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available to her, so she bides her time and lays her plans, part of which is the creation of a charity
which concerns itself with Russian emigres in London, which enables her to seek out a Russian
confederate. Perhaps it was her intention to pursue the count in Russia, but now she is presented with
an opportunity - he has returned to London. I have no doubt that she is preparing - in the very near
future - to avenge the murder of her fiancé.
I had to agree with his analysis of the situation, but one point puzzled me.
 But how did she come into contact with Professor Gregorieff? I asked.  There are so many refugees
from the Tzar in London.
 So there are, Watson, and among their own kind they discuss the wrongs that have been done to them.
Gregori Gregorieff speaks at the Workingmen s Club and is, it seems, well known in his community.
Old Goldstein knew that the professor had some connection with the count. Miss Wortley-Swan would
not have had much difficulty in identifying a possible fellow conspirator, and what more natural than
her employment of a skilled interpreter?
I nodded.  So what are you going to do to prevent it? You are intending to prevent it, aren t you?
 If I believed that any plot against the count would succeed, Watson, I might well be tempted to ignore
what I know about the matter and let it proceed, but it will not. The killing, or attempted killing, of the
Tzar s cousin in Britain will lead Scotland Yard to employ every method to uncover the criminals. They
have almost as many spies in the East End as Kyriloff, and it will not take them long to uncover
Gregorieff and his lady employer. It must be prevented for their sake, but I confess that I do not know
how.
If I had hoped that the appearance of Colonel Wilmshaw would encourage my friend in his attempts to
unravel the matter, I was to be disappointed. Faced with the problem which he had set out, he slumped
in an armchair for much of the day, smoking continuously. In the evening he took his violin and began
a series of harsh and discordant improvisations which drove me, fairly rapidly, to an early bed.
The following morning was similar to its predecessor, with Holmes breakfasting on toast alone, while
answering my pleasantries with monosyllables or not at all. It was plain that he had failed to resolve the
conundrum.
Mrs Hudson had cleared our table and we sat sipping tea when we heard some kind of disturbance
below. Voices, one of which was our landlady s, were being raised at the foot of our stairs. Mrs Hudson
had long learned to maintain an admirably impassive response to both Holmes and the sometimes
unusual characters who visited him, so that she rarely found it necessary to raise her voice.
 It sounds, I observed,  as though Mrs Hudson has run into difficulties.
Before Holmes could respond, we heard a short cry from Mrs Hudson, followed by heavy feet
pounding up the seventeen stairs which led to our door.
 I hope, said Holmes, rising and taking a poker from the fireside,  that no lout has been stupid enough
to do harm to our landlady, and he moved towards the door.
He had barely reached it and was stretching out his hand when the door was flung open from outside, to
reveal the enormous figure of Nikolai Poliakoff, dishevelled and breathing heavily. An irate Mrs
Hudson rapidly appeared behind him.
 It is alright, Mrs Hudson, said Holmes.  This man is known to me.
Our landlady made an expression of unspoken anger and withdrew. Holmes showed our visitor to the
basket chair, which creaked loudly under the Russian s great weight.
 You would do well, remarked Holmes,  not to make an enemy of Mrs Hudson.
 I am sorry, Mr Holmes, panted the Russian,  but Gregori told me to bring you this as quickly as
possible. He thrust an envelope into Holmes hand.
Quickly my friend tore open the envelope and examined the single sheet of paper which it held. As I
watched I saw him transformed. The lethargy which had consumed him throughout the previous
evening and at our breakfast disappeared in an instant. His eyes flashed.
 Watson, he commanded,  kindly ring for our boots and take your pistol!
Turning to the large Russian he asked,  Are you coming with us, Mr Poliakoff?
 I cannot, said Poliakoff.  Gregori said that I was to bring you his message and then meet him at Miss
Wortley-Swan s house. I must go, and he suited action to word and was off.
Once we had dressed, I pocketed my Adams .450 and followed Holmes down the stairs. Although he
had a look of grim determination on his face, I could tell that he welcomed the sudden call to action. As
he leapt down the steps, two at a time, he called behind to me.
 Come on, Watson! Come on! The game s afoot!
Twenty-Three
The Bear Snarls
We were fortunate in finding a growler rapidly, and were soon travelling at a spanking pace, though I
had, as yet, no inkling of our destination.
 What was the message that Poliakoff brought? I asked. Wordlessly Holmes slipped the letter from his
pocket and passed it to me. It read:
Mr Holmes,
You were visited yesterday by Colonel Wilmshaw. My contact in the embassy tells me that
Kyriloff knows this. He is afraid that you and Mrs Fordeland are about to make trouble for the
count and he proposes to seize the lady in order to prevent you. I dare do nothing, sir. You must
help her.
G. Gregorieff
 Great Heavens! I exclaimed.  Is it possible that he is right? Would this man Kyriloff attempt to kidnap
an English lady in the heart of London?
Holmes looked at me without an expression.  Watson, he said,  you persist in seeing London as the
great city which is the heart of the world s greatest Empire, and of course it is, but it is exactly for those
reasons that it is the easiest place in the world to commit almost any variety of crime.
 I m sure that you are right, Holmes, but to take the lady seems excessive, even for Kyriloff.
 Kyriloff, said Holmes,  knows no excess. If his dreadful masters required it of him, or if he believed
that it would serve their purpose, he would not hesitate to kidnap Queen Victoria.
Scotland Yard suspects him of a large number of unsolved killings. I suspect him of more. Both of us
believe that he is also responsible for a dozen or so disappearances, including that of the Honourable
Hermione Anstruther.
 Great Heavens! I repeated.  Then Mrs Fordeland is really in danger!
 In deadly danger, Watson. Pray that we are in time.
Suddenly Holmes rapped on the roof of our cab with his stick.  Cabbie, he said.  A whole sovereign [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]