Sherlock Holmes in Russia (3 page)

George Piliev
Moscow

George Piliev is an author, editor, bibliographer and historian of the mystery genre.

This incident, illustrating the extraordinary perceptiveness of Sherlock Holmes, took place some ten years before the Russo-Japanese War, so disastrous for Russia.

Having visited all the major centres of European Russia, Sherlock Holmes decided to visit Russia's possessions in Asia, which he had wanted to see for so long. I must confess that for me, Siberia represented an especially interesting part of the world. Legends and the most incredible stories were rife in England about it.

Hence, it was not surprising that, no sooner had Holmes mentioned his desire to travel there, not only did I joyfully agree to accompany him, but in every possible way urged our departure. I was afraid he might change his mind or become occupied by fresh cases which were offered from all sides in Russia.

Sherlock Holmes certainly understood what I was trying to do and scoffed good-naturedly at my impatience. Nonetheless, this
impatience worked on him. And so, he turned down several lucrative but not very interesting cases, purchased the necessaries for a prolonged trip, and laid preparations for it. When at last the Siberian train left the station at Moscow, I breathed joyfully, now that my long-held wish was to come about.

The Volga River flashed by, the steppes of the Ufim province lay behind, for several hours we took in the splendid views of the Ural Mountains and then the train swept into the Siberian vastness.

Despite our expectations, we did not encounter polar bears anywhere, nor wild natives of whom French tourists wrote that they devoured not only each other but even their own children. It turned out to be like any other land mass, except that it was slovenly, muddled, sparsely inhabited, in places covered by impenetrable coniferous forests known as the taiga, which knew no boundaries and stretched as far as the Arctic Ocean.

But what surprised us most of all was the Siberian peasantry. Not only were they not downtrodden like the peasants of central Russia, they were richer and certainly more sure of themselves.

As regards education, Siberians were well ahead of their fellow citizens in the provinces of central Russia. Holmes's explanation was that, for several centuries, the Russian authorities had settled exiled elements here. A mixture of political exiles, criminals and Cossacks (resettled here in his time by the then governor-general, Count Muravieff-Amursky) had created a very special population.

The political exiles, intelligent and educated, former criminals, creative and entrepreneurial, and freedom-loving Cossacks had intermarried and passed on their characteristics to their descendants. Thus, a new sort of people had come into existence, infinitely superior to the inhabitants of the central provinces. What is more, the bureaucracy was few and far between. And so, a down-trodden and humiliated population had become proud and independent, able to stand up for itself. Their qualities
displayed themselves when the Russo-Japanese War broke out and Siberian troops showed their mettle.

At the time of which I write, the Trans-Siberian Railway had not yet been completed. Trains went only as far as Zima station, after which the bones of travellers were severely shaken by horse-drawn carriages as far as Stretensk. From Stretensk, further progress was by ship on the Amur River.

It took us eight days to get to Zima station. It was another two hundred versts to Irkutsk, i.e. a hundred and thirty miles. We just about managed to get there in one piece, every bone in our bodies aching from those damned post chaises. When we finally made it to Irkutsk, we decided to rest there.

We were interested in this city, close to so many gold mines, and decided this is where we would become acquainted with life in Siberia. We found a hotel room and settled in.

Soon enough, an incident occurred through which we were to become closely acquainted with the local gold mines and the way of life connected with them.

Sherlock Holmes and I had long since abandoned any attempt at travelling incognito. And since Russians as a people are curious by nature, there was no shortage of gawkers around us. Sherlock Holmes's fame had penetrated Siberia and, wherever we would go, we were surrounded by curiosity seekers. There were even those who, for no apparent reason, invited us for a meal, probably to see for themselves the eating habits of an English detective.

So it wasn't surprising that, on one occasion, sitting in our hotel room, we heard a knock on the door. In answer to our invitation to enter, there did so a well-dressed, purple-nosed robust man.

‘All the same, I do beg your pardon that, so to speak, I intrude and etc.,' burst forth from him in a deep bass. As is customary with Siberians, his speech was peppered with ‘all the same' and ‘as it is'.

‘How can I be of service?' asked Holmes.

‘Have mercy on my plight and help me all the same,' he said. ‘I am one of the owners of the so-called Brothers' Gold Mine and I am here to seek your help.'

‘Do sit down, please,' Sherlock Holmes invited him. ‘I have time to spare and there is no need for you to hurry.'

‘All the same, thank you,' bowed the man.

He ran his hand through his beard, then through his hair and sat down. ‘As it is, the surname is Hromikh. We are two brothers, Sergey and me. I am Piotr Haritonovitch,' he said giving his name and patronymic in the Russia manner. ‘That's why our mine is called the “Brothers' Mine”. The mine is quite a distance from here, all the same, the road is bearable, the gold takings are good, and the equipment as good as possible. All would be well, if it weren't for the thieving. As it is, this thieving has developed so systematically and on such a scale that we hardly make ends meet. We have our own spies in the mine and they assure us that most of the gold is stolen and then smuggled out by our very own manager, a fellow named Zinovy Andreyevitch Seltzoff. But we can't believe this to be so. On two occasions, driven out of our minds by what was happening, we intercepted him along the road as he was leaving and found not a grain of gold. As it is, our situation is dire, and we would ask you to take up our case. We are prepared to pay you a third of the value of the stolen gold, if only you were to find out how it is done.' He fell silent and gave Sherlock Holmes a beseeching look.

‘How far is your mine?' asked Holmes.

‘Just under eighty miles.'

‘And how many roads lead to it?'

‘As it is, just the one.'

‘Is there a place for us to stay?'

‘As it is, of course!'

‘Excellent,' said Sherlock Holmes, ‘though I have to admit that I take your case mostly for the opportunity of visiting a gold mine and becoming acquainted with its running.'

‘Oh, if only you knew how grateful I am,' exclaimed our visitor. ‘Well then, do let me express my appreciation by inviting you to dine with me.'

We accepted. A room was specially set aside for us in our hotel and to the amazement of Mr Piotr Haritonovitch Hromikh we changed for dinner. Over dinner, as was to be expected, we discussed the matter freely.

‘How long ago did you begin to notice the theft of the gold?' asked Holmes, by the by.

‘That's the whole point. Strange as it may seem, large-scale theft began three years ago, just when we appointed the new manager.

‘And the thieving is from the office?'

‘Oh, no,' exclaimed the mine owner. ‘That would be daylight robbery. All the same, what I am speaking of is only of contraband.'

‘Explain yourself.'

‘This is how it works. All the mined gold has to be handed in to the office. Once the sand has been washed, the gold that remains is handed in to the office, nor can it be stolen from the equipment used for washing. But in addition to gold grains obtained by washing sand, there are also gold nuggets to be found. These nuggets are of differing sizes, some several pounds in weight, and they are found by labourers in trenches from which they dig out gold-bearing soil and transfer them on to wheelbarrows for washing. These nuggets are easily detected by the naked eye. The labourers may pick them up manually, but are obliged to place them in containers handily kept there. For these nuggets they are rewarded with a bonus of two and a half
roubles per zolotnik of weight, i.e. just over four and a quarter grams. But, despite the most vigilant attention of the supervising staff, all the same, they still manage to steal nuggets and swap them for alcohol. The nominal price of gold is five and a half roubles per zolotnik. The men who steal this gold are pursued by the administration by every possible means, and if any is found when they are searched, it is confiscated. Our spies tell us that the manager himself buys up the stolen gold from the men and manages to get it out of the mine. He gives the men alcohol, confectionery and other forbidden stuff.'

‘Then how often does this manager leave the mine?' asked Holmes.

‘Once only, at the end of the work year,' said Hromikh.

‘At what time of year is that?'

‘Late in the autumn, like now.'

‘So he is ready to go.'

‘As it is, yes.'

‘Has anyone told on him this year?'

‘Yes, but my own opinion is that this is done to deflect suspicion. We were told this year that whoever stole the gold has bought forty-five Russian pounds of it in weight. Our gold is of superior quality and the treasury values it at 19,600 roubles per forty Russian pounds. This means that 22,000 roubles worth must be smuggled out. We think that the supervisor of one of the trenches actually buys up the gold and managed to deflect suspicion by having us think it is Seltzoff.'

‘Very likely,' said Sherlock Holmes thoughtfully and poured champagne into his flute.

We parted long after midnight, having decided to set out in two days time. In the meantime, we explored the city.

On the appointed day a comfortably spacious carriage called for us. We set off for the mine with Piotr Haritonovitch Hromikh, taking with us the barest necessities and leaving the rest of our luggage behind. Every fifteen miles or so fresh, well-fed horses replaced the ones driving our carriage. In no time we were at the Brothers' Gold Mine. Here we were given a couple of rooms next to the quarters of Piotr Haritonovitch Hromikh and on the very first day met the entire administration. Our real names and professions were not revealed and we appeared to be tourists travelling to explore Siberia.

Early in the morning we rose at the same time as the workers when the siren sounded and made our way to the trench and machinery where we assiduously studied the mining operation. At the same time, I noticed how carefully Holmes watched the manager as well as members of the administration.

Daily, as soon as work ended, Sherlock Holmes used to vanish till late at night. The result of his walkabout was that no worker could visit any member of the administration without Holmes noticing.

One evening Holmes approached me, saying, ‘My dear Watson, the time has come for us to meet the mine detectives who do the secret watching.'

‘Why, have you noticed something?'

‘There are one or two things,' he answered. ‘I have a feeling that Piotr Haritonovitch isn't quite right when he says that the men who watch secretly are wrongfully trying to implicate the mine manager. I watched him for several days and noticed a very clever manoeuvre on his part.'

‘Namely?' I prompted.

‘I noticed that he stopped for longer to watch work in progress where gold was densest. Let's assume this is normal practice, but then he always finds an excuse to send away the supervisor on the spot. Of course, this shouldn't be surprising either, as the manager is more likely to see something than a
supervisor tired from a day's supervision, but, in fact, this is not how it is. The labourers steal nuggets so skilfully that the attention of the supervisor has to wander for only a brief moment and the nugget vanishes. And our manager frequently pays no attention anyway. But then, late at night, two labourers he places at the best spots visit him.'

That very evening we dropped in on Piotr Haritonovitch.

‘May I meet your so-called investigators?' asked Holmes with the touch of a smile.

‘Of course,' was the answer. ‘Do you wish to see them here?'

‘Are there many?'

‘Not really. Only two.'

‘Then let's have them here,' said Holmes with a nod.

Piotr Haritonovtch Hromikh went off and was back twenty minutes later accompanied by two ordinary mine labourers.

Holmes asked him to leave us alone with these investigators, which the owner did. He then proceeded to cross-examine the two men. From what they said, Holmes learned that the manager bought gold only from two workmen. These two workmen, in their turn, bought up stolen gold from the rest of the mineworkers in exchange for spirits given them by the manager. The whole operation was carried out so carefully that there was no evidence leading to the manager. As regards how much gold was stolen, this could only be established by the number of drunkards. At first it was thought that the gold was traded with spirits traders, but then it transpired there wasn't a single one anywhere near the mine. And despite that, mine workers were drunk on this mine more often than elsewhere.

Further investigation led to the conclusion that the stolen gold was most likely gathered up by two labourers. This was done so
cunningly that their identities could only be guessed at by the ingratiating manner shown them by their fellow-workers. As to how the gold was handed over and paid for, that was never detected. This is why there was no direct evidence against them. Several sudden, unexpected searches brought no results.

In the meantime, it was noted that these two workmen were in the manager's distinct favour and often visited him. The manager made no attempt to conceal this favouritism. He said the two are exemplary workers, behave well, work better than anyone, don't drink, have a positive influence on everyone, settle all minor disputes between the men and the administration which inevitably arise given the difficult existence in the mine.