted with the time machine.

We watched as the twine slipped from Wells fingers and he made his way over to where the machine was resting. When he got to it he caressed the shiny brass frame, stroked the polished wood work, and peered intently at the controls, instruments and the machinery that made it do what it was built to do but to both Holmes and my amazement he did not sit in the operator's seat.

Coming back to where Holmes and I were standing Wells picked up the end of the twine and announced “Gentlemen I am ready” We watched as Wells gave the twine a short but firm tug, the crystal rod in response moved up a bit and we the saw the large disk at the back of the machine start to rotate.

With each tug Wells applied to the twine the crystal rod moved further up and the faster the disk started to spin. Then in a reverse or what we had seen when the machine first had arrived arrive the image of the machine started to get more and more out of focus.

Chapter 33

 

It was at this time Holmes did something totally unexpected, he took the end of the twine from Wells fingers, gave it a sharp pull up as this was taking place two remarkable things happened first the machine winked out of existence and the crystal control rod now separated from its socket shot up towards the ceiling of the warehouse paused for the briefest time then fell and landed with a soft thud on the packed earth floor.

Wells looked both amazed and a little confused as to Holmes last minute action. Holmes taking the moment in stride said to Wells as he went over the pick up the crystal control rod. “Mr. Wells there has never been a machine like yours before and there will never be another like it again.”

Then walking back with the crystal control rod in his hand Holmes presented it to Wells saying “A souvenir or a memento as it were to your genius Mr. Wells, save for your mechanical drawings you will never have the machine but you will have some small physical proof to yourself that a creation of your brilliant imagination came into being.

After sharing a handsome cab back into the city and first saying good bye then dropping off Wells (with his souvenir) at his residence Holmes and I returned to 221 B Baker Street in time for a late breakfast. As were finishing the last of the coffee and the remainder of the toast we both heard Mrs. Hudson calling from downstairs that there was a message for me.

Holmes realizing it was probably from my wife asking me to come home said “you had better pack Watson; no doubt your wife is waiting for you at Paddington station with her luggage wanting you to escort her home.”

With out waiting for Mrs. Hudson to deliver the message I asked as I was getting up from the breakfast table “How can you be sure?” A rare but genuine warm smile played out on Holmes face as he answered “This is one time when my brain is governed my heart. I may never have been in love but I know of love.

However Watson love is an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional is opposed to that true cold reason which I place above all things. I should never marry myself, lest I bias my judgment.

 

Dr. John H. Watson M.D.

Transcribed from his original case notes by
Mr. Fred Thursfield

June 06, 2010

 

 

After reading the account of this affair the reader may wonder what was the eventual fate of the last collection of paintings Druitt had brought back from the future with Wells time machine.

Because neither Holmes nor I at the time could ever ascertain as to whether or not they were in fact the originals or very good forgeries it was decided to have paintings taken from Burke & Wills Removals and Storage back to Holmes rooms which would act both as safe temporary storage for the collection and as an impromptu art gallery to display them

After we had both personally enjoyed the company of the collection for a short time Holmes felt that each should now be returned to their proper owners. To that end he placed a small notice in each of the afternoon news papers to be published in the next edition that was to state that some “stolen” art work had been recently recovered (with the help of the Metropolitan Police) and the location as to where the art work could be reclaimed.

The duly published notice in each paper discreetly left out the incredible details as to where the paintings had actually been located and how they had eventually come to be recovered. The notice factually informed the interested reader that if positive ownership of the piece could be properly established while attending at 221B Baker Street each “stolen” painting would gladly be returned to its rightful owner.

I should comment that it was with some mixed emotions that as each of the stolen pieces of art left with the person or gallery who had owned it before the “theft” Holmes and I would never be sure if we were in fact returning an original painting or a well executed forgery back into an unsuspecting world. Holmes succinctly summed up my thoughts on this subject with “Let us hope Watson that none of the paintings we are returning over the next few days and weeks ever finds its way to the Belgravia Art Gallery and into the capable hands of Jeffery Daniels our forgery expert for any type of cleaning or restoration.

 

J.H.W.

 

 

While transcribing Dr. Watson's case notes for this story a very coincidental event took place. When the British Museum was conducting its annual inventory (September last year) of the large number of items it has in storage that (for one reason or another) are rarely displayed and seen by the general public. An untagged small clear crystal rod was discovered among the collection. It measured about nine inches in length, had the circumference of a small napkin ring, one end had been cut as if to be placed in a socket

and the crystal rod would have easily fit inside a person's hand. When the extensive museum records were searched to establish an acquisition date and accurately describe the nature of the mysterious object no record could be located as to how or when the museum had acquired the crystal rod or even of its intended purpose or use.

 

F.C.T.

Information

 

The Discarded Cigarette is written in the style of…

 The Seven-Per-Cent Solution a 1974 novel by American writer Nicholas Meyer. It is written as a pastiche of a Sherlock Holmes adventure, and was adapted for the cinema in 1976. The novel's full title is The Seven-Per-Cent Solution: Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D.

Published as a “lost manuscript” of the late Dr. John H. Watson, the book recounts Holmes' recovery from cocaine addiction (with the help of Sigmund Freud) and his subsequent prevention of a European war through the unraveling of a sinister kidnapping plot. It was followed by two other Holmes pastiches by Meyer, The West End Horror (1976) and The Canary Trainer (1993), neither of which has been adapted to film.

 

Pastiche

 

In this
usage, a work is called
pastiche
if it is
cobbled together
in imitation of several original works. As the
Oxford English Dictionary
puts it, a pastiche in this sense is “a medley of various ingredients; a hotchpotch, farrago, jumble.” These meaning accords with etymology:
pastiche
is the French version of the greco-Roman dish pastitsio or
pasticcio
, which designated a kind of pie made of many different ingredients.